The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1914-12-10

don, whether or not private capita
Will boeome interested IN tie huildlal
Of hosts and thur complete MI haesS
sary link in the rehabilitation d tn
river. With the improvement Of tbs
channel By the federal government
and the construction Of terminals BY
tho cities. ample private capital vii
be provided for this purpose. An Ok
ceNent eoacrett illustration Of this
fact 10 contained in . lstter I recedev
ed Just few days ago from John H
Bernhard Of New Orleans, q, success.
full builder OF steel self-propelled, light
draft barges. Mr.. BARNARD has de-
veloped q cargo carrier that 10 ideal
for use on the Mississippi and in his
letter informed me that he had raised
Ave million dollars with which to
finance Mississippi river transnorta-
ton company to operate between Min
neapolis and New Orleans and to
touch ct intermediate points where
terminal facilities were provided. The
building Of barges will be begun In
May Of 1915 and the company will be-
gin operations In May Of 1915.
Mr.. Bernhard is not dreamer. He
10 hard headed, successful business
man, thoroughly familiar with inland
waterway transportation problems in
this country and abroad. He proposed
to run on the lower Mississippi rive
between New Orleans and st. Louis,
barges Of 5000 tons carrying capacity.
with four propellers, seven foot draft,
weather proof cargo boxes and an up
stream speed OF fifteen miles per hour.
On the upper Mississippi he expects to
run bargeS Of 1000 ton carrying ca
pacity, with two propellers. and one
center stern wheel and An upstream
speed Of ten miles per hour.
This company is already an as
sured fact" said Mr.. Bernhard in his
letter to me. Il am at present engag-
ed In the preparation Of plans, speci-
fications and organization, while a
firm Of attorneys is engaged In the
Of a charter, bylaws,
through bills of lading and contracts
conforming to the. various laws Of the
large number OF states in which we
will have to do business,
Even lacking this announcement
from Mr.. Bernhard, am confident that
in Minneapolis, in Davenport and in
most Of the cities-on the upper river
very material sums could be raised
with which to finance an upper river
freight line. In fact, Davenport ship
pers have repeatedly suggested that
company be formed in Davenport to
build barges and operate as trans
portation company and that the ship
pers of other upper river cities be In
vited to cooperate by investing money
In the stock Of this company and by
shipping their freight by water. /
have been inclined to wait, however.
before undertaking the organization OF
such company until the first two
sections Of our terminal were entirely
completed and until there were indi-
cations that other upper river cities
would soon have terminals and hand
ling facilities.
This announcement OF Mr.. Bern
hard was very welcome at this time,
however, and simply serves as an In
dtcation that there is plenty OF avail
able capital for this purpose. With
the government doing It's share in Inn
proving the channel and the cities TAX.
Ing hold Of the terminal question. priv
ate capital will not be backward to In
vest In the securities Of Mississippi
river transportation companies.
The day Is not far distant, IN my
Judgment, when those cities on the up
per Mississippi river, which have not
been farsighted enough to build and
equip their terminals. will labor under
, very heavy handicap indeed and will
be left far behind in the race for in.
and commercial supremacy.