The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-08-12

freight reduction for which the Father of Waters is responsible, even while in d condition which admits of great improve ment to raise to full capacity his freight carrying possibilities.
 Grain Singled Out.
 Grain. it happens, is most readily singled out for illustration by the champion of waterways improvement as it statistics are more available. In 1880 the average vessel entering Boston harbor drew twen- ty-two and one-half feet, carried 25OO tons, and charged eight to ten cents per bushei on grain to Liverpool. Today the average vessel draws thirty feet, carries 75OO tons. and charges two to three cents Charges on other classes of freight have been re- duced in proportion, reduction or nearly 400 per cent in twenty years. This IS the result of deepening the channel at an eX- pense of $5,000000.
 Think of what that means to the Amer ican people," is MT. Ransdells comment. a saving of six cents on every bushel or wheat or corn, a saving of $392l9'26O on the average wheat crop, and SlS4, ,6oO 5to on the corn crop. And yet you ask if the farmer of Minnesota is interested in the five millions spent on Boston harbor?
 In the very nature of things, transpor- tation by water must effect great say ing over transportation by rail. The coal required for instance, to drive traP' carrying 1000 tons of freight on the MICH igan Southern railway at the rate or lS miles an hour would drive steamboat on the lake at the same rate with load of 10 0Oo tons It costs the railroads, more over $l0OO per mile per annum for malh- tenance of way alone, whereas the Tree uaterway of the lakes does not cost the steamship one cent per mile per ahnum for maintenance of way, to say hoth'hs of the cost of original construction. Ana the waterways are open to all alike. NO transportation company can ever mohop- olze them.
 Curious III 5tration.
 Chance brought to light curious H. mstration of the possibilities Of water traffic when a large consignment ot pot tery from Tunstall for London by ms take in labelling was sent not by the or dinary land route through England, but by water to New York and thence pacN across the Atlantic to its destination. IL was thus discovered that, whereas the total cost by the ordinary route Of liS miles was 25 shillings per ton for the 675O miles via New York, It was cheaper therefore, to ship 6loo miles by water thaii 14S miles by land
 Astounding as the savings effected by water transportation may seem to the average citizen. they are but trifie, say advocates of larger appropriations. to what could be effected by a fuller utiliza- ton of our waterways. Uncle sam, now ever Is a composite personality and his bigness makes 1t difficult to attend to the economies of existence with absolute per lection. The nation as whole, 1t IS contended, has as yet failed to realize tho immense savings to be achieved by an ad- eouate expenditure for river and harbor inprovement With sS00000.00O worth or projects already approved by the gov ernment engineers as feasible and worthy of completion the average appropriation per annum for the past ten years has been only $19, 250.00O At that rate the projects already approved could not well he completed in less than twenty years and development beyond these approved projects. demanded. in the opinion or eN- pert students of the problem. by all the urgencies of national economy and the needs of the sections clamoring for them. is absolutely out of all hope of receiving attention.
 In Holland.
 Our European brothers are not equally