Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1916-12-01
Putting a River to Work
BY Frederic I. Haskin

. I. Haskin
terminals: an adequate terminal at
every river town, large or small. The
Mississippi Terminal League has been
formed to- see about terminals. The
plan is to have the terminal munich
pal structure, each city and town
building and maintaining its own. The
terminal league is an organization
whose units are the various chambers
|of commerce and business mems
leagues in, the river cities. The
leagues engineers have already drawn
up elaborate plans for different types
of terminals suitable for every size
of town from great cities like st. Louis
and New Orleans to little river. land
ings where hundred people live.
The question of freight handling is
coming in for great deal Of study
for 1t is only by cheap and expedi-
ti0us handling of freight that the
river can compete with the railroads.
Water shipments are cheaper than
rail shipments, unless the expense Of
transferring the freight from cars to
boats is big enough to eat up the diff
ference. The old-time method Of load
ing and unloading river cargo boats
with gang of singing negro rousta-
bouts and swearing first mate was
undeniably picturesque and equally in
effective. Machinery is playing big
ger part. and the essential feature Of
the new terminal plans is the complete
replacing of human labor by machines.
Steam cranes and elevator systems
will do all the work in every city of
any size If the plans of the league are
carried out.
Nowadays the river traffic is begin
ming to show few signs of coming
back on its own account, even with
out municipal stimulation The old
boat lines here, some of them with
historic names running back over half
a century, report increases business,
and one big new line has just been
started, feature of which is the steel
barge idea.
Much is hoped for from these steel
barges. They may prove the prize
cargo carriers of the future river
trade Towede,by some vessel with a
dous loads. Those now in operation
carry 5000 tons-a load equivalent to
that OF, three heavy freight trains. The
new company intends eventually to op.
crate such barges on bi-weekly
schedule between st. Louis and New
Orleans. when they will evidently play
an appreciable part in national freight
traffic.
The steel barge has helped to over
come one of the main difficulties Of
river freight business under the old
conditions, by making the insurance
hazard smaller. The steel hull has
little or nothing to fear from snags or
bars. In the matter of insurance.
things have been improved generally
in the river business. and good deal
of growth is traceable to this one
cause. Under the old regime, the
shipper had to insure his own goods
while they were on the water. while
on land his worries end as soon as
the railroad company puts a seal on
the freight car. Because the shipper
did his own insuring, the boat compan-
les were unable to quote net freight
rate including insurance. Now the
boat lines insure freight Just as the
railroad companies do. and they have
educated the insurance companies in
to thinking better of river risk than
they once did.
There is little doubt that river traf
fic will increase in importance in the
next few years. both absolutely and
relative to the total business Of the
nation. The rivers are hardly doing
their share of transport labor. An in
crease is probably due to arrive on its
own account; but ii the river cities
succeed in. pulling together and put
ting through their elaborate and COM
prehensive schemes for municipal
docks and terminals at all the river
points the movement will be immense.
iy stimulated The Panama canal II
also sure to have considerable influ.
ence. opening as it does new route
to western South America and the
Orient The routing OF a shipment
from Chicago to Chile, for instance.
is obviously changed by the canal.
Such change aud all the others like
it will go toward putting the idle riv.
ers OF the central states to work.