THE WORLD’S COLUMBIAN

WATER COMMERCE CONGRESS,

CHICAGO, 1S93.

-BY

GEO. H. MORGAN,

From the same source is taken the accompanying tab

GEO. H. MORGAN,

Secretary of the Merchants’ Exchange

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ST. LOUIS.

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THE COMMERCE OF Tlif MISSISSIPPI RIVER

BY

GEO. H. MORGAN

Secretary of the Merchants’ exchange of St. Louis-

The chief reason why the commerce of the Mississippi River is invested with such peculiar interest and importance, is because it represents the industrial activity of the most productive region in the United States, embracing an area of 1,381,875 square miles, or 45 per cent of the total area of the country. In extent, climate, fertility of soil and natural resources generally the Great Valley has really no equal within the confines of civilization in all that is necessary for the support of population and for surplus products for consumption and use by other nations. It is thus of great and paramount interest, not only to the people who live within its boundaries and who control its wealth and resources, but to our whole country and also to other nations across the Atlantic that are the daily beneficiaries of its wondrous development. It was a forecast of what this region would become, when opened to settlement and cultivation, that led DeToqueville many years ago to characterize it as the most glorious dwelling place prepared by God for the habitation of man.

This prophecy has been fulfilled in the present importance of the Valley of the Mississippi to our own Republic, as an element of national wealth and a seat of population, and also in its value to many other countries as a source of food and supply of raw material and other staples — the realization exceeds the dream of the French philosopher. As a simple illustration of this importance in the matter of export trade alone, it may be remarked that if for only one season our surplus products in food and cotton were withheld from export the result would perceptibly effect prices and supply abroad. And if this be true now with our present population and development it must be vastly greater in the future with increased settlement and a wider cultivation.

It is the very fact of this great productiveness—of its large contribution to the export trade of the country—that makes the subject of transportation of such engrossing importance to the Valley of the Mississippi. Its geographical position is central, and as for the most part it lies at a distance from the seaboard, a cheap and rapid diffusion of its products involves the success of all its industrial activities. The surplus products of so vast and fertile a region are comparatively valueless without adequate means to reach the markets of the world, and to accomplish this transportation facilities are a paramount and commanding necessity.

Without the means of cheaply and rapidly transferring from one section to another the surplus products of the soil and the articles produced by the skill and ingenuity of man, thereby making possible the exchange of commodities necessary for the well-being and comfort of the people, there would be little or no incentive to produce anything in excess of the immediate necessities of life. That all ages and peoples have recognized this principle is shown by the established fact that the first settlements in every land were made on the shores of the ocean or on the banks of rivers, thus securing the means of communication between other localities and neighborhoods.

The great rivers of the world have been intimately associated with the history of peoples and empires. Egypt has the historic Nile, India the Ganges and its tributaries, China the Yang-tse-Kiang and the Yellow River, Germany the Rhine, renowned in song and story; Austria the blue Danube, France the Siene, and England the famous Thames. So our own country has its Hudson, James, Delaware, Rappahannock, and the greatest of all, the Father of Waters— the great Mississippi and its tributaries, the Missouri, Ohio, Illinois, Red, and others of lesser note, all of which are prominently identified with its early and later history. On these great rivers of our country were located the primitive settlements which have since become the great cities of the land. The same principle that determined the location of these earlier settlements has ruled in later days, for with few exceptions, the principal towns and cities of our land, and especially in the Mississippi Valley, are situated on rivers or lakes.

But, as our country developed, new agencies for more varied means of transportation became necessary, and the system of rail communication was established, which has since covered the land like a network and developed to a most wonderful degree. But the new system, while it gradually absorbed to a great extent the freight and passenger traffic of the country, has not done away with the value and necessity of water-ways; both are needed for the immense internal commerce which has grown faster than have the facilities for its rapid and economical handling. So we find to-day that the great lakes and the great rivers are still most important factors in the problem of transportation.

The cheapness of water transportation, as compared with rail, and the influence the water-ways have exerted in the cheapening of freight rates is a matter of common information. The increase in the number and the paralleling of railroad lines and their better equipment have of necessity, by competition, tended to reduce the cost of rail carriage, but the controlling influence of water routes has been and must always be an important factor in the reduction of freights.

The necessity of maintaining and improving the water-ways of the country has always been recognized by the general government. As early as 1822, Hon. Thomas H. Benton, Senator from Missouri, secured the first appropriation from Congress for the improvement of the Missouri River; and in 1847, Hon. Daniel Webster, in the Senate, advocated the improvement of the internal water-ways of the country and defended the power of the government to make appropriations therefor in the interest of cheap transportation. In the report of the Interstate Commerce Commission for 1890 it is stated that the average cost of carrying freight by rail was .941 cents per ton per mile. This is $11.29 f°r I?²°° miles, the distance between St. Louis and Boston, and also between St. Louis and New Orleans. During 1892 the average rate of freight by river per barges on grain in bulk from St. Louis to New Orleans was $2.16 per ton, and on grain in sacks $3.37 per ton. During the same year the average rate of freight on wheat per bushel from St. Louis to Liverpool via river to New Orleans was 14 cents per bushel, and from St. Louis to Liverpool by rail to New York 21 cents per bushel. These ffgures illustrate forcibly the economy incident to river transportation, and which it is probable will always be maintained.

The Mississippi River runs through the richest agricultural basin in the world; traversing the entire territory of the United States from its northern to its southern boundary, navigable for 2,000 miles, and with its tributaries draining more than half the States of the Union. It washes the shores of ten States : Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana. It furnishes with its two largest tributaries, the Missouri and the Ohio, a navigable water line from Pittsburg on the east to the foot of the Rocky Mountains on the west, and connects by the Illinois River and canal the great lakes and the Gulf of Mexico. It is thus the national channel oceanward for the exports of these great and fruitful regions, and because of this fact must always be of vast importance to the United States and to the world.

The river commerce of the Mississippi Valley has undergone many changes, especially in the last twenty-five to thirty years. The first use of the rivers of the West for commercial purposes was to carry the skin-laden skiffs and batteaus of the early voyagers and Indian traders. Then followed the barges and flat boats propelled by sail and pole. Next came the use of steam, and soon the Mississippi steamboat appeared, the marvel and wonder of the age. As the country developed and the traffic of the river demanded, steamboats increased in size, speed and elegance, until a Mississippi steamboat was considered a floating palace, the acme of all that could be desired as a means of rapid and luxurious travel and for the transportation of freight. Up to about 1862 the river controlled the bulk of the freight and passenger business of the West. But at the close of the Civil War, when industrial activity resumed its course and an era of progress and devel-ment was inaugurated, which has had no parallel in the history of modern times, new avenues of travel became a necessity and rail lines were projected in every direction, and especially westward across the Mississippi River, and as they pushed into the new regions of the Great West, traffic was necessarily diverted from longitudinal to latitudinal lines. In the same way when the extension of railroads reached the South, freight as well as passenger traffic was diverted to a considerable extent, the rail lines reaching direct to interior points and affording quick transit for passengers and general merchandise. But notwithstanding these facts the invincible economy attaching to water transportation still asserts itself, and the cheaper and more bulky classes of freight that are moved in large quantities and cannot bear the increased cost of rail transportation, still seek, whenever practicable, the water route. Passenger travel, however, naturally takes the more rapid means of conveyance, leaving to the rivers only the pleasure travel southward in winter and northward in summer, and the local travel between the smaller river towns. The character of the river craft has been adapted to these new requirements. Steamboats are now built more especially for freight traffic and give but little attention to passengers, while towboats, propelling large barges carrying some times in one tow 10,000 tons of freight, do a large proportion of the business. The loss of the distributing trade of the lower river—that is of the freight which formerly went by boat to prominent points on the river banks and was thence distributed to the interior—has been made good by the export grain movement, which now forms an important item of our foreign commerce. The opening of the mouth of the Mississippi by Capt. James B. Eads, of St. Louis, gave to the Mississippi Valley an outlet through the jetties to the markets of the world, and more than compensated for the diversion from the river of the coast or local distributing trade.

