The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1920-05-20
RIVER MAY
PROVE BOON
TO FRUITMEN
Representatives of Portland
Navigation Company Confer
with Local Shippers
TO START STEAMER SERVICE
Steamship Companies are to be Asked
to Provide Refrigeration thru
Canal Zone

General Manager Capt. Clyde Raabe
Secretary e. v. Crum, and Traffic
Manager Sauer, Of the Portland Nav
igation company, spent Saturday af-
ternoon in this city for the purposes
of investigating the possibilities for
inaugurating steamboat service on the
Columbia between Portland and this
city and Pasco. During their stay
here they called on a number Of the
local business men and shippers and
received much encouragement for the
project.
The Portland company has steam
cg ready for the run just as soon as
satisfactory arrangements can be
made. They have definitely decided
TO rnt the boat on an up-river sched-
ule and are now considering one of two
routes, the Snake river run to Lewis
ton or the Colombia run to Kennewick
ard Pasco. If there is sufficient busi-
ness te justify il, TIE company .nI.h
prefers the Columbia run owing "a the
difficulties of navigating the Snake at
low stages of water.
At every call in this city the visit
ors received practically the same ans
wer: "We shall be only too glad to
ship by water # We are given a boat
seivice that we .sr depend n snd a
regular schedule" In answer to this
the Portland men assured the local
business men that their steamer will
be run on a regular schedule making
Kennewick and Pasco every five days,
they explained, however, that because
of the nature Of the river business It
would be impossible to maintain any
definite hours of arrival at the several
landing places.
"The big problem Of successful nav
igation Of the upper river, is the ques-
ton Of down-river freight" said Capt.
Raabe.
"We have no doubt but that we can
load our boat to capacity every trip
with up-river tonnage, but we cannot
afford to operate If We have to go back
down the river empty. We realize
that If we are to continue in business
we must give satisfactory service and
schedule Of tariffs that will
the shipper for the slower
of freight and the cost of
haulage from the river to his store or
When we start this is the
kind of service we expect to give
While here the boat men called upon
the managers of several of the local
fruit-shipping organizations and were
assured there would be large move
ment Of apples by the river route pro-
vided refrigeration can be had on the
steamers which ply between coasts
via the canal. Test shipments by this
route have been made and it has been
ascertained that the apples viii not
hold up in the hot climate of the canal
zorie..
The visitors said that upon their re-
turn to Portland they would immedi-
ately take this matter up with repre-
sentatives of the steamship companies
and expressed the opinion that these
companies would give favorable con-
to the refrigeration propo-
sition. Several lines Of steamers are
now operating between the Atlantic
coast and Portland, they said, and
for business is rather
keen.
With the prospects of a very seri-
Gus car shortage for the next two or
three years local fruitmen foresee
great possibilities for all-water route
10 the eastern terminals.