1 1 n t, ,11 I \;'W.'', ' ,\ It;,) /III! II 00/ iJ "^OP . Sess-f i-. ]Uisioi& tti^lMiei A UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES Vol. XIV June, 1927 OCT pp THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF^ ^^^^^^^^ THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY By BESSIE L. ASHTON ^^^^ illi. "'^''■^nn. PRICE $1.00 PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA [Entered as second-class matter, July 27, 1915, at the post ofBce at Urbana, Illinois, under the Act of August 24, 1912. Acceptance for mailing at the special rate of post- age provided for in section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized July 31, 1918.] (Copyright, 1927, by The University of Illinois) UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SQENCES Vol. I, 191 2 Nos. 1 and 2. Financial historj'^ of Ohio. By E. L. Bogart. $1.80. No. 3. Sources of municipal revenues in Illinois. By L. D. Upson.* No. 4. Friedrich Gentz: an opponent of the French Revolution and Napoleon. By P. E. Reiff. 80 cents. Vol. II, 1913 No. I. Taxation of corporations in Illinois, other than railroads, since 1872. By J. R. Moore. 55 cents. Nos. 2 and 3. The West in the diplomatic negotiations of the American Revolution. By P. C. Phillips.* No. 4. The development of banking in Illinois, 1817-1863. By G. W. Dowrie.* Vol. Ill, 1914 Nos. 1 and 2. The history of the general property tax in Illinois. By R. M. Haig. $1.25. No. 3. The Scandinavian element in the United States. By K. C. Babcock.* No. 4. Church and State In Massachusetts, 1691-1740. By Susan M. Reed.* Vol. IV, 191s No. 1. The Illinois Whigs before 1846. By C. M. Thompson.* No. 2. The defeat of Varus and the German frontier policy of Augustus. By W. A. Oldfather and H. V. Canter.* Nos. 3 and 4. The history of the Illinois Central railroad to 1870. By H. G. Brownson.* Vol. V, 1916 No. I. The enforcement of international law through municipal lav/ In the United States. By Philip Quincy Wright.* No. 2. The life of Jesse W. Fell. By Frances M. Morehouse. 60 cents. No. 3. Land tenure in the United States with special reference to Illinois. Ey Charles L. Stewart.* No. 4. Mine taxation In the United States. By L. E. Young. $1.50. Vol. VI, 1917 Nos. 1 and 2. The veto power of the governor of Illinois. By Niels H. Debel. ^1.00. No. 3. Wage bargaining on the vessels of the Great Lakes. By H. E. Hoagland. $1.50. No. 4. The household of a Tudor nobleman. By P. V. B. Jones. $1.50. Vol. VII, 1918 Nos. I and 2. Legislative regulation of railway finance in England. By C. C. Wang.* No. 3. The American municipal executive. By R. M. Story.* No. 4. The Journeymen Tailors' Union of America. A study in trade union policy. By Charles J. Stowell.* Vol. VIII, 1919 No. I. Co-operative and other organized methods of marketing California horticultural products. By J. W. Lloyd.* No. 2. Cumulative voting and minority representation In Illinois. By B. F. Moore. Revised edition.* Nos. 3 and 4. Labor problems and labor administration in the United States during the World War. By Gordon Watklns.* Vol. IX, 1920 Nos. I and 2. War powers of the executive In the United States. By C. A. Berdahl.* No. 3. English government finance, 1485-1558. By C. F. Dietz.* No. 4. The economic policies of Richelieu. By F. C. Palm. ^1.50. *Out of print. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES Vol. XIV June, 1926 No. 2 Board of Editors Ernest L. Bogart John A. Fairlie Albert H. Lybyer Published by the University of Illinois Under the Auspices of the Graduate School Urbana, Illinois Copyright, 1927 By the University of Illinois C.ourt,-sy oj the Ul'inob Agricultural Experiment Station. I'rhana Relief Map of Illinois THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY By Bessie L. Ashton, Ph.D. PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITk' OF ILLINOIS URBANA ^^- ^^ PREFACE " 'T With such a mass of literature as there is dealing with the improvement and utilization of waterways another contribution on the same subject may seem superfluous, but it is the opinion of the writer that much that has been written and said has been based more on fancy than on fact and that the subject is of suffi- cient importance to warrant serious study. In the early days of American history the waterways were of immeasurable importance in allowing penetration of settlers into the country. For a half century the steamboat held sway over the great interior territory, but gradually the encroachments of its "^ rival, the railroad, began to be felt. Thus began the contest for traffic between the steamboat and the railroad, a contest that be- came increasingly unequal as the territory farther to the north and west was taken up. This inequality was made inevitable by the geography of the country. In a forested region of many streams and well distributed rainfall, giving to the rivers a deep and reg- ular flow, the chances are more equally divided, but here the fertile prairies farther and farther from the natural waterways invited occupation, and, as this land was taken up the railroad became more and more an essential factor of economic life. In fact, after the Mississippi was passed by this moving tide of humanity, the railroad itself became the pioneer, and, in turn became dependent on settlement for its existence. In this respect it was successful, for in the great treeless plains of central United States the streams are relatively few and far apart, their water supply is limited and uncertain, and their flow very irregular. They carry much sediment, for the material through which they flow is easily eroded, a fact which, together with great fluctuations in volume, offers discouragements to navigation not met with in like degree in sections farther east. This struggle between the steamboat and the railroad, in- augurated by geographic conditions and intensified by economic developments through the succeeding decades, is still in progress. Though odds are against the former, it "dies hard," and there are many of its friends who hope still to revive it. Beginning with the economic losses ascribed to railroad traffic congestion in 1906, spurred on by the vigorous campaign conducted by Theodore Roosevelt during his presidency, and stimulated by the needs of war days, the waterway development agitation has spread over the country. There are about thirty waterway associations in the United States, all interested in particular projects for waterway development, except one, — the National Rivers and Harbors Con- gress, made up of members from all parts of the country, which announces "a policy not a project," that policy being to induce the Federal Government to expend annually ^50,000,000 on systematic waterway development. One of these projects is concerned with the Illinois Waterway, which has been discussed for twenty years as an essential part of the Lakes-to-the-Gulf Waterway, and the adoption of v/hich has been sanctioned three times by the vote of the people of Illinois.^ The Declaration of Principles of the National Rivers and Harbors Congress contains the following statement: "The improvement of waterways cannot be justified merely on the ground that rail rates have been thereby reduced between water competitive points, but the establishment of water borne commerce commensurate with the cost of the improvement must be a controlling factor in Federal appropriations for waterway development." It is the opinion of the writer that the same principle should apply to State expenditures, that is, that commensurate benefits should accrue thereby to those bearing the expense of development. With this in mind the present study has been made, entirely without prejudice, but with genuine endeavor to discover and weigh the facts of the case. Because of their previous importance and of the fact that their evolution from one stage to the other illustrates principles that are generally operative on such waterways, the historic aspects of the case have been thought worthy of consid- erable attention. As these principles are based on both physical and economic factors, both are pertinent subjects for consideration. The term "geonomic" has been used in this treatise in the sense of economic and geographic, that is, the aspects pertaining to the economic geography of the waterway. Acknowledgments are due to the many individuals who have so kindly contributed by word or deed to the collection of informa- ^Once at general election by all voters (1908), and twice by the General Assembly (1915 and 1919). tion necessary for the proposed solution of this problem. Without the many letters containing data impossible to secure elsewhere the result would have been quite unsatisfactory. Especial recognition and thanks are given to Professor W. 0. Blanchard of the Univer- sity of Illinois for helpful suggestions during the beginning of the work, and to Professor R. H. Whitbeck of the University of Wis- consin, whose valuable advice has made its completion possible. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. History and Characteristics of the Present Waterway 13 The Illinois and Michigan Canal 15 The Sanitary Ship Canal 23 Chicago River 25 The Illinois and Mississippi Canal 29 II. The New Illinois River Project 32 Connected Waterways 34 III. The Cargo Carrier 37 IV. Terminals 41 Terminals Along the Illinois Waterway ... 48 Chicago Terminals 50 V. Land Transportation Facilities 62 The Railroad Situation 62 Terminal Congestion and the Motor Truck . . 67 Motor Trucks and the Short Haul 69 Illinois Traffic 71 Facilities for Transportation in Illinois .... 73 Service of the Railroads 79 VI. The Potential Traffic 86 Coal 89 Mineral Construction Materials 108 Grain 114 Livestock 119 Lumber 121 Imports 126 Manufactured Articles 128 VII. Transportation Companies 130 The Federal Barge Line 130 Other Transportation Companies 137 VIII. The Value of the Waterway 14^ To Relieve the Railroad Burden 142 To Offer a Cheaper Transportation Route . . .145 To Reduce Railroad Rates i47 To Furnish Water Power .150 Conclusion '54 Bibliography ^5° LIST OF PLATES PLATES PAGE Frontispiece. Relief Map of Illinois 3 Figure i. Illinois Waterways 14 Figure 2. Corn Receipts and Lumber Shipments at Chicago .... 21 Figure 3. Chicago-Des Plaines Waterways 26 Figure 4. Chicago Waterways 52 Figure 5. Railroads of Metropolitan Chicago 56 Figure 6. Freight Car Surplus and Shortage in the United States . . 64 Figure 7. Railway Mileage in the United States 64 Figure 8. Illinois Railroads 75 Figure 9. Identification Map of Illinois Counties 77 Figure 10, Coal Production in Illinois and in Franklin and Williamson Counties 92 Figure. II. Coal Fields of Illinois 93 Figure 12. Lake Shipments of Wheat from Chicago 118 LIST OF TABLES PAGE I. Tonnage Carried on the Illinois and Michigan Canal .... 18 11. Traffic on the Illinois and Michigan Canal, Calendar Year 1923 . 23 III. Lake Commerce at Chicago 53 IV. Number of Tons Carried One Mile by Railroads in United States . 63 V. Railway Mileage of Illinois 74 VI. Production of Coal in Illinois, by Months 88 VII. Production of Coal in Illinois, by Counties, 1925 IC4 VIII. Exports of Wheat from New Orleans 116 IX. Shipments of Wheat from St. Louis 117 X. Receipts and Shipments of Livestock at St. Louis, 1923 .... 121 XI. Lumber Shipments from Pacific to Atlantic Coast Points via Pana- ma Canal 124 XII. Leading Articles Carried by the Mississippi-Warrior Service on the Mississippi for the Fiscal Year 1923 134 XIII. Tonnage Handled on the Mississippi by the Federal Barge Line . 135 XIV. Operating Revenue and Expenses of the Federal Barge Line by Years 135 XV, Tonnage Carried on the Principal Inland Waterv^ays of Central United States in 1923 143 CHAPTER I HISTORY AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PRESENT WATERWAY The natural conditions of the lUinois Waterway route have invited development since white men first entered the region. The French explorers followed the Indians with their birch bark canoes over the low divide at high water, or across the narrow portage at low water between the Lake Michigan and Illinois River drain- age basins. The Des Plaines River, coming from the north, flows about ten miles west of the lake near the western edge of Chicago to about latitude 41° 48' N., where it bends southwest to mingle its waters with those of the Kankakee and together they form the Illinois (Fig. i). Extending eastward from the bend is a valley leading to, and in part occupied by, the upper waters of the West Fork of the South Branch of the Chicago River by means of which the runoff formerly reached Lake Michigan. The bottom of this valley lies only five to fifteen feet above the lake, that being the outlet utilized and scoured out by the water collecting in the lake basin from the melting ice during the close of the glacial period.^ Offering as it does the easiest crossing between the Missis- sippi system and the lakes, it is not strange that the idea of canal- ization of the route received early attention. When Joliet passed through here in 1674 he remarked on the relative ease with which this could be done, and Albert Gallatin, in his well known report in 1808, gave a prominent place to the project. The first impor- tant step was taken, however, with the admission of Illinois to statehood in 18 18, when, through the efforts of Hon. Nathaniel Pope, territorial delegate to Congress, the clause was written into the constitution by which the northern boundary of the State was placed sixty-one miles farther north than the territorial boundary had been, thus including within the new state the site of Chicago and the entire waterway route.- 'The valley through the divide is about two miles v/ide and twenty miles long. *Gov. Charles Deneen, Special Message to the Illinois General Assembly, 1911, p. 3. 13 14 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [242 Fig. I. Ilunois Waterways 243] history and characteristics 15 The Illinois and Michigan Canal Though agitation for a waterway connecting the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River dates from the time of the War of 1812, no provision was made for using the route for this purpose until 1822, when Congress authorized the construction of a ship canal and granted to the State a strip of land for the canal and ninety feet additional on each side.^ Preliminary surveys were made and a company was incorporated, but they were unable to dispose of their stock. Therefore Congress made another grant of land con- sisting of alternate sections in a strip five miles wide on each side of the canal route, equalling altogether some 325,000 acres. Lack of definite and adequate surveys, differences of opinion as to the most feasible route, financial difficulties, and scarcity of labor all contributed to delay, so that the actual work of construction was not begun until 1836. From this time until the work was finished in 1848 repeated discouragements faced the commission- ers. Many of the men employed in the work of construction worked only during the warmer months and returned south at the beginning of winter. Financial difficulties following the panic of 1839, and the fact that the work of construction was proving to be much more expensive than had originally been expected, combined to put a stop to progress in 1841. At this juncture several plans were suggested, one being that the canal be abandoned and a railroad be built in its stead, the estimate of cost being somewhat below that for the canal.* To meet this suggestion the canal commissioners argued that, though railroads were admittedly preferable for passengers, canals were better for promotion of manufacturing and agricultural interests. Besides, canals were open to use by all and could not be used as monopolies, they improve with use while railroads need constant repairs, and they furnish valuable water power which railroads do not. The result was the substitution of the "shallow cut" plan on the summit level as being less expensive than the lake fed canal in the plan as originally adopted. To provide funds with which ^Annual Report of the Illinois Canal Commissioners, 1900, p. 269. *The estimated cost of the Illinois and Michigan Railway from Chicago to the foot of the Rapids (96 miles) was $1,052,499.19: of a lake fed canal between the same points, $4,043, 186. 50; and of a summit level canal ten feet above the level of Lake Michigan, $1,601,695.83. Ibid., pp. 99, 100, 103. l6 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [244 to continue the work a trust was created and bonds to the amount of ^i,6oo,oco were subscribed. The Board of Trustees were to hold in trust for the bond holders all properties of the canal, re- ceipts, tolls, etc., until such time as all indebtedness against the canal should be removed, when said canal and canal property should revert to the State. According to this arrangement work was resumed in 1845, and the canal completed in 1848 at a cost of $6,339,098.24.^ It ex- tended from the South Branch of the Chicago River about seven miles in a direction slightly south of west through the depression over the divide to the valley of the Des Plaines River, then along that valley, passing through the Des Plaines River at Joliet, and the valley of the Illinois River to a bend in the latter near La Salle, a distance of 97.24 miles. The width was sixty feet at the water level, at the bottom thirty-six feet in earth and forty-eight in rock sections, and the minimum depth of water was six feet. There were fifteen locks to care for the drop of 142 feet, each being no feet long, eighteen feet wide, with six feet of water over the miter sills.® The change of plan made necessary a pumping plant at the locks in the Chicago River at Ashland Avenue, and the construction of feeders, as it placed the canal eight feet above the datum line of Lake Michigan (low water of 1847).'' The canal connects with the navigable portion of the Illinois River at La Salle below which the river occupies an alluvial valley one and one-half to six miles in width through which it flows with a sluggish current and a width varying from 600 feet at La Salle to 1,400 feet at its mouth. At low water the fall in the 224 miles between La Salle and Grafton was originally twenty-seven and one-half feet.