There are no means at hand to ascertain definitely the amount in tons or the value in dollars of the commerce of the Mississippi for any given year. The magnitude of such an undertaking takes it out of the limits of private or individual effort. But the following statements taken from the report of the Census Bureau and covering the year 1889 show in a very practical manner the magnitude of the commerce of western water-ways :

Upper Mississippi River System Lower Mississippi River System,

Ohio River System.............

Red River of the North.........

Total

EQUIPMENT.

Total Vessels. Tonnage.

213,547 247,958 6,245    2,920,468

11,405

7,445    3,393,378

613

572

Value.

$2,136,992

4,476,472

8,696,341

25,200

$15,335,005

TRAFFIC.

Miles

Traveled.

1,424,655

2,311,573

3,579,233

1,084

Total Passengers Carried.

Upper Mississippi River System.... 1,821,734 Lower Mississippi River System.... 2,534,017

Ohio River System................. 6,503,143

Red River of the North.........

Total.....................

Tons of Freight Moved. 6,958,340 6,401,203 16,041,866 3,637

29,405,046

7,316,545

10,858,894

The census office gives the following explanation as to the methods used in dividing the business of the different systems :

“The business of each river is that of the river itself and its tributaries; in the case of the Upper Mississippi, the Ohio, and the Lower Mississippi—used as titles for the three systems—the business of the unmentioned tributaries is included, but not that of those mentioned as forming the system. For instance, the business of the Upper Mississippi includes that of the Minnesota, Galena, Red, Cedar, etc.; that of the Ohio includes the business of the Guyandotte and Licking, and that of the Lower Mississippi includes the business of the bayous, the Big Hatchie, the Kaskaskia, the Big Black, etc. In every case, where at all possible, the commerce is that of each river; that is, only such freight is allowed to a river as had its origin there. The traffic of St. Louis by river is divided. That from the Upper Mississippi and Ohio is given to those rivers, as is that from St. Louis to points on those rivers ; that to and from St. Louis and points on the Lower Mississippi is given to that river, and the local business of St. Louis is given to the Lower Mississippi.”

The different commodities transported is given in tons as follows :

Coal....................

Forest Products.........

Merchandise.............

Wheat...................

Cotton..................

Iron Ore.................

Cotton Seed and Oil ...

Corn.....................

Sugar and Molasses.....

Animal Products.......

Stone and Gravel.......

10,632,109

10,531,189

5,886,259

1,068,504

686,635

536,647

392,988

266,071

189,829

169,470

158,453

Clay and Sand..........

Manufactured Iron.....

Mill Products...........

Hay......................

Other Grain.............

Fruits and Vegetables..

Tobacco..................

Pig Iron................

Oils......................

Ice

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Total Tons

31,054,423

Practically the commerce of the Mississippi is divided into two classes, the Upper Mississippi traffic and the Lower Mississippi traffic. The city of St. Louis, Missouri, is the dividing line where the commerce of the upper river terminates and that of the lower river originates. Along the river above, as well as below St. Louis, there is a very considerable local trade between towns, but none of the upper river packets run below St. Louis, and the lower river boats do not go above.

THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI.

At the head of navigation on the upper river stand the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. These cities command a very large portion of the trade of the Northwest, both being jobbing centers, and Minneapolis the largest in the manufacture of flour in the world. These cities are prominent railroad centers and depend less on river facilities than the other cities on the upper river. Between St. Paul and St. Louis are many thriving towns, such as Hastings, Winona, Red Wing and Lake City in Minnesota, Prescott, La Crosse and Prairie-du-Chien in Wisconsin, Dubuque, Davenport, Clinton, Muscatine, Burlington and Keokuk in Iowa, Savanna, Fulton, Rock Island, Quincy and Warsaw in Illinois, and Alexandria, Hannibal, Louisiana and Clarksville in Missouri, all important points and largely dependent upon the river for their commerce. In answer to an inquiry made in 1890 Mr. E. M. Dickey, President of the Diamond Jo Line of steamers plying between St. Louis and St. Paul, furnished the following statement in regard to the river traffic above St. Louis :

“There are 116 steamers, exclusive of the ferry boats, engaged in the transportation of freight and passengers on the Mississippi River above St. Louis. Of these 29 are employed in packet and excursion trades, carrying both freight and passengers, and 87 are employed exclusively in rafting and towing. The registered tonnage of these boats is 20,800 tons, and if the tonnage of barges, used in connection with them, is added, the total would exceed 25,000 tons. A conservative estimate would place the value of these boats and of the barges, wharf-boats, warehouses, piers, docks, etc., necessary for their operation at not less than $1,500,000. About 1,800 men are required to operate these boats, to whom not less than $600,000 are annually paid as wages. The total expense of operating these boats, including fuel, supplies, etc., but not including repairs of the boats, or the wages or expense of agents or officers on shore, exceeds $1,250,000 per annum.

“Some of these packets run in short trades and make daily trips, as between St. Louis and Alton ; Quincy and Keokuk ; Davenport and Clinton ; Winona and Alma ; and others having longer trades, as between St. Louis and Clarksville; St. Louis and Keokuk, etc., make tri-weekly trips ; while not to exceed six boats make the through trip from St. Louis to St. Paul, requiring from eight to twelve days, depending upon the season of the year, stage of water and volume of freight business. The boats engaged only in excursion business usually make headquarters at one of the larger cities, such as Quincy, Burlington or Davenport, and make special short trips to neighboring towns as opportunity offers. A growing and very popular feature of this business is in connection with the various railroads which run special excursion trains from their interior stations to the river and give their passengers a steamboat ride.

“The raft boats are chiefly engaged in towing logs from the St. Croix, Chippewa and Black Rivers to the various saw mills located at Winona, La Crosse, Lansing, Prairie-du-Chien, Dubuque, Fulton, Lyons, Clinton, Moline, Rock Island, Davenport, Muscatine, Burlington, Fort Madison, Quincy and St. Louis. The logs, lumber, ice, stone, coal, etc., transported during 1890 by boats engaged exclusively in towing exceeded 4,000,000 tons, or an average of nearly 45,000 tons to each boat, nearly all of which was south-bound business.

“The boats running in packet trades handle between 350,000 to 400,000 tons of miscellaneous merchandise, grain, hay, etc. This business was equally divided between north and south-bound, and a very large proportion of it might be called local business moving from such jobbing and manufacturing points as Quincy, Burlington, Davenport, Dubuque and La Crosse to the smaller towns near at hand. These boats also carried over 100,000 regular and over 150,000 excursion passengers.

The year 1891 was an unprofitable one on account of low water which lasted from July 1st to the close of navigation.

Mr. Dickey says in reference to the business of the year 1892 :

“Taking the season through, the freight business shows an increase over 1891 of about 50 per cent, and the passenger business an increase of about 45 per cent. The lumber trade was very active during the entire season and all the raft boats were kept exceedingly busy. It has not been possible to get the actual figures regarding logs and lumber transported at this time, but I am certainly safe in saying that the business of the Upper Mississippi for 1892 was considerably in excess of 1889, and the census reports for that year show the business to have been about 5,000,000 tons.

As is readily seen, the most prominent feature of the Upper Mississippi commerce is the logs and lumber floated on this river and its tributaries. In June, 1891, the Mississippi Valley Lumberman gave the following estimate of the yearly amount of this traffic :

•200,000,000 feet. 600,000,000 “

“A fair valuation of the logs would be $9.00, or a total of $7,200,000. The tariff on them for towing, etc., would not be far from an average of $2.00 per 1,000 feet, or $1,600,000. In addition to the logs taken down the river considerable manufactured lumber is rafted down stream. The amount of this is probably not far from the following figures :

Out of the St. Croix about..

Out of the Chippewa about.

Out of the Black about....

Logs out of the St. Croix.. Logs out of the Chippewa

... 150,000,000 feet.

;.. 200,000,000 “

... 90,(i00,000    “

“This lumber is worth fully $11.00 per 1,000 feet, or a total of $4,840,000, and the tariff for transportation will probably amount to $600,000. These figures do not cover the lath and shingles carried, the value of which is not far from $500,000.”

