Evening star., 1920-05-22
AND TRUCKS
MUST HELP OUT RAILROADS
Freight Congestion Long Foreseen and
Government Is Developing Barge Service
and Motor Vehicle Transportation.

The freight jam and tie-up on the
railways is an inevitable result, ana
not a temporary condition. Those Ia
miliar with the countrys trainc s!s-
tenn have forecast the presen. con-
gestion. The strike of switchmeE was
the straw that broke the camel
back 1. has been estimated that
while the per ton mile Of ireisn' IN
1917. 1918 and 1919 increased 49,. per
cent the increase in car equipment
was la per cent Il further has oseh
estimated that should the railway >
concentr3 e on car bultdlhs
take four years 10 eaten Up Nt.i ~
extra burden development IN "a lines
of industry mas placed upon tne car
riers.
What is the country to 40 IN the
meantimeo
There IS but one apswer-to take
some of TINS burden from tne ran
wayS and divide il among other
means of transportation. THESE means
are at hand and consist in uppuiiu!lls
the inland waterways OF the Cnlteu
states ana stimulating interest," ~
the motor truck.
Congress IN its transportation act,
nroyides for the former The Army
is attending 20 the latter with tne aio
of commercial enterprises
Act to Develop Waterways.
Section 500. of the transportation
act. provides: 1T is hereby declareo
to be the policy of Congress TO pro
mote encourage and develop WAFER
transportation services ana iacAi'ie
in connection with the CO nmerce y,
the United States and te foster ana
preserve in full vigor both ran anu
water transportation
When the railroad adminis,ratl tlon
turned back the carriers 10 tneil
owners il found itself IN possess,,o
of 2 number of barges ana slIl'iaI
craft built during the war LOT use ~,
Waterways have been under controi
of the engineer department OF the
ARMY. and as the transportation det
placed their Development unde1 .se
Secretary of Var. the raiiroau a.
ministration turned the equipment
over 10 the War Department
Three Barge Services.
The government is now opera;,n,s
three regular barge services NANNY
occupied in the transportation OF
Grain cotton. coal. steel and ore me
lines are on the Mississippi between
st Louis and New Orleans. the war
rior river service. in Alabama anu
the New York barge canal.
The route between ST. LOUIS anu
New Orleans is the first adequate and
regular service by barge maintained
on that river in many years. C
gagged on this line are forty steer
cargo barges. each with a capaes
These cargo barges each can carr!
more than long train of freisnt
cars and make the trip from 81. LOUIS
TO New Orleans in eIght Gays. WITH
eighteen days allowed for the return
upstream The average round trip IS
made twice as fast as the average
round trip by rail. Once started
down the river, the barges encounter
no delays. such as congested railway
terminals. where transportation py
land is held up lndennite,y. IN ,Sis lin. a..
grain from the middle west and cot
ton from the south. The shallowness
of the channel. which permits OF none
other than the old style MISSISSIPPI
steamboat as propelling power for
the barges. will prevent the war Pc
partments experiment on TINS nne
with new type of self-propelling
barge which will be in operation
within forty-nve days on other
routes. These self-propelling oarges
have a cargo OF 500 tons and carry
barges. each one of them with
capacity larger than the tug itself.
The Warrior river service. which
connects the Alabama coal ana iron
fields with New Orleans and Gulf
ports. operates twenty wooden coal
harges. with capacities of 500 tons
cach-three steel tow boats and four
self-propelled cargo boats with capac-
tiles of 328 tons apiece. This nver
service largely has been responsible
for the development Of the Alabama
coal and iron fields Steal factories
have sprung up along the banks of
the Warrior and the river has come
into prominence as one of the coun-
try's main commercial waterways:
The New York barge canal which
down the Hudson to New York, at
present is carrying SIS per cent of the
grain from the northwest to New
York and points south. 1t IS a direct
means of connection between the east
and the middle west through the
great lakes. And it is on this line
that the War Department perhaps
has put most of its attention. At pres
ent there are operated nfty-one steer
barges- with capacities OF oo0 tons
each, twenty-one cargo barges with
capacities of $50 tons each tthese
latter being concrete in construction)
and twenty self-propelled barges
with capacities of $50 tons each. In
addition to the consorte in tow.
Opposition Among Owners.
There has been lately a consider
able sentiment stimulated among
private operators interested In the
New York barge canal toward eiiml-
troll on that waterway. At their al.
legged instigation congressional
resolution has ben introduced which
would nullify the new goVefnMe en- I
program applied 70 the New YORK
barge canal
War Department. But should II De
come a law and the present govern
ment operation of the barges on the
canal cease there has been proposal
to buy number Of barges and con-
tinue operation OF line win new
shows the interest with which the
government. through the war De-
partment, attaches to the operation OF
this line as an experiment IL ls
rather useful experiment, TOO: Last
season there were 1.2s9.2lo bushels
of grain transported between tne
great lakes and New YORK.
There are interesting sidelights on
what the government has found thus
far in the operation OF the lines men :
toned. Among them is the fact that
development of inland waterways is
a step toward reduction OF the much
discussed high cost of living. Water
transportation is cheaper than ran
transportation and in many cases,
due to the absence of tie-ups en- route.
is more expeditions. The cut in the
cost of transportation should bring a
like cut in the cost of the article
transported.
Two Projects Advanced.
There are two projects for further
development under consideration by
the War Department at present. The
first is the renovation of the old Del
aware Raritan canal, which would
provide a connecting link between
New York and Philadelphia. and. sec
ondly, the plan to make the st. Law
renee river navigable to ocean-going