Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-04-25
Big Steel BargeS, Propelled by
Oil Engines, viii Compete
With Railroads and May
Win Back River Commerce

ST. LOUIS, No, April ga new
battle has been opened to win back for
the great Mississippi waterways the
traffic which the railroads have wrested
from them.
It's opening was marked by the ar
rival here Of the strangest craft within
the memory of the oldest riverman and
the shrieking of the loudest whistle
ever heard on the waterfront
The arrival of the Inco l from the
Howard shipyard, where she was built
at Jeffersonville Ind, was the occasion
of a celebration all along the shore.
For the Inco is the first of a great
feet of thirty-six river freighters, as
different from the picturesque steam
boats" as was the monitor from the
other fighting craft of the Civil war.
WILL REDUCE RATES.
But the Inco, say her owners, Will
reduce freight rates 20 per cent below
the railroad charges.
For years owners of the old style
steamboats, have been trying to save
what remained of their disappearing
trade. The railroads nave made two
moves to their one and they have had
to stand by and watch the greatest
almost unused.
A man new to the Mississippi valley,
a native of Holland, the land of inland
waterways, pointed the way to revival
of river navigation. John H. Bernhard,
a naturalized American citizen and
president of the new Inland Navigation
company, capitalized at $9,0OO,OOO' is
the Moses expected to lead the shipping
interests out of the wilderness of rail-
road opposition.
Bernhard did not put over his scheme
without difficulty. He had to go to
England to get his capital, and he had
to insure his new craft in a British
company to get the low rate which is
one of the most important features of
his scheme.
The old wooden steamboats, paid as
high as 10 per cent for insurance. But
the new barges are all steel and have
no fire aboard. Even the cooking is
done by electricity. They can be in
sured for 1-2 per cent. American
companies refused to take them as
cheaply as this.
The new Inco is built to glide over
shoals. 1t can be operated with 500
ton load in 1-2 feet of water and with
a full cargo draws but 1-2 feet
1t is propelled by four eighty-horse
engines using gasoline and crude oil.
It is equipped with wireless and will
carry two operators so the officers of
the company may communicate with it
at all times.
The boat is built for business. 1t
has a capacity of 1000 tons. The COW
ering of the freight container may be
removed in sections.
1t is equipped with a travelling crane.
The boat is 24O feet long, forty-two feet
wide and eight feet deep. 1t mas a
speed Of six miles an hour upstream
and twelve miles an hour down stream.
Fourteen men are sufficient to man it.
STEER BY ELECTRICITY.
The pilot house is the most interest,"
ing part of the boat. The steering is
done by electricity. In front of the
pilot is a dial which shows the exact
stand of the four balanced rudders.
On the left is a clinometer which
shows the list" of the boat to one side
or the other. There are also gauges
which give the man at the wheel the
exact draft forward, aft and amidships.
Other gauges show the amount of water
in the ballast tanks, which can be in
creased or decreased, giving any desired
draft.
The Inco rs maiden trip is from st.
Louis to New Orleans. The boat can
make 1T in five days. When other
barges are finished, a tri-weekly service
will be started, and when the whole fleet
is in commission every important town
along the Ohio, Mississippi and Mis-
souri, rivers will find a place on the
schedule of the big freighters.