Major A. MacKenzie, U. S. A., in charge of the improvement of the Mississippi River between the Falls of St. Anthony and the mouth of the Illinois River, has kindly furnished me the following statistics which will appear in his report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893 :

“The most important business carried on in connection with the navigation of the Upper Mississippi River and its principal tributaries is the lumber trade, which gave employment in 1892 to about 100 towboats valued at $750,000. Along the river from Minneapolis to St. Louis 87 sawmills were operated by 71 wholesale lumber firms, having an invested capital of about $40,000,000. Their manufacture and distribution in 1892 was 1,420,530,939 feet of lumber ; 563,397,275 shingles and 349,934,540 lath. This shows an increase over 1891 of

11

158,588,970 feet of lumber, 23,409,525 shingles and 44,-513,590 lath. This increase was due in great measure to the excellent condition of the river during the season which facilitated the rafting of logs down the river. In addition to the manufacturers there are large numbers of retail or distributing firms.

LUMBER MANUFACTURE ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER FOR SEVEN YEARS.

Year.

1892,

1891

1890,

1889,

1888

1887

1">.;

[Lumber, ft. . 931,806,305 . 814,228,707 . 1,231,678,960 . 1,014,555 298 . 1,048,951,386 . 988,361,094 . 934,735,854

Shingles, No.

357,014,775

332.666.750 508,986,705 463,122,700 423,655,050

363.230.750

274.581.750

Lath, No. 228,042,910 207,723,350

267,888,340

Total

6,994,317,604

2,723,277,480

STATEMENT OF DISTRIBUTION OF LUMBER ALONG THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER FROM MINNEAPOLIS TO ST. LOUIS IN 1892.

Locality.

Minneapolis.....

Hastings.........

Red Wing........

A1 ua.............

Winona...........

Lansing..........

Prairie du Chien

Guttenberg......

Dubuque..........

Bellevue.........

Lyons............

Clinton...........

Fulton............

Moline...........

Davenport.......

Rock Island......

Muscatine.......

Burlington.......

Fort Madison. ..

Keokuk...........

Quincy...........

Canton............

Hannibal........

Lath, No.

121,891,630 2,060,000 7oO.OOO 145,000 44,200,000 2,250 000 2,462,400 3,500,000 10,000,000 2,2o0,000 17,102,000 29,620,760 3,250,000 6,770,000 13,7-5,000 28.546,000 13,738,000 21,000,000 7,720,eOO 3,000,000 7,290,000 2,573,750 6,200,(00

Lumber, ft. 488,724,624 6,500.000 9,000,U00 1,065,000 146,000,000 12,000,000 15,231,700 12.000 0U0 58,000,000

4,500 000 67,844,000 195 245,605 16,200,000 38,500,000 62,850,000 102 350,000 59,500,000 27,680,000 24,000,000 14,000 000 28 500,000 5,640,000 25,20u,0u0

Shingles, No.

206,382,500 3,000,000 4,00 ),000 1,600,000 98,800,000 6 500 000 .    7,164,500

4,50J,000 23,350,000

*18,838,666 5 ',864,275 7.200,000 4,000,000 10,125,000 47 841,000 13,150,000 9.000,0 '0 15,750,000 7,000,600 19,187,000 7.145,000 14,000 000

Total

1,420,530,929

563,397 275

349,934,540

LUMBER MANUFACTURED IN THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY IN 1892.

Locality.

Minneapolis........

St. Paul to St. Louis

St. Croix River.......

Black River..........

Chippewa Kiver.....

Total...........

Lumber, ft. 488,724,624 931,806,305 175,991,427

240,678.500 298,833,782

2,136,034,638

Shingles, No.

206.382.500 357,014,775

66,099,750

127.955.500

177.169.500

934,622,025

“The larger part of the above was floated for greater or less distances on the Mississippi River either as logs or lumber.

“The principal steamboat lines on the Upper Mississippi River are the Diamond Jo Line, the Eagle Packet Co. and the Joy Lumber Line. There are also many independent boats carrying freight and passengers. During the season of 1892 the amount of freight and number of passengers carried on boats and barges could not be accurately ascertained, but partial reports give 195,036 tons of freight and 164,201 passengers, not including those of ferry and excursion boats. Taking into consideration the logs and lumber floated, the gross tonnage for 1892 was approximately 4,500,000 tons.”

The upper river business is augmented by the freight brought into the Mississippi River from the Missouri and Illinois Rivers. The four boats of the Kansas City Transportation Co., running between St. Louis and Kansas City, carried during the year 1892, 42,520 tons of freight, and the two boats of the St. Louis, Naples & Peoria Packet Co. handled 57,275 tons from the Illinois, all of which came to St. Louis.

THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI.

The City of St. Louis, Missouri, is the largest and most important city on the Mississippi River. It is the fifth city of the United States in population and the fifth in manufactures. It is located on the west bank, about 800 miles below St. Paul and 1,242 north of the city of New Orleans, the commercial mouth of the river. The Missouri River enters the Missis sippi 21 miles above St. Louis, and the Illinois River 14 miles above the mouth of the Missouri, so that St. Louis is practically at the confluence of these three streams. As before stated this point is the dividing line which separates the traffic of the river. The upper river boats end their journeys here, and here also the steamers load for the South with cargoes for distribution in the Southern States and with grain and flour for Europe. The geographical location of St. Louis makes it the principal center of the river commerce of the

Mississippi Valley. In an article by Mr. C. N. Osgood, Secretary of the Merchants’ Exchange Transportation Committee and also Commissioner of St. Louis Traffic Commission, published in the annual report of the Merchants’ Exchange for 1892, the position of St. Louis as the best distributing point in the United States is succinctly stated as follows :

“The advantages of St. Louis as a commercial metropolis are not confined to any single section of the country. One city and another may claim the advantages of proximity to this or that section, but St. Louis alone can claim the vantage ground of immediate and intimate association with all sections, west of the Alleghanies. She is not alone the nearest principal gateway and market for the great wrestern empire, but is also in close touch with the northern and northwestern sections west of the Great Lakes, while her commanding situation with reference to the trade of the Southwest and South is already well known and recognized. So also are her trade relations to the eastward constantly gaining in strength and importance, as year by year her manufacturing establishments increase rapidly in number and extent, and as more and more each year she serves as the distributor of the varied products of the South and West and of contiguous States. In the Mississippi Valley can and eventually will be produced about everything which the East has heretofore supplied to the West—and St. Louis is the metropolis of the Valley.

“The close relations of St. Louis with the Southern States are well known, and the sure progress of ‘the New South’ will continuously and in increasing measure contribute to hers. Moreover, these relations will be extended and more closely cemented by the future railroad development in that direction, a development which as a matter of fact has already actively commenced. In 1892 one-third of the new railroad mileage of the country was constructed in the district south of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi. The Southwest, with which section St. Louis has been always more closely affiliated than has any other principal city, is also entering upon an era of energetic development which will eventually rival and perhaps outstrip that of any other portion of the western country. Texas and Oklahoma are already witnessing an activity of energetic enterprise within their borders, which, in the one case, will soon double the wealth and population of the State, and in the other eventually convert a little-known Territory into a State ‘second to none of the States touching its borders.’ Northern Arkansas, with all its natural wealth of field, forest and mountain, remains as yet a practically virgin territory, located within a few hundred miles of St. Louis. Even the development of a great part of Missouri is but just commencing. The varied natural resources of Southern Missouri probably exceed those of any equal section or territory in the country, and the mineral and agricultural wealth there awaiting development are most remarkable in extent, and will all eventually contribute in one way and another to the increasing commercial importance of St. Louis. The strictly argicultural States of the West have heretofore enjoyed the most rapid development, but the maximum annual rate of increase in that direction has probably been reached, or very soon will be; while the influx of immigration and capital will more largely than ever before be now directed to the South and Southwest,

“Not only does the location of St. Louis secure to her, within the broad limits indicated, advantages over all competitors in respect to transportation charges by rail routes, but Nature has also secured to her, remarkable advantages of the same character in the way of tributary water routes. The improvement of the Lower Mississippi River as now determined upon by the Government, will, when effected, result not only in incalculable benefit to the shipping interests of St. Louis by affording an all-the-year-around avenue for the cheaper transportation of grain, flour, meats, etc., and general merchandise, but also in attracting to St. Louis in steadily increasing volume a larger share of the products of the West and Northwest and the Mississippi Valley at large. And with the improved methods of river navigation which are now contemplated and though heretofore long delayed are sure to follow the demand, the importance of St. Louis as a chief distributing centre will be still further and rapidly enhanced. For with an all-water route to Mexico, Central and South America and the West Indies the productions of these countries will find in St. Louis a chief natural market, as they can plainly be distributed from St. Louis to the country at large to much better advantage than from any other one point. There can be permanently no sufficient reason why the distribution of those productions should be monopolized by the Eastern seaboard cities. The natural route for that commerce is manifestly via the Mississippi River to St. Louis — the heart of the continent.

