Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-02-04
THOMAS WRITES
OF RIVER PLANS
SOUTH SIDE POSTMASTER FAV
ORS MAKING DIES MONIES
NAVIGA
SUGGESTS A SYSTEM
Mr.. Thomas Believes That Dams Witt
Locks to Back Water UP Would
Ensure gation-River
Men Think Plan Feasible.

Ensure NaVigation-RiVer
Men Think Plan Feasible.
The Des Moines Register and
Leader has the following extend
ed article today dealing with
plan proposed by E. H. Thomas,
postmaster at the South Side
postoffice. for the improvement of
the Des Moines river. The arti-
Gle follows:
Old retired river men, steamboat
captains and pilots, who, during re-
cent years while the traffic on the Mis-
sssippi has been growing less and less
| have been living in the memories of
former days and relating stories OF the
good old times, have become intense
| ly interested in the reports of efforts
| to make the Des Moines river naviga-
! BILE. Nearly all of them have become
earnest advocates of the scheme AMI
| for the time being the remarkable
occurrences of the olden times are be.
ing passed over in order to argue and
point out the possibilities of naviga
ton on the Des Moines river.
E. H. Thomas, OF the South Side
station at Ottumwa, and who says he
served an apprenticeship and worked
| ten years as pilot on the Mississippi,
has written long letter to Secretary
Milo Ward of the Commercial club in
favor Of the project. III addition TO
the transportation possibilities, Mr..
Thomas says that the cities along the
river would enjoy great benefits from
the cheap powe" that twenty or more
dams, necessary to make the river
navigable. would furnish. He says
there is ample water to furnish six
feet draught while most of the Missis-
sippi river steamboats, operate in four
and four and half feet of water dur
ing the greater part of the season.
which is about seven months out Of
twelve
Outlines Possibilities.
Mr.. Thomas letter is, in part, as fol
lows:
wish to present some testimony,
facts and figures, in support of the
proposed plan to make the Des Moines
river navigable from the city of Des
Moines to the mouth of the river.
There is an ample supply of water,
if properly controlled, to give us the
six-foot channel This can be done by
either the dam system or the canal
system.
The slack water channel can be
made by building dam with locks
every ten miles, backing the water up
stream from one dam to the other, as
the government is now doing upon the
White river in Arkansas, between
Batesville and Buffalo. distance OF
one hundred miles. Three of the
dams have been completed and the
plan is a success. BY this system
it would require about twenty dams
between Des Moines and the mouth
of the river
A channel can be made, the water
held and concentrated with a canal
gates or locks about every ten miles
The rock or material for building the
, dams Or walls Of the canal is close al
/ hand. The best Of rock can be taker
5 from the bed of the river or from the
rock bluffs upon the banks.
) Presenting that we have six-foot
channel. or even five feet from Des
Moines to the mouth of the river, here
: is what can be done with it:
The fiat bottom, light draft steam
boat now used on the Mississippi
river. with twenty four hours Goa
aboard, draws but two feet of water
I 1t has full cabin with good accom-
!, modations for passengers and suf
ficient power to tow four barge!
/, against the current of the river. Tnt
steamboat and four barges loaded
upon an even keel to four feet will
carry 100 carloads of freight.
Regular Fleets Then.
This fleet can leave Des Moines ant
go direct to St. Louis, or it can ente
; the Illinois river above ST. Louis, VI
f that stream, through the canal, AM
: land its freight in Chicago
, The idea as stated by some of tn
:. newspapers that a very small class o
j. boats must be used upon the De
J, Moines river, and the freight trans
: ferred to larger boats at the mouth o
|. the river is erroneous. 1t would not b.
! necessary The class of boat that
i describe can be loaded at Des Nome
: and with its 100 carloads Of freigh
i and cabin full of passengers go direc
to st. Louis or Chicago. Give tn
steamboat men the six foot channe
and they will show the people how t
/ do it.
. Another argument in favor of thi
enterprise. The Des Moines river wit
y its six foot channel would be publ
highway, leading to the markets c
the east and south. Any man who ha
Il sufficient money to build the boat
> could use it. No corporation coul
u !, control it.
! The present railroad charge upon
q certain class of freight from Ottumw
j. to Chicago is 60 cents per 100 pounds
!, The man who owns the steamboat an
: four barges described can carry tai
same freight at 25 cents per 10
Ii pounds, and with plenty to do ca
If soon get rich in doing it. The freigf
h money received by the owner in tw
round trips will equal the value {
cost of the steamboat and its fou
barges. The boats carrying 100 ca
: loads each way at % cents and loa,
p ed 10 four feet.