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16 COAL AND TIMBER January, 1905
THE
POSSIBILITIES OF RIVER
TRANSPORTATION
By
Captain John F. Dravo.
The writer, for nigh three quarters of a
century of active hand and brain toil, has
lived on the banks of the Monongahela
and Ohio Rivers, an eye witness of the
various moods of these great waterways
of commerce, sometimes at flood height
when with resistless force their accumulated
waters push their way out into the
Gulf of Mexico—or, as the days went by, the
flood currents gave place to mere rivulets,
as at present writing, winding their way
along the deserted pathway of retiring
floods that had filled the river highway
from shore to shore, and which, if properly
utilized, would have extended boating
facilities sufficient to move tlie surplus
tonnage of half a dozen Greater Pittsburgs.
In view ol the ever recurring congestion
of freight traffic, and consequent commercial
distiess, it seems strange that these
recurring floods have not been used for
an extension of shipping facilities; for as
great as are our rail facilities, commanding
an army of employees and many millions
of capital, such is the ever increasing tonnage
of the Pittsburg district that freight
congestion seems to be a normal condition.
The possible relief from such an embarrassing
and disastrous condition is made clear
by the figures of one day's river shipment
from the Port of Pittsburg, June 24th, 1903,
amounting to 399,350 tons as reported by
the Pittsburg Chamber of Commerce, and
if multiplied 365 times would amount to
124,772,750 tons, or divided 4 times,
31,193,187 tons, which backed by present
rail capacity would relegate freight congestions
to the history of the past. The
great want of Pittsburg's vast industries
is the continuous navigable conditions of
our rivers the year 'round, which added to
the enormous rail capacity at command,
assure prompt delivery of the various forms
of merchandise and the reliable incoming
of needed supplies. This has been the aim
and hopes of river men for all these years
of strenuous efforts. Such possible river
conditions are not among the unsolved
problems of curent times. The Monongahela
river is under the lock and dam system
from the mouth to head waters, Fairmont,
W. Va., bringing about a magnitude of
trade conditions, considering the length
of improved river, without parallel in the
world's history. The process by which
such marvelous results are secured is exceedingly
simple, by artificial means retarding
the flood of waters and holding them
period within the memory of its navigators.
The people below want our coal while
mines and miners are idle for want of
means to move the millions of tons in
loaded crafts.
Continuous navigable conditions of our
vast systems of rivers and lakes are essentially
necessary for the largest industrial
and commercial prosperity which,
when secured will so dwarf present conditions
that the disturbing problem of costs
for improvements will be forgotten. When
the great inland waterway is completed
and joined to Gulf and Ocean, starting at
the head waters of the Monongahela river
and for two thousand miles traversing three
great valleys stored with inexhaustible resources
of wealth and power, an empire
of colossal possibilities, the envy of nations
and the pride of the great Republic, a
magnificent accomplishment of the original
CAPTAIN JOHN F. DRAVO
"Dean of the Water-ways"
delegated authority to man to subdue and
possess.
The contention for larger shipping facilities
is justified by the growth of population
and the increase of industrial plants in the
lower valley, increasing the demand for
such requisites that it is the mission of the
upper valleys to supply. The cost of rail
delivery of coal, iron products and other
heavy material in the lower Mississippi
valley is so great as to render their use
for commercial 1 and industrial purposes
impracticable. In view of the writer's
ardent defense of river interests, lest the
above averment be misunderstood, it may
be in point to say that in his opinion the
rail system is as necessary for a full supply
of the wants of the valleys named as
the water system. The largest possible
mutual development of both systems is a
for service during the non-flood periods
of the year. The system of pooled waters
is under construction in the Ohio river but
not yet sufficiently advanced to be available pressing necessity. There ought to be no
for transportation use and as a matter of unnecessary hindiances, no limitations to
fact, the upper Ohio river at the present the full capacity of both systems. It is
time has less water than at any former ardently hoped that coincident with the
completion of the Panama Canal there
will exist a condition of continuous navigation
adequate to the wants of commerce
from the headwaters of the Monongahela
river to the mouth of the Mississippi. The
cost of the Panama Canal added to the cost
of continuous river navigation connecting
with the canal by way of the Gulf of Mexico
may be large, enormous, if the reader so
conceives, but in view of the assured results
such cost ought not to be a discouraging
factor. In national developements,
some things must be done, regardless
of cost. A continuous navigable outlet
at the lowest possible cost for inland
commerce to the oceans of the world is
one of these overmastering necessities.
The stupendous agencies of nature in the
past, dating back for uncounted centuries,
have conferred upon this marvelous valley,
reaching from head waters to the Gulf of
Mexico, legacies of immeasurable value.
The importance of the carboniferous deposits
is beyond computation. The Coal
measures of the Monongahela portion of
the great valley are sufficient to furnish
motive power for all demands for a thousand
generations. Coal is the basic factor
of the world's industries, an essential
requisite for great national development. It
is, therefore, hoped that the large men in
our national congress who are giving shape
and form to the present and future of the
Great Republic will recognize the priceless
value of the legacies which in the
processes of Providential allotment have
fallen to the American people by a wisdom
which forecasts and provides for the wants
and possibilities of the present and the coming
years of Anglo-Saxon occupation of the
land of the free and home of the brave
MODEL OF COAL PLANT
Of the Fairmont Coal Company at the
World's Fair Has Been Purchased by
the U. S. Government.
One of the most unique and interesting
features of the World's Fair at St. Louis
was the exhibit of the Fairmont Coal Company
in the Mining and Metallurgy building.
The exhibit covered a large part of
tlie hall, but the thing in particular which
interested most people was the exact representation
on a small scale, of one of the
Fairmont Coal Company's mines. The
mining exhibit showed a complete coal
mine, tipple, elevators, washing apparatus,
coke oven and all the necessary equipment
to tlie successful operation of a plant. The
exhibit cost in the neighborhood of
$15,000 and attracted much attention.
The United States Goverment deemed the
exhibit of sufficient importance and of such
exactness that it made a proposition to the
coal company's officials to take the exhibit
and place it in an institution to be erected
in the capital. The exhibit is now in
charge of the government and has passed
entirely out of the hands of the coal company.