The lower river traffic is divided among the following transportation lines :

St. Louis and New Orleans Anchor Line, 9 steamers.

St. Louis and Mississippi Valley Transportation Co., 10 towboats and 70 model barges with a capacity of 50,000 bushels of grain each.

Cherokee Packet Co., 2 steamers.

St. Louis and Tennessee River Packet Co., 3 steamers.

W. H. Brown & Sons Line from Ohio River, 3 towboats.

. . .. -'

---— - ■■

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pnnjsT loujs

St. Louis & New Orleans Anchor Line Steamer City of St. Louis.

The total river tonnage of St. Louis for the past three years shows but little variation.

RIVER TONNAGE FOR PAST THREE YEARS.

1890.

530,790

132,940

601,862

1892.

556,980

130,220

502,215

Tons received by steamboats and barges.

“    “    “ rails....................

“ shipped by steamboats and barges..

Total................

1891.

450,050

142,090

512,930

1,189,415    1,105,070    1,265,592

The tonnage of 1892 was divided as follows :

Lower Mississippi River...............................................

Upper Mississippi River..............................................

Illinois River...........................................................

Missouri River..........................................................

Ohio River..........................................................

Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers..................................

Total......................................................

..Tons, 605 290 ..    “    317,250

..    “    57,275

..    “    42,520

..    “    97,930

..    “    69,150

Tons, 1,189,415

MmsS'tc

L4M vrc»

SS>

=^=E=r ----------

THE ABOVE CUT REPRESENTS

The St. Louis & Mississippi Valley Transportation Company’s Steamer Hoxie, with six freight barges and one coal barge, passing Memphis, February 17th, 1892. Length of tow, 610 feet; width of tow, 176 feet. Cargo, 8,566 tons, comprising 122,500 bushels corn in bulk, 150,500 bushels wheat in bulk, and 15,532 bushels coal.

A prominent feature of the river commerce of St. Louis is the export grain trade which has grown to large proportions, and is an important factor in the export grain trade of the

country. The grain is carried in bulk in large barges propelled by powerful towboats, and as much as 10.000 tons of grain and other freight has been transported in one tow to New Orleans in six days time. The extent of this movement is shown in the following table :

SHIPMENTS OF BULK GRAIN, BY RIVER. FROM ST. LOUIS TO NEW ORLEANS FOR TWENTY YEARS.

Corn, bus.

3,228,645 1,482,731 8,717,849 12,398,955 5,844,042 7,365,340 7,501,730 8,180,039 4,496,785 9,029,509 2,529,712 8,640,720 9,804,392 3,585,589 2,857,056 3,578,057 1,737,237 172,617 1,047,794 1,373,969

Year.

1892

1891

1890

1889

1888

1887

1886

1'.'5

1884

1883

1882

1881

1880

1879

1878

1877

1876

1875

Wheat, bus. 5,149,708 6,940,215 1,409,440 1,651,950 1,247,952 3,973,737 743,439 50,000 1,318,688 1,435,043 6,637,391 4,197,981 5,913,272 2,390,897 1,876,639 351,453 37,142 135,961 365,252

Rye, bus.

45,600 if,432

36,093

344,864

205,430

15,994

22,423

45,000

157,424

609,041

171,843

Oats, bus.

36,587

'89'960 89,707 160,584 217,722 598,755 401,787 487,221 389,826 150,320 132,823

30', 928 108,867

Totals.

8,414,940

8,468,546

10,217,244

14,158,046

7,252,578

11,556,799

8,834,924

8,667,919

6,647,558

11,059,508

8,333,417

12,993,947

15,762,664

6,164,83S

5,451,603

4,101,353

1,774,379

308,578

1,423,046

1,373,969

10,000

The movement inaugurated by St. Louis has been followed by other localities and considerable grain has gone to New Orleans for export from other points, both by the Mississippi River and by rail routes. The total exports from New Orleans for the past seven years is given in the following table :

STATEMENT OF BULK GRAIN EXPORTED FROM NEW ORLEANS, DURING 1S92 AND COMPARISONS FOR PREVIOUS YEARS.

1874

1873

To

England .

France... Germany,

Belgium..........

Ireland..........

Denmark.........

Holland..........

Sweden..........

Spain............

Central America.

Cuba.............

Scotland.........

1892 Corn. 1.731,750 1,042,453 2,228,099 675,948 765,714 211,647 16,000 93,140 6,832 6,150 13,460

1892

1892

Wheat.

5,175,182

5,335,755

1,902,727

490,120

490,951

Rye.

218,555

75,925

552,673

45,401

134,028

2,500

mfiGi

"”l8,‘666

39,370

Total bushels, 1892

Total bushels, 1891. Total bushels, 1890. Total bushels, 1889. Total bushels, 1888, Total bushels, 1887, Total bushels, 1886. Total bushels, 1885.

6,791,233

1,941,853

11,978,768

13,601,830

5,599,663

7,201,231

8.155,943

7,529,357

14,334,498

351,850

309,242

137,593

17,432

10,014,351 1,358,753 1,067,S64 1,056 892 4,390,126 988,626 24,148

The economy of the water route from St. Louis, as compared with the rail route to the Atlantic seaboard for freight for European ports, is demonstrated by the statements given herewith :

AVERAGE RATES OF FREIGHT ON GRAIN IN CENTS.

From St. Louis to Liverpool via River to New Orleans and via Rail to New York.

To New Orleans by River.

Year.

On Grain in sks. per 100 lbs.

On Wheat in bulk per bushel.

On Wheat to New York by rail, per 100 l*>s.

To Liverpool.

Via New Orleans, On Wheat per bu.

Via New York, On Wheat per bu.

1877

21

1878

17%

1879

18

1880

19

1881

20

& *

GO    GO CD

41

38

33%

42

32

1882

20

6 5-12

29%

22 2-3

23%

1883

17%

5%

33

19 7-12

27

1884

14

6 5-8

26

14 7-12

21%

1885

15

6 2-5

22 1-7

15 1-9

20%

1886

16

6%

29

16 1-6

24

1887

18%

32 2-15

15

24%

1888

15

6%

29%

15 1-6

22.95

1889

17.93

5.95

28%

17 1-3

24.97

1890

15.66

6.58

27%

14 1-3

21.48

1891

16.28

8.87%

29

15 3-4

23.55

1892

16.87

6.50

26.62

14

21

*Tliese figures represent published rates. At times during the year the rate was as low as 20e. per 100 lbs., making the average rate St. Louis to Liverpool via New York at times as low as say 17K cents per bushel on wheat.

The following table shows the ocean rates from New Orleans and New York :

Average Rate of Freight on Wheat per Bushel by Steamer from New Orleans to Liverpool during 1891 and 1892.

Average Rate of Freight on Wheat per Bushel by Steamer from New York to Liverpool during 1891 and 1892.

Month.

Rate in Cents. Rate in Cents.

Month.

Rate in Cents. Rate in Cents.

1892.

1891.

1S92.

1891.

January.. February . March....

April.....

May......

June......

July......

August... September October... November December

~IC«

TH    rH    rH —. r-«

COoOOOOcOOOC

F— F~ I— lO iniOb-OOOHH Hrirl

January... February...

March.....

April......

May.......

June.......

July.......

