Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1921-11-04

this year than last and per cent greater
by the local traction company.
CITY TO LODGE
HOMELESS AND JOBLESS.
ALI the foregoing would indicate that
st. Louis is in pretty good shape. And
yet the Government reports are that
there are 90 800 unemployed. Various
persons question the accuracy of the
Government figures. st. Louis, however,
is preparing to make a house-to- house
survey and meanwhile methods are being
devised to lodge homeless and 1obless
persons and at the same time find some
sort Of municipal work for them. 1t is
not proposed to care for floaters or make
the city attractive for them. The first
municipal lodging house opened Nov. 1.
ST. LOUIS MAY
BECOME STEEL CENTER.
St. Louis has visions of becoming the
steel center of the Western world. over
at Granite City, ILL.,, just north Of Eas-
St. Louis, the st. Louis Coke and Chem
ical Company has a $10,O00.OO0 plant, IN
which IL is making high grade coke out
Of the highly voltic coal of southern ILL
nois, which was supposed to be useless
for coke. There are eighty coke ovens
and one blast furnace in the plant. Out
Of 1900 tons of coal a day the recovery
is 20 per cent in coke. Also there are
by-products of tar, ammonium sulphate,
benzol, tuluol and zylol. The gas sur
plus goes to East st. Louis for use by
that city and by the National Enameling
and Stamping Company in its tin mills.
This is the first time highly volatile
bituminous coal has been used in large
volume in coking.
The company makes 500 tons of pig
iron a day, using 80 per cent Missouri
ores and 80 per cent OF ore from the lake
region.
There is said 10 be a very great econ
omy in the process used at Granite City
both in the cost OF the coal, the time en-
ployed in the making Of the coke and in
the by-products. These economies are ex-
pected to draw steel plants to the st.
Louis district and give full play to the
great advantages it Possesses by Its CEN
trail location and its command of the
Mississippi River.
Pittsburgh and Gary have a rival in
the making
RAILROAD YARD
PROBLEM.
But while st. Louis sees great posi-
bilities in coke and steel plants, it has
now, or it will have rIouble-mOre trou-
BILE than it has today. The city has
some twenty-five or thirty railroads of
big and moderate size. They have an
amount Of yardage that is appalling. Each
road appropriated such space as was
possible to obtain when it got entrance
to the city. AS usual the roads that
were there before the new conner did
nothing to aid the new arrival but rather
to embarrass it. Then, when the old
roads needed more yardage with the
growth of their traffic they had to spread
out as best they could. The building of
bridges over the Mississippi caused vsri
Gus changes in yardage plans. Every
addition or change was with thought Of
the need at that particular time rather
than with regard to the future.
The result has been the growth Of
horribly complex and utterly inefficient
mass Of tracks on each side of the river
through which Il is q long and difficult
job to get mixed freight. Not until
scientific and simple yard system is de
vtsed will st. Louis be able to handle
freight, local or through, expeditiously
and economically.
TINE USED IN
HANDLING CARS.
1t is said it not infrequently takes
week TO get a car through the maze of
yards from one main line on one side
Of the river TO its train on the main
line on the other side of the Mississippi
and no man knows how many landings
It has meantime. 1t will be necessary
for all the railroads to forget their rival
ries and join IN the work Of correction
or this situation will become worse each
year. But railroads are slow to do this
TRAFFIC ON
MISSISSIPPI.
Meantime the Mississippi River is
claiming more attention. From the
municipal wharf in st. Louis trains" of
barges are going down the river regu-
larly with freight. There are forty-hve
Of these steel barges In service. Forty
of them have 2OO0-ton freight capacity.
Some bigger ones are being built 1t
takes seven days for freight 10 go by
water from St Louis to New Orleans.
By rail the average is six days. The re-
turn trip Is much longer for the barge.
But the freight rate by barge is 20 per
cent less than by rail.
It may take a long time to develop
big freight traffic on the Mississippi.
but 1t looks as If a good start has been
made. There is plenty of traffic for rail-
roads and river and st. Louis needs
both arteries for. in addition to the
wheat and the coal and the other great
bulk OF commodities that pour through
It's gates on the way to market, It has
a production Of goods that goes the
world over and the variety OF these prod
ucts is acknowledgements, 1921, by
Public Ledger Company.