The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-11-19
INLAND WATERWAY IS URGED AS HAVEN .FOR SMALL VESSELS


 coast would offer a haven for coast wise trade during war with a fofeasn power, was argument adVanced Tn 1 favor of that project at the second
 days session of the sixth annual con vent1on of the Atlantic Deeper Water fways Association. This declaration was put forth by Captain w. V- E. | Jacobs of the United States Revenue ICutter Service, who said the coan- try need never suffer from the lack tof the usual interchange of traffic by water between it's great coast cities, | even though the coast be threatened | by a powerful enemy.
 The importance of the feature as an argument in favor of the project ] was emphasized by other speakers on | the program. Nearly all referred to
 it in the course of remarks Sub jects assigned to them.
 ] One of the chief addresses was made
 by John J. Martin, president of the
 Massachusetts Real Estate Rxchange,
 Boston. His subject was The New
 England Viewpointtt'' He outlined the need for the proposed inland wat
 CT route for the cheaper and safer ] tra importation of cotton from the
 southern states to the mills in New \ England. t The morning session was presided
 over by Representative John R. Small
 of North Carolina, who br4efy outiin- I ed the south's interest in the cemplet- | ed waterway. tsWaterways and Barge
 Canals Of Europe were discussed by
 Theodore Joyce, of Pennsylvania, while '"The Rivers and Harbor Work l of Congress- was outlined by Repre- ksentative s. M. sSparhman, Of F7ori- ! da, chairman of the House Rivers
 and Harbor Committee.
 Captain Jacobs reference to the
 value of an inland waterway as a
 haven of refuge for traffic during the hwar came in the course of his gem | eral remarks regarding the value of
 the waterway as a saver Of human 1 life. He presented government sta- | tfsttcs to show how periIous was athe | coastwise shipping lane, especially along the southeastern coast line.
 HThe relation of inland wa tef.ways.' ? ! said Captain Jacobs, to the saving
 of property and the ives of those who actuate, it, and of those others who l travel by means of it, is one of very great intimacy in the evolution < of l these waterways. Any plan that ac- l complishes, the shortening of wafer I routes between comm erciaI eeHters,
 and. the avoidance of dangerous shoals
 while at the same time providing for safe approaches to the eneranuce Of such waterways, will be of inestirna- | ble value in the saving of life and marine property He mentioned many of the dreaded
 shoals along the Atlantic Coast which
 have taken great toIf of human
 lives since coastwise shipping first be- gan.
 Among these he mentioned Nantuclz-
 ct Shoa1 which has a record of 3,0O0
 vessels and 1000 lives lost since such
 statistics were first kept.
 Although inland waterways pro vide safer passage than the open sea
 for waterborn property, continued | Captain Jacobs, 'tan extension of them
 which would incidentally lead through portions Of exposed water might bin-
 crease the dangers to certain craft | that are licensed for employment in l inland waters only. Many baTBeS carrying coal, for example, from New York to Buzzards Bay are not sJTb- 1 ject to the inspection laws either as I to construction or requirements for
 proper life-saving appliances. This
 possibility of loss is not due however,
 to the inland waterways. but to lack
 of provision by law for the inspection of craft navigating water u11pFotect- 1 ed from the open sea- Such craft l should be subject to inspection laws I similar to those for seago4ng baFges-" 1 Captain Jacobs pointed out that saI- l though the Revenue Cutter. Servicc | had been able to save many lives and l tow safely into port many valuabla vessels and cargoes StifI the number. of such fatalities were appalling. Dur ing the years 1912 and 1913 the se;s~ vice had saved 433 lives and assisted it439 vessels carrying cargoes valued at
 more than $21,OOe,OOO.
 II these ngureS mean Anyth1ngs} l continued the Captain, tsthey mea that with all the modern appliances and investments for securing safety
 at sea, ships still are menaced by its | dangers, and that provision should be
 made for additional safeguards for fruitful safeguards would be the con-
 struction of such artificial waterways las would make possible the ayoid I aRce of dangerous shoals" s Georgia's inland waterways were discussed by Sigo Myers. president Gf 1 the National Bank of Savannah, and
 in the course of his address he de- clared that already the pressure upon 1 the railways of the state was becoFn-
 ing so great that cheaper freighAs | should be transported. navigaoIe | waterways
 With the rapid increase in popuIa-
 tion in Georgia that is expected anu
 inevitable,'' continued MT. Myers. tstF1e power of the railroads to handle the vast augmented volume of heavy freights, such as these, will be mad, equate to satisfy the, public demands for expedition in freight ttansDorta- tion coupled with speed and&safety in the movement of an also rapidly in creasing passenger traffic. The doI1. ble tracking of the various systems or the state, costly though it will be must be forced on them within a few
 years, but even that will not long CT able them to meet the pressure ot freights in the early months of the year and the fall and winter, without 1 vexatious delays and open discontent on the part of business interests and the public generally.
 ''The development of the states waterways will assist in a measure iii relieving the railroads of the hauling of the coarse, heavy and cheap-payins freights, and enable them to more Satisfactorily move the higher classes Iof merchandise. There is no -appar- ent reason why a great number of our farmers should not receive their fer Iti1izers, for instance, by water route. from the factories in Savan nnafl lrAthens, Albany Macon C,oII1l,n h11s