August.... September. October... November. December..

9 c.

t'ic.

7§c.

3Jc.

4|c.

4 c.

54 c.

4^c.

4 c.

6 c.

4fc. 2J c.

4i

Si

■1

8f

lit

11

8|

The following tables give the receipts and shipments of freight at St. Louis by river during 1892 :

Article.

Apples, bbls.........

Ale and Beer, pkgs..

Bagging, rolls.......

Barbed Wire, lbs....

Beef, tierces ........

Butter, lbs..........

Boots and Shoes, cases

Beans, pkgs.........

Bran,sacks..........

Coidage, coils.......

Cattle, head.........

Castor Beans, sks...

Cement, bbls........

Cheese, bxs..........

Coffee, sks...........

Corn,sks.............

Corn in bulk, bush.. Cornmeal, bbls ....

Cotton, bait s........

Candles, bxs.

Dried Fruit, pkgs...

Eggs, pkgs...........

Fish, pkgs...........

Flour, bbls. ..........

Grease, lbs...........

Glucose, bbls........

Hay, tons............

Horses & Mules, hd.

Hides, lbs...........

Hominy & Grits,bbls

Hogs, head..........

Iron and Steel, tons.

Lard, lbs.............

Li ad, pigs..........

Lumber, ft...........

Logs, ft..............

Lath, number. .....

Malt, sks.............

Ship-

Receipts.    ments.

19,547    2.381

.........    49,748

.........    31,995

........    2,616,731

... ..... 1,063

98,230    56,553

24 825 7,150

4,418    46 048

244    .........

11,609    1,392

95

123,880

557

105

84,706 64,400

’5,848

' 7,555 35,298 4,515 78,957 1,000 450 2,879 2,549 1,072,095

62 473 2,245 54,320

115,491,1.63

23,000,000

22,205,300

7,241

15,154

169,295

3,228,645

198,357

70

1,850

12,213

1,151

342,488

72,710

”1612

3,633

11,050

24,468

138

8,514,027

3,862

3,411

Article.

Merchandise, pkgs..

Molasses, bbls.......

Mob sses, kegs......

Nails, kegs..........

Oats, sks ............

Oats, in bulk, bush..

Oatmeal, bbls......

Oil, bb s ............

Onions, pkgs .......

Oranges and Lemons, pkgs.

Pig Iron,tons.......

Peltries & Furs,pkgs Pork Product, lbs ..

Pickets, number....

Potatoes, pkgs......

Rye,sks..............

Rice, pkgs...........

R. R. Iron, tons.....

Salt, sks..............

Salt, bbls............

Seeds, pkgs..........

Sheep, head.........

Shingles, number... 38,496,500

Sugar, hlrds.........

Sugar, bbls..........

Sugar, bags..........

Soap, bxs............

Tallow, lbs.......

Tar and Pitch, bbls.

Tobacco, lrhds.......

Tobacco,manfd. ,lbs.

Tin, bxs..............

Wheat, sks...........

Wheat in bulk bush Wines &Whi ky,pkgs

Wool, lbs..........

White Lead, lbs. ...

Ship-

Receipts. ments.

492,875    1,535,584

3,801    5,614

4,387

9,015    37,621

28,458    183,489

......    36,851

2,167    .........

120 ........

20,982

5,852

231

7,059 2,083 332,270 11,021,722

690,000    ........

16,683    23,564

1,516 18,437    2,780

7,125    .........

10,500    1,920

.......    21,058

ljl87

5,179

10,220

41

96.666

69,273

829,603

34S

348

374,893

1,195

706,974

10,000

2,625

658,170

496

15

25,13)

23,133

42,500

359,194

193

1,478,276

’ ” 1,008 5,149,708 5,054 42.920 3,572,663

1C

RATES OF FREIGHT, BY RIVER, FROM ST. LOUIS TO MEMPHIS, VICKSBURG AND NEW ORLEANS,

DURING 1892.

Hay per 100 lbs.

Grain, Meats and Bran, 100 lbs.

Pork, per bbl.

■a

e

53 s* . ¹¹

•suT?ai*io

c?o t^O O ^ Ol —I Ol <M

’Sjuqs^OTA

•srqdtn.ipi

•SUU3XJ0 AV»X

•Sanqs^ojA

•siqdarapr

•saua^jo AV0K

• S.mqs^oiA

#siqduioiv[

»G r- 1- iO C^H HH

ooooS

H|« -4m~YX I O "M 0(M (M I CO *C ^ »© O

HcMcMw JO (M W c-i <1 L— 1OC1O Or

o o o o S*

CO CO CO CO

•SU-ROT.IO AV8JI 5m8£!8

•S.mqsnoiA SotototS

•siqcluiaivt 5SSSS

DATE.

January 1st to February 2d.....

February 2d to April 21st.......

April 2Lt to August 22d........

August 22d to November 3d... November 3d to December 31st

AVERAGE RATE OF FREIGHT ON GRAIN BY RIVER FROM ST. LOUIS TO NEW ORLEANS.

In sacks by Steamb’t. "Wheat in b’lk by B’rges.

1887.

14.8

24.8

MONTHLY RATE OF FREIGHT ON BULK GRAIN BY BARGES

PROM ST. LOUIS TO NEW ORLEANS EOR FOUR TEARS.

ON CORN, PER BUSHEL.

te. per 100

r.

1891.

l-.'O.

1889.

1888.

1*»\

22.95

■v

i«eoHw «0 CO 50 CO 50 40

SS

.-: b-

6 5-12

is-'.'

8-1 U

24 97

OG«I

1891.

1-02.

14 1-3

21.48

■';..v,

55111111111

Hri — H^Hr-HHH

JS;

<-*«    *«lc» Hc*Hc4mKt

CiC lO 1C iC X N

«|C<    -<tN.4e>-«|C«-to1

t^^lOiOWC^COCO^O

7 cts. 7 cts.

III:

ie I?® to 2V-

H|C«

»£J CC 50 CO t'*

-=

June

July

August

coO

November

December

Wheat, 4 cent per bushel more than Corn.

Average rate of freight on wheat in cents per bushel.

■a

is

■5

II

25 ~

.5.2

a.

fc-

.2

g.

HARBOR AND WHARF COMMISSIONER’S REPORT.

Statement of the Amount of Lumber, Shingles, Laths, Pickets and Logs Received by River at St. Louis

During the Year 1892 and Previous Years.

Cotton

wool.

Feet.

lllllllllll

lllJJlftili

cTrH lO rn'cO «0 CO CO C0~ r-T

HpiH

Poplar.

Feet.

fillllslSIlS

iiipeisiii

tCooo o of oo o co o *-•

r-t r—1    »—I r-i

Cherry. Elm Feet. Feet.

Hick

ory

Feet.

Yell’vv

Pine.

Feet.

Logs Sup.

Pickets.

No.

Laths.

No.

Shingles.

No.

White Pine

1892.

iisiisi; i:

sSsiSBB: i:

1SIE111153S

PliSBlS.Pj*.

tCcoa cc<o coco in io-#

ill8311H8si

ISilsilssp.

saiaggissss ss«a is s a¥ i s'

a*2S33S5E3SS

IglllsIiSsi

isSlSBSiSiS

asssaessissss

llllllgslli

iWisISS'fll

®85RgSS5Sgg

8811*888111

riHnHHHHriHHH

1

r-

Maple.

Feet.

Gum.

Feet.

Walnut

Feet.

Oak.

Feet.

Asli.

Feet.

Syca

more

Feet.

C’pr’ss

Feet.

1891.

225,700

43,500

147,200

Ill

a»-‘«88v

67,360

27.500 45,000 74,000

235,600

2,500

13.500

99.500

18.500 60,400

257,590

284,000

148,000

411.700

501.700 591,000 799,500 435,000 417,248 791,600 351,720 203,626 857,000

610,496

505,168

531,585

457,900

1,108,900

1,169,617

884,300

504,775

976,463

3,393,500

2,039,680

S§3Il§§lSi~

S'Slig'laiggi

■^7 N CO t-H r-7

BsIlililSlS

ssMsMti

<N r-TlO (S"*,-! rHffT-^'ce

KSSIli

SSsiSIS

HH

glllllffilSi

s'iiisiiWi;

88811881888

HHririrlrlHrlrHHH

STATEMENT

SHOWING AMOUNT OF FREIGHT, IN TONS, RECEIVED AT ST. LOUIS BY EACH RAILROAD AND RIVER, FOR FOUR YEARS.

