Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1909-09-14

ing the past twenty-five years. The
tributaries are furnishing more water
for the river than ever before. For
many years the Des MONIES has made
a record Of four and half to five
months during the year with an aver
age stage OF from six to eight feet.
ample water for steamboating. So
we must agree with Major Meigs that
SO far as The water is concerned, the
river is now navigable, and has always
been so.
The Boats for Present Shipping.
OF course the big three deck Mis-
s)ss1pp1 river steamboats, with their
o0-loot ch1mneys, cannot come up to
OttumWa and Des Moines as In the
former years, but we have the water
and We must get a class of boats
which will do the same work and go
under the bridges at all stages, of
water; this Is easy, as will be seen
from the smaller picture, which will
give the reader some idea Of the ap-
pearance and construction Of the class
OF boats which can be used on the Des
MONIES river. A large fleet Of them
have been doing business between Chi
cago and st. Louis, using the Henne-
pin canal, the Illinois and the Missis-
sippi rivers. They do the same work
as the tall steamboats, and go through
the canals and under the bridges. The
steamboats, are tow-boats and the
barges are all of the same pattern,
LOB feet in length and 171a feet wide,
with height of feet. A feet con-
sists Of five boats, the steamer and
four barges The machinery OF the
steamer Is placed down In her hull,
and she has sufficient power to tow
four barges against the current of
river.
On the trip through the canal to
Chicago, they are allowed to load to a
depth Of four feet, eight inches. This
is the limit. Loaded to this depth, the
steamer and four barges has a cargo
of 800 tons of freight Through the
use of these boats the shippers and
the people of Illinois have an all water
route and cheap transportation to Chi
cago and st. Louis and other water
points.
Easy Route to Chicago and St. Louis.
Now Des Moines, Ottumwa and the
other towns along our river can have
the same benefits. The distance from
Des Moines to Chicago by the river
Is about AGO miles, from Des Moines
to st. Louis Is $50 miles. If navigat-
ing the Des Moines with six feet of
water these five boats could be loaded
to the canal depth, four feet, eight
inches. With this load the fleet would
have a cargo of 800 tons Of freight,
and go through and under all Of the
bridges on space of five feet At
high tide they could be loaded two feet
more and be put under the bridges on
a space of three feet. Our bridges
have an average height Of twenty-four
feet and the ordinary high water mark
is about fifteen feet II there were
but three feet under the bridges. there
would be twenty-one feet of water in
the river, a stage we have never had
but once.
Bridges No Hindrance.
ut is safe proposition to say that
this fleet of five boats would 20 under
the bridges at all times With the low
deck boats the bridge problem would
be solved. The total expense of the
trip from Des Moines or Ottumwa to
Chicago with 800 tons of freight would
not exceed $500. These figures can
be verified, and the shippers and the
expert makers of rate sheets can
make their own figures. 1t is evident
that with six feet of water in the Des
Moines river, the owners OF the boats
could make a very low rate from Des
Moines, Ottumwa and other points
along the Des Moines river to Chicago,