® Before improvement the Illinois was navigable by the larger Mississippi River boats for 230 miles from its mouth to Utica in high water stages, but at low water it was practically unnavigable except for small flat bottomed boats drawing less than twenty inches, as the natural discharge of 500 cubic feet per sec- '"Illinois and Michigan Canal, What it is and How it Might be Made More Serviceable," Special Report of Illinois Canal Commissiotiers, 1912, p. 5. *J. G. Warren, "Report on Investigation of Water Diversion from the Great Lakes and Niagara River," in Letter from Secretary of War, 1921, p. 109. 'L. E. Cooley, "The Lakes and Gulf Waterway," in Deep Water Way De- bates before the 46th General Assembly, Springfield, Illinois, 1909, p. 312. ^Annual Report of Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., 1924, I, 1448. 245] HISTORY AND CHARACTERISTICS If ond at Utica at such periods was Insufficient to maintain an open channel suitable for river navigation.^ To remedy this condition the State built dams with locks 75 feet wide and 350 feet long at Henry (1872) and at Copperas Creek (1877) ^o give a seven foot channel in that section, and in 1899 and 1903 the United States Government built dams with similar locks in the lower Illinois at La Grange and Kampsvllle/" respectively, to extend the seven foot channel to the Mississippi. Prior to 1895 there was a period of one to two months in late summer and early fall of each year when traffic was suspended on account of low water in the Illinois River. ^^ The dams, together with the increasing flow of water due to diversion of water from Lake Michigan through the Sanitary Ship Canal since 1900 has given a supply in the river in recent years ample to accommodate any boat that can pass through the canal locks. Boats of 125 tons capacity and requiring no more than eleven feet headroom below the bridges are able to operate on the canal. ^^ The season of navigation is about eight months, though it varies somewhat from year to year. The average for the period 1848-1900 was about 250 days. That the canal was a very important factor in the economic life of the region and that it served its purpose well is indicated by the traffic figures of live decades. The initial trip of the General Thornton caused great rejoicing, because the sugar brought by it from New Orleans and reshipped at Chicago reached Buffalo by lake two weeks before the first boat reached that city by the Erie Canal. Through many prosperous years leading to the elimina- tion of the total indebtedness in 1871 and the culmination of traffic in 1882, the trustees and commissioners of the canal had reason to be satisfied with the part the canal was playing in the transpor- tation system. It was of inestimable importance in pre-railroad days, for it opened up the markets through the lakes and the Erie Canal and increased the price of farm products to the western '"Survey of the Illinois River," House Document 263, 59 Cong., i sess., 18, (1905)- "'"Diversion of Water from Lake Michigan," Report on the Sanitary Dis- trict of Chicago by District Engineer, 1924, p. 42. "Jnnual Report of Chief of Engineers, U. S. J., 1919, I, 1598. ""Improvement of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers and Diversion of Water from Lake Michigan," Hearings before the Committee on Rivers and Har- bors, House of Representatives, 68 Cong., i sess., 127, (1924). 1 8 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [246 Table I. — Tonnage Carried on the Illinois and Michigan Canal'^» 1849 149,553 1880 751,360 1850 142,234 1 88 1 826,133 1 85 1 274,842 1882 1,011,287 1852 352,463 1883 925,575 1853 471,198 1884 956,721 1854 ';2i,285 1885 827,355 1855 528,857 1886 808,019 1856 591,311 1887 742,074 1857 620,172 1888 751,055 1858 507,966 1889 917,047 1859 399,357 1890 742,392 i860 367,437 1 89 1 641,156 1 861 547,295 1892 783,288 1862 673,590 1893 529,816 1863 619,599 1894 617,81 1 1864 510,286 1895 591,507 1865 616,140 1896 446,762 1866 746,815 1897 484,575 1867 746,815 1898 395,017 1868 737,727 1 899 469,352 1869 817,738 1900 121,759 1870 585,970 1 90 1 81,456 1871 628,975 1902 35,824 1872 783,641 1903 62,894 1 873 849,533 1904 47,616 1874 712,020 1905 38,820 1875 670,025 1906 35,480 1876 691,943 1877 605,912 1922 14,350 1878 698,792 1923 9,047 1879 669,559 1924 2,179 farmer as well as reduced the price of merchandise brought in from the East. Real estate values increased enormously in the vicinity of the canal, speculation became rife, settlement spread, and cities grew. Through the canal came lumber, shingles, posts, staves, and other forest products from the pineries of Michigan to serve the pioneers of the rapidly settled prairies of Illinois, Iowa, and regions as far as Leavenworth, Kansas, for farm buildings, fences, and barrels to hold the produce of the bountifully yielding soil. Agricultural Implements, made in Chicago, were distributed like- wise, while the corn, oats, wheat, wool, and other farm products ""From Report of Illinois Canal Commissioners, 1916, pp. 26-28, and Re- port of Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., 1925, II, 963. Figures for tonnage on the canal since 1906 are scattered and incomplete. Those for years 1906-1915, in- clusive, include clearances at the Henry and Copperas Creek locks, as well as those for the canal. 247] HISTORY AND CHARACTERISTICS I9 were put on the boats for the return trip to Chicago. At this point salt from the Kanawha valley competed with Syracuse Solar and the imported product from Turk's Island, becoming increasingly important as the slaughtering industry developed. Sugar from the South and merchandise from the East and South found their way into the canal. The trade in ice, cut along the canal, increased with the growth of Chicago until replaced by artificial ice, and traffic in stone from the canal banks grew with the demands for construction materials. At first many passengers were carried, but this type of traffic was the first to leave when more rapid transpor- tation was introduced by the railroad. Tonnage on the canal, though fluctuating from year to year, exhibited a gratifying increase until 1882, then came a gradual decline until 1899 with an abrupt falling off' in 1900, since which time the amount of traffic carried has scarcely been sufficient to warrant recording (Table I). This constant decline in traffic gave the friends of the canal genuine concern, and many explanations were given to account for it. That most often mentioned in the earlier years was low water In the Illinois River, as in i860 and 1864. It was said that in i860 boats made but two round trips from Chicago to St. Louis during the season, and the interference with the lumber business and the grain trade was responsible for the low figure for tonnage carried that year. Among the reasons given were a short grain crop along the canal and Illinois River, as in 1875, business depression, as in 1858, 1859, and 1896, a strike In the building trades in Chicago affecting shipments from quar- ries along the canal, as in 1888 and 1889, a coal strike in 1897, resulting In insufficient fuel to keep the boats running and com- pelling temporary closing of the stone quarries, Improper grading of corn at Bridgeport In 1881, and competition of the railroad. Direct competition of the railroad with the canal for traffic began with the construction of the Chicago and Rock Island Rail- road westward from Chicago in 1852, approximately paralleling the Illinois and Michigan Canal throughout its length. In 1853 the inroads made by it upon canal traffic were slight, but in 1854 connections were made with the Mississippi River at Rock Island, and thereafter its encroachments on canal business were steady and considerable. As early as 1859 complaints were made that railroads were carrying freight at prices below the cost of trans- 20 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [248 portation in the determination to divert business from the canal/^ and tolls were consequently reduced. A more recent complaint has been made against the Sanitary District of Chicago in the construction of the Sanitary Ship Canal. This is accused of being largely responsible for the almost total absence of traffic since 1900, having interfered with its business during the construction of the drainage canal, and having taken from it its traffic after the project was completed, besides depriving it of water power at Lockport that brought it a revenue of $15,000 annually.^* A consideration of the several mentioned causes of traffic de- cline reveals the fact that many of them were of a temporary character. Strikes were short-lived. A poor corn crop was usually followed by one of more than ordinary size, and prosperity inevi- tably came sooner or later after financial and business depressions. That the final decline was not due to low water is indicated by the fact that suspension of navigation from this cause was not ex- perienced after 1895,^^ yet the downward trend of traffic continued without interruption. Much has been laid to unfair practices of the railroads in competition with waterways, and it is undoubtedly true that questionable methods were employed at one time to secure traffic otherwise passing over the river or canal; but it was inevitable, as the country became settled farther and farther from the waterway, that railroads should be patronized more and more. They penetrated a region beyond the reach of the waterway, and their greater speed, certainty, and reliability, all year round opera- tion, and attention to facilities for handling and protecting goods in transit and during transfer brought to them an increasing amount of traffic to the detriment of the waterway. That the gain made by the railroad over the canal was real and permanent is shown by Figure 2, using lumber out of Chicago and corn into Chicago, two of the most important commodities carried on the canal and handled at Chicago, as representative of the general trend. As to the Sanitary Ship Canal, its construction may have interfered with trafiic, but the small commercial use that has been "Report of the Illinois Canal Commissioners to Illinois General Assembly, 1861, p. 513- "Third Annual Report of Illinois Division of Waterways, 1920, p. 7. """Annual Report of Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., 1919, I, 1598. 249] HISTORY AND CHARACTERISTICS 21 Million bushels Corn Receipts at Chicago Chicago and Rock Island Railroad Illinois and Michigan Canal Million bd.ft. Lumber Shipments from Chicago Chicago and Rock Island Railro Illinois and Michigan Canal -- Fig. 2. Corn Receipts and Lumber Shipments at Chicago (From reports of Chicago Board of Trade) 22 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [25O made of it does not Indicate that the contention that traffic was diverted to it through freedom from tolls is well founded. The financial history of the canal corresponds closely to the commercial one, receipts from tolls increasing with traffic to the high point in 1866 with the sum of ^302,958, equal to more than 250 per cent of the gross expenses for that year. It was prosperous years like this that gradually accumulated sufficient funds to en- able the trustees to pay off the last dollar of indebtedness in 1871 and turn the canal back to the State with a cash balance of ^95,742.41.^^ It seemed that the financial difficulties were over, and the next year tolls were reduced on a few important commod- ities.^^ In 1873 began the final decline of tolls, 1878 being the last year that revenue from that source exceeded gross expenses. To make up the increasing deficit, sums for upkeep and operation were voted by the General Assembly until 1903, when appropria- tions for this purpose were declared unconstitutional. For four- teen years it was supported from a variety of sources, — rentals, leases, and privileges, sale of lands, appropriations for the improve- ment of the Illinois River channel, tolls, etc., the most important being rentals for water power. In 1917 the Civil Administrative Code law again permitted Legislative appropriations to be used in this way.^^ A part, at least, of this amount consisted of the re- ceipts from the canal, which are now paid over to the State treas- ury. There are lands of undisputed title worth four million dol- lars still belonging to canal property, beside areas whose owner- ship is in dispute. ^° As a phase of war emergency work an allotment of ^150,000 was secured from Congress in 1918 for cleaning out the canal, re- storing its banks, and repairing locks and other structures.-" This work, together with raising the banks where low and repairing them to prevent breaks, put the canal in better condition for use than it had been for several years, boats drawing no more than four and one-half feet of water being able to navigate it without difficulty.-^ In spite of this improvement the canal is in poor con- ^^Jrniual Report of Illinois Canal Commissioners, 1872, p. 4. "J bid., p. II. ^^Sixth Annual Report of Illinois Division of Waterways, 1923, p. 72. ""Illinois and Michigan Canal, What it is, etc.," p. 6. '^Second Annual Report of Illinois Division of Waterways, 1919, p. 11. ''Ibid., p. 12. 251] HISTORY AND CHARACTERISTICS 23 dition, many of the structures needing to be replaced. Heavy rains in August, 1924, damaged the canal below Utica and unfitted it for use until repairs could be made, work which was undertaken during the summer of 1925. Though the canal is small and traffic on it is limited, it is to be retained to supplement the use of the new waterway. Boats built at various Lake Michigan points are taken through the canal to their destination each year, and the Federal Government transfers by this route boats for use in the revenue service at Gulf ports or on the Mississippi.^^ Besides these and a few small pleasure boats each year, the canal carries only a few thousands of tons at most. The amount and nature of this traffic is shown in Table II. TABLE II.— TRAFFIC ON THE ILLINOIS AND MICHIGAN CANAL" CALENDAR YEAR, 1923 Commodities Up Down Total Value Wheat, short tons 4j46i 684 5ji45 ?i8i,790 Corn, short tons 621 2,847 3,468 80,012 Oats, short tons 332 332 9>I52 Coal, short tons ^2 7 4° 1 7^ General Merchandise 62 62 i3>95o Total 5,115 3,932 9,047 2 85,080 That part of the canal paralleled by the Sanitary Ship Canal was maintained until the work of the Sanitary District cut through the old channel in the construction of the Sag Channel (1907).-* No effort is now made to continue its operation and it is largely grown up to reeds and other marsh plants, or has been appropri- ated for some other use.-^ The Sanitary Ship Canal While the Sanitary Ship Canal was planned by the Sanitary District of Chicago primarily as a sanitary measure, due precau- tion was taken in its construction to make it an adequate part of the whole inland navigable waterway. It, too, took advantage of "Sixth Annual Report of Illinois Division of Waterways, 1923, p. 72. '^Annual Report of Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., 1924, II, 1141. '*First Annual Report of Illinois Division of Waterways, 1918, p. ID. '^'"Second Annual Report of Illinois Division of Waterways, 1919, pp. 14-15. 24 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [252 the water-worn depression followed by the Illinois and Michigan Canal, approximately paralleling the latter throughout its length. From its junction with the West Fork of the South Branch of the Chicago River at Robey St., six miles from the lake and about one-eighth mile north of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, it fol- lows along the north and west side of the latter to Lockport, a length of 28.05 miles (Fig. 3). Conceived at a time when the mands of many mid-westerners were filled with visions of ocean ships passing from the lakes to the Gulf over Illinois waterways, it was dug deep, twenty-two feet in earth and twenty-four in rock sec- tions, and given a width of 160 to 202 feet at bottom and 162 to 290 feet at the water line.^^ To control the widely varying Des Plaines River a thirteen mile diversion channel had to be excavated for the river to occupy, and about nineteen miles of levee built to separate it from the drainage canal.-'' Controlling works were built at Lockport to meet the fluctuations in the level of Lake Mich- igan, and a windage basin in which large vessels may be turned around. Wiien water was turned in in January, 1900, the Chicago River was made to reverse its flow, carrying the city sewage away from Chicago and its source of drinking water in the lake. The amount deemed necessary and appropriated from Lake Michigan by the Sanitary District has increased along with the growth in population from less than 3,000 cubic feet per second in 1900^* to about 8,500 at the present time,-^ a fact that is of importance to navigation as well as to sanitation, and, consequently, has given rise to much controversy. Problems of water power also enter in, as the amount of power available bears a close relation to volume of water. In 1903 the Sanitary District was permitted to extend the main channel from the basin at the controlling works some 11,000 feet, and to construct a power house to utilize the power heretofore being wasted. Connection is made with the Des Plaines River and the Illinois and Michigan Canal in a common pool at "Warren, op. cit., p. 114. "Memorial by the Trustees of the Sanitary District of Chicago to Congress of the United States, 1900, p. 12. ^"Improvement of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers and Diversion of Water from Lake Michigan," p. 202. ''Ibid., p. 56. 253] HISTORY AND CHARACTERISTICS 25 Joliet through a lock at the power house and a canal having a width of about i6o feet and a minimum depth of lo feet. The lock, which is 130 feet long, 22 feet wide, and has a depth of 12 feet of water over the sills, was opened to navigation July, 1910.^" The cost of construction of the drainage canal was met en- tirely by the Sanitary District of Chicago, that for navigation over and above the necessary costs for sanitary purposes having been estimated as $18,000,000,^^ an expenditure that has never been justified by its commercial use.