The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-05-04
PLANS TO REDUCE
FREIGHT RATES
st. Louis Merchants Will Aid
Southeastern Buyers
SHALLOW DRAFT BOATS
River Traffic In Southeastern states
VIII BE Developed BY Use of
Modern Methods In Handling
All Freight.

ST. Louis, May Especial. NEW
York has cut ST. Louis out of Texas
by cheap water rate" says the st.
Louis Republic. "St. Louis must re-
taliate by cutting out New York in
the southeast by cheap river rates
| through the Tennessee and Cumber-
land"
Merchants from st. Louis are plan
ming to make a trip into the south
east to explore what is to most of
them a terra incognita as far as trade
| is concerned. They have but one way
to beat New York to 1t. They must
use the shallow streams that lead into
the Tennessee and Cumberland.
They should keep their weather eye
on the waterways as they go along
and calculate the effect their support
to the Mississippi Valley Transports
ton company will have on their abil-
ity to reach those distant markets.
They will find the avenues open but
unused and a great mass of trade
which ought to come to st. Louis and
the great market which ought to be
reached from st. Louis closed to them
the Steel Barge line are upon the wa
ters of the Tennessee and Cumb er
land and tn cir coasting steamers in Sa-
vannah and Mobile. Not only Riverton
and Florence but Chattanooga, Knox
VILE, Decatur Bridgeport, Nashville
and Clarksville are easily available to
the new steel craft at almost any sea-
son of the year, and by carrying goods
to Chattanooga where they are through
the mountains they are practically at
the door of Rome and Atlanta, and
at Rome reach the VIII ole upper valley
of the Coosa. Rome Is the heart of the
Piedmont country; below 1t lie Atlanta
and Augusta and Granitevllle and all
the host of big cotton milling cities
whose piece goods are jobbed out of
st. Louis, and these goods can be
brought back cheaply and reasonably
with a short haul by rail to Chatta-
nooga and Knoxville to the down
stream journey In steel barges to st.
Louis.
Each of the southern states has many
tributaries which should aid st. Louis
in getting into the country; the Green
river to Bowling Green, the Kentucky
into the heart of a very rich coun-
| try. With short rail or interurban
hauls to place freight on the river a
very wide territory can thus be served.
But this is far from being the only
route offered st. Louis into south east
ern territory by the Steel Barge line.
Montgomery, Ala, has recently COM
pleted public wharf capable of ele-
waiting all freight up to the city level
and is now organizing a steel barge
line to connect with the boats of the
Mississippi Valley Transportation COM
pany at Mobile or New Orleans, and
Selma, which is some distance below
Montgomery on the ample water of
the Alabama, Is also preparing to build
a public dock to accommodate this
line.
Freight rates to southeastern terri
tory are now so high that on some
articles of woodenware a carload can
be shipped through Montgomery to
Mobile, broken UP at Mobile and re-
turned to Montgomery in less than car
load lots for $40 carload less than
the direct rate to Montgomery. A
combination between the Mississippi
Valley Transportation company and n
line on the Alabama will put Mont
i gomery and this large territory on as
fair footing as Mobile and Pensa-
cola.
Coosa river, the Apalachicola and
many other streams that flow into the
gulf and the South Atlantic will soon
be tapped by the coastwise steamers
OF the Mississippi Valley Trarsporta-
| tfon line. A small steamer drawing
not moro than 16 feet and probably not
more than IA feet, able to enter these
little harbors and meet barges connect
ing with the cities along the rivers, will
be put into service with q promptness
exactly In proportion to the speed with
which st. Louis backs up the trans
portation company.
These boats will be staunch and able
to gather cargo quickly and a great
volume of trade which now goes around
the coast to New York will be diverted
into New Orleans and brought up by
river to st. Louis.
| Augusta, Ga, one of the largest cotton
manufacturing and cotton shipping towns
of the world, the largest interior cotton
market in America, II seconded by the
Mississippi Valley Transportation COM
pany, will put on barges to Savannah to
meet such a boat. and these barges will
bring to the Savannah shipside the piece
| goods from the King & Sibley mills at
Augusta, from the Granite City mills and
from all that rich manufacturing terri
tory which borders the falls of the Sa-
vannAh.
Ships which bring to St. Louis piece
4 goods will carry from this city general
merchandise, -four, grain, hardware
shoes; every article made here will go in
the hulls Of the steel barge line to these
places.
There is hardly a part of the southeast
which cannot be reached by ST. Louis on
; favorable terms by this combination with
the water route and the methods by
which 1t Is proposed to use these water
routes are far In advance of anythins
that has yet been attempted.
Most of the year the Tennessee river Is
~ navigablc for fve feet draft to Riverton
and there is three feet all OF the time
Above Mussel Shoal there Is considerable
difficulty in low water for boat draw
ing three feet or more
Engineers who have been working fol-
some time on plans for the Mississippi
Valley Transportation company have
evolved very powerful towboat, oper-
ated with gas engine and capable OF
floating. with fuel on board, on 10 inches
OF water. This towboat will be able tc
push light steel barges carrying at leas,
400 tons Of freight up stream at trip Ii
the shoa1est water. running much of the
i wear in Knox Vile. and brine dourn OF e ,,