Route.

1892.

1891.

1890

1S89.

Missouri Pacific R. R

St. Louis & San Francisco Ry...........

Wabash Railway (West Line)..........

Chicago, Alton & St.L. R.R. (Mo. Div.)

1,157,504

551,141

426,645

126,437

56,114

St. Louis, Kansas City & Colorado R. R

St Louis, Tron Mountain & Southern R.R......... 1,105 857

St. L., A. & T. H. R. R. (Cairo Short Line).......

Louisville & Nashville R.R........................

Mobile & Ohio R.R.................................

Ohio & Mississippi R.R...........................

Chicago, Alton & St. Louis R.R. (Main Line).... Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis R.R

Terre Haute & Ind. R. R. (Vandalia Line).......

Wabash Railroad (East Line).....................

Toledo, St. Louis & Kansas City R. R..............

Louisville, Evansville & St. Louis R.R .........

Wabash Railroad (Iowa Branch)................

Jacksonvil e Southeastern Line...................

Chicago, Bur. & Quincy R.R.......................

St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern R.R..........

St. Louis & Eastern R. R..........................

Upper Mississippi River.........................

Lower Mississippi River..........................

Illinois River......................................

Missouri River........................ .........

Ohio River.......................................

Cumberland & Tennessee Rivers.................

Upper Mississipi River by rafts..................

946,547 556,7S8 594,947 693,179 253,785 532,160 891,285 900,004 416,345 466,515 53,847 273,198 374,911 598,804 252,942 135,435 212,545 49 520

13,065

96,930

49,485

130,220

844,998    931,149j

486,671    437,913!

491.800    611,335

147,646    124,239

48,202    40,164

988,195    947,577

845,659    850,806

437,730    362,868

408,126    359,642

679,874    639,377j

246,100    270,120|

518,667    559,218

888,913 1,009,3541 817,312    860,368

728,353    411,838!    179,277

406.800    346,223    260,448

90,665    110,200    54,653

168,412 ...................

258,408    394,071    325,177

596,198    702,829    755,343

799,848

363,322

523,951

102,158

35,356

929,383

720,793

408,485

502,744

551,495

318,157

529,483

910,970

759,569

90,805 128,960 209,095 222,075 31,190 22,770 25,065 21,350 63,890 102,500 29,945 33,135 142,090 132,940

3 5 5 g K £

05 -A Ot Ui W CO W ® OMO CO <| O

Ol © O Ol Ot Ot ot

Total in Tons

11,916,205 10,690,869 10,633,021 9,702,297

Total by Rail . Total by River.

11,229,005 10,098,729 9,969,291 9,030,612 687,200    592,140    663,730    677,685

STATEMENT

SHOWING THE AMOUNT OF FREIGHT, IN TONS, SHIPPED FROM ST. LOUIS BY EACH RAILROAD AND RIVER FOR FOUR YEARS.

Route.

1892.

1891.

1S90.

1889.

Missouri Pacific Railroad................. .......

St. Louis & San Francisco Ry.....................

Wabash Railroad (West Line).....................

Chicago, Alton & St. L. R.R. (Mo. Div.)........

St. Louis, Kansas City & Colorado Railroad .    ..

St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern R.R........

St. L., A. & T. H. R. R. (Cairo Short Line'........

Louisville and Nashville Railroad................

Mobile & Ohio Railroad...................... ....

Ohio and Mississippi Railroad....................

Chicago, Alton & St. Louis R. R. (Main Line) ... Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis R. R..

Terre Haute <fc Ind. R.R. (Vandalia Line).......

Wabash Railroad, (East Line)...................

Toledo, St. Louis & Kansas City Railroad.........

Louisville, Evansville & St. Louis Railroad.......

Wabash Railroad (Iowa Line).....................

Jacksonville Southeastern Line..................

Chicago, Bur. & Quincy R.R.......................

St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern Railroad .....

St. Louis & Eastern R. R..........................

Upper Mississippi River...........................

Lower Mississippi River..........................

Illinois River .....................................

Missouri River....................................

Ohio River...................................

Cumberland & Tennessee Rivers..................

Red, Ouachita, Arkansas and White Rivers......

645,830 409,29S 432,581 103,077 9,412

620.671 290,696 268,960 149,473 167,942 315,786

307.671 421,819 524,439 315,539 104,968

72 321 98,403 255,720 451,117 4,031 51,595 392,635 7,755 29,455 1,000 19,665

502,026

332,028

336,352

102,840

5,114

623,414

313,280

207,034

197,581

155,360

301.757 269,534 340,633 374,125 242,532

148.757 52,806 84,205

205,825

421,025

470,607

317,577

344,145

102,490

8,581

590,305

317,111

287,513

204,319

130,895

263,595

384,855

319,894

665,781

278,725

44,578

47,037

436,720

304,361

312,960

91,508

3,874

607,752

252,585

275,180

172,013

164,568

290,951

279,116

351,650

367,154

94,969

9,244

44,050

110

182,735

360,107

162,376

273,415

18,630

445,150

4,305

19,280

22,547

‘543,805

3,620

10,035

22,435

3,130

15,675

6,180

47,560

632,695

2,275

2,595

10,355

12,760

4,460

Total in Tons,

6,471,969

5,729,158

5,872,712

5,207,146

Total by Rail.. Total by River

5,969,754

502,215

5,216,228

512,930

5,270,850

601,862

4,494,446

712,700

THE RIVER BELOW ST. LOUIS.

While the

There are several important towns between St. Louis and New Orleans which command an extensive trade by river. Between these prominent points are a great number of smaller places, which, having no rail connection, depend entirely upon the river as a means of communication, business at these points is very considerable in the aggregate it is all local business, of which no record is kept.

Cairo, Illinois, is located at the mouth of the Ohio River, 200 miles below St. Louis. It has a very considerable river traffic served by the boats of the St. Louis and New Orleans Line and by the Ohio River Packets. In addition to these through lines it has several local boats plying to near-by towns and doing a large trade. At this point the Ohio River enters the Mississippi, bringing to the commerce of the Mississippi a vast traffic. There are two regular lines from Cincinnati; the Southern Transportation Co., running four boats to Vicksburg and New Orleans, and the Memphis and Cincinnati Packet Co. with four boats to Memphis ; also two lines of towboats, the Huntington and St. Louis Line and the J. M. Barrett & Son Line.

From Pittsburgh there are several lines of boats running out to the Mississippi to points both above and below Cairo, one of the largest of which is the Gray Iron Line. The most important product, however, that comes from the Ohio is coal. In the report of the Internal Commerce of the United States, published in 1888 by the Bureau of Statistics at Washington, the following reference is made to the coal traffic of the Ohio River:

“A tow is made up of one towboat and from 10 to 14 barges, coal boats and flats, and from one to four fuel barges filled with slack coal for boiler fuel during the trip. These boats are all placed in front of the towboat, except one on each side of the steamer, all securely lashed together, forming a compact mass about 350 feet long and 150 feet wide, and holding from 500,000 to 700,000 bushels, or an average

of 24,000 tons of coal. Of such tows from eight to ten in a day, in the coal boating stages of the river, leave Pittsburgh • for all points below as far as New Orleans, and there are now from 90 to 100 towboats, ranging in cost from $8,000 to $30,000, employed in thus propelling coal. A tow of coal thus made up represents a value of $80,000 as it leaves the harbor of Pittsburgh, of the United States has been very largely the means of recussitating the river trade. By it Pittsburgh has sent forth hundreds of millions of tons of coal, iron and general merchandise throughout the entire Ohio and Mississippi Valleys. Her position in commerce has thus been maintained and an economic check imposed upon the transportation charges in this vast territory, of paramount importance. An example is given in a trip made by the Steamer Joseph B. Williams that left Louisville for New Orleans with a tow of 26 coal boats and barges containing 600,000 bushels of coal. The charges for carriage of this immense tonnage from Pittsburgh to New Orleans, a distance of 2,000 miles, were at the rate of four cents per bushels, or one-twentieth of one cent per ton per mile.