^^^ Seventeen miles of the canal was through limestone rock, which, where it outcrops on or near the banks, as in the vicinity of Lemont (Fig. 3), furnishes the canal its chief commodity for transport. The stone is quarried close to the canal, run out upon the loading platform in cars from which the stone is dumped into barges drawn up alongside, and carried to Chicago to be used as crushed stone for roads and piers. The only other freight carried on the canal is oil products from the Texas Oil Company's refinery at Lockport. It is carried in barges of from 25 to 30 car loads and is said to reach Chicago in twelve hours, whereas by rail it would take three days due to the neces- sary switching.^- With the exception of the '"spoil" ^-^ bank stone from the margins of the canal, which is carried by local contrac- tors in their own scows and towboats, all the transportation is done by the owners of the freight In their own floating equipment.^^ There are no public carriers on the canal. Besides the boat of the Sanitary District, which makes a daily trip down the canal during the open season and often carries excursion parties, a number of launches pass through the canal each year. There were 160 such boats passing through the lock at the power house in 1917.^* Chicago River Connecting the canals with Lake Michigan Is the Chicago River, originally a sluggish creek nearly stagnant for the greater '"■'Diversion of Water from Lake Michigan," p. 11. ^^Report of the Deep Waterway Committee of the Chicago Commercial As- sociation, 1906, p. 20. ""See Table XV for tonnage on Sanitary Ship Canal. "^Verbal statement of Sanitary District employee. "'A term used for the broken stone obtained when the canal was excavated. ^Annual Report of Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., 1924, II, 1142. ^Warren, op. cit., p. 115. 26 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [254 Scale of miles Fig. 3. ChicagoDes Plaines Waterways 255] HISTORY AND CHARACTERISTICS 1"] part of the year, but after heavy rains, when receiving water from the Des Plaines basin as well as from its own, having a current great enough to scour a natural channel eight to fourteen feet or more in depth as far as its mouth.^^ The longer tributary, North Branch, flows in a southeasterly direction to within 1.6 miles of the lake, where it is met by South Branch to form the main river. South Branch extends in a southerly and southwesterly direction nearly four miles to the junction of the West and South Forks, the latter of which again divides into the east and west arms about 1.59 miles farther south in the vicinity of the Union Stock Yards (Fig. 3). The southern is the more important of the two main tributaries, connection having been made by the Illinois and Mich- igan Canal with the South Fork of this branch, and the Sanitary Ship Canal with the West Fork. The last named river occupies the valley worn by glacial waters in the geologic past and utilized more recently by flood waters from the Des Plaines watershed on their way to Lake Michigan. In the original condition each branch was navigable for boats of twelve-foot draft for about five miles and the main river for fourteen-foot draft to its mouth, where it was obstructed by a bar over which the water varies in depth from four feet or less to nine feet or more.^*' Previous to 1896 work of improvement by the United States Government was limited to the so-called Chicago Harbor, which includes only that portion of the river between the lake and Rush Street, .7 of a mile in length. This early work con- sisted of cutting through the bar at the entrance (1833), construct- ing piers and jetties, and some dredging. In the meantime various attempts at improvement, such as dredging, and the construction of bulkheads, slips, and docks, had been made by the city and by individuals. Some of this work was obstructive to navigation, as there was no co-ordination of plan.^^ Several projects have sub- sequently provided for river Improvement by the Federal Govern- ment, through which the river has been widened to 200 feet or more, and deepened to 21 feet, and two turning basins constructed. When the Sanitary District turned the water into the drainage canal In 1900 and reversed the flow of South Branch, further ^^"Diversion of Water from Lake Michigan,"' p. 28. ^Ibid., p. 30. 28 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [256 dredging to a depth of 26 feet was required to compensate for loss of navigable depth through reversal. In spite of improvement the Chicago River is still a narrow, crooked stream offering innumerable difficulties. There are many fluctuations in the level of Lake Michigan, the difference between the mean stage of low water in winter to high water in summer being about 1.2 feet. Wind and differences of barometric pressure cause daily changes of from .1 to .5 of a foot, and seiches amount- ing to from three to four feet occur at infrequent intervals.^^ Di- version of water from Lake Michigan, together with these tem- porary and local differences and variations in rainfall, has given a troublesome current, which averages one and one-half miles per hour. At times it reaches as high as four miles per hour in some of the bridge draws, and causes loss of control of the clumsy large lake boats and damage to the boats or bridge structures, or a blocking of the channel, thus making the use of tug boats neces- sary.^^ The current, together with the great number of bridges made necessary by urban growth, delays which come from closed bridge hours, and difficulties of securing docking space, has dis- couraged navigation on the Chicago River, and is partly respon- sible for the decrease in waterborne commerce at Chicago in re- cent years. An alternate outlet to the lake is through Calumet Harbor by means of the Calumet Sag channel and Calumet River, a con- nection made with the drainage canal for sewage disposal. It is significant in this case, also, that the Sanitary District selected for this purpose a second valley worn by glacial waters in their escape from the Lake Michigan basin. The Sag canal furnishes a channel 20 feet deep and 60 feet wide to the Calumet River, which offers a depth of 18 feet or more and a width of not less than 150 feet from the "Forks" near Lake Calumet, the present head of navigation, to Lake Michigan. As the region is flat and there is a flow of only about 700 cubic feet per second from the lake,*° the current is slight. If the Calulmet region is decided on as the indus- trial terminal for the Illinois Waterway, a proposition now under consideration, further improvement will be necessary. Dredging ^Annual Report of Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., 1924, I, 1430. ^'"Diversion of Water from Lake Michigan," p. 37. *''Annual Report of Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., 1924, I, 1434. 257] HISTORY AND CHARACTERISTICS 29 of the unimproved portion of the Calumet River between the "Forks" and the Sanitary District canal, and the widening of the Sag channel which is now too narrow for economical use by any considerable amount of traffic,*^ would probably be required. As this would involve excavation in rock the expense would be con- siderable, one estimate giving $9,000,000 as the probable cost of widening to i6c feet.'*^ The Illinois and Mississippi Canal Any treatment of the Illinois waterways would be incomplete without mention of the Illinois and Mississippi, or, as at first offi- cially and still popularly called, the Hennepin Canal. It is unusual in several respects. Though built by the United States Govern- ment at the insistent demand of the community to be served, the time was so long between its projection in 1888 and its completion in October, 1907, that the condition it was designed to remedy no longer existed, and the very people who urged its construction most strongly no longer cared to use it. It was intended as a con- tinuation of the Lakes to the Mississippi waterway with the express purpose of overcoming the exceedingly high railroad rates then prevailing. To carry wheat from St. Paul to Chicago or Mihvaukee by rail cost twelve cents per bushel and the freight rate on coal from Chicago to the Mississippi was two dollars a ton, whereas the same commodity was carried from Erie to Chicago, nearly one thousand miles by water, and by the competing rail lines, for sixty-four cents per ton. Therefore it was thought that the benefits of water rates could be extended to the Mississippi by this means. ^^ In the meantime, however, the railroads, through com- petition among themselves and by means of improved roadbed and rolling stock and better organization, reduced their rates so that the desired end was obtained without the intervention of the waterway. The canal extends westward a distance of seventy-five miles from a point on the Illinois River about one and three-fourths miles above Hennepin and twelve miles below La Salle. From "'"Diversicn cf Water from Lake Michigan," p. 39. *^Jbid., p. 41. *^Annual Re-pcrt of Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., 1908, II, 2014-2015. 30 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [258 here, where a lake affords a terminal harbor at the eastern end, It follows for a portion of the distance the valleys of Bureau Creek and Rock River to the Mississippi, 377 miles below Minneapolis and 292 miles above the mouth of the Missouri (Fig. i). It is seven feet deep and eighty feet wide at the water line, with thirty- two locks in the main canal. As it was intended to admit Missis- sippi River boats, the size of the locks was calculated to accom- modate vessels of at least 280 tons burden.** They have a length of 170 feet, a width of 35 feet, and depth of at least seven feet of water over the sills. Twenty-one of them are needed to care for the lift of 199 feet from low water in the Illinois River to the summit.*^ A feeder along the flat crest of the divide from Rock River on the north furnishes a cheap and reliable water supply.**' The prophesy of the Engineer's Department that the first practical use would probably be for floating launches, houseboats, and pleasure boats between the upper Illinois and the Mississippi and Rock Rivers was realized.*^ Passenger traffic has always been relatively high, exceeding 35,000 in 1918, but commercial traffic has seldom exceeded 12,000 tons, largely local.*^ In October, 1918, it served as a route for the transport of six barges of coal containing 7,222 tons, from St. Louis to the Government Arsenal at Rock Isl- and at a time when sand bars in the Mississippi denied passage for the fleet over that waterway.*^ Like similar pieces of work it cost much more than the original estimate, the total being augmented by operation and care of the completed portions during the fifteen years of construction. At the time the plans were submitted con- struction was estimated to cost ^6,925,960,^° but by the end of the fiscal year, 1908, ^7,319,563.39 had been spent for this purpose^^ and ^86,005.92 for operation and care.^- Subsequent construction '^Annual Report of Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., 1908, II, 2015-2016. ■^"Illinois and Michigan Canal, What it is, etc.," p. 6. ^'Robert G. Buzzard, 'The Hennepin Canal," Trans. Illinois State Acad, of Science, 1922, p. 374. "Annual Report of Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., 1908, II, 2022. *^Annual Reports of Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., 1908-1924. ^'First Annual Report of Illinois Division of Waterways, 1918, p. 8. ^Annual Report of Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., 1908, II, 2015. "Ibid., p. 2026. ''Ibid., p. 2028. 259] HISTORY AXD CH.\RACTERISTICS 3 1 has raised the former figure to $7,547,278,°^ while the present an- nual maintenance charge averages $100,000.^* The use is gener- ally recognized as not being commensurate to the expenditure, but it is hoped that this will show a considerable increase with the completion of the new Illinois waterway, opening up a usable channel directly to Chicago. "Ibid., 192+, 11, II 12. "Average for 1914.-1924. CHAPTER II THE NEW ILLINOIS RIVER PROJECT It was duringthe wave of conservation enthusiasm in 1908 that the Illinois state constitution was amended to permit the expenditure of $20,000,000 to provide an adequate waterway across the State. The inability of the Illinois and Michigan Canal to meet the grow- ing needs of transportation was recognized and it was believed that a deeper and better waterway was what was needed to solve the traffic problems of the time. As ocean and lake rates are the cheapest known, it was argued, so a deep waterway would bring the same benefits to those who should choose to patronize it, and "Twenty-Four Feet Through the Valley" became the slogan. On consideration, however, it was found that a waterway of such di- mensions involved such a stupendous cost as to be prohibitive, consequently the plans were modified to fourteen feet. The first plan adopted by the State was for a fourteen foot waterway, but it failed to receive the sanction of the board of en- gineers of the United States Army who considered it and who recommended an eight foot waterway instead, as one of fourteen feet neither permitted passage of ocean ships nor was required by craft suitable for inland water navigation. After another investi- gation a second plan was presented, providing for an eight foot waterway, but again it failed of recommendation by the Federal board of engineers, this time on account of inadequacy of the plans. The third and last plan met with the approval of the engi- neers and secured from the Secretary of War the necessary permit for the proposed construction. According to the legislative act in force July, 1919, the proceeds from the sale of bonds to the amount of $20,000,000 are to be used in the deepening of the Des Plaines River south from the Sanitary Ship Canal at Lockport, and of the Illinois to one mile above the wagon bridge at Utica to eight feet in earth and ten feet in rock, and the construction of the necessary structures.^ River improvement, rather than a canal, was decided upon, as it gives greater present width and depth, lends itself more ^Senate Bill 252, Laws cf Illinois, 51st General Assembly, 1919, p. 978. 32 26l] THE NEW ILLINOIS RIVER PROJECT 33 readily to future enlargement, and offers a channel requiring a minimum for maintenance and operation and a maximum in water- way facilities. Rock lies near enough the surface to provide ex- cellent foundation for structures, yet not near enough, except near Utica, to call for any considerable amount of rock cutting. The river between Joliet and Utica has an average natural width of from 500 to 600 feet, and the new channel is to be made at least 150 feet wide at bottom wherever practicable.^ In this section the river flows between well defined banks, and has rock bound sides and bottom, with a succession of deep pools, interspersed with shallow reaches and rapids. Three of these pools. Lake Joliet just below the city of Joliet, Lake Du Page, above the mouth of the Kankakee, and the pool above Marseilles cover more than one- third of the total distance.^ Between the pools are sharp descents making necessary the construction of dams to care for the drop of 136 feet found in the 63.5 miles between Lockport and LItica.'* There are to be five dams with locks each no feet wide, 600 feet long, with a minimum depth of nine feet and fourteen feet over the miter sills' to provide for a possible future fourteen foot water- way. They permit the passage of fleets of barges having an aggre- gate capacity of 7,500*^ to 9,000 tons. The lock near Marseilles is completed, the one at Lockport is under construction, and the contract has been let for the lock and dam near Starved Rock. The waterway is designed for an eight foot depth with the per- mitted flow of 4,167 cubic feet per second from Lake Michigan. All work, except about 13,000 feet in length where a bend is cut off in order to avoid disturbing existing water rights at Marseilles, is confined to the improvement of the natural waterway. Power plants are to be constructed by the State and the output leased, or water may be leased to those constructing the plants. ^Ibid. ^Memorial by the Trustees oj the Sanitary District of Chicago to Congress of the United States, 1900, p. 17. ^"Survey of the Illinois River," House Document 263, 59 Cong., i sess., 16 (1905)- 'Senate Bill 252. '"Illinois Waterway to Connect the Lakes and the Mississippi," Eng. News- Record, LXXXIV (192c), 433. (Gov. Deneen in Special Message, 191 1, gives 9000 tons). 34 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [262 leases not to exceed thirty yearsJ From tolls from navigation,^ but more particularly from leases for water power,^ the State ex- pects to collect a sum sufficient to pay interest on all bonds issued and to provide a sinking fund with which to pay them when due, as well as to pay all expenses of operation and maintenance. When the State is completely reimbursed it proposes to offer to the United States the waterway for navigation, providing the latter will assume all expenses ev^er afterward of operating and caring for it toll free.^° Connected Waterways The State project would have limited value without connec- tion with the great system of the Mississippi. In fact, it is as a link between the two great inland waterways, the Great Lakes and the Mississippi, not as a separate navigation unit in Itself, that It has been advocated. It is expected that coal from southern Illinois, Imports from New Orleans, and grain from the upper AlississippI region may reach the lake metropolis over the new waterway. It is true, too, that It will form a part of the greatest inland water- way in the world. From Chicago to the Gulf is more than i,6oo miles (by river), the Ohio offers nearly one thousand, and the upper Mississippi above St. Louis about 650 miles more. This gives approximately 3,200 miles, exclusive of tributaries, — all Im- proved or provided with projects for improvement, except the 7.4 miles of the Illinois River between the lower limit of the Illinois Waterway and the junction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal near La Salle. Below La Salle a Federal project provides for a depth of seven feet by two Government dams, together with two State dams (page 17), and dredging. With the present diversion of water no difficulty Is experienced in maintaining a navigable channel for all boats desiring to use the river, though all the dredging originally contemplated has not been done. The increase of depth due to ''Senate Bill 252, p. 985. ^Ibid., p. 979. ^Ibid. "Dan C. Kingman, "Against the Illinois Waterway," Eng. and Con., XLV ;i9i6), 254. 