Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 132, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 June 1915 — RIVER TRAFFIC IN THE UNITED STATES [ARTICLE]

RIVER TRAFFIC IN THE UNITED STATES

Relation of Freight Rates to Farm Prices—Traffic is Chiefly Local.

That river traffic In the United States is now generally local and long ruqs by through fast steamers a thing of the past is shown by an investigation of water transportation in this country which the United States Department of Agriculture has just completed. The report, published as Department Bulletin 74 “Inland Boat Service,’’ deals in particular with freight rates, time of transit and length of routes. A few hundred miles, the investigator found, is usually the maximum run of any steamboat, one of 400 miles or more being more exceptional. On only 25 of the 102 routes for which this infgormation was available, was the average rate of speed over 10 miles an hour and on 37 it was less than 6. An average of 10 or even 6 miles an hour amounts to 75 or 100 miles in a night’s run, which is a good rate of speed for local freight traffic.

In connection with the freight rates the investigator paid particular attention to their relation to the farm price of various produce. This was found to vary greatly with the character of the goods. For example, on a 25-mlle route in Maine the rate for a barrel of apples was 15 cents, while the average farm price was >1.725. The freight rate in thia instance was thus 8.7 per cent of the farm price. In the case of cotton traffic in the South tills percentage ranged from .9 to 3. Eggs varied still more, the percentage ranging from .5 to 10. Because of its great bulk, hay was frequently charged from 10 to 40 per cent of its value on the farm. With wheat the range was from 3 to 15 per cent. In the east the principal routes!of steamboat lines include those of the Hudson River and the Chesapeake Bay. On the Hudson there is considerable variety of traffic, through service between New York City and Albany, a number of shorter routes between various cities along this line, and, thirdly, the through traffic of canal boats carrying cargoes from the Erie Canal to tidewater. In Chesapeake Bay traffic radiates principally from the cities of Baltimore, Washington, Norfolk. Through service between Baltimore and Norfolk, Baltimore and Philadelphia, Norfolk and Washington, and Norfolk and Richmond, is maintained throughout the year. The longest routes are to be found in the Mississippi Valley. From Cincinnati, for example, regular lines . run down the Ohio and Mississippi ! rivers as far as Memphis, a distance of 749 miles. Another Important river port is St. Louis, from which regular lines run as far in one direction as St. Paul on the upper Missis- ’ sippi, and in another down the river I to Memphis. Other lines reach Kan- ‘ sas City, Peoria, 111., and mount the Tennessee as far as Waterloo, Ala. From Memphis through boats run to I Vicksburg, where they connect with boats for New Orleans. New Orleans is the center of several Important routes of river traffic. One line follows the Red and Black ■ rivers to Harrisonburg, La., and var- ; ious other routes traverse the net--1 work of rivers, bayous and canals in 1 southern Louisiana as far west as I Bayou Teche, and as far north as the ! Red River. There is also considerable traffic on Lake Ponchartrain. j On the Pacific Coast an Important ! system of waterways consists of the rivers emptying into San Francisco 1 Bay, and here there is a rich truck region which is not conveniently I reached by rail but is comparatively easy of access by boat San Fran- ■ cisco, Sacramento and Stockton are the principal' centers for this traffic. A second coast system consists of the Columbia River and its tributaries. From Portland steamers run down the Columbia to Astoria and up l as far as CeUlo Falls. Above the Celilo Falls other boats reach points I on the upper Columbia and Snake Rivers.