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be | : : by reducing prices for products mov- ing in and out the vast territory drained by this gigantic river system. The Inland Waterways Corp., owned by the United States, and governed by the secretary of war, operates what is now known as the Federal Barge lines, formerly known as the Missis- sippi-Warrior Service. This corpora- tion is the largest common carrier line operating on an inland water- way. Operations of the Mississippi-War- rior service were first begun Sept. 5, 1918 with the commandeering of all privately owned floating equipment on the New York State Barge canal, the Mississippi and Warrior rivers, to re- lieve the extreme freight congestion existing at that time due to the state of war. The activities of the division of inland waterways was transferred Mar. 1, 1920 to the secretary of war who created a separate branch of the war department known as the ’aland Floating equipment acquired at the beginning of service in 1918 consisted of a miscellaneous collection of ves- sels, the greater part of which were aged, built of wood in poor condition and in every way unsuitable for mod- ern transportation. Practically all of the equipment acquired during the emergency has been abandoned, sunk, or otherwise disposed of. With few minor exceptions, all of the floating equipment now in serv- ice has been designed and construct- ed for modern use. The barges and towboats are constructed wholly of steel. The barges are standardized and capable of carrying 2000 tons on a 9-foot channel and 1000 tons on a 6-foot channel. Certain types of tow- boats have been designed for use on a 9-foot channel and certain other types for use on a 6-foot channel. The floating equipment of the Inland Waterways Corp. is given in Table II on this page. Table Il--Floating Equipment of Inland Waterways Corp. Operating Between New Orleans and St. Louis TYPE NUMBER LENGTH BEAM DEPTH FUEL H.P. CAPAC. TONS Twin screw tunnel........... 7 200 40 10 Oil 1800. re es mlern Wheelie. 6c se cs 2 262-2 58 8 Oil ZOO eS ae setert, Wheels. sis ks 1 262-6 58 8 -Coal(pulv) 2000) == wns ss *T win screw tunnel.......... 1 Oil(diesel) 2200 Barge (twin screw)........... 3 280 49 10 Oil 800 1600 Barge (covered) 6 8 90 230 45 11 2000 Marge (Qpen) 6646 v6 vce een. 19 300 48 10 3000 *Most powerful towboat ever built for use on any inland waterway in the world. Operating Between St. Louis and Minneapolis Det WHEE hee fered ec 4 159 4% cer Wheelss 5 ees as 2 196 Barge (covered) s/o. ok es 60 126 35 5 Oil COO iia ees 42 6 Oil EOQOO' ees 33 76 : 500 Cperating Between New Orleans and Birmingport, Ala. Twin screw tunnel........... 5 140 Twin screw tunnel........... 1 140 Barge (self-propel)........... 1 280 1k SORE as 7 ni ier aOR 52 140 24 89 Oil S00 eee 25 9 -Coal(puly) 1000 es 49 10 Oil 800 1600 25 46 500 Under Construction for Use on Illinois and Missouri Rivers stern wheels foe 0 en es 3 196 Barse (openiecr. cerns tess 20 300 Barge (covered) .....0...5.00-0+ 30 230 Barge (tracks) secs ee and Coastwise Waterways service to carry on the operations of the service. The inefficient and poorly organized Inland and Coastwise Waterways service, operating as a national de- fense project, was succeeded in 1924 by the present business organization known as the Inland Waterways Corp. At present, there are three divisions of the service, the lower Mississippi division, operating between New Or- leans and St. Louis, the Upper Mis- sissippi division operating between St. Louis and Minneapolis and the Warrior division operating between New Orleans and Mobile across Mis- sissippi sound and between Mobile and Birmingport, Ala. Operations by the Inland Waterways Corp. were re- cently authorized on the Illinois and Missouri rivers. 26 42 6 Oil OOD Pa 48 10 : 3000 45 11 2000 The principal commodities carried by vessels of the corporation are: Grain products, tobacco, cotton, sugar, sisal, salt, sulphur, bags, canned goods, miscellaneous merchandise, au- tomobiles, beverages, ore, agricultural implements, coal, ete. The average tow is capable of moving 12,000 tons. Tonnage transported during 1919, the first full year of operation was ap- proximately 235,000 tons. In 1929 the figure was 1,653,381 tons. Approxi- mately 69 per cent of the 1929 ton- nage was interline, that is, water-rail, or rail-water-rail, showing that com- munities in the interior, not located on the banks of the Mississippi and Warrior rivers, are taking advantage of cheaper transportation offered by water shipment. The report of the Inland Waterways MARINE REVIEW——M ay, 1931 Corp. for the year 1930 shows cee profit of $65,177.09 compared with a loss in 1929 of $72,798.08. The American Barge line ig the largest of the privately owned com. mon carrier boat lines operating on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. This line operates seven towboats, three of which are motor and four steam driy- en, and 48 steel barges. The total gross tonnage of the towboat fleet is 1529 and total indicated horsepower 3658. Of the barges, ten are of the © open steel type, 23 steel covered and 15 steel tanks. This line maintaing g schedule of between three and five trips downstream per month, and three trips upstream carrying freight between Pittsburgh and New Orleans. Freight carried consists of iron and steel products, crude oil, gasoline, sugar, cement, wire products, ete. Un- finished iron and steel products, sand, — stone, gravel, etc., which do not re- quire protection from the weather are carried in open steel barges. Other products which must be _ protected from the weather are carried in coy- ered steel barges. Oil, gasoline, etc. are hauled in modern steel tanks. The Carnegie Steel Co., Pittsburgh, is the largest of the private carriers operating on the Mississippi-Ohio sys- tem. This line began operation in 1917 with the towboat Duqursne which has since been sold. The com: pany tows coal from various mines on the Monongahela river and coke from furnaces on the Allegheny and Ohio rivers. Other materials incident to steel mill operation are also car- ried between the various plants which have wharves. Finished steel prod- ucts are towed from Munhall, Pa., to various cities along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers as far south as New Orleans. On the return trip upstream, sulphur usually makes up the cargo. The company operates 15 steam towboats of the stern wheel type and approximately 356 steel barges, 328 of which are open steel type, 28 covered steel and one steel tank. In addition, four small gasoline motor driven tug: boats are used for shifting barges at landings. All of the towboats now in service are of steel hull construction. Nearly all of the barges are 175 feet long by 26 feet wide by 11 feet deep, capable of carrying 850 net tons of cargo on a draft of eight feet. For towing coal, coke, and other products _ not affected by the weather, open type barges are used. Finished products, which must be protected from the weather, are carried in covered barges. A hatch which can be opened extends practically the full length of the hop- per. Each barge has five loading doors on one side. Boats in the coal and coke trade have a speed of 5.5 to 9 miles per hour. Boats operating in the down-river trade have a speed of 4.35 to 6.88 miles per hour. The com- pany maintains a marine ways with