263] THE NEW ILLINOIS RIVER PROJECT 35 greater flow of water through the drainage canal Is especially- noticeable at the State dams which are drowned out to a depth of three feet, so that only boats drawing more than that much water are now obliged to use the locks and pay toll.^^ The mini- mum depth In the lower river is at the Kampsville lock, over the sill of which a low water depth of 6.5 feet has prevailed since 1906. At this time the Sanitary District was permitted to lower the dams two feet to give relief from floods along the Illinois, following the diversion of water from Lake Michigan.^^ A bill providing for a nine foot depth between the Illinois project and the river's mouth has recently been passed by Congress.^^ At Grafton the Illinois River joins that portion of the Missis- sippi on which the United States Government aims to maintain a navigable depth of six feet. Though the stretch of twenty-two miles to the mouth of the Missouri is fairly straight with no sharp bends, it is the most troublesome part of the whole Illinois-Missis- sippi waterway from La Salle to the Gulf from the standpoint of depth. In time of floods the Missouri discharges a much larger volume of water than is brought by the upper Mississippi, which reduces the slope above the junction to the mouth of the Illinois close to zero and causes the slowly moving water to deposit its sediment until the low water channels are wholly or partially ob- literated. This is especially well marked if the high water is of long duration and the fall from high to low water rapid, as the river is then unable to clear out the channels again. The result is numerous sandbars and occasional depths of only four to five feet. The improvement, to be done by bank protection and contraction works to fix the channel width at 1,400 feet, is about half com- pleted.^* The Federal projects aim to provide a channel depth of eight feet between the mouth of the Missouri and the Ohio and from there to the Gulf not less than nine feet.^^ On the upper Mississippi the project of 1907 to give a six foot depth between ""Diversion of Water from Lake Michigan," Report on the Sanitary Dis- trict of Chicago by District Engineer, 1924. p. 44. "Ibid., p. 43- "January, 1927. ""Illinois and Mississippi Rivers," House Document 2, 67 Cong., I sess., 20, (1921). '"Rarely this has not been done, as in the fall months of 1922, when navi- gation was seriously interrupted by low water south of Memphis. 36 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS "WATERWAY 1 264 St. Louis and St. Paul is not yet completed. The largest boats that navigate that section of the river draw only three to three and one-half feet, yet have trouble at low water.^® "M. G. Barnes, Inland Waterways and Transportation Costs, 1920, p. 16. CHAPTER III THE CARGO CARRIER Engineers recommend in the construction or improvement of waterways, that the type of traffic demanding the waterway shall first be determined, next the kind of carrier most appropriate to carry such traffic, then that the waterway shall be so improved or constructed as to fit the requirements of the carrier, a procedure seldom, if ever, followed. As natural waterways differ widely in their characteristics and boats built for one often navigate ad- joining waterways, the result is a variety of types and sizes afloat together. However, just as there is a type of vessel best adapted to each particular kind of cargo, so there is a type of craft best fitted to a particular waterway. A river with a deep, straight channel may be navigated by a deep draft steamer at a considerable rate of speed, but, if the cur- rent is strong, the power for propulsion must be correspondingly high to overcome the current upstream. On the other hand, a meandering stream like the Mississippi, with many sharp bends, must have a vessel easily controlled, so that it can start, slow down, and stop suddenly, if necessary. On canals the rate of speed is very important, as the wash of the water on the canal sides re- sulting from the rapid replacement of water under a boat going at a high rate of speed, is sufficient to do considerable damage, especially if the draft of the boat approaches the depth of the water. In a narrow channel a momentary loss of control may re- sult in a boat's running into the bank and blocking traffic for hours. Where there are locks to be passed through, traffic must move slow- ly, otherwise there is imminent danger of damage or destruction to the structures. It is apparent, therefore, that a deep, wide, and straight channel of a waterway with stable banks, gentle flow, and the minimum number of locks, is greatly to be preferred. An analysis of the description already given of the waterway as it is planned to be from Chicago to Grafton shows it to be reasonably straight, of ample width (except at the old locks), with the velocity of flow too low to cause appreciable difficulty, and with few locks for so long a route. This is a combination possessed to so great a degree by few waterways of equal length. 37 38 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [266 To fit the changing conditions of the time there have been corresponding changes in water craft, one of the most character- istic features being the giving way of the standard type of river steamer to the barge and towboat as the chief freight carrier. Several barges propelled by one power vessel is the cheapest way of moving low grade bulk freight. Also the ease with which the barges are loaded and unloaded, thus reducing the labor require- ments at the terminals, has been a potent factor in the change. Barges have been most used in the transportation of coal. Not only on rivers, but on canals, particularly, it has been found espe- cially adapted to the carrying of bulk freight and is now being used successfully by the Federal Barge Line on the Mississippi River for miscellaneous freight. Two marked changes in floating equipment on interior wa- terways came about in the period following 1880. One was an increase in the size of the barge, and the other an increase in the number of small gasoline boats. Many of these small boats were pleasure craft, but they were employed, also, in all kinds of work, in freight and passenger and ferry service, and In towing. If the bargeload was too heavy for one boat, two or more were used. Freight was carried on deck and on flats in a tow.^ Each of these boats operated over a short distance, but, as they were numerous and cheaper to operate than steamboats, they made substantial Inroads on the steamboat business, which was already showing a considerable decline. The bulk of the freight on the upper Mis- sissippi is now carried by small steam and gasoline boats. The heydey of the packet boat has passed. A number still operate on short sections of the Mississippi and its tributaries, but a large, if not the chief, part of their income is from passengers during the excursion season. On the upper Mississippi, packet boats are being remodeled to use exclusively in the excursion busi- ness. The usual draft for loaded boats for the principal classes of traffic ranges from three and one-half to six feet,- but they seldom require full depth, there not being enough traffic coming to them, as a rule, to load them heavily. The largest packet boat on the '"Preliminary Report, Inland Waterways Commission," Senate Document 325, 60 Cong., 1 sess., 98, (1908). ^Annual Report of Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., 1924, I, 145 1. 267] THE CARGO CARRIER 39 Illinois River last season draws a full draft of five feet, but carries the average load with three feet. At all times it can pass with ease through the Kampsville lock, which limits the depth on the Illinois waterways as the plans are now. The fleets of the Federal Barge Line, however, would be excluded by the Illinois River locks. The self-propelled barges could be used, if not too heavily loaded, or tow-boats with smaller barges by breaking up the fleet and lock- ing each barge separately. The great number of small boats could operate without difiiculty, and the waterway could accommodate any kind of craft likely to develop on the upper Mississippi. On the Mississippi below Cairo the greatest number of steamboats and tugs belong to the class drawing from four to six feet,^ there- fore could be used here. The barge draft is somewhat more owing to the use by the Federal Barge Line of the 2.000-ton steel barges drawing nine feet of water when loaded. Boats of this type on the Ohio which draw more than seven feet constitute only three per cent of all craft on that river.* Though the Illinois Waterway will be capable of accommo- dating the greater number of boats now in use on the interior rivers, it does not follow that any one of them is the type best suited to it. In fact, the determination of the type of craft that will give highest efficiency on any waterway seem.s to be a very difii- cult thing to reach. This matter has been under consideration by the Federal Barge Line since the beginning of its operation, and they are still making changes in their floating equipment.^ \\ hile the deeper draft boats are more economically con- structed and require less for wages and repairs in proportion to carrying capacity,*' there are several advantages in smaller boats. Less money is tied up in craft that can not be used the year round, or, if used in lighterage business elsewhere, a sm.all barge is more convenient than very large ones. Unless engaged in through trafhc exclusively, the delays in stopping at several places to obtain or deliver cargo would absorb whatever saving came from larger size. Grain is more liable to heating and coal more subject to breakage 'Ibid., 1923 and 1924. Figures for various sections. *Ibid., 1922, p. 949. "T. Q. Ashburn, U. S. A., Waterways anad Inland Seaports, 1925, p. 26. "William M. Black, "Waterway and Railway Equivalents," Proc. Amer. Soc. cf C. Eng., L (1924), 842. 40 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [268 when loaded into very large barges, and smaller barges are often more convenient for the shipper. For local traffic the small amount of freight handled at each mooring makes the use of larger units more expensive. At few stops, if any, could a full load be obtained for a 2,000-ton barge, and the deeper draft vessels would have difficulty in coming close enough to the small landings to permit the use of the gangplank. If the locks in the Illinois River were to be removed, the lim- iting factor of depth would be the seven foot channel in the river; and of length and width, the locks in the improved Illinois water- way. This would admit of one towboat and two barges of the length and width of the standard steel barge and towboat now being used by the Federal Barge Line loaded to a six-foot depth, or of barges of equal capacity but of greater length and less depth. As doubling the draft approximately doubles the resistance to propulsion, while doubling the length Increases it only from five to ten per cent, it would be cheaper to use a larger number of light draft boats in tows than the larger draft ones. Moreover, for most economical operation It has been found that, when the waterway is to be used by boats of all sizes, the depth should be twenty-five per cent greater than the maximum draft of the largest boat.'' A seven foot waterway, therefore, would limit the use to boats of less than six feet draft. With the completion of the Fed- eral project of nine feet depth on the Illinois, barges of from 500 to 1,000 tons, which draw from six to seven feet of water may be used. To all appearances such equipment will be adequate and suitable for the service to be performed. 'Black, op. cit., p. 846. CHAPTER IV TERMINALS The essential parts of a water transportation line are (i) the channel along which the cargo is carried, (2) the floating plant used to carry the cargo, and (3) the equipment used for transfer- ence of cargo to or from the water carrier and the shore or another carrier. The last is referred to by the general name ''terminal facilities," and includes (i) the place where the transshipment is made, (2) the machinery or appliances by which the transfer is effected, and (3) open spaces on land required in handling the cargo, and elevators, warehouses, etc., used for the storage of goods in their movement to or from the waterway. According to Herbert Knox Smith, the four prime factors in a good water terminal are (i) adequate wharves, (2) warehouse space at the water front, (3) transshipping machinery, and (4) belt railway connection be- tween general water traffic, adjacent railways, and local indus- tries.^ From the first, railroads have recognized the importance of terminals, and have spent enormous sums in providing elaborate and adequate facilities for handling the cargo carried, the expen- diture often representing almost half their capital investment." Expansion during the last decade, especially, has been along this line. Not until recently, however, has a similar interest been taken in water terminals, and that has been brought about largely through the realization of the remarkable decline of water-borne commerce on interior v/aterways. The Federal Government has, for years, spent large sums in river improvement with almost no co-operation by the localities supposed to be benefited. So marked has been this neglect that United States engineers have repeatedly recommended that Federal improvements be made only "upon present or future assured existence of adequate terminals provided by localities" and by them kept permanently open for general benefit of users of that channel.^ In 1910 transshipping machinery 'Herbert Knox Smith, ''Water Terminals," Proc. Atlantic Deeper Water- ways Association, 1910, p. 66. "Maj. E. C. Church, ''Weakest Link in Transportation," Marine Rev., LV (1925), SO. ^Smith, op. cit., p. 69. 41 42 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [Z'JO was almost entirely lacking throughout the entire Mississippi River system/ and still is quite inadequate. The result was that, while railroads were lowering their rates and increasing their speed of handling and haulage, the total cost to shippers on waterways was proportionately increased relative to that by rail, through delays at terminals, large transfer charges, and damage to goods. The cost of transshipment is generally as important a factor in determining freight rates on a combined land and water route as the cost of transportation by the separate parts of the route.° The experience of the Inland Navigation Company in 1916 illustrates the point. According to C. W. Baker, in an op- eration on the Mississippi River covering a period of sixteen months their charges for transfer by drayage, switching, etc., were $8,072, and stevedoring and other terminal expenses were $24,154. In the same time their earnings from freight were $54,046.*' Need- less to say, the company was faced by deficits and ceased operat- ing. It is said that the terminal charge is more than double the cost of haulage over any route. '^ New York's terminal charges are given as nearly $250,000,000 a year, that being the most expensive terminal in the world. A cost of about $2.00 a ton for unloading package freight on a Manhattan pier, 50 to 60 cents for handling on the pier, and 8 to 10 cents a hundred for hauling through the street has been given.® In one case it cost more to cart a shipment of grain four miles through the city streets of New York than it did to transport it three thousand miles across the Atlantic, in- cluding the marine insurance for the voyage.^ In another case the cost of trucking to and from the warehouse in Brooklyn would have returned the cargo to San Francisco by way of the Panama Canal.^° ^Smith, op cit., p. 67. 'Major George A. Zinn, "Terminal Facilities in their Relation to Waterway Improvement," Proj. Memoirs, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A., Ill (1911), 239. "Charles W. Baker, '"What is the Future of Inland Water Transportation?" Eng. News-Record, LXXXIV (1920), 86. 'Gordon P. Gleason, "Waterways Need New Terminals,"' Marine Rev., LII (1922), 439. ^Edward Hungerford, Our Railroads Tomorrow, 1922, p. 228. 'Church, op. clt., p. 51. ''Ibid., p. so. 271] TERMINALS 43 The Federal Barge Line has found the same thing true on the Mississippi River, when, with inadequate terminals, 39 cents out of every dollar earned by freight carriage was expended for terminal charges. It cost four cents a ton more to load freight on the barge at St. Louis and unload it at New Orleans than it did to haul it over the 1,142 miles of river intervening.^^ Moreover, losses and damage to freight, caused largely by crude methods of loading and unloading amounted to eighteen cents for every ton of freight handled, or four cents of every dollar earned. Railroads, in the meantime, suffered from this cause a loss of only about two and one-half cents on the dollar.^- With installation of modern equipment and greater perfection in organization, charges have been decreased. The year 1924 showed a drop of thirty-seven cents a ton in the cost of handling freight at terminals. The cost of transfer even when the best of facilities are em- ployed is ordinarily from fifty cents to one dollar a ton, and that of trucking is from one to two dollars a ton for distances of a mile or less. As first class freight can be carried by rail at from three to five cents a ton-mile, and bulk freight at from five to eight or nine mills per ton-mile for distances of five hundred miles or more,^^ any saving to the shipper through the use of a waterway apparently must come through reduction of transfer charges to a minimum by the use of modern and most efficient methods at terminals. However, to provide such facilities is expensive. A notable example of recent attention to terminals is that of the state of New York, which made no provision for them in the original appropriation for the New York Barge Canal, but has subsequently spent nearly twenty-five million^^^ dollars in this way.