The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1926-05-21
GREAT RIVER WILL
ATTEMPT COMEBACK
St. Paul-New Orleans Barge
Line Planned.

Moline, ILLS the Mississippi river
to stage a comeback?
With the assured operation Of a
barge line on six-day schedule be-
tween st. Louis and Minneapolis, fol-
lowing the great success Of the fed
eral barge line for several years past
between st. Louis and New Orleans,
there appears to be q new and bright
er day dawning for the "Father of
Waters" at least from a freight
standpoint.
An agreement, reached after a Sc
ries of conferences between Minneap-
oils and st. Paul business men and
Secretary of War Davis and Gen. I.
| Q. Ashburn of the Inland Waterways
| corporation, means that the govern
ment will supplement the $6OO,OO0
subscribed by the upper river cities
to the extent necessary to provide ade-
| Quate transportation service above st.
Louis.
At the outset the equipment will In
| clude three boats of $40 horsepower
each, 1872 feet in length, 81 feet beam
and mean draft with fuel of feet
inches. There will also be fifteen
steel barges Of 400 to 500 tons capac-
ity each. wv .s..s. e, ~ ,-~~e
This fleet will insure sailings six
days of the week, connecting at st.
Louis with the Mississippi-W Warrior
service.
Bids will be opened in time to per-
init construction during the coming
year and starting of the service with
the opening of navigation in the
spring of 1927.
Channel to Be Deepened.
Some Improvements of the river
are planned. Forty-one miles of the
channel between Moline and ST. Louis
will be deepened. In the Moline dis
trict of 65S miles, about $50 miles
have minimum depth of six feet at
low water. 1t is the purpose to deep
en- the remainder by either dredging
or securing before the new barge
service opens.
There was time when this artery
of commerce was big with Importance,
both for the transportation of pas
sengers and freight. A trip on the
river was regarded as treat. The
cuisine of the lordly steamers was
world renowned. And to add to the
lure there was always the chance of
test of speed, sporting events Of no
mean Importance.
Perhaps the most treasured mem
DRY of the veterans was the great
race between the Natchez and the
Robert E. Lee in 1870. These boats
ranked with the largest and fastest
craft on the river. The NatcheZ was
built at Cincinnati and was COM
manded by Capt. T. P. feathers. The
Robert E. Lee was launched at New
Albany just after the Civil war, John
w. Cannon being in command.
There was the greatest rivalry be-
tween the two companies owning
these boats and 1t was finally decid
ed to arrange race, purely for the
purpose of determining speed superb
ority.
Captain Cannon stripped the Lee
for the race, removing all the upper
works and rigging that could be dis
pensed with. He refused all business
of any kind, and no passengers were
carried.
The race was to be- upstream from
New Orleans. On the afternoon OF
June 80 the Lee backed out from the
levee and five minutes later the
Natchez followed.
The Lee Wins Handily.
The entire nation watched the race
with breathless interest. The tele-
graph reported the progress and the
relative positions of the two craft at
every point. At the principal cities
of NatcheZ, Vicksburg, Helena and
Memphis thousands assembled on the
river banks to watch the flight Of the
river leviathans.
The Natchez lost, due to some Ill
luck in running into fog bank north
of Cairo, which caused delay of six
hours Captain Cannon reached st.
Louis with the Robert e. Lee an easy
winner, his time being 3 days. ~
hours and 30 minutes.
With the passing Of the river
steamers also went the gamblers.
The spirit of adventure was rampant
in those romantic days. Large sums
of money were carried by the plant
ers. The betting spirit was rife, and