The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-14
WAS RIVER RATE WAR
CAUSE Of TRAGEDY?
Story From Mobile on Capt.
Staples Troubles
FIGHT ON DEWBERRY
Rumor Has 1t That Staples Became
Heavily Involved With Liens on
Steamboats, and That Worry
Caused His Suicide
FIGHT ON DEWBERRY

The blowing up of the magnificent
steamboat James 7. Staples ON the Tom
bigbee river, just one week after the sui
eide of its former builder and owner, not
only chronicles one of the most fatal
tragedies connected with river trans
portation in the south, reveals an unusual
situation according to remarks in the Mo-
bile Register of Saturday goes somewhat
into details in showing the interest of
certain railroads in making river trans
portation a failure.
1t is pointed out that 1t has been for
years the purpose of j. NJ. Dewberry and
associates TO develop the traffic on the
rivers of Alabama and to connect Bir-
niingham with that development by an
Independent rate making railroad to the
Warrior river.
Mr.. Dewberry's first move in this di-
rection was the purchase of the Tusea-
loosa Belt railway at Tuscaloosa, and
the purchase and organization of a line
of river steamboats, operating out Of Mo-
bile to Montgomery on the Alabama riv-
er and TO Tuscaloosa on the Tombigbee
and Warrior rivers In 1905. In entering
this business Mr.. Dewberry purchased
eight of the existing river steamers, leay-
ing three steamboats, in the possession OF
his competitor, Capt. Norman r. Staples,
who had built and owned the steamboat
James 4. Staples, which was recently
wrecked by explosion and two others. For
| more than a year the steamboat fight
was fierce, involving. as it may be re-
called, fightsby the Dewberry interests
against the Alabama state railroad COM
mission, because Dewberry wished to in
augurate rates lower than the commits
sion had specified,
The Mobile Registers article proceeds:
| Current rumor has 1t that the Louis
| Vile and Nashville first became con-
| eerned in the river situation In Alabama
| at the time of the Dewberry organization
| to establish q strong river service on
the Alabama and Tombigbee rivers, which
! service would probably have affected
railroad rates throughout the territory,
\ particularly affecting the export of cotton
! from the Montgomery district, which now
chiefly goes to the Atlantic Seaboard oil
via Pensacola. The establishment OF
strong steamboat transportation would
have resulted in either rate war by the
railroad against the steamboat company
| or the sacrifice to the steamboat lines OF
| great quantities of freight from the
Montgomery territory, which would have
| come to Mobile for export instead of as
! at that time, and generally now, to the
Atlantic Seaboard.
"Rumor has 1t that the Louisville and
, Nash lille financed the fight of Captain
| Star es against the Dewberry interests
| which resulted in the great loss ard fina
| failure on the part of those interested In
| the DeWberry organization After the
| fight was over. it Is rumored that large
| sums of money were advanced by the
| Louisville and Nashville Railroad com.
pany to Captain Staples, liens were taken
on various steamboats, in the rivers, or
| the theory presumably that in that way
| the railroad company could control the
traffic on the rivers, or at leas. have
| some influence in the situation. Il Is not
| generally understood Just to what extent
| il any, pressure was exercised by the rail
! road company; the fact remains that
| Captain Staples. in great financial dis
| tress killed himself, and q week later
the James r. Staples was blown no at the
wharf of the place where he was born
reared and buried"