^* With this money thirty-five terminals have been provided throughout the canal system, including modern covered terminals of concrete and brick construction, and smaller ones of wood, scattered along the route. Also included in the terminal equipment "Development of Transportation Facilities on Inland Waterways under Terms of the Transportation Act of 1920, Department of War, 1922, p. 3. "^Ibid. ""Water Terminals and Transfer Facilities," House Document 109, 67 Cong., 1 sess., 3 (1921), "•$24,713,832. "Annual Report of Comptroller on Canals, N. Y., 1924, p. 12. 44 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [2/2 for use of the barge canal are two modern concrete grain eleva- tors/^ and freight handling machinery has been installed at many points ready for use.^*^ The first large complete municipal river terminal on the Mis- sissippi is the one constructed by St. Louis at the foot of North Market Street at a total cost of $800,000.^^ It consists of a con- crete dock with a frontage of 890 feet, equipped with locomotives and cranes for handling package and bulk freight except grain. It has warehouses for storage, and connection over the tracks of the Terminal Association with all trunk railroads entering the city. It is open to the public at a reasonable charge. At present it is used by the Federal Barge Line. Among other examples of recent attention to terminal problems is the municipal landing dock for handling coal and other bulk materials at St. Paul, which was pro- vided at a cost of $119,000.^^ The type of terminal that should be built is determined by the amount of business to be conducted, the character of the traffic, and the nature of the waterway. A broad rule may be laid down that the outlay for terminal facilities should be comparable to the annual tonnage of receipts and shipments, a very small daily ton- nage or an infrequent large cargo warranting only primitive facili- ties, while a large daily tonnage of package or bulk freight justifies the installation of elaborate and expensive terminals. Installation of terminal facilities generally follows demand. Otherwise, large sums may be expended for an expected traffic that does not mate- rialize. This is the case in the state of New York in connection with the Barge Canal, where thousands of dollars have been ex- pended in the construction of terminals which have never been used and in installing appliances that have never moved a pound of freight.^** Most of the terminals handle very little freight, and "some have never had a single pound of freight in them since the ''Wilford G. Bartenfeld, "Why not use the Barge Canal?" Marine Rev., LV., (1925), 190. "F. S. Greene and R. K. Fuller, The Canal System of New York State, 1923, p. 28. ""Experimental Towboats," House Documejit 108, 67 Cong., I sess., 48, (1921). "^Ibid., p. 4-8. "Annual Report of Superintendent of Department of Public Works, N. Y., 1924, p. 16. 273] TERMINALS 45 new canal has been in commission. "-° That such expenditure of money is unwise is apparent. If there is a large amount of freight, however, it is economy to install adequate, even if expensive, facilities for handling it. The labor-saving appliances in use in the ore and coal trade on the Great Lakes is a case in mind, where the huge volume of busi- ness has made it possible to invest large sums of money in efficient devices for rapid handling, the saving in time more than meeting the expenditure. It is said that, in the early trade in iron ore, when it was transferred by men shoveling the ore into wheeled carts or barrows, the cost was fifty cents per ton, whereas the use of the modern grab buckets has reduced it to about four cents.^^ Similar statements might be made of coal and grain. It is the ease with which mechanical devices may be employed for handling bulk freight, and the consequent reduction in cost of transshipment, quite as much as the cheaper water haul that so much is said about, that has made it possible for waterways to continue to carry this kind of freight. Along the Mississippi, on the other hand, concentrated resources that justify such expensive appli- ances do not exist. From one end of the Mississippi system to the other there is nothing comparable to the relation existing between the iron ore mines near Lake Superior at one end of the lake route, and the bituminous coal deposits of the Appalachian region at the other. Many waterway development advocates forget this most important fact, in which lies the explanation of why the Mississippi River, in spite of all the improvements made upon it, has failed to build up a huge volume of business comparable to the Great Lakes. On a waterway like the Mississippi a large part of the poten- tial traffic is of a miscellaneous character, a type of cargo the transfer of which presents problems the most difficult for the ter- minal engineer to solve. If freight is all of one kind, such as ore, grain, or coal, a special kind of design may be used, whereas no one terminal can be designed to handle all sorts of freight to the best advantage. This concerns the type of cargo carrier, also, barges lending themselves readily to the use of mechanical appli- "Bartenfeld, op. cit. ^House Document log, p. 17. 46 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [274 ances, while the packet boat does not. It may be that a new type of carrier for package freight will be developed, or that the double- decked barges used for such traffic by the Federal Barge Line will be more generally adopted. In that event, the custom of carrying a combined cargo of passengers and package freight will be given up and the passenger business will be done entirely by the excur- sion steamer, or by small gasoline boats. Disturbance in the continuity of flow must also be considered and provision made for storage of those commodities having a pronounced seasonal movement, such as grain and coal. In the case of grain, which oflFers great fluctuation in supply with a rather steady and regular demand, storage houses must be provided as near as possible to the source of supply, from which that com- modity can be fed to transportation channels in a rather contin- uous and regular flow, thus easing the strain on agencies of trans- portation. Coal, on the other hand, has a fairly regular supply, but rather pronounced seasonal demand, therefore should be stored as close as possible to the ultimate consumer. Another factor affecting the construction of terminals is the nature of the waterway. The physical difficulties arising from the great fluctuation in the water level of rivers is very hard to over- come, especially in the Ohio, where the difference in level between high and low water may amount to as much as sixty feet, and the water line at high water may be from three hundred to one thous- and feet from the edge at low water.^- The terminal must be usable at all stages of the river, and the structure must not inter- fere with the flow at flood. At the same time, it must provide a safe landing place for boats and traffic. To take care of variations in width and to avoid the excessive expense of lift entailed by low water with a fixed wharf, floating wharf-boats have been most generally used. This, however, does not eliminate the difficult and expensive haul up the steep river bank from the water's edge, a cost which is too great for carload lots. This slope may be in its natural state, or paved, as at Beards- town on the Illinois. At this place the only provision for landing is the paved slope of the river bank which is reached from the boat by means of the gangplank. At many of the smaller places *^Baker, op. cxt., p. 139. 2/5] TERMINALS 47 along the Illinois and the Ohio, only the unimproved river bank is found, which, together with the gangplank, over which men's muscles carry, push, or roll the freight, constitutes the terminal. If there is a warehouse and the landing place is on a bluff flanked by water deep enough for the boat to come close alongside, as at Havana, Illinois, it is not so unfavorable. Otherwise, In order to protect his goods, the shipper or consignee must be on hand with the arrival of the boat, perhaps reaching it through the precarious footing offered by the slimy mud slope. Variations in width with fluctuations in river level Is eliminated at the new municipal dock in St. Louis by vertical landing walls, while powerful cranes make the lift necessitated by low water. This type of terminal appears to be appropriate where traffic Is sufficient to warrant the required expenditure. For the best use of terminals the nature of the ownership and control Is very Important, as control of a terminal controls the business. The situation in the United States Is dominated by private, rather than by public, ownership,-^ the greatest single In- terest being the railroads. This Is especially marked in Chicago, where there are no public docks, wharves, or other terminal facili- ties "open to all carriers on equal terms" on the main Chicago River or its branches,-* while most railroads entering the city own or control dock frontage there,-^ and one railroad owns and con- trols a good part of the lake frontage. In such cases the railroads may refuse landing place or use of terminals to water carriers, thus eliminating entirely traffic on the waterway unless dockage privileges can be obtained elsewhere. Where the wharves do not belong to the navigation companies wharfage or dockage fees must be paid, the amount varying greatly from place to place. Public wharves are supposed to demand only enough for maintenance, though it must have often exceeded the sum so used, as there has been little evidence of expenditures for maintenance.-*' The wharf boats, which are almost always pri- vately owned, usually base their charges on the volume of busl- *^Smith, op. cit., p. 67. "Annual Report of Chief of Engirieers, U. S. A., 1924, I, 143 1. ""Transportation by Water in the United States," Report of Commissioner of Corporations, III (1909), 162. "^Ibid., p. 36. 48 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [276 ness, the amount sometimes being so high as greatly to hamper traffic.-^ The significance of ownership of terminals is made ap- parent by the statement of the traffic manager of the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce. He claimed that charges along the Ohio River offset the lower rates of water transportation as compared with those by rail even to the extent of causing steamboats to pass by small towns without landing at all.^^ It has been frequently the case that charges equaled the entire amount of freight rate received from that landing.^^ Many of the larger terminals are owned by grain, coal, or lumber companies, and various kinds of industrial concerns, and utilized for their own special purposes. Among the large industrial terminals are those of the iron and steel interests, such as those located at South Chicago, These private terminals are not open for use by the public. Terminals Along the Illinois Waterway On the Illinois River, recent traffic has not been sufficient to result in development of modern terminal facilities, even railroad connections being lacking except at the larger towns and cities. Four of the thirteen principal cities and towns on the river own no dock frontage,^'' and five of those owning v/ater frontage have provided no improvements. The terminal facilities which exist are crude and inadequate. Beardstown and Naples use paved street ends as boat landings, and Peru is the only town owning ware- house facilities, so far as is known.^^ Peoria, the largest city on the river, has paved about one thousand linear feet of levee, and in April, 191 8, voted bonds to the amount of $250,000 to provide for additional terminal facilities. These bonds were declared illegal, however, after $25,000 had been expended, and all work ceased. Except at Peoria, no wharf charges are made.-- "Smith, op. cit., p. 69. ^"Transportation by Water in United States," p. 155. 'Ibid., p. 36. ^"Annual Report of Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., 1924, p. 1449. ""Water Terminals and Transfer Facilities," House Document 652, 66 Cong., 2 sess., 1733, (1921). "Ibid. 277] TERMINALS 49 Privately owned or controlled warehouses are found at various places along the route, such as those of the Eagle Packet Company at Hardin, Crater, Kampsvllle, Webbs, Naples, Beardstown, and Peoria, and those at ChlUIcothe, Lacon, Henry, Hennepin, and Peru,^^ used by the La Salle and Peoria Packet Company when that line was in operation. Many of these are old and in poor condition. Elevators are found at a number of places, the one at Pekin being the largest and the only one with railroad connections. Two companies operating on the Illinois River between Grafton and the Hennepin Canal collect wheat from the farmers along the river and carry It in barges to Pekin to the Pekin Roller Mills to be made Into flour, or to ship It east by rail. At this place is a modern landing, and unloading is done by the suction process. No other mechanical devices, except for handling grain, are provided at any of the terminals. Barrels are rolled, and other kinds of freight are pushed or carried on to and off the packet boats by deck hands, who also drive livestock down the bank and on to the deck, or off again. There are no public warehouses or elevators on the river open to all carriers.^* Of the sixty-one landings from Peru to Graf- ton, seven have no warehouses, elevators, or other equipment to care for freight, and only fifteen have direct rail connections. In the stretch of sixty-five and one-half miles of river between Naples and Grafton, no landing has rail connection, the warehouse, if there is one, being all the way from one-fourth of a mile to seventeen miles from a railroad.^^ Jollet, like other river towns abov^e Peru, has no waterway or freight handling device, and there are none along the Hennepin Canal. The range between high and low water on the Illinois is from nine to twenty feet,^*^ and not more than ten per cent of the land- ings along the river are easy of access at all stages of water. At very high stages nearly all below Beardstown are drowned out, while at very low water boats can not get near enough to the shore to land. Above Beardstown similar difficulties are met with in low water as far as Pekin, but high water conditions are better.^^ "Ibid., p. 1734. "'Water Terminals and Transfer Facilities," House Document 226, 63 Cong.. I sess., (1913), Table following p. 1038. '^^Hous£ Document 652, p. 1732. ''House Document 226, p. 1035. 50 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [278 The landings at Beardstown, Havana, and Pekin are too high to be seriously affected by high water. Chicago Terminals The terminal situation at Chicago is of sufficient importance to have occasioned a great deal of discussion, largely because of the complexities of the problem. The demands of a great city for land transportation which is intolerant to interruptions incident to the use of the river as an avenue of commerce, the complexity of cargo, as to kind, destination, and use, the high price of land near the river, physical difficulties to navigation in the river itself, own- ership or control of water frontage, plans of the park commission- ers and clamors of the city inhabitants for the same, and uncer- tainty as to the city's future needs have combined to make the problem a very difficult one to solve satisfactorily. The chief point of difference of opinion seems to be the proper place for Chicago's future harbor and the question of closed or open bridges over the Chicago River. If bridges are closed, all water traffic from the lake, except barges and lighters, must de- pend on a lake front harbor already included in the plans. This would increase the expense of transportation through lengthened team haulage, a condition that should be avoided whenever pos- sible, as it is the great amount of traffic passing through the city streets that is largely responsible for the conspicuous congestion in evidence now. While a lake front harbor would reduce conges- tion in the vicinity of the river, it would create a similar congestion in streets adjacent to the lake.^^ It is claimed, also, that a harbor so placed would be inconvenient for traffic from the Illinois Water- way, and that it would divert, rather than attract, water-borne traffic at Chicago, because of increase in lighterage costs. The great proportion of the traffic that is destined for home consump- tion would also made a terminal centrally located more practical, as it would bring the commodities closer to the consumer. On the other hand, the narrow, crooked channel and the troublesome current in the Chicago River, as well as the bridges, remain as a handicap to navigation at the best. There are fifty- ''"Chicago Harbor and Adjacent Waterways, Survey of 191 1," House Doc- ument 2S7, 63 Cong., I sess., 61, (1913). 279] TERMINALS 5I tv/0 bridges over the Chicago river and its branches, whose opera- tion alone costs the city ^500,000 annually. Major Putnam main- tains that for a similar expenditure Chicago could build and operate terminals on the lake front and truck all existing commerce to and from the existing river terminals free of charge and make a substantial saving thereby over continuance of movable bridges. ^^ The city has two harbors about twelve miles apart, Chicago Harbor, and South Chicago, or Calumet Harbor. The first com- prises an outer basin, consisting of the mouth of the river and a portion of the foreshore of Lake Michigan enclosed by break- waters and dredged by the United States Government, and an inner harbor, composed of the Chicago River and its branches (Figs. 3 and 4). Extending into the outer basin from the lake shore a short distance north of the Chicago River is the Municipal Pier, built by the city in 1914-1916 at an expense of more than $4,500,000,*° but planned and used more as a place of recreation than valued as a commercial asset. There is no mechanical equip- ment for loading or unloading vessels, and the only railroad by which connection can be made with the city is the Chicago and Northwestern, which has a spur track within 1,000 feet of the pier.