The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1902-05-09
The Romance of the Old River
BY Samuel r. Van SAINT. Governor Of Minnesota.

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west, and he has won for himself tn
title of Lumber King" The magni
tude to which this commerce ha
grown is suggested by the fact tina
one individual fleet has carried an
nually 2OoOOO,O00 feet of lumber dow
the river to enrich and upbuild the ter
ritory tributary to the Mississippi. II
a single trip one boat has towed sui
ficient tonnage of lumber to load to thu
limit a railroad train two miles IL
length. 1t is scarcely saying too much
to assert that the total downriver ton
mage of lumber fleets any day in the
moving season is sufficient to stall the
traffic of all the competing railroad
lines, if the traffic were transferred
from boats to rails, and amounts tc
100000 feet annually.
This marvellous development is due
to the steamboat, and few, If any
achievements of my life afford me
more personal satisfaction than the
fact that built and operated the first
steamboat of large power for this par
ticular branch of river traffic.
In the inland sections of the coun
trv an impression prevails to-day
that the Mississippi is now no longer
an active factor in the world OF
Importation, that it's traffic days
are only a recollection. and that the
great stream has no claim upon the
gratitude of the people of the
northwest on the score of present
benefits. This delusion will be keen
" resented by all who are loyalty
| Jealous of the reputation of the
great river.
True it is that its through pas
senger traffic has been almost COM
pletely absorbed by the railroads.
On the other hand, the volume of it's
freight carrying, especially in lum-
Der and coal, is still very large, as
the facts I have already cited will
indicate. But of far greater mo-
ment is it's value as a conservator
Of freight rates. It acts as per-
petual and unalterable check upon
the greed of railroad systems-and
will continue so to act for all time
to come.
With the completion of the 18TH
mian canal a new era of prosperity
will be assured to the river. A
mighty volume of traffic will sud
denly be turned southwark and the
activities of the Mississippi will be
multiplied in a manner now hardly
to be realized This great govern
mental enterprise should, for this
reason, command the heartiest sup
port of every dweller in the valley
of the Father of Waters, and of all in
the vast northwestern empire tribu-
tary to it.
1t is by no means to be admitted,
however, that passenger traffic is
wholly dead letter on the Mississippi.
On the contrary, it is still considerable,
although radically changed in char
acter. All along it's course the river is
piled by "short-line packets" which
make daily and profitable trips be-
tween cities not far distant from each
other. The lines from Davenport to
Burlington and from Keokuk to
Quincy are examples of this traffic,
which will certainly increase with the
passage of time.
Another recent development is the
excursion business, which is also
destined to increase. The boats de-
voted to these lines of the carrying
trade are modern and slightly, some of
them costing $4,000 each.
No review of the old days on the
Mississippi is complete without refer
ence to the famous races in which the
fast steamboats, indulged-a practice
which has found appropriate embodi-
ment in the literature as well as the
history of the west. How strong was
the racing spirit in the old-time river
masters is best illustrated by an in
cident which will ever remain vivid in
my recollection.
AS captain and part owner of the D.
A. Mcdonald had shown the proper
river spirit by trials of speed with all
corners, and these efforts to maintain
the reputation of our boat had reached
the ears of my partner, Mr.. Musser, a
conservative man, much older than my
self. He had given serious admonition
against the folly and danger of racing,
and had exacted a promise that would
not again indulge in the practice. I'm
mediately after had given this pledge,
however, he accompanied me on an
up-river trip. We were in deep and
broad channel when one of the fastest
boats of the day hove in sight of our
stern and was rapidly overhauling us.
The strain on my self-control was
great and I could hardly restrain my
self from putting on more speed, when
my partner suddenly appeared at my
side, his eyes blazing with the fire of
contest.
Sammy" he exclaimed excitedly,
clapping me on the shoulder-"Sam-
my, throw in more coal and wood!
Throw in all you want, and III pay for
it! But don't let that boat pass you"
Strife for speed records was not al
ways or indeed generally inspired pure
ly by racing sentiment. The first boat
of the season to get in at the port of
destination received her wharfage free
and was sure of rich cargo, and the