Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1909-05-22
DEs MONIES RIVER NAVIGATION.

Since the beginning of time, when
one man made statement to another
man that certain thing was true or
could be done, If the man who was
spoken to did not believe 1t, he would
look at the other with an expression
of doubt and sort of sympathy, be-
Eause the first party was SO utterly
mistaken. That has always been &
human characteristic and it probably
always will be. The men who made
and perfected to the present state of
efficiency, the steam boat, the tele-
graph, the telephone, the electric
cable, wireless telegraphy, the per-
fecting press and theTtype-setting ma
chine, all went through the experience
of being told that their ideas were
wrong and absolutely devoid OF prac-
teal application.
That same thing is now happening
to the man who advocates running
large power boats on the Des Moines
river. However, it has been demon
strated in the past few days that the
Des Moines river is big enough and
deep enough for practical use by prac-
teal boats. There is no question but
that If it were not for the dams and
bridges along the river, practical
river steamboats, could safely make
the trip up the Des MONIES river as
far as Ottumwa at least five months
in the year. Last Sunday with the
river at a stage. that was not high,
Major Meigs' party in the government
launch, made the trip from OttumWa
to Keosauaua The men in charge OF
this boat did not know the channel o.
the deepest parts of the river They
had no more idea of the location OF
the deepest part of the river bed than
was enjoyed by the original explorers
of the stream. The boat was simply
run where the water looked the most
favorable and the nan at the bow OF
the boat made continuous soundinys
which showed that the average depth
of the water was more than five feet.
In many places, for ! mile or mora,
the measurements would show eight
or nine feet. In some places, 1T was
as deep as twelve feet.
The boat used by this party had
sort Of iron work built to protect the
rudder and propeller. This frame
work extended below the bottom Of
the boat a distance sufficient to make
the boat draw 21a feet of water. That
is about the same depth that the aver
age upper Mississippi steamers draw
that is steamers running. from st.
Louis to st. Paul.
There is no question but that, bar
ring the distractions in the way OF
dams and bridges, the boats that run
regularly on the Mississippi river
could have come up the Des Moines
river as far as Ottumwa at any time
during the last three months or since
the ice has gone out of the river
We do not undertake to say that
regular navigation will be in force on
the Des Moines river in the near
future--we do not say that it will
ever be, but we do say that the Des
Moines river is big enough and deep
enough for good size boats to travel
up and down it with safety and reg
ularfty for at least one-half the year,
after survey has been made that
will locate and mark the channel.
There are some places where rock
will have TO be blasted, but the ex-
pense of that would not be heavy, and
a channel through rock would not fill
up.
The Mississippi river is a big nat
ural trunk line of transportation and
1t should be used, but it must be fed
by the traffic from such streams as the
Des Moines.
In Germany much practical work
has been done in the last few years
on the smaller streams. Low, open
boats are being built Cor this class of
waterways, and the cities along the
streams build municipal docks. Car
goes are loaded and unloaded with
small electric cranes and the munich
pality charges the railroads and boat
lines for the use of the landing and
warehouses. The railroads and boat
companies make joint rates and 1t is
proving very satisfactory to the ship
pers and transportation companies
and very profitable to the cities that
own the docks.