*^ The only part of the lake frontage south of the Chicago River that can be counted on for commercial use is that adjoining the river. Beyond this lie Grant Park and the Illinois Central Railroad property, separating the city from the lake. The Chicago River and its branches are bordered by wharves, warehouses, and industrial establishments. Including numerous slips, there is a total wharfage of approximately 150.000 feet, about one-half of which is used by private interests for shipping pur- poses. There are no public wharves or docks along the river, the terminals being owned and operated by steamboat lines, grain, coal, and lumber companies, and various other interests,*- Rail- roads own or otherwise control a large extent of water frontage. The busiest portion of the river is near the mouth where there are advantages for the concentration of the passenger and fruit busi- "'Major R. W. Putnam, "Chicago's Need for a Comprehensive Water Ter- minal Plan," Jour. fV. Soc. Eng., XXVIII (1922), 416. ^''Municipal Pier, (Pamphlet from an editorial in the Ezening Post), p, 3, "House Document 652, p. 1713. "Jnnual Report of Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., 1924, I, 1430. CJ&V v^ ^^ 52 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [280 Fig. 4. Chicago Waterways ness, the latter being especially important at Chicago due to the advantages of lower night temperatures and less jarring by lake than by rail. In extent the available docks are more than sufficient for existing commerce,*^ but almost entirelv lacking in mechanical ii ^Annual Report of Chief of Eng'uieers, U. S. J., 1924. I, 143 1. i8i TERMINALS 53 equipment for handling freight, the grain elevators and a few coal handling plants being the only places so provided. There is no place, however, where coal may be unloaded from a railway train to a barge or lake vessel.** The public docks on each side of the Sanitary Canal are leased by the Sanitary District to industrial concerns. Chicago's second harbor lies near the Illinois-Indiana state boundary behind the Calumet breakwater at South Chicago and in the Calumet River. It is almost entirely industrial, except for the transfer of grain from rail to lake, a trade which has grown at the expense of Chicago Harbor proper (Fig. 12). The prefer- ence in favor of this harbor is the result of the navigation difficul- ties of the Chicago River. *^ Since 1890 the increase of waterborne commerce in this district has been quite as conspicuous as the de- cline in the other (Table III), due, in large part, however, to the development of the iron and steel industry rather than to any other factor. TABLE III.— LAKE COMMERCE AT CHICAGO^* Chicago Harbor, Year including Chicago River Tons 1890 7,209,514 1891 7,214,765 1892 8,412,992 1893 7,958,963 1894 7,209,236 1895 7,205,942 1896 6,347,163 1897 7,149,759 1898 7,391,454 1899 6, 189,365 1900 5,873,070 1901 6,184,242 1902 5,184,792 1903 6,105,553 1904 4,446,071 1905 5,388,986 1906 5,011 ,786 Calumet Chicago Harbor Harbor and Year and River River Tons Tons 1,796,401 1907.. . .. 4,980,123 2,066,751 1908. . . .. 4,025,170 I ,822,907 1909.. . . . 4,224,655 903,397 1910. . . •• 4,273,304 1,436,897 1911 . . . •• 4,025,576 2,857,750 1912. . . •• 3,644,745 2,973,724 1913.. . ■• 3,829,442 3,493,218 1914.. . . . 3,780,509 4,117,526 1915.. . • • 3,259,170 3,229,874 1916. . . •• 2,439,381 3,783,674 1917.. • . . 1,900,687 3,995,277 1918. . . ■■ 1,925,633 4,454,428 1919-. • . . 1,631,620 4,742,225 1920. . . . . 1,527,265 3,728,260 1921. . . •• 2,632,343 4,530,394 1922. . . .. 2,857,521 5,290,326 1923.. . ■• 1,982,393 Calumet Harbor and River Tons 6,430,347 5,932,153 6,155,104 7,254,317 6,607,996 8,318,838 9,445,878 6,549,576 6,968,660 10,308,735 10,269,304 10,594,123 8,574,542 10,392,490 6,215,989 9,680,155 II ,916,65 I "M. G. Barnes, '"The Waterway Terminal Situation in Illinois," Jour. W. Sac. Eng., XXVIII (1922), 407. *^Annual Report of Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., 1924, p. 1436. *^^Ati7iual Report of Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., 1924, II, 11 29, 11 32. 54 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [282 Industrial plants occupy about thirty-three per cent of the river banks, two of the largest belonging to the Illinois Steel Com- pany and the Iroquois Iron Company, whose plants occupy the lake shore frontage and entrance of the river, and the west and east, respectively, as far as the Elgin, Joliet, and Eastern Railway bridge, with the exception of 450 linear feet reserved by the Engi- neer Department.**' The terminals belonging to these companies are adequately equipped for the handling of iron ore, flux stone, and coal, and are exclusively used in the transaction of the owners' business. Between the Elgin, Joliet, and Eastern Railway bridge and The Forks there is a wharfage of about 45,800 feet, including fourteen slips and dry docks, *^ used for various purposes, such as the handling of grain, coal, ore, sand, and for shipbuilding. A variety of large industrial concerns are located in this district, as well as numerous grain elevators. The elevator belonging to the Armour Grain Company has a capacity of 6,000.000 bushels, and is reported to be the largest in the world.*^ The terminals for handling bulk commodities are considered adequate for all existing commerce and capable of such expansion as probable future needs may require. There are, however, no public wharves, though the recent permission (Dec, 1922)*^ by the Secretary of War to the city of Chicago to create an industrial harbor in Lake Calumet will offer opportunity for such. An essential factor for a successful water terminal is favorable relations with railroads, for little waterborne commerce has for its origin and destination places close to the waterway. Not only through bills of lading and joint rates, but adequate and prompt car service, are required if the waterway is to secure any appre- ciable share of the total traffic to be carried. Chicago, with its twenty-six trunk lines and ten or more belt lines, can not be said to be lacking in railroad transportation facilities, though the service rendered may, at times, leave much to be desired. The docks on the West Fork of the Chicago River are connected with every rail carrier entering the city of Chicago by means of the Chicago River and Indiana Railway Company, which engages to perform the **Jnnual Report of Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., 1924, II, 1433. "Ibid., p. 1436. ^Hoiise Document 652, p. 1727. **Annual Report of Chief c/ Engineers, U. S. A., 1924, p. 1436. 283] TERMINALS 55 service of loading and unloading, transfer and switching, for lake and rail lines through its terminal on the south side of the West Fork. The facilities are said to be efficient for the interchange of freight.^*' Down river points are also brought into touch with this point through a car ferry barge controlled by the same company. The Calumet commercial district is served by several belt and switching Hnes, among which are the Chicago Terminal and Trans- fer Railroad and the Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad. An extreme outer belt line is furnished by the Elgin, Joliet, and East- ern Railway, which extends from Gary around the west side of Chicago to Waukegan on the north, circumscribing what is known as the Chicago Switching district, with its clearing yards and its multiplicity of tracks (Fig. 5). The belt line railroads, however, are engaged primarily in facilitating the interchange of freight between the eastern and western trunkline railways,^^ only in ex- ceptional cases serving the water front. Lack of co-ordination of competing rail lines and use of inefficient methods, also, leads to congestion of traffic in this area to such an extent that the average time spent in Chicago by a freight car, exclusive of train move- ments, has been estimated as high as fifty-eight hours.^- The relation of Chicago's terminal problem to the Illinois Waterway is determined by the kind and amount of traffic likely to be carried over it. This is now a matter of conjecture, but a study of the present commerce of Chicago which offers most promise of^interest in the waterway may throw some light on the subject. The advantage of the Calumet district in cheap land for sites, ease of navigation on the Calumet River, and excellent rail facili- ties will attract the iron and steel industry to this section in the future, as in the past, and will tend to prevent any important trade in iron ore, limestone, and coal for this use in the Chicago River, Grain is the only outbound bulk commodity carried by the ordinary bulk freighter,^^ and that trade is being diverted more ""■'Ports of the United States," Miscellaneous Series, No. 33, Bureau of For- eign and Domestic Commerce, 1916, p. 346. '^Ibid. "Sixth Annual Report of Illinois Division of Waterways, 1923, p. 36. "E. 0. Griffenhagen, '"Water-Borne Commerce of the Chicago Region and its Requirements," Jour. W. Soc. Eng., XXX (1925), 200. 56 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [284 Fig. 5. Railroads of Metropolitan Chicago 285] TERMINALS 57 and more from the Chicago River to Calumet Harbor by the ad- vantages of the latter (Fig. 12). All the elevators in the Calumet district are adequately equipped for handling both rail and water traffic. The receipts are practically all by rail and rail shipments exceed those by water. ^^ The increasing tendency of through grain shipments to avoid the congested Chicago district, together with the ultimate decrease in volume of grain handled, as home con- sumption reduces the amount of grain exported, will probably relieve the Chicago River of this commodity. Stone from the Drainage Canal, and probably sand and gravel from the Illinois Waterway, will be furnished Chicago, but these commodities are best carried by barge and require only very primitive mechanical appliances for handling. Small portable cranes for unloading barges of stone would probably suffice. ^^ Lumber traffic is unim- portant, and involves no special type of terminal equipment. As there is no prospect of any appreciable revival of this trade, it does not warrant any special provision for the future. The greater part of the hard coal entering the Chicago district is brought in box cars on their return from taking grain east. That coming by lake is unloaded at docks along the Chicago River, or at South Chicago for reshlpment by rail to neighboring points. These docks are not the most modern, but have a "capacity and speed adequate to secure fairly advantageous lake rates."^*^ The cost of unloading at one such has been figured to be about fifty cents a ton.°^ Con- sumption of hard coal Is declining, and, as difficulties of handling smaller amounts become more marked with decrease in traffic, the hard coal trade by water will probably soon become a negligible Item. Soft coal, on the other hand, is being consumed in ever in- creasing amounts in the Chicago district, and it Is the commodity that Is expected to furnish the largest item for transportation on the Illinois Waterway. For reasons discussed in Chapter VI, It is the writer's opinion that a much smaller amount will pass over the waterway than Is generally estimated. If the barge line is ex- tended to Chicago, It is probable that the Standard Oil Company will take advantage of any opportunity It offers for the transpor- "Griffenhagen, op. cit., p. 199. ''Ibid., p. 194. '"Ibid., p. 200. "Ibid. 58 THE CEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [286 tation of barreled oil and case goods, but, as no extensive water movement of their commodities is now contemplated,^* this matter requires no particular consideration, in so far as terminals are concerned. Barreled apples from Calhoun county, also, now car- ried by water to St. Louis, might then move by the barge line to a better market in Chicago. The remaining freight that is most involved in the problem of terminals is that of a miscellaneous character, a type which, for Chicago, as a whole, will increase with the growth of the city. Food, clothing, furnishings, luxuries, etc., will be In Increasing de- mand, the amount that Is carried by water being determined by the relative ease and cost of reaching the ultimate consumer. The problem is to reduce the expenditure of time and money In making the transfer from the rail or water terminal to the point of con- sumption, which Is accomplished by more rapid and efficient handling and reduction of street haulage. At present such traffic Is handled without spclal unloading equipment, the cargo being moved by hand trucks with the typical stevedoring rate for pack- age freight at Chicago of about seventy cents a ton.^^ It is now largely a lake front, or river mouth commerce, though Interlake lines unload small quantities of freight at various points along the river, and carry very considerable quantities to and from railroad docks In South Branch, where interchange between lake and rail Is made. It Is probable that a portion of this traffic will find use of the waterway profitable. Through traffic of this kind, however, like bulk freight, might well be diverted from the congested center of the city to the South Chicago terminal for transshipment. Only eight to nine per cent of the package freight of Chicago is carried by water,*'° and It Is doubtful If lake commerce of this kind in- creases relative to that carried by rail. Large concerns, such as Marshall Field and Company and Carson, PIrie, Scott and Com- pany, dry goods dealers, and W. M. Hoyt and Company, whole- sale grocers, who have locations on South Branch, and Montgom- "Communication from traffic manager of the Standard Oil Company, Janu- ary, 1927. ^"Griffenhagen, op. cit., p. 199. '"Report of Chicago Board of Trade, 1924, p. 112, gives receipts of un- classified freight by lake; '"Chicago Facts," Report of Chicago Association of Commerce, 1921, p. 9, gives rail receipts and shipments of package freight. 287] TERMINALS " 59 ery Ward and Company, mail order firm, on North Branch, may find continued use of the river profitable. Their trade is in high value goods, rather than in cheap and bulky freight, and, for the most part, that which comes by lake can probably stand lighterage from a lake front terminal to their river docks. The interlake package freight lines that bring coffee, sugar, textiles, and other eastern and import products westward carry on their return grain and flour and other millstuffs obtained at railway docks on the Chicago River, but not originating there.*^^ If the grain is routed through the South Chicago Harbor, it is probable that the grain- carrying vessels will no longer find it profitable to call at the Chi- cago River district. In addition to the lake-front harbor, if such is decided upon, terminal facilities should be provided for traffic along the Illinois Waterway, and should include provisions for exchange of freight between the barge line and lake and rail. While barge traffic destined for lake transportation would pass on through the city to the lake front terminal, or be routed by way of a belt railway or the Sag Channel to the South Chicago harbor, that intended for consumption in the city should be unloaded at a point as con- venient to the consumer as present conditions allow. For inter- change between barge and rail, though it is doubtful if such be needed, a location immediately west of Ashland Avenue Bridge over the West Fork of the Chicago River offers advantages (Fig. 4). From this point rail connections can be made with any rail line through the Chicago River and Indiana Railroad, and with the downtown district by truck through South Ashland Avenue.'^'- For package freight a greater number of smaller ter- minals would be more desirable than one or two larger ones, as by this means freight could be unloaded closer to its ultimate destination and the expensive haul through the congested city streets reduced. At the junction of North with South Branch at Lake Street, and at the North Avenue turning basin in the North Branch, where it is joined by the North Branch Canal are other locations selected as suitable for transfer of miscellaneous freight. ^^ '"Griffenhagen, op. cit., p. 195. ''Sixth Annual Report of Illinois Division of JVaterzvays, 1923, p. 53. ""Illinois and Mississippi Rivers and Diversion of Water from Lake Mich- igan," Hearings before the Committee on Rivers and Harbors, House of Repre- sentatives, 67 Cong., 2 sess., 40, (1922). 60 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [288 It is possible, also, that docks now in existence could be used much more extensively if satisfactory arrangements could be made with those in control of them. If one yard of dock frontage, with proper appliances, has a capacity of i,ooo tons of freight per annum, as has been estimated,"* it is apparent that the extent of dockage along the Chicago River and its branches (page 51) is ample to care for all the waterborne commerce of Chicago for many years to come. For protection of goods awaiting transfer or delivery, storage houses are needed and must be provided where they do not now exist. The mechanical equipment required would depend on the amount and nature of the cargo. If the Federal Barge Line service is extended to Chicago, provision for handling a considerable vol- ume of package freight may be required. At this place a terminal of similar capacity and equipment to that at St. Louis could be provided at a somewhat lower cost, as the problem of changing river level would not have to be met. Calumet Harbor is at present adequately equipped for existing commerce, though there are no public terminals. How- ever, if it is made the chief transshipping point of through traffic between the east and west, further provision v/ould have to be made, especially for package freight. Ample facilities for all kinds of traffic could be created if the Lake Calumet plan previously mentioned (page 54) is developed, but the city should take warning and act before the Chicago River history is repeated. Bridges have not yet become numerous enough to be troublesome, though as early as 1909 there were eighteen crossing the Calumet River,''^ six of which permitted the passage of boats. Available land would be provided by the Lake Calumet project of dredge and fill, but the approach must also remain open from both sides to safeguard commercial interests. The planning of the future of this harbor is one of the tasks of the port board that can not afford too long delay. The paucity of terminals along the Illinois Waterway has been noted (page 48). However, to state with any degree of accuracy the future terminal requirements without a careful consideration of the amount and nature of traffic likely to use the waterway is ^^Ilouse Document 257, p. 53. *'George A. Tunell, "Chicago Harbor Commission," Report to Mayor and Aldermen, 1909, p. 46. 