Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-04-02

by means Of which a channel OF six feet
can be maintained on the Black warrior
river. And no doubt that is desirable but
it is uncertain whether the people would
utilize it. when 1t is provided, any more
than the shippers along the Mississippi
utilize the channel Of that river Several
of the locks are completed, and Maj. Jer-
vey's report contains a detailed account of
their use. 1t appears from the report of
the first lock In the list-lock NO. (which
may be used as an example Of them all,
there were fifty-nine lockages during the
year 1905 and 277 boats passed through.
1872 going up stream and 40 coming down
stream. These were not different boats.
however but the same half dozen boats
passing through the locks at different
times during the period of twelve months.
There are only three private boats upon
the river The remainder were govern
ment boats and barges engaged In deepen
ing the channel and carrying building
material for building the unfinished locks
OF total of 277 boats passing through
the locks, 241 belong to the government
and are engaged on the work. Three
boats carried passengers through the
locks during the year, and thirteen were
RATS Of logs.
This is the commerce of river upon
which more than $6,OOO.0OO has already
been spent. and upon which 1t is pro-
posed to spend $7,50O,OOO more
. But even that does not satisfy the peo-
pie down here, and Mr.. John Craft presi-
dent of the Commercial Club of Mobile,
gave me a copy Of memorial which has
been adopted by that organization. and
will be presented to Congress. praying for
the further appropriation of $25.OOO.OOO to
be expended in making the entire 1000
miles of river in Alabama navigable.
Utilization of the Rivers.
When / asked Mr.. Craft how many
boats were employed upon the Alabama
rivers he replied:
I'VE have about twenty-five stern
wheeled steamers carrying passengers and
freight. without including forty or fifty
tow barges carrying sand and gravel. and
when the seventeen locks which the gov
eminent is building upon the Black War
rior are completed we can bring coal
from Tuscaloosa to Mobile. The princi-
pal freight coming to Mobile now by these
boats is cotton cotton seed, resin, turpen-
tine. lumber and slaves. poultry. eggs,
pork. cattle. and other farm products.
The up-river cargo consists of all kinds
Of merchandise. farming implements and
ma chinery. The packets on the rivers
have traffic connections with ocean steam
ers. and give through bills of lading to
New Orleans and other places. Com
pressed cotton can be shipped direct to
the mills OF New England and Europe.
THE traffic is increasing all the time
continued Mr.. Craft. particularly in cot
ton and naval stores. and we expect to
see il increase thousand fold more when
the locks are completed and we can bring
coal to Mobile The mines of Alabama
are nearer to tideWater than any In
America-about 225 miles-1oO miles nearer
than those Of Maryland and west Vir-
ginia to Newport News. and their coal
has to be carried by rail, Where. ours can
be carried by water.
Competition With Railways.
do your river steamers actually COM
pete with the railways"
Yes. and that is a great advantage.
The shippers at Selma and Montgomery
on the Alabama river. Jackson and De-
mopolis on the Warrior. Columbus. Miss,
on the Tombigbee. Rome and Gadsden on
the Coosa have the advantage of river
competition and get lower rail rates,
sometimes as much as 20 per cent less
than other towns. The state railway
commission undertook to regulate the
beats, but under a recent decision OF the
court. they have not been able to DO So
Before the war and the days of rail-
WAYS" continued Mr.. Craft. the Ala
bama. 'Bigbee and Warrior rivers had
boats twice as big. and some of them
three times big as those that are In
use today. The passenger accommoda-
ticns were as fine as those on ocean
steamships The tables were as good as
those of the best hotels. and the freight
business was fifty times as large as 1t is
now. These steamers were noted for their
speed and comfort. and were crowded
with passengers. They handled N0.OOO
bales of cotton out of total of 4.O0O, 900
bales that were raised in those days. but
now they handle only about 10000 bales
out of a total of 1000 Oo0
.f.. I,x,e-t L.,