New-York tribune., 1920-07-25
Rush Orders - Being
Sent to New York
By Water


ing the feasibility of such a course
there is great divergence of opin-
ion, some claiming that boat built
to stand the buffeting of the lakes
would be too unwieldy for the canal
except in the most tranquil summer
days. 1t is quite certain, however,
that the experiment will be tried.
Most Of the east-bound business
at present is grain, -four, lumber,
pig iron and a variety of steel
products. While the east-bound
business seems to be Of the great
est Importance, getting food and
raw materials to a waiting world,
all of the boats are carrying west
bound goods to capacity.
One Federal official said there had
been few, If any, cases where their
barges had returned from New York
empty this season. Flaxseed for a
Buffalo oil products industry, sugar
and general merchandise are carried.
From Monday to Thursday, inclu-
sive, the second week of July this
season, more than 1900 tons of re-
fined sugar from the seaboard re-
fineries were unloaded at the Buff
falo terminals, besides 1900 barrels
of asphalt from a single barge and
two barge loads Of general merchan-
disc.
Those figures were given by J.
B. Garman, state harbor master,
who added that he never put in such
a hectic, busy time before in all his
twenty-six years on the one job;
which is saying q good deal, con-
sidering the halcyon days of the old
Erie Canal, when more than 1000
boats were on it's muddy waters.
All Along the Line
The same prosperous condition is
evident all along the canal. 1t is
said Schenectady electrical con-
Germ ships its export goods by its
own barges and passes said goods
direct into the holds of South Amer
ican-bound ships in New York
Harbor.
But most shippers at points be-
tween New York and Buffalo are
unlucky If they do not own their
own boats. Boat owners don't like
to bother with short hauls. If they
can load pig iron at Buffalo, taking
three days for the process, go to
Providence, r. l., taking three more
days to unload, no shorter trip will
tempt them unless it is a matter of
handling grain from Buffalo to New
York, and only then BECAUSE boat
time can be saved in that it takes
but three hours to load or unload
grain. Time is money on the canal.
Every one who owns a stick Of
f1oatable timber is hustling. The
old easy-going canal days are gone,
never to return. Any boatman or
other employee who gums up the
works by fracturing the Eighteenth
Amendment gets fired quick, even in
these days of labor scarcity. There
Is no more towpath. It is true the
boatsmen and, in many cases, their
families live on the boat, but, bar
ring accidents or a shortage of coal,
it's case Of "cast off" at daybreak
and no tying up' until dark. There
is no more of the lettering along the
towpath with mules and horses.
That life has taken on the romantic
tinge which only time can give.
Cost of a New Boat
1t is stated authoritatively that a
cement boat, built under war condi-
tions, cost about $4,000, the new
type wooden boat about $4,000
and steel boats-war prices, remem-
ber-about $4,000.
Those prices probably can be bet
tered under present conditions.
There is great divergence of opin-
ion on the nt-fabricated boat.
Government officials, however, state
that those placed in commission this
season are standing up we'll. Most
canal men favor the wood and steel.
wood boats for great capacity and
steel for strength.
Comparatively little canal boat
building is being done at the present
time, but the air is full of rumors
of building operations by various in
dlviduals and companies to begin
within the next month or two. boats
for delivery next season. To a few
1t is good speculative proposition
with big cargo rates in sight. but to
the bulk of the men interested in
canal transportation and freight for