289] TERMINALS 61 impossible. If grain is brought by the farmers all along the way for transportation on the waterway, elevators must be provided. There were eleven,**^ mostly small, in 19 13 in the 222^ miles be- tween Peru and Grafton.**' If coal is brought to the industries of the river towns by water, docks and coal handling devices must be installed. If manufacturers along the route bring some of their raw materials and ship some of the products of their industry by boat, proper provision must be made for handling the cargoes. It is more than 325 miles from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River by the water route, and in the ninety miles above La Salle there are absolutely no facilities for exchange of traffic between land and water, with the exception of the primitive arrangements for the handling of stone and oil on the Drainage Canal. The Hennepin Canal is likewise deficient. The question that arises, therefore, is, "Who is to provide these necessary facilities?" As a rule, returns must be more certain before private capital is at- tracted to such a use. It would be extremely unwise, also, for the state, or any other public agency, to expend any considerable sum of money for terminal facilities that might never be used. To avoid a repetition of the experience of the state of New York with its Barge Canal, it would be well for public authority, before spending money for terminal facilities, to ascertain by some sub- stantial assurance by the prospective users of the waterway that traffic will be forthcoming to make proper use of such facilities as shall be provided. Moreover, to be reliable this assurance must be based on a careful and intelligent consideration of the advan- tages and disadvantages of the utilization of the waterway, in order that a reasonable and more than tentative decision may be reached. Such a study will be attempted in Chapter VI. ""Eighteen in 1921. House Document 652, op. cit., pp. 1754-1756 (Table). See page 119. ''House Document 226. CHAPTER V LAND TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES The Railroad Situation Much has been said in recent years of the need of waterways to supplement the railroads, which, at times, have evidenced their inability to care for the ever increasing amount of traffic of the country. Since 1913 the railroads have failed to keep pace in con- struction of road with the growth of population, and have barely held their own in proportion of mileage to area^ (Fig. 7). The population per mile of line in 1913 was 389, in 1918 it was 416, and on Dec. 31, 1924, 454.- The ton mileage of the country in 1923 was one third more than ten years before, but the railroad mileage was slightly less. Periodically serious complaint has come from car shortages, and delays due to congested traffic. In 1906 there was a shortage of motive power and equipment, resulting in embargoes and blockades which were disastrous to industry.^ At this time the grain west of the Mississippi and the Missouri lay piled on the open prairie adjoining railroad stations awaiting facil- ties for transporting it.* Again in 1916 a record year of production found the railroads unable to care for it expeditiously. Freight car shortages during the fall of this year reached more than 100,000.^ The climax in the railroad situation, however, came in October of 1922 when car shortages numbered nearly 180,000,® and the rail- roads were unable to handle all the freight offered to them.^ Nev- ertheless, they were carrying more than in any corresponding period before. LTnsatisfactory conditions continued, though some- what abated with progress of time, until July, 1923,^ No shortage has been reported since. The difficulties mentioned above were ^Slason Thompson, Railzvay Statistics, 1923, p. 24. '^Ibid., 1924, p. 27. '"Program of Railroad Legislation," National Transportation Conference, 1919, p. 122. *lbid. ^Thompson, op. cit., 1924, p. 48. *"'The Present Railroad Situation," National Industrial Conference Board, 1923, p. 2. 'S. M. Felton, "The Railroad Question, 1923, p. 3, (Pamphlet). '■'The Present Railroad Situation," p. 8. 62 291] LAND TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES 63 due to shortage of all facilities rather than to lack of cars alone, as inadequate terminal, yard, trackage, shop, and engine-house facilities all contributed toward the final result.^ There are several reasons for this unsatisfactory state of af- fairs. It is to be noted that, while the volume of traffic to be car- ried in the country shows a steady upward trend from decade to decade, figures for consecutive years show great fluctuations (Ta- ble IV). In 1906 and 1907 traffic congestion came at the close of TABLE IV.— NUMBER OF TONS CARRIED ONE MILE BY RAILROADS IN THE UNITED STATES^" 1905 186,463,109,510 191 5«b 276,830,302,723 1906 215,877,551,241 I9i6«b 343.099,937,805 1907 236,601,390,103 1917 394,040,446,000 1908' > 218,381,554,802 191 8 408,011,453,783 1909* 218,802,986,929 191 9 375,884,209,204 1910* 255,016,910,451 1920 411,151,190,797 191 1' 253,783,701,839 1921 307,878,491,163 1912* 264,080,745,058 1922 341,108,361,727 ig^s^l 301 ,398,752,108 1923 414,347,458,627 ^9U'''' 288,319,890,210 1924 390,454,659,964 1905-1916, fiscal years, ending June 30, 1917-1924, calendar years. "Excludes figures of switching and terminal companies. ''Classes I and II only. a ten year period of unprecedented industrial and commercial ex- pansion, during which the volume of freight carried by the rail- roads had increased by two and one-half times.^^ Then came the panic of the fall of 1907, which converted the shortage of the three previous months into a surplus of more than 200,000 cars by De- cember (Fig. 6). From this time until 1916 the service was reason- ably adequate, judged on the basis of car shortages. Since the fall of 1916 there have been four periods of car shortage. The most marked periods have been from the fall of 1916 to May, 191 8, the war period, and in 1920^ owing to abnormal conditions inci- dent to the war, and in the fall of 1922. A combination of condi- tions was responsible for the inadequacy of the railroads in the last named period. The twenty-six months of Government op- eration, when the chief objective was winning the war, left the *Ibid., p. 9. ^"Thompson, op. cit., 1923, p. 91, and 1924, p. 94. "Charles H. Markham, The Shortage of Transportation, 122, p. 3. 64 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [292 / \ \ \ 1 ■g 5 i s \ c \ 1 293. LAND TRANSPORTATION' FACILITIES 65 equipment in disrepair. General depression of business and con- sequent reduced volume of freight during 192 1, together with the railroad's need for economy, made it seem advisable to defer repair. The coal strike in April, 1922, bunched a relatively large amount of the year's traffic in this commodity in the fall, and the shopmen's strike in July made the amount of repair work required difficult of accomplishment. However, the country is not so much interested in the expla- nation of conditions now past, as in the question as to whether the railroads will be able to give adequate service in the future. It is clear that frequent repetition of the losses incurred by shippers during each of these periods can not be tolerated. Estimates of losses on wheat to Kansas farmers during the "car shortage" of the fall of 1920 have been given as twenty-five to fifty cents per bushel, or even more, because facilities for shipment could not be obtained before a great decline in the market price of wheat had taken place. ^- The fluctuating volume of traffic (Table I\ ) and the alternating surplus and shortage of cars (Fig. 6) also raises the question as to whether the railroads should be expected to maintain equipment for occasional peak periods. In the one case there is an economic loss to the railroads because of idle equipment during slack periods, in the other the loss falls upon the shipper who is unable to market his product promptly. If the railroads are to allow the experiences of the last few years to be indefinitely repeated, it seems wise to investigate other means of transpor- tation, that is, the waterways and the highways, with the view of utilizing most efficiently and economically all the means of transportation the country affords. The railroads, on the other hand, contend that, with abnormal conditions once removed, they will be able to provide satisfactory service. ^^ They are carrying now more than at any previous period in their history. Average weekly car loadings during 1923 and 1924 were greater than ever before, with a close approach to one million,^* and over one million in 1925. Some idea of the achievements of the railroads may be gained by the following fig- ures. For every $100 invested in property by railroads in 1890, "Samuel 0. Dunn, The Partner and the Railroad Question, Feb., 1924, p. 4.. ""The Present Railroad Situation," p. 2. "Coinmerce Yearbook, 1924, p. 400. 66 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [294 983 tons of freight and 153 passengers were carried one mile; for a similar investment in 1920, 2,063 ^ons of freight and 231 pas- sengers were carried one mile.^° The average haul for freight has increased from 238 miles in 1900 to 326.2 in 1921,^'^ indicating greater interchange of commodities and more extensive demands of the people for products from far distant points. In 1923 the ton-mile burden of the railroads exceeded 414 billions (Table IV), This tremendous piece of work has been done by focusing attention on more effective operation of already existing lines.^*'* Though total miles of line showed a slight decrease between 1913 and 1923, the mileage of switching and terminal roads increased from 5,373 to 6,404.^^ These facts are very significant, as the weak spot in the railroad transportation system is at the terminals, ^^ and "any increase in mileage of yard tracks and sidings adds more to the available facilities than an equivalent mileage of main tracks."^° According to the National Industrial Conference Board terminal congestion may be reduced without expense by using the existing terminal facilities more intensively, and by proper co-or- dination of railroads, shippers, and teaming and trucking inter- ests. '° Methods of handling freight through large city terminals calls for much improvement. The above being true, greater use of waterways does not appear to be the most effective method of relieving the situation. Terminals for the waterway must neces- sarily occupy a restricted area bordering the river or canal. If conveniently located for handling local traffic, the terminals must be centrally placed in areas where the streets are already more or less congested. Moreover, barges must be loaded and unloaded at the waterside, while railroad cars can be quickly switched to less congested points for the transfer of freight. Rather than more ""Report of the Joint Commission of Agricultural Inquir}', Pt. Ill, Trans- portation," Report 408, Pt. J, House of Representatives, 67 Cong., I sess., 226 (1922). ^'Ibid., p. 219. "^In 1923 the railroads invested in road and equipment over eight hundred million dollars (Thompson, op. cit., 1924, p. 81) and put in service 134,636 new freight cars and 2,963 new locomotives. (C. A. Gray, And the Cars Came, 1923). "Thompson, op. cit., 1924, p. 32. ""The Present Railroad Situation," p. 9. ""Report of the Joint Commission of Agricultural Inquiry," p. 230. *""The Present Railroad Situation," p. 9. 295] LAND TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES 67 waterways, the situation suggests the use of motor trucks at both rail and water terminals as being the best solution of the problem. Terminal Congestion and the Motor Truck The railway terminal problem is among the most important problems of the country. As in the case of waterways, it costs as much to handle the traffic to and from the railroads as to haul it between stations, though half of the railroad investment has been used in providing facilities other than the main line,^^ In Chicago, twenty-five to thirty per cent of the land in the business district, which is worth, from ten to twenty-five dollars a square foot, is occupied by railroads for tracks, road and station purposes."- Upon this there is no return while cars stand awaiting receipt or dis- charge of freight. The time spent by cars at terminals has been given by Mr. John F. Wallace, then Chairman of the Chicago Railway Terminal Commission, as twelve times that spent on the road.'^ Mr. Grosvenor M. Jones, of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, has estimated the cost of hauling a ton of freight 240 miles in the United States as seventy-four cents, on the average, while handling the same ton at the terminals costs seventy-five cents.-* Terminal costs, together with overhead ex- penses for less than carload freight, have been calculated by the Interstate Commerce Commission to be thirty cents per one hun- dred pounds.-^ Railroads have built extensive yards and systems of side-tracks for switching, making up trains, etc., team tracks for the receiving and delivering of carload freight, interchange tracks and belt lines for transfer of cars, freight houses for caring for less than carload freight, and a variety of special facilities for the handling of particular commodities. Nevertheless, it is still very generally agreed that the capacity of the railroad as a trans- portation agent is virtually limited by delays at terminals. It was in order to clear its tracks and sidings that the great Pennsylvania System refused all freight for seventy-two hours during the traffic ^^J. R. Bibblns, 'The Co-ordination of all Transportation," Railway Age, LXXIV (1923), 801. ''^George R. Chatburn, Highways and Highway Transportation, 1923, p. 177. °^F. Van Z. Lane, Motor Truck Transportation, 192 1, p. 7. ''Ibid., p. 6. ''Ibid., p. S3. 68 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [296 crisis of 1906.-" It is the opinion of the United States Chamber of Commerce that, with few, if any, exceptions, the main tracks of our railroads have adequate capacity for carrying more freight than is to be offered to them.'^ It is clear, therefore, that the essen- tial requirement of transportation today is the most expeditious handling of freight at terminals. This, of course, applies to water, as well as to rail lines. To accomplish the desired result one of two things must be done; either the present facilities must be extended, or some way must be found to hasten the movement of freight through the existing terminals. Throughout the country as a whole, there will be no serious difficulty, except that of cost. In the providing of additional facilities for handling freight. It is in the large cities, where the need of relief is greatest, that the greatest obstacles are found to this method of solution. The prohibitive cost of addi- tional terminals, the objection of municipalities to further en- croachments by transportation agencies in congested districts, and the fact that an already difficult situation would be emphasized by still greater centralization of cartage operations, make such a plan next to Impossible. In this extremity railroads have turned to the motor truck. "Store-door delivery by motor truck, which would relieve conges- tion in these terminal areas and greatly increase the capacity of the freight stations, is the greatest contribution which can be made to the solution of the terminal problem, "^^ By the substitution of motor trucks in the trap car service, for switching between local stations, and for short haul shipments within the terminal area, yard congestion can be reduced and many cars released for the more profitable line haul. More rapid movement and less storage is money saved. An example is found in the use of motor trucks by the New York Central Railroad in handling less than carload freight, thus freeing for line work in this way twenty-nine cars a day in New York alone.-° In Cincinnati, also, the substitution of ^*'Trogram of Railroad Legislation," op. cit., p. 122. ^'"Relation of Highways and Motor Transport to Other Transportation Agencies," Report of Special Committee IF, Apptd. by the President of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, 1923, p. 9. ""Ibid., p. 5- ''G. C. WoodrufT, "New York Central's Use of Trucks and Unit Contain- ers," Address before National Dry Goods Association, 1925, p. 10. 297] LAND TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES 69 motor truck service for horse drawn vehicles has been instituted, resulting in decrease in cost of handling and in damage to goods, reduction of needed platform space, more rapid movement of freight, lessened street congestion, and release for other service of switch engines and cars. The importance of this change in the transfer of package freight is indicated by the fact that, though such freight forms only four to five per cent of the country's ton- nage, twenty-five to thirty per cent of the railroad car equipment is required to handle it.^° Motor Trucks and the Short Haul Another service that the motor truck may render to the rail- road is to relieve the latter of unprofitable short haul traffic. The distance in which it is economically beneficial for motor truck service to supplant that of the railroad is influenced by several factors, among the most important being the condition of the roads, the character of the traffic, and railroad terminal costs. The limit is set by the relative cost of the two types of service. R. C. Wright, general traffic manager of the Pennsylvania Railroad, is reported as saying that there was no profit for a railroad in haul- ing freight for less than 40 miles. ^^ For a shorter distance the high proportion of terminal expense with less than carload freight may even mean a serious loss, especially if there is congestion at terminals. The expense of the short haul has been used by the railroads repeatedly in arguments for increased rates. ^- If this can be eliminated from the railroad tariff by use of the motor truck, railroad rates may be safely reduced to a point otherwise impos- sible. Judging from the results of present operations, the distance over which motor truck haulage is profitable ranges from 50 to 100 miles, that is, a distance capable of being covered in one day (or night), or within which the round trip is possible in the same length of time. Motor trucks make the ninety mile trip between New York and Philadelphia overnight, carrying less than carload '"Bibbins, op. cit., p. 801. Tercival White, Motor Transportation of Merchandise and Passengers, 1923, p. 81. ''Ibid., p. 85. 