Omaha daily bee., 1907-11-12
BRING BACK The STEAMBOAT
Cry of Captain shultz, River Engineer
at Sioux City.
ST. JOE JOINS IN THE REFRAIN
Twenty-Five Hundred Miles of Mis-
souri, Now NaviRabIe IL the As
scrticn of "a Man who
Knows.

I ldlSe SuppOklllOu lldl IdllIbhuS Noulh NeAAs
freight cheaper than boats sounded the
knen of steamboat traffic several decades
ago. according to Captain c. H. shultz,
engineer in charge Of the Missouri river,
who attended the banquet Of the CONNER
cial club last night.
The west was built up by the steam
boats" said Captain Shultz when he ar
/ rived from Sioux City. THE commerce
of the river was tormerally profitable and
! I believe it would be today for 200 miles
from its mouth. This would land steam
boats far up into the Dakotas. Army
posts received supplies by steamboat fur
ther up the river than that and as early
as 1919 a big river boat pushed up to Coun-
/ Gil Bluffs.
What has been the cause OF the de-
cline2 Everything has been improved In
! the past half century, except the steam
/ boats used on the rivers. The current Of
/ the Missouri river is swift, its average
speed being six 20 seven miles an hour.
| At high water the banks are eroded and
great damage is done. Time after time the
! river has gotten out of its bed at night
/ with no apparent provocation, and has
/ hunted up a new bed all Uttered with
forests. corn fields. brick houses railroad
ties and telegraph poles. 1t has flopped
/
content and has flowed along plaoidly for
years. gradually sssimiating the foreign
substances and wearing down the bumps
! in it's alluvial mattress. Then it suddenly
/ takes fancy to its old bed, as II has done
at st. Joseph which by this time has been
/ filled with railroad bridges and suburban
architecture. 1t goes back with a whoop
and a rush as though it was glad to get
| back to the old time bed and it ruins lakes
and summer resorts"
Vast Areas Endangered.
! Just now the river endangers 100000
acres Of farm lands, according to the en-
gineer who is supposed to keep the river
in the United States as lonE possible.
Figuring the average cost of this land
at $50 an acre." said Captain Shultz, 1t
will be seen that there is some necessity
for embankment work when $120,Ooo,OO0
worth Of real estate is in danger and only
| S5O,OO0.o0O is asked for Improvement
work"
such a disregard for the real estate
business makes farming along the Mis-
souri, river as fascinating for the farmers
as playing in the wheat pit. They never
know whether they are going to harvest
corn or catfish. The agriculturist may go
forth in the morning with binder to cut
his wheat only 10 come back at noon for
a trout line, his wheJ.t having been car
ried to the Omaha grain market the night
before. weeks before 1t was ready for
shipment.
The transportation problem at present
is the greatest one confronting the United
States. The railroads are oongested and
cannot handle the great business which
they are called upon to move. The rates
are high and there is great delay in de-
livery.
The 5000 600, 900 which we are spending
for the Panama canal will be in vain un-
less we spend in the next ten years, the
period of it's construction, $500, ,0OO,0 or
moro for improvement of waterways
which viii be tributary TO the canal and
make it worth something to every man.
woman and child in the United States. The
improvement Of the rivers should be sim
ultaneous with that great undertaking and
derive the most benefit from that splendid
opportunity.
THE Missouri river can be handled, so
that 1t will no longer be a menace TO prop
erty and take great sections of states in
ITS greedy nav. The congress OF he United
States is ready to help in the work If there
is enough traffic TO warrant it, even If tho
boats are small"
Shippers should own Boats.
Joseph, Mo, Commercial club arrived in
Omaha early Monday morning.
II believe shippers should own their own
river boats" said the commissioner Of the
st. Joseph club. This would put the boat
lines completely beyond the control Of
transportation companies, and the shippers
themselves would be in a position to die
tate the rates 10 the railroads, II any one
would
Private refrigerator cars have been "A
success TO the shippers. Private steamboat
lines would not cost as much and would
save more. Estimating that the big dry
good houses Of Omaha pay $4,000 each year
} for freight the river boats would bring
the goods to them for S9o,OoO. They could
well afford to invest 10000 in boats and
: barges.
''The Kansas City boats carry from 80
TO 200 tons OF merchandise. but there are
only two of them Omaha, Kansas City
, and St. Joseph should have boats enough
so one could leave St. Louis each day for
each of the three cities. Other lines would
operate for the smaller cities, but the three
large market cities could we'll AFFORD to
have a boat load each day, and this would
be equal 70 three train loads OF merchan-
disc a week, as one of the boats with a
barge VIII carry half train load
Side-wheeIer the Best.
Investigation by the st. Joseph club has
demonstrated that the old side-wheel
, steamer is the ideal boat for Missouri river
trafic, and with the modern engines would
be able to drive a boat to kansas City. St.
Joseph or Omaha IN a much shorter time
than the old river steamers could possibly
make.
st Joseph will not be left of the river
II we can help it. There has been danger
OF the river cutting on through the FL
, wood neck and Lake Contrary. This would
: leave the city two miles from the river.
We would not only be beyond the possibI-
ity Of river transportation, but our sewer
age would have to be carried two miles to
the river. Dikes are being built from the
: west shore TO an island in the river oppo.
J site st. Joseph. II is thought this viii
prevent the river cutting on the Elwood
point and accomplishing IT'S purpose OF
taking the old bed through Lake Contrary.
The government is spending $4,000 IN the
work and the railroad companies having
bridges which are in danger, are spending
$4,000 more
ssTf thera l. roing tn he river franspor-