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Modern type of passenger and packet freight steamer in operation on the = Mississippi and Ohio rivers supplied by two boilers arranged to burn coal. The type of craft designed for use on the Tombigbee, Alabama and Black Warrior rivers was a twin screw tun- nel stern self-propelled steel barge. This craft was 280 feet long, 49 feet molded beam, 10 feet molded depth with a maximum draft of 7 feet. Cargo was carried on the main deck. An open cargo box located forward of amidships accommodated 1600 tons of coal, At each end of the coal space, enclosures were provided for package freight. Power for these vessels was provided by two inverted upright triple expansion steam engines with cylinders 10%, x 17 x 27 inches with 18-inch stroke. These engines each developed 400 horsepower at a shaft speed of 200 revolutions per minute. The boilers were two in number and of the marine watertube type, each having approximately 1400 square feet of heating surface. The development of barge navigation on the Ohio river began about the year 1850. The towing of barges laden with coal from the Mononga- hela river down the Ohio river and thence over the Mississippi to New Orleans was done in large tows of wooden barges. These tows frequent- ly carried as high as 25,000 tons of coal below Louisville, at which point the tows were often regrouped to double the size hauled on the upper reaches of the Ohio. In 1887, there were four lines operating 16 propell- ing units and 120 barges between St. Louis and New Orleans, in which serv- ice grain constituted the principal commerce. These barges had capa- cities up to 60,000 bushels of grain each. The size of the tow in the grain trade averaged from four to six barges. In the coal trade in the year 1902 60,000 tons were sometimes carried in one tow from Louisville to New Orleans. These loads were hauled in barges propelled by one of the larg- est wooden towboats in the history of river transportation. This vessel was the Spracur built in 1902, 276 feet long, 61 feet breadth, 6 feet deep, of the stern wheel type and fitted with compound steam engines of 1600 horsepower. The use of steel in the construction of barges did not commence until 1900 and did not become general practice until about 1915. During the war, there was not much activity in barge building, but since that time, consid- erable progress has been made in the design and construction of barges. In fact, barges are now most generally built of steel and their capacity in the coal, gravel and steel trades varies between 800 and 1000 tons. More than 65 per cent of the barges Steamer Trojan of the Hudson River N York City and Albany 24 avigation Corp. operating between New on the Hudson river MARINE REVIEwW—May, 1931 in use on the Ohio river are steel hay. ing a capacity of over 500 tons. Only a very small percentage are of less than 500 tons capacity. Barges useq to haul coal, unfinished steel, gravel, stone and sand are of the open type, For hauling manufactured steel, ce. ment, and miscellaneous freight which requires protection, covered barges are operated. There are also special- ly constructed tank barges for haul. ing oil and gasoline. The time re. quired for the journey upstream from New Orleans to Pittsburgh in the case of the packet freight boats haul- ing miscellaneous packet freight, is about 22 days, downstream about 14 days. In the case of large tows of coal, coke and steel products, the time upstream between the two points is about 27 days; downstream, 20 days. Considerable time is required for breaking up tows at locks. The large number of small towboats powered with internal combustion en- gines in operation on the inland waterways of the country bear wit- ness to the many transportation op- erations which are carried on by the boat lines. By referring to Table I on Page 25, and Table III on Page 28, which list the equipment of lines op- erating three or more boats on the inland waterways of the country, some idea can be gained of the extent to which internal combustion engines are used for power. Today, there are approximately 485 boat lines operating about 1300 pro- pelling units and 4500 barges on the inland waterways of the country. Value of this equipment is estimated as more than $150,000,000. Approximately 300 concerns operate one or more boats on the Mississippi- Ohio system, which is made up of the Mississippi, Ohio, Monongahela, Missouri, Allegheny, Illinois, Tennes- see, Cumberland, and other tributary streams. About 36 of the lines own and operate three or more boats and run on more or less regular schedules. Of these 36 lines, particulars of which are given in Table I on Page 25, eleven are purely common earriers, three contract, two both contract and com- mon, 17 private and three both con- tract and private. These carriers, which operate under contract or for private enterprises, represent a great diversity of interests, including steel corporations, coal companies, sand and gravel concerns, lumber _ inter- ests, etc. The great bulk of the commerce over this waterway is borne in the boats and barges of the large corpo- rations. Steel and coal make up the greatest portion of the river traffic, although the traffic in grain and farm products is of great importance. In the matter of finished products and miscellaneous packet freight, the common carrier lines render a great service to all the people of the nation, by carrying freight at low cost, there- ey I me