Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-10-24


KY, in connection with the celebration
Of completion of the nine-foot channe
Of the Ohio River from Pittsburgh, Pa.
| to Cairo, Ill, follows:
To My Fellow Citizens:
During the day we have COM
pleted the journey from Cincinnati to
Louisville as part of the celebration OF
the Ohio Valley upon the completion
| Of the improvement Of the Ohio River
into a modern waterway.
! The river has now been formally
opened to traffic from above Pitts
! burgh, 1000 miles to Cairo, on the
Mississippi, from which point another
| 1000 miles of moderniZed waterway
leads to the sea at New Orleans. BY
dams and locks, by dredging and revet-
ments, we have transformed the Ohio
! River from q stream of shadows, Oft
times dangerous even to RATS, into a
canaliZed waterway of an assured 8 feet
of depth at all seasons. This tranSfor-
nation will not revive the romantic
steamboatin' days of Mark Twain, but
! 1t will move more goods.
The picturesque floating palaces of
Mark Twain's days drew 2 or 3 feet of
| water and even then found their way
the snags and over sand bars. In time
| they were unable to compete with the
spreading railroads and river naviga-
| ton passed into its Dark Ages. But now
is its day Of renaissance. Upon deep
and regular channels unromantic Diesel
| tugs now tow long trains of steel barges.
What the river has lost in romance it
has gained in tonnage, for in steam
boatin' days 500 tons was a great cargo,
while today 10000 tons is moved with
less men and less fuel. 1t is thus by
deeper channels and new inventions
that our rivers come back as great ar
teries of commerce after half a century
of paralysis. And the new waterways
are not competitive but complementary
to our great and efficient railways. It
is the history of transportation that an
increase Of facilities and cheapening
OF transportation increase the volume
of traffic.
In the steamboatin' days, the rivers
were the great arties for travel. Those
who must hurry will have little inclina-
ton to journey by river steamers, but
those who wish recreation may we'll re-
turn to this magnificent and powerful
river. The majesty OF the Ohio was
born Of the Ice Age, half million years
ago. It's beauty remains today undis-
turbed by our improvements, and will
remain long after our Nation and race
have been replaced with some other
glories Of "Ole Man River" may now
again find rest an food for the soul in
travel on its currents.
River Place in History.
The Ohio has a large place in the
history Of our race. On this route $50
years ago birch canoes carried La Sale
and his first party of white men into
the wilderness of the Middle West. He
was the first to visit the falls of Louis
vile, whose roar is this moment in my
ears. Down this valley through succeed
ing centuries poured the great human
It'd, that pioneered the greatest agri-
cultural migration in history. In turn
came the explorer, the trapper, the early
settler, the sweep Of farmers ever press
Ing back the frontier in search of
virgin land and independent homes, the
merchant, the manufacturer, the city
builder, until this great valley is today
one of the rich places OF the earth. 1t
Is rich not alone in the sense of prop
erty, but in the sense of happy and in
dependent homes of virile men and
women. From forefathers schooled of
courage, adventure and independence.
OF spirit tempered by hardships, have
sprung race of men and women who
have oft given leadership to the build
ing Of our Republic.
The Improvement of this great water
route has been ever present in the
vision OF our statesmen. George Wash
lngton f1fSt voiced its potentiality to our
newborn Nation. In reporting on one
OF his early journeys he said:
Prompted by these actual observa-
tons, could not help taking a more
extensive view of the vast inland nayi-
CATION possibilities of the United States,
potn from maps and the observations
or others as well as myself, and could
not but be struck with the immense
extent and Importance of 1t and with
the goodness of that Providence which
has dealt its forces to us in SO profuse
a hand. Would to God that we may
have the wisdom and courage to i'm
prove them"
Today, after this 100 years, Wash
1ngton's prayer is come true in a great
er sense than even he dreamed. Other
Presidents in succession over our his
tory have striven for it's DEVELOPMENT.
from Jefferson on down. Lincoln's first
political speech was a plea for its i'm
provement. Our Nation sometimes
moves slowly, but its will is not to be
thwarted. 1t has been a gigantic task
this transformation of the Ohio It
represents an expenditure and a labor
half as great as the construction of
the Panama Canal. Like many cur
rent problems, the development of our
rivers is never finished accomplish
ment, 1t must march with the progress
of life and invention.
While am proud to be the President
who witnesses the apparent completion
of its Improvement, have the belief
that some day new inventions and new
pressures of population will require it's
further development. In some genera
ton to come they will perhaps look
back at our triumph in building a
channel nine feet in depth in the same
way that we look at the triumph of
our forefathers when, having cleared
the snags and bars, they announced
that boat drawing two feet of water
could pass safely from Pittsburgh to
New Orleans. Yet for their times and
means they, too, accomplished great
task. 1t Is the river that is permanent:
it Is one Of Gods gifts to man, and
with each succeeding generation we will
advance in our appreciation and our
use of it. And with each generation
1t will grow In the history and tradi-
ton of our Nation.
Others to Be Improved.
And while we celebrate the compile
ton and connection of a great water
way 1000 miles, from Pittsburgh to
New Orleans, we have still unfinished
tasks in improvement of our other great
waterways up to the standards we have
established upon the Ohio.
Some have doubted the wisdom of
these Improvements. I have discussed
the subject many times and in many
places before now, and I shall not re-
peat the masses of facts and figures
The American people, 1 believe, are
convinced. What they desire is action,
not argument. I may, however, men
ton that as the improvement of the
Ohio and its tributaries has marched
section by section during this past IL
years the traffic has grown from 25,-
n0n nn0 tons to over so nN0 600 tons an