Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1909-11-26
Steel Barges for
~ y the Missouri River

The following letter addressed 10
Governor John Burke of North Da-
kota, outlining plans for the new
steel barge line which is to use the
existing channel in the Missouri and
develop traffic ON that stream, has
been given out by John l.. Mathews,
secretary of the Mississippi Valley
Transportation company:
To the Hon. John Burke, Governor of
NORTH Dakota.
Dear Sir: In accordance with
letter I sent you some time ago
promising you a complete statement
of the plans We have for making your
big river once more freight carrier,
l send you tbs account as nearly COM
plete as possible at the present time.
Acting under the leadership of
President w. X. Kjavanaugh, of the
Lakes to the Gulf Deep Waterway
association, we have organized a ten
million dollar corporation called the
Mississippi Valley Transportation Co.
and have secured signatures to the
incorporation papers from many of
the leading men in the Mississippi
valley, including Mr.. John M. Parker,
the president of the Southern Com
mercial congress; Mr.. Edwin S. Con-
way, who is the head of the Chicago
Association Of Commerce.; Mr.. Jas.
E. Smith, the president of the st.
Louis Business Mems league; MIR.
Philip Werlein, president of the Pro-
gressive Union of New Orleans; and
on the Missouri river, Mr.. Jerome
Twitchell and Mr.. j. D. Davidson OF
Kansas City, Judge Estell of Omaha,
and Congressman Latta of Lincoln.
These names l select at random
from among about $50 from the orig
inal organization. Some of the most
prominent merchants in the Missdss-
ippi vallay are in the number.
This corporation proposes to get in
to the transportation business on the
whole Mississippi system, carrying
freight in steel barges Of the most
modern type, and towing it with steel
tow boats, and loading and unloading
it with electrically driven machinery.
In this way we will eliminate most
of the heavy costs and handicaps
which have heretofore fallen upon
the river Lines. & / .
We do not intend to limit our SER
vice on the river, but besides operat-
ing small railroads ourselves, will
take advantage Of the ruling of the
various state railway commissions
along the route to put our freight
aboard the railroads at our terminal
docks and distribute it throughout the
states adjacent to the river.
Our first move will be to establish
line Of steel barges between New
Orleans and st. Louis, which we now
hope to do the coming season. This
alone will cost two and half mil
ion dollars, of which one half million
is cash in hand for operation, and
the rest represents one million in
feet and million invested in ternin-
al docks and machinery. This fleet
will have a capacity OF 10000 tons,
figuring at 70 per cent of it's full ca
pacity. There is already 100000 tons
in sight to employ this fleet the first
year in carrying which it should earn
$1,500,00O of which 100000 should
be net available for dividends.
AS fast as possible, as the rest of
Our stock is sold, we should increase
this service to take in the tributaries,
and among them, one Of the earliest,
the Missouri.
In the old days the Missouri was
a very heavy carrier of freight, and
it was driven out of this service by
a combination of circumstances, chief
of which were the snags in the river,
which had more effect than the shoal
water, and the changing channel.
Missouri river pilots had always a
magical way of finding the. channel
in the river, but they unfortunately
could not always detect the deeply
ing snag. OF the $50 wrecks, of which
we have record in this Office on that
river, 800 were caused entirely by
snags, representing a loss of more
than ten million dollars.
The second source of loss, which