The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1914-07-20
..-,h.rd craft 10 Hung UP for Hours
Along Mud Bank At One Place
Whsrs Freight is
Loaded.
MEANS HOURS or DELAY
M. New steel crast i Carrying More
Freight Tonnage Than Old
style River
steamer.

NEW ORLEANS, La. July 20
.parnhard self;propelled barge No. 5
now on its way from New Orleans to
q Paul, will save SO much money on
~. cost Of transportation that the
yoyaee will show profit in spite Of
,ba many handicaps incident to the
shore delays, absence Of terminal
Equipment at the stopping places. and
lark of organization and system in
M mater OF collateral factors. that
q to make up the business of inland
navigation said John H. Bernhard.
designer. builder and operator OF the
modern barge which he is sending on
an initial efficiency demonstration
trim to st. Paul, on his return to New
orleans after personally superintend-
,np the loading OF 100000 feet of lum-
Ter at Jeffries, La. and starting the
barge on her long journey up the Mis-
sissippi river.
The barge Is so constructed As to
offer no obstacles to rapid loading,
and under ideal terminal conditions
can receive some 400 tons Of freight
an hour. Under only fairly good ter
minal conditions the 100000 feet Of
lumber. or 800 tons, taken on at Jef-
ries could have been placed aboard in
ten hours. But while the mill on
shore IS splendidly equipped with ma
chimes and devices for quickly and eco
nomically moving and handling lum-
her between the mill and the yards,
there are no facilities whatever for
handling lumber from the mill or
Yards to the nearby river bank. For
this reason, 100 hours were required
to move 500 tons from the yards to
the boats, or at the rate OF only eight
tons per hour. !.
+ y Up Against Mud Bank.
In this way 80 hours were lost, and
the on-lookers were treated to the
spectacle Of the most modern river
craft in all the Americas. boat 80
built as to combine every possible
economy Of time aud cost, lying up
against mud bank wasting her sub
stance while gang Of negroes. by
main strength and awkwardness,
dragged heavy lumber to her deck at
the rate Of eight tons an hour when
her receiving capacity is 400 tons per
hour.
AS a result Of. this delay, the
barge could not leave Natchez until
Monday noon, July Js." said Mr.. Bern
hard. but II the l9ss Of time serves
its purpose the people who are crying
loudest for revival Of inland naviga-
ton will be awakened to the fact that
they themselves must build water
front freight handling facilities of q
standard and, economic design.
In Europe. the combination OF eco
nomic boats and economic terminal
facilities gives so great an advantage
to the water craft that the railroads
require legislative protection"
Neglect Terminal Facilities.
In America, through neglect, lack
Of terminal facilities, in addition to
the permitted practice by the rail-
roads OF making low rates to river
towns and high rates to non-river
towns. in combination with a complete
disregard OF the elemental necessity
Tor through bills Of lading by water
and rail-, have placed the railroads In
position to throttle inland navigation
and keep 1t throttled SO long as pro.
cucers. consumers. and shippers per-
NIT them to do SO.
The self-propelled steel barge we
are sending to St Paul can carry more