*    * Steam towing on the rivers

Memphis, Tennessee, the next important town, is 249 miles below Cairo. In addition to the through lines of St. Louis and Cincinnati Packets it has its local steamboats, some ten in number, running to the various bends and rivers tributary to that city. In the report of the Merchants’ Exchange for 1891, the Secretary says: “Memphis never forgets that it is the river that makes her the Queen of the Great Valley. The trade of the river is constantly increasing, that of 1891 being in freight fully 25 per cent, over 1890.

The same report shows that of the 723,120 bales of cotton received in the cotton year 1890-91, 127,935 bales came by river.

Vickburg, Miss., is 826 miles below St. Louis and 363 miles above New Orleans, The river trade of this city and surrounding territory is served by the through St. Louis and New Orleans and Cincinnati and New Orleans Packet Lines,

and the Vicksburg and New Orleans boats, and by local steamers running to Greenville, Natchez and Davis Bend on the Mississippi, and up the Yazoo, Tallahatchie and Sunflower Rivers, and during the winter months a line is maintained to Memphis. Supplies of provisions, grain, cotton, cotton-seed and general merchandise are brought by the through packets and distributed by the smaller boats running to the bends and to tributary streams. The tonnage thus brought and distributed by water routes will average 600 tons per week during the boating season. Work is now being done by the General Government looking to the improvement of the harbor which, when completed, will be of great advantage to the river commerce of the city. Capt. J. H. Willard, U. S. Engineer in charge of the work, in a recent letter says : “Without taking into account the tributaries that may be added to the list of navigable streams in the future, the Yazoo system gives a present high water navigation of over 800 miles, a good part of which might be rendered navigable at all stages, were it not for the bar formed at the entrance by the Mississippi River. *    *    * The total amount of commerce, reported

in 1892 lor the Yazoo and its tributaries, was 209,226 tons, valued at $7,351,500, of which 93,265 tons were on account of Yazoo River alone.

Below Vicksburg are a number of river towns, such as Natchez, Bayou Sara and Baton Rouge, all dependent upon the river for means of transportation and doing a large business of which, however, no record can be obtained.

New Orleans, La. , is the principal seaport on the Gulf of Mexico and is the commercial mouth of the Mississippi River. It is located on the east bank of the river, 113 miles from the Gulf. It is rendered accessible to the largest seagoing vessels by the “jetties,” built by Capt. James B. Eads of St. Louis, through which a thirty-foot channel is maintained. It is the converging point for the commerce of the entire water-ways of the Mississippi Valley, and occupies an important place in the foreign commerce of the United States. The river interest at New Orleans is more prominent than at any other point on the Western rivers. A greater number of steamers arrive and depart from its levees daily than from any of the other cities and towns on the Mississippi River.

Besides the regular St. Louis, Ohio River and Vicksburg boats it has a vast number of local packets plying in the coast trade below the city, and to all points on the Southern rivers, bayous aud bends. Its foreign commerce has largely increased in the last decade. The number of vessels arriving and departing for the past three years is given in the following table by the New Orleans Times, being for the fiscal years ending July 31st:

STATEMENT OF THE NUMBER AND TONNAGE OF VESSELS

ENTERED AT THE PORT OF NEW ORLEANS DURING THE YEAR ENDING JULY 31, 1892.

MONTHS.

Coastwise American vessels from foreign ports.

Foreign vessels from foreign ports.

Vessels.

1891-92.

With cargo In ballast. With cargo In ballast. No.| Tons. No. Tons. No. Tons. No. Tons. No. Tons.

August..........

September......

October..........

November.......

December........

January ........

February........

March............

April.............

May.............

June.............

July.............

19

22

:;o

39

25

38

20

17

17

20

Totals.........

Totals 1890-91 Totals 1889-90

319

313

265

32,485

38,489

59,021

62,623

65,013

48,653

37,103

56,026

35,095

31,383

29,606

31,948

468,445

526,667

407,035

23    13,295

20    10,640

8,782

24    14 407

27    15,285

29    16,137

23    14,203

235    131,125

211    1!0,041

173    98,113

17

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!:

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00 rf*. t-o    o

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466 557,466 373 236,921 425 518,477 205 266,706 455 506,613 331 410,075

statement of the number and tonnage of vessels

CLEARED AT THE PORT OF NEW ORLEANS DURING THE YEAR ENDING JULY 31, 1892.

MONTHS.

Coastwise

1891-92.

Vessels.

American vessels from foreign ports.

Foreign vessels from foreign ports.

With cargol In ballast.

No.

Tons.

No.

Tons. No.

Tons. No.

With cargo! In ballast Tons. iNo.

Tons.

August September. October .. November. December . January... February..

March .....

April.......

May .......

June......

July........

25

16

31

35

37

18

25

21

25

21

23

23

37,539 31,782 51,329 58,038 57,410 34,913 36,672 37,364 36,1-'3 35,569 32,126 36,684

12

14

11

13

14

10

13

19

21

20

18

21

6,619

7,482

6,642

7,333

8,229

4,721

7,010

10,303

12,465

13,553

10,697

13,196

1,078

1,060

1,344

5,71.5

1,761

266

399

43

39

66

77

101

102

93

101

266    63

996j 44 1,139    33

51,065

51,199

98,997

107,469

132,636

147,276

140,744

114,648

126,538

71,885

42,765

37,437

513

1,572

543

120

1,612

543

3,934

Totals.........

Totals 1889-90 Totals 1890-91

300

333

263

486,551

532,306

399,393

186

167

158

108,250

92,499

90,724

20

21

14,024 582 1122,653 9,150 617 777 244 3,469! 78O 932,873

16

14

8,837

2,808

5,405

The number of vessels owned in New Orleans in 1892 was 427, as will be seen by the following table taken from the Times:

STATEMENT OF VESSELS BELONGING TO THE PORT OF NEW ORLEANS JULY 31, 1892.

Steam-

No. of Vessels.

Ocean (wood). Ocean (iron).. River (wood).. River (iron)...

20— 23

14—117

Gross

Tonnage.

2,472.61

26,130.12

12,423.51

1,703.89

Net

^Tonnage. 1,404.12 16,353 31 10,891.02 1,202.43

Total steam Sail-

Ocean (wood)......

River (wood).......

Total sail...

Grand total_____

1891-92...........

1889-90...........

140

42,729.13

29,850.88

51

236

287

427

427

413

1,775.26

2,245.31

1,686.67

2,133.60

4,020.57

3,820.27

46,749.70

52,330.18

48,951.43

33,671.15

38,050.60

36,863.85

From the same source is taken the accompanying table of exports for two fiscal years ending August 31st:

EXPORTS—COASTWISE AND FOREIGN.

Articles—

Bacon, bxs.............

Hams, tierces..........

Bran, sks...............

Butter, pkgs..........

Cheese, bxs............

Corn, sks...............

Corn, in bulk, bu......

Corn meal, bbls.......

Cotton Seed JVleal, sks.

Oil Cake, sks...........

Cotton Seed Oil, bbls..

Flour, bbls............

Hides..................

Hay, bales.............

Lard, tierces...........

Molasses, bbls.........

Oats, sks...............

Pork, bbls..............

Bice, bbls.............

Soap, bbls..............

Soap Stock, bbls.......

Sugar, hhcts............

Sugar, bbls............

Tobacco, hhds........

Wool, bales and bags.

Whisky, bbls...........

Wheat, bu..............

Coastwise.

25

125

8,125

84,570

’ 2,288 24,481

60,i 31 73,515 797,560 4,743 206 117,783 19,055

50,854

3,552

9,588

1,440

124,287

85,952

in

-1891-92— Foreign.

Total.

1890-91.

Total.

