The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1919-05-31
SEAPORTS
INLAND ARE
POSSIBILITIES

Chairman Edward N. Hurley. of the
! United States Shipping Board, that hi9
! great ambition was to write pow
erful piece on THE Seaports of Kan
sas," may live to achieve his high
hopes. He is a young reporter and
stranger things have happened in the
last three decades than that some giant
freighter should tie UP to her dock
somewhere in Kansas.
A seaport in Kansas need not justi-
fy the summer resort keepers of that
fruitful state in holding out Swept
by ocean breezes'' as one of the COM
forts to be enjoyed by the visitor nor
will the actual physical presence of
i an ocean going vessel in the waters OF
Kansas be necessary to the establish
ment of Kansas seaports.
An all-water route to the sea, navi-
gable 20 the point of usefulness to
freight or passenger boats of any type.
will make seaport of any of our in
land points in the same sense that
Manchester, England, which dug ship
canal to the coast, is now one of the
greatest seaports of the world.
New Orleans. the greatest seaport of
our southern coast and potentially one
of the greatest seaports of the world,
is situated $50 miles inland from the
Gulf of Mexico. Philadelphia and
Washington are far removed from the
coast line but the former is a COM
mercial port of first Importance and
ocean going ships of deep draft and
large tonnage visit the latter at will.
These cities were located with special
reference to the natural advantages
they would possess by their proximity
to navigable streams leading to the
sea. Nature had done her part fully.
and man had to build docks and ware
houses and keep the channels clear.
New York, more than any other
state, perhaps. has been placed in n
position to appreciate the value of for
eign commerce through the great vol
ume of overseas shipping which is en-
:oyed by New York City. The match
less Hudson river furnished her
splendid example of inland waterway
traffic. AS a result she has spent mil
lions of her peoples money in the con-
struction of great canal, and is now
reaping the benefit of her enterprise.
The first and most important work
in the development of inland water
ways and the upbuilding of our over
seas shipping, in the opinion or Chair
man Edward n. Hurley, is the linking
of water and rail transportation and
the water and rail transportation sys-
TENS. but in the United States it IS
now and has long been the weakest
link
Our waterways, due largely to the
generosity of nature, are capable In
their present stage of development
of bearing heavy traffic and transport
ing vast quantity of freight at cheap
rates. Adequate use of them, however,
cannot be made without suitable term
mails bringing them into contact with
railway lines. Terminal and harbor
facilities should be effectively organized
and possess modern equipment for Tire
rapid loading and unloading of cargo
the numbering, repair and dispatch OF
ships.
The coast line of the United States IS
more than 500 miles. Coastwise ship
ping has suffered in competition be-
cause the railway companies have
/ largely controlled boat lines and most
of the terminals. The Great Lakes
shore line in the United States is g.
$50 miles Indentations bring it up %
a total of 1929 miles. The lakes are
Interchangeable and give egress to the
Atlantic ocean through canals and the
ST. Lawrence and Hudson rivers.
There are more than 290 streams in
the United States that are adapted to a
substantial degree for inland waterway
transportation. They are navigable for
about IS 400 miles. Canals supplement
the rivers and furnish more than 1880
miles of navigable waterway. 1t is true
that Upwards of 2,444 miles of these
canals, or more than half their mileage.
have been abandoned, but they can be
reclaimed and, in the opinion of trans
portation experts and government Off
Gals who have been giving study to
the problem, ultimately will be. Six
teen private canals, with tota lof 632
miles, are all in operation.
During a normal year there is trans
ported through the Chesapeake and
Delaware canal by the boats of one line
between 125. 900 and 10000 gross tons
of general merchandise and upwards
of 200, 900 passengers. 1t is conserva-
tory estimated that this business could
be increased 10 per cent. by improve
ment of both waterway and Transport
tation facilities.
The importance of this canal even
under present conditions, to the port of
Philadelphia and environs, is shown by
the fact that in 1914, the normal year
last preceding the war, 105,678,580 feet
of the lumber came in through the
canal as against S6.o96,693 by the out
side route. In 1916, with tonnage scarce
and ocean rates almost prohibitive
on account of war conditions, 110,049.-
183 feet of lumber was shipped in via
the canal as against 1861 feet by the
outside route.
Business of this canal also gives an
example of the economy of inland wa
terways transportation. Freight rates
on lumber from North Carolina, ship
ned by way of the inland passage,
during the years 1916 and 1917, aver
-. -
same period the rate by the outside
route averaged SIG per thousand feet
The extent of the development of in
land waterways in the United States
ie practically unlimited. There is hard
w community in the country that