The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-09-09
~ Irving c. Norwood

i [By Irving C. Norwood
BATON ROUGE, La, Sept. 4-Ine
Standard Oil company has an i'm
mense plant here which is sympto.
matte Of the relations that will exist
in the future between the MISSISSIPPI
river and big business. -.
Ruilt on the left bank of the river
tabout three miles above the city prop
er at cost Of S3,00O,0O0, win eho,
mons tank capacity, more tnan hai.
a mile of ,rivate terminal DOCKS anu
every modern convenience for mana
ling the product. this plant aHoras
i striking evidence of the attitude OF
4 This great CORPORATION, reputed TO pc
!, among the most efficiently managed
{ in ali the world, toward water navl-
cation. - than
l1oo miles above New Orleans ana
more than twice that distance from
the month of the river, the channei
nm 10 the city and even for forty miles
beyond. is nayigable by ocean goins
/. vessels drawing thirty-six feet OF wat
! err. Big oil tankers from every port
4 in the world ply the river between
Baton Rouge and the gulf and heets
of modern steel barges, under t~.
iuse the shallower channel between
this point and the western rennerles
plant at Wood River. ILL.,. far up
1 stream. Owing to the unprecedenteo
demand for gasoline for export, the
Standard has been forced TO puy neas,
ily of its competitors. The Standaro
barges go up stream light ana come
down loaded to Baton Rouge where
the nrodnct is stored until transferred
| to the big vessels for shlpmehl
abroad.
For many long hours before We
reached Baton Rouge, the Steel City
had steamed steadily down stream
through a country that appeared
was not hard to imagine-no different
than at the time of La Sales wonder
ful voyage Of discovery. The only
difference seemed to he that we knew
where We were bounI and La Sale
! did not Hour after hour We churned
| along in the heavy yellow current De-
tween low-lying shores lined with ap-
parently fmpenetrabie forest. We saw
no cities nor towns, no farm houses
nor homes: We passed no steamers
nor barges. Except for an occasional
gang OF government or state laborers.
pulling snags or mattressing the pro-
! tecting Ieyees. the river seemed de-
serted. Then some one glimpsed
smudge of smoke in the distance and
! In the course OF half an hour the big
| STANDARD plant, with its power sta
ton. acres of tanks and long. piled,
eff cient looking terminal docks, was
/ in sight.
In her berth at one end Of the long
dock lay big tank steamer, loading
oil for export. Another of equal size
/ was just edging out into the channel
for the down stream run. At another
dock a powerful tow boat had Just
picked UP a group of six. tank-aden
barges for the trip to Wood River. It
was a fine sight, after the desoiate
country through which we had pass
ed, and WAS mighty good concrete evil
dence OF the efficiency Of rail, pipe
line. ocean and river connections
working together at one point toward
common end.
"This appears really wonderful. a
lmuch-trayelled passenger remarked.
"This might be small section OF the
highly developed Rhine. where iron
and steel plants. pottery factories and
| almost every other variety OF manu-
| featuring and warehousing industry
! elbow one another along the entire
length OF that utilized waterway. This
! is Indicative Of what this river will
look like some day along its entire
| length"
Steel City, a river man held in high
esteem for his energy and. efficiency
and for his ability to get maximum
amount OF work out of his irrespon-
sible black roustabouts, put In his
oar.
"I've run this river since ] was a
boy" he said, "and i've handled
freight in every way that is possible
on the Mississippi of today. And in
all that time there has never been a
moment when did not firmly believe
that the solution OF the freight carry
| ing problem lay with the river cities.
1t is absolutely up to them whether
the river remains in Its present state
of idleness or come back with a
rush.
How do you figure that out?" an
interested passenger inquired
1.-THE cities must build terminals"
said the captain with emphasis.
| .Every one of you has watched those
niggers toting freight on and off this
boat at these river landings we've
touched, must have smiled and won
dered. 1t doesn't make any difference
whether you know anything about
river transportation or not. Your
common sense must tell you that this
| is a foolish and expensive way to
handle freight in this day and age
| and also that this boat, an old-fash-
Toned river packet. Is not the best
! type OF cargo carrier.
| "The company operating this boat
realizes this to the fullest extent and
/ is now preparing plans for a fleet OF
steel barges and several powerful.
| efficient, tow boats. But steel barges
and tow boats cost lot OF money and
/ in order to demonstrate that the
company meant business and to make
the public at river cities acquainted
with its plans and purposes, 1t was
considered best to operate at the
start on limited scale and with such
equipment as could be picked up in a
J &c a ~ y