191

511

216

1,316

686

228

640

991

785

44,963 7,236,204 112 1,715,678 387,984 74,489 240,664 260 1,884 1,720 26,062 1,410 2,937 2,839 9,712 6,652

' 1,962 8,356

222

13,826,527

9441

'.".'I

7-5

129,533

7,236,204

2,400

1,740,759

387,984

134,520

314,179

797,820

6,627

1,926

143,845

20,465

2,937

53,693

13,264

16,240

1,440

126,249

8,356

85,952

232

13,826,527

14,209

1,362

1,407

119,197

1,808,029

3,602

965,677

266,211

151,812

74,549

711,789

6,692

2,625

208,481

27,133

3,584

33,754

17,016

20,500

6,194

623,462

5,827

96,560

314

5,080,298

New Orleans is the largest cotton market in the United States. The value of the business done in this staple is given by the Times as follows :

TOTAL EXPORTS OF COTTON FROM NEW ORLEANS BY COUN

TRIES FROM AUG. I TO JULY 31, INCLUSIVE.

Countries.

Austria...............

Belgium..............

France...............

Germany.............

England.............

Italy..................

Russia, Baltic.......

Russia, Black......

Spain.................

Mexico...............

Holland..............

French West Indies.

Bales.

4,100

16.971

509,353

393,408

995,832

99,823

42,283

10,021

76,861

2,325

16

Pounds.

2,049,786

8,476,727

253,193,669

196,728,605

494,660,329

49,801,565

20,432,055

4,758,204

37,378,183

1,106,812

250,000

6,800

Value.

$ 203,946 847,671 24,139,358 18,881,655 44,516,770 4,756,956 1,575,500 395,000 3,618,234 80,559 25,000

452

1891-92.

1889- 90.

1890- 91.

2,151,493

1,971,260

1,825,372

1,068,842,725

983,413,639

901,963,237

$99,041,101

97,820,782

90,663,292

RECEIPTS OF COTTON AT NEW ORLEANS.

Red River.......................................

Ouachita River................................

Illinois Central Railroad.....................

Morgan Railroad...............................

Texas & Pacific Railroad......................

New Orleans & Northeastern Railroad.......

Mississ ppi Valley Railroad...................

Mississippi River and other sources.........

Total, net...............................

L. & N. R. R., from Mobile....................

Morgan R. R., from Galveston & Indianola.. N.X). & N. E. R. R., from Mobile...............

Total, bales.............................

1891-92.

61,946

84,898

432,900

369,491

463,597

236,339

560,596

293,584

1890-91.

69,791

84,789

396,335

234,027

378,191

212,824

468,433

233,154

1889-90.

56,038

76,679

335,350

229,206

293,254

152,783

439,133

290,858

2,503,251

182,410

19,133

8,631

2,077,744

177,076

8,218

6,602

1,973,571

155.245

4,060

15,425

2,713,425

2,270,190

2,148,301

It will be noticed that 440,328 bales of cotton were received in 1891-92 by river.

The Times gives the following statistics of the grain and flour business of New Orleans during the ending August 31st, 1892 :

The receipts of breadstuffs and grain and feed at this port during the past season were as follows:

814,871 barrels of flour, against 649,471 last year; 12,730,184 bushels wheat, against 5,538,962 last year; 7,105,067 bushels bulk corn, against 2,309,648 last year; 465,890 sacks corn, against 434,152 last year; 699,543 sacks oats, against 702,682 last year; 140,502 sacks bran, against 152,232 last year; 343,917 bales hay, against 314,290 last year.

Messrs. R. McMillan, N. J. Benedic and John Switzer, Grain Inspectors of the Board of Trade, send the following statement of exports to the Times-Democrat:

EXPORTS OF FLOUR FROM AUG. 1, 1891, TO JULY 31, 1892, INCLUSIVE.

Countries.

Costa Rica...........

Guatemala...........

Honduras...........

N icaragua............

Colombia.............

British Honduras...

Mexico.............

England.............

Cuba..................

France...............

British West Indies

Belgium............

Holland..............

Ireland...............

Germany.............

Barrels.

3,661

3,972

5,455

3,302

1,053

12,284

670

66,973

41,195

10,300

34,807

5,784

22,857

Values.

$ 16,644 18,977 27,644 17,025 5,256 60,499 3,082 278,401 195,404 60,894

•I'*

649

2 52

145,424

25,068

100,401

3,070

1890-91.

1S89-90.

Total.

213,016

29,514

47,805

S958,041 149,S68 215,731

Corn,

bushels.

6,192,006

2,242,814

14,167,922

12,918,056

4,075,279

1891-92.

1890-91.

1889-90

1888-89.

1887-88.

Wheat,

bushels.

13,055,682

4,474,015

1,814,587

885,957

642,868

31

FOREIGN EXPORTS OF CORN AND WHEAT BY COUNTRIES FROM AUG. 1 TO JULY 31, INCLUSIVE.

Countries.

Corn.

Wheat.

Bushels. Values. Bushels. Values.

Costa Rica........

Guatemala.........

Honduras..........

Nicaragua.........

Colombia..........

Prance............

Germany...........

England...........

Belgium............

Sweden............

Cuba..............

British Honduras.

Mexico............

Holland............

Denmark...........

Spain...............

Ireland.............

Italy...............

h-¹    • HtOH

S 2 GO 5r O OS fc® CD • MffiOQ tOtOOS

¥a¥s'§iss! VssssWss

rf».OOiCOHH^OCn OiOtC5C5«—***004-0 O OS LO 05 rf*. OS bO tO l—¹

23,327

5    27,536

10,029,347

1,692,810

1,819,025

887,270

45,401

10,534,488

1,781,180

1,888,005

956,866

40,941

27,557 1,654 33,083 9,000    370,354

523,814 ..........

4,945 ..........

390,667    394,215

8,187 ..........

105

125

386,391

438,635

1890-91.

1889-90.

Total

, 7,446,157 . 2,400,576 . 14 898,690

3,895,080 15,261,854 16,065,172 1,411,815 3,244,459 3,214,078 6,551,503 2,541,029 2,199,665

MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATES

Whose waters in whole or in part flow into the Mississippi River and pass into the ocean through its mouth:

STATES.

Area in Popula-Square tion, Miles. 1890.

PRODUCTION, 1892.

Wheat,bu. Corn, bu. Oats, bu.

Ohio..............

Indiana.........

Kentucky .......

Tennessee.......

Mississippi.......

Minnesota........

Wisconsin........

South Dakota..... North Dakota ...

Iowa..............

Nebraska.........

Kansas............

Arkansas.........

Louisiana.........

Oklahoma..... .

Indian Territory

Colorado..........

Montana...........

Wyoming.........

West Virginia....

Illinois...........

Missouri..........

05 <10)0 CO ^    05 o'cc Co'o'V'w'o

HCJCCWXtOCWtOOlCriMWCDOi^OI-w'iOiyOi OlOOOOOiOOOOOOmOtOOChOOCOO

3,672,316    38,022,000    83 853,000    26,364,000

2,192,404    39,885,000    103,334,000    29,175,000

1,858,635    11,635,000    68,805,000    10,917,000

1,767,518    8,540,000    61,274,000    7,466,000

1,289,600    25,000    27,272,000    1,554,000

1,301,826    41,210,000    24,192,000    43,573,000

1,686,880    8,814,000    27,347,000    50,572,000

328,808    31,767,000    17,706,000    18,472,000

182,719    34,99S,000    375,000    12,510,000

1,911,896    7,257,000    200,221,000    95,841,000

1,058,910    15,670,000    157,115,000    43,131,000

1,427,096    70,831,000    145,825,000    44,094,000

1,128,179    1,337,000    34,344,000    4,9S8,000

1,118,587 ............ 15,859,000

61,834 ............

68,000 ...........

412,198    2,504,000    2,773,000    2,836,000

132,159    898,000    21,000    1,910,000

60,705    101,000    38,000    438,000

762,994    4,302,000    14,322,000    2,871,000

3,826,351    28,370,000    165,327,000    75,063,000

2,679,184    24,834,000    152,489)000    24,093,000

421,000

Biblioteka Politechniki Krakowskiej

100000318889

Biblioteka Politechniki Krakowskiej

11-354071