Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-12-08

International waterways commission,
which shall have Jurisdiction to advise
upon questions affecting waters of an in
ternational character as between Canada
and the United States.
Use of Mississippi River.
Frederick A. Delano. president Of the
Wabash Railway Company, received a
rousing welcome when he was introduced
for the final speech OF the morning SEES
sion.
President Defano declared that the rail-
road men should not look at the subject
solely from the viewpoint of a railroad
man nor the shipper consider it alone
from a shippers standpoint. He referred
pOintedly to the Mississippi deep waterway,
and In discussing that project said: II
assume that no one would advocate MAX
ing not only the Mississippi, but all of its
nav1gable tributaries, fourteen or twenty
feet deep. Yet If the Mississippi were
made deep waterway, while streams
smptying into 1t were not, even il 1t
vessels on the Mississippi. they could not
be navigated on the tributary stream.
Then one of these things would happen
either the vessels in which goods were
loaded on the smaller streams would be
sent through to destination with the
goods, In which case the deep-craft vessel
would not get to haul them, or the goods
would have to be transferred to the deep
Kraft vessels. and transferring goods from
boat to boat is expensive and often even
more expensive than transferring them
from car to car.
1T seems to me that to develop a water
way system in this way would be like
building the main line of railway with
\ broad gauge and the branches with a
narrow gauge.
Suggests Low Draft Boats.
80 far as / can learn, it is the opin-
Ton of practically all Of the United States
Army engineers who have Investigated
the subject. that a towboat with six to
nine feet draft towing barges with a COM
oined capacity of $500 or 10000 tons
would be able to handle traffic cheaper on
med fourteen feet, or twenty-one feet,
than could a lake vessel with deep draft
and the towboat and barges could be
able to navigate many of the shallow
tributaries as well the Mississippi
which would avoid the cost of transfer
ring freight originating on the branch
rivers.
Needless to say. the cost of dredging
The Mississippi river and it's tributaries to
4 minimum depth of six feet or even nine
Feet and maintaining that depth would
be very MUCH less than the cost OF dig
ring 1t to a uniform depth Of fourteen
feet.
1T would seem that all that reasonably
could be asked Or that ought to be asked
OF the general government so far as our
navigable rivers are concerned, is that il
mall dredge them to depths sufficient to
accommodate tow boats and barges such
AZ can now be operated on the greater
part of the Mississippi river drainage sys-
tenn. To do more than this would involve
an expenditure which would not be jus
tfable-whch, In other words would
not make the total cost Of water trans
portstion less than 1t is by rail.
Styled q Dream.
Some of the people of Chicago have
visions of ocean vessels loading i'm their
hsrbor, steanning down through the drain
age canal. the Illinois river and the Mis-
sissippi river and thence 10 Europe. also
through the Panama canal to the orient
or by the great lakes and St Lawrence
canals 10 Europe. Such thoughts are idle
dreams and the trend of economic copdi-
lions In ocean transportation mates all
such suggestions increasingly impossible.
10 dig Il waterway fourteen feet deem
would be TO provide one that would no,
be any more useful than the MississippI
river already is for most of its length
an0 than numerous other streams are for
over 9o per cent of the vessel tonnage
on the great lakes draws over fourteen
rect OF water and over 50 per cent OF
them draws eighteen feet 1t n evident
therefore, that lake vessels could nor h,
uHeu Oh iourteen-root waterway, and, o.
course. ocean steamships could not he
used where lake steamships could not be
lis not the real problem to find an eco.
nomical vehicle OF transportation adapt
able IN large river system like the Mis-.
s,ssippi river and Its tributaries. vehi
Gle which shall do for that river syster
what the freight car does on our system
OF railroads?
The stern reality Is that even IL 2
fourteen or twenty-one foot waterway
ynt1I
deep-draft boats. A large vessel can
not be profitably navigated on a narrow
chahhei, because the interest on its high
cost makes ii uneconomicai