70 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [298 freight at a cost of time and money below that required by ex- press. ^^ On some kinds of freight the motor truck has the advantage over other means of transportation in that it involves less handling. This is especially true of freight that must be carefully packed to ship by rail. Prompt delivery also secures for it perishable freight. In the carriage of farm products it has assumed a permanent and important place, especially in the transportation of livestock and grain. As an agency of transportation, In general, the motor truck can not be considered a serious competitor with the railroad or waterway. From long distance haulage it will forever be barred by labor requirements. It is only the short line railroads that have reason to be concerned, the situation being particularly acute in New England. For example, the Boston and Maine Railroad between Boston and towns within a radius of fifty miles has re- duced its express rates in order to win back the traffic lost to the motor trucks.^* If this type of service is the most economical, however, it may be advisable for railroads to abandon short un- profitable branch lines and give over the traffic to the more effi- cient agent. ^■'^ It is not as a competitor of existing transportation agencies that the motor truck will find its greatest usefulness, though there is a belief that such competition, actual or potential, will act as an incentive to both rail and water operating companies to make their transportation systems efi'ective.^^ It is as a co-op- erating unit of the whole system of land and water transportation that the motor truck can render the highest service. The move- ment has begun in New England, and it can be carried out under similar conditions elsewhere. In this region the development of combined truck and water transportation is favored by the loca- tion of the majority of the industrial cities within a maximum ''Lane, op. cit., p. 7. "Chatburn, op. cit., p. 175. '** According to the United States Daily, March 29, 1926, eight western rail- roads have petitioned the Interstate Commerce Commission for permission to operate auto bus and motor truck service as substitutes for some of their branch line trains. '^J. Gordon McKay, "Connecticut Highway Transportation Survey," Public Roads, V (1924), 21. 299] LAND TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES fl distance of forty miles from available water shipping points, and by the distance to New York City, which permits overnight move- ment of freight.^® A similar correlation between the motor truck and rail service is developing at other points in New England, and in the region of Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, and elsewhere in the East.^'' It is to be noted, however, that these regions in which service of this character has resulted in success are densely popu- lated, with numerous industrial cities of considerable size lying at a distance within a one-day round trip. That such transportation methods can be applied with equal success in regions with entirely different characteristics is not to be expected. Illinois, for instance, does not lend itself to a wide use of this plan. Nevertheless, this new feature in the development of transportation is of special significance, as it Is Indicative of the passing of wasteful competi- tion, and the inauguration of sane and intelligent co-operation. It points the way to the much-to-be-deslred day, when each agency of transportation will be performing that particular function for which it is peculiarly well fitted. Illinois Traffic By its geographic position Illinois Is destined to be a State of heavy traffic. It lies between the industrialized consuming East and the agricultural producing plains on the west. The dairying, mining, and wheat growing section to the north and northwest presents a striking contrast from the southern Mississippi V'alley and coastal plain with Its cotton, rice, and sugar, and forests of yellow pine and cypress. Much of the interchange between these diverse regions Is across the territory of Illinois. The importance of the Illinois and Michigan Canal in concentrating transit trade between the Mississippi and Lake Michigan has been noted (page 18). In those days the movement of grain eastward and of lumber from the forests of the Lake States southward made up the bulk of the traffic. The same commodities are carried today, but now by the railroads, and the lumber comes largely from the Gulf States. '''Ibid. ''Ibid., p. 18. 72 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [3OO The southward projection of Lake Michigan into the lake and prairie plains has focused the east-west railroads at its head and given to the State the greatest railroad center in the world. No trains pass directly through Chicago.^® All trains entering this district are remade within the Chicago Switching District.^®* (Fig. 5). To its elevators are brought grain for local consumption or manufacture, to pass on to eastern consuming centers, or for ex- port, giving Chicago first rank as a grain market. Livestock are brought for slaughter from surrounding states to this premier slaughtering and meat-packing center. Here are made more agri- cultural implements, both for local distribution and for export, than at any other city in the world. This list of achievements might be greatly extended, but it is sufficient to account for an enormous amount of traffic across the State. Intrastate traffic is greatly influenced by the unequal distri- bution of resources and population within the State. According to the Fourteenth Census Cook County then contained more than forty-seven per cent of the State's population, and the concentra- tion is on the increase. It has reached its present proportions from thirty-eight per cent in 1900, and 42.6 per cent in 1910. There is also a great concentration of Industry in this section, there being more than 4,000 industries located within the metro- politan^®" area of Chicago.^" Cook County alone had three-fifths of the total number of manufacturing establishments of the State in 1919, and accounted for $3,908,350,000, or seventy-two per cent of the State's total in value of manufactures.. These industrial plants call for an enormous quantity of coal, and help to make of Chicago the greatest coal market of the world. More coal is con- sumed annually within the Chicago Switching District than in all New England, or in the State of New York, Including Greater New York.*° The greatest coal producing counties, however, are in the '^E. H. Lee, "Railway-Borne Commerce in the Chicago Region and its Re- quirements," Jour. W. Soc. Eng., XXX (1925), 204. '''"The area on the map enclosed by the dotted line. '*\\'Ietropolitan area is that enclosed by the Elgin, Joliet, and Eastern Rail- road, Fig. 5. ^•Lee, op. cit., p. 205. **F. C. Honnold, "Chicago is the World's Greatest Coal Market," Coal Age, XXI (1922), 18. 301 ] LAND TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES 73 extreme southern part of the State. A large amount, also, is brought in from Indiana, Pennsylvania, and other neighboring states. This concentration of population and industry of various sorts creates an unusual amount of package freight within the business district of Chicago. It is said that 15,000 tons of less than carload freight are shipped, and 9,000 tons received, daily, at Chicago. In the same time 2,500 through package cars leave for as many as 1,800 shipping points scattered over every state in the Union,*^ in addition to the great amount of localized trade. Facilities for Transportation in Illinois To carry the enormous quantity of the State's freight are required many miles of railroad, which cross the State in all direc- tions and converge at Chicago. Topographic advantages enabled Illinois to attain a high rank in railroad building at a relatively early date. In the decade between 1850 and i860 it built more miles of railroad than any other state, and, at the end of the period, was outranked in mileage constructed only by Ohio.*- Ten years later it occupied first place, which it held for nearly forty years, until surpassed by Texas in 1906. So rapidly did the work progress that by 1897 approximately 89 per cent of all the land of Illinois lay within five miles of an operating railroad.*^ In 1923 it possessed 12,035 niiles, exclusive of switching and terminal tracks, equal to more than 4.8 of the country's total railroad mileage (Table V). Illinois has had exceptional advantages for railroad building. The State is, for the most part, a nearly level, or gently undulating plain across which railroads could be built in any direction, reach- ing the objective points by practically straight lines. The advan- tage of such a layout is evident when distances between points by river and rail are compared. For instance, from Chicago to Cairo by the Illinois Central is 364.72 miles." By the waterway Cairo *^'"Chicago Facts," Report of Chicago Association of Commerce, 1921, p. 9. (Pamphlet). *'^Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1924, p. 358 and Preliminary Re- port of the Eighth Census, p. 235. "Dwight C. Morgan, "The Railways of Illinois," Year Book of Railway Literature, (Chicago, 1897), p. 201. **Poor's Manual of Railroads, 1924, p. 1197. 74 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [3O2 TABLE v.— RAILWAY MILEAGE OF ILLINOIS 1850 110.50 1859 2,781.20 1916 12,210 1851 271.39 i860 2,867.90 1917 13,269 1852 412-19 187c 4,823 1918 13,328 1853 759-62 1880 7,851 1919 13,267 1854 788.40 189c 10,214 1920 13,189 1855 886.79 190C 11,003 1921 13,187 1856 2,135.33 1905 11,959 1922 12,840 1857 2,501.65 1910 12,751 1923 12,035 1858 2,733.92 191 5 13,256 Figures for years 1850-1860 from Preliminary Report, Eighth Census of the United States, 1862; for 1 870-1900 from Statistical Abstract; and for 1905-1923 from Bureau of Railway News and Statistics, by Slason Thompson. will be 553 miles from Lake Michigan.^^ The direct line of the original Illinois Central road north from Cairo to La Salle, of the Chicago and Alton between Chicago and Alton, and of the Chi- cago, Burlington and Quincy from Chicago to Galesburg may be noted (Fig. 8). These roads follow the upland far enough away from the major stream valleys to avoid crossing any but the shallow heads of valleys tributary to them. The Rock Island, one of the earlier roads to be located, appropriated the val- ley of the upper Illinois from Joliet to the "Great Bend," in order to profit from the easy grade it offers as well as to share in the trade of the towns and cities already scattered along the river and the Illinois and Michigan Canal. It was to this railroad more than to any other that the Canal lost its traffic. It is with this railroad, also, that the Illinois and Mississippi Canal competes most directly, as the two occupy the same valleys and approxi- mately parallel each other for most of the length of the latter. The distribution of the railroads is not uniform. As might be expected the net is thickest in the vicinity of the great cities, Chicago and St. Louis, while the rougher and more sparsely pop- ulated parts of the State are less well supplied. Calhoun County, lying between the Illinois and IVIississippi Rivers, has no railroad, and Hardin and Pope Counties, bordering on the Ohio River, have only a short branch line (Fig. 9). There is quite as much differ- ence along the various parts of the waterway, also, as in the State as a whole. From Pekin to Chicago the line of the waterway is par- ^'L. E. Cooley, '"The Lakes and Gulf Waterway," Deep Water Way De- hate} before the 46th General Assembly, Springfield, Illinois, 1909, p. 338. 303] LAND TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES 75 Fig. 8. Illinois Railroads (Includes all railroads serving or competing with the Illinois Waterway) "J^ THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [3O4 alleled by one or more railroad lines. Several branch roads cross it above the "Great Bend," selecting the easier grades offered by trib- utaries from the upland to the valley bottom. Below Pekin the greater obstruction to railroad building presented by the widening alluvial valley of the Illinois is reflected in the absence of a parallel railroad and in relatively few railroads crossing the river in this sec- tion. For instance, in the river stretches of 33 miles between Pekin and Havana, and of 31.4 miles from Havana to Beardstown, no railroad reaches the river. Of the fifty landings from Pekin to Grafton, a distance of 153 miles, only six or seven have direct rail- road connection (Figs, i and 8).*^^ In contrast to this arrangement is the convergence of railroad lines in the northeastern part of the State, where Chicago, by its superior advantages of position, draws to it all rail lines within the territory. So well recognized are these advantages, that, un- like other large cities such as Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Buffalo, Chicago has never, as a municipal corporation, invested money or loaned credit in the aid of railroads, though benefiting richly by them.**' Twenty-six railroads, representing forty per cent of the railway mileage of the United States, terminate in Chicago.*^ As there are no natural barriers, except the shores of Lake Michigan and the Chicago River (Frontispiece), the railroads were free to enter the city along any line they chose, sometimes seeking directly a share of the trade already cared for by a competing line. This circumstance gave competition, rather than co-operation between the various lines. The railroads established themselves near the center of the city, then close to the mouth of the Chicago River. At first their yards were located outside the city limits, where land was cheap, but, as the city grew, they were repeatedly moved be- yond this line. Lack of a systematic plan in the beginning, and subsequent active competition between the railroads has given a multiplicity of tracks, but faulty co-ordination betv.-een lines. ""The map shows the railroads of lUinois between the track of the Chicago, Burhngton, and Quincy from Chicago to Savanna and the Illinois Central from Chicago to Cairo, an area which includes all the roads that will serve or compete with the waterway. ^'William K. Ackerman, "Early Illinois Railroads," Fergus History Series, No. 23, 1884, p. 54. ""Chicago Facts," p. 8. 305] LAND TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES n Fig. 9. Identification Map of Illinois Couni 78 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [306 Within the Chicago terminal district, which includes an area some- what greater than that of the city, are over 4,400 miles of railroad track and 177 individual railroad freight yards.*^ For interchange of freight between roads there are sixteen independent belt or in- dustrial lines within the city limits, having together eighty or more points of transfer.*^ Encircling Chicago are belt lines, totaling 1,400 miles, a length equal to one third the belt line mileage in the United States.'^" The Inner Belt, known as the Belt Railway of Chicago, extends from South Chicago to Cragin; the Middle Belt, or Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad, from Indiana Harbor to May- ^gy.5oa gj^^j ^.}^g Outer Belt, or Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railroad, from Gary to Elgin and Waukegan^^ (Fig. 5). A partial belt line, well toward the center of the city, is furnished by the Chicago Junction Railroad, which is engaged in handling traffic to and from the stock yards and the manufacturing district.®^ During the last few years interchange of both through and local freight between railroad lines has been much simplified by the operation by the Belt Railway of Chicago of one of the largest freight yards in the country. This clearing yard lies just outside the city Hmits near Argo, and is reached by both the Indiana Harbor Belt Rail- road and the Western Indiana Railroad. By means of either of these it is possible to reach all of the railroads entering the ter- minal area.^^ Beside the intricate and extensive system of steam railroads, Illinois has a ramification of electric lines which crosses the central part of the State in various directions. In 1922 there were 3,416.13 miles of electric railway in Illinois, which ranked third in the United States in this respect.^* Freight and express traffic is car- ried by these lines in Illinois to a much greater extent than in other parts of the country, except in Iowa and California, These *'E. J. Noonan, "Chicago Terminal Situation," Jour. W. Soc. Eng., XXIV (1919), 286. *^Sixth Annual Report of Illinois Division of Waterways, 1923, p. 34. '""Chicago Facts," p. 9. '"■^Given as Mayfair on the Standing Switching Committee map. "Bion J. Arnold, Report on the Rearrangement and Development of the Steam Railroad Terminals of the City of Chicago, 1913, p. 91. "Noonan, op. cit., p. 288. ''Ibid. '^Illinois Blue Book, 1923-1924, p. 5, 307] LAND TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES 79 three states reported 6,273 freight, baggage, and mail cars, or 55 per cent of the total of such cars in the United States.^^ The Illi- nois Traction System of Illinois carried 720,234 tons of coal alone in 1925,^^ but agricultural products, manufactures, and general merchandise are also carried by them. Figures indicate, however, that these roads have felt the competition of motor transportation on improved highways in recent years. Loss of passenger traffic, especially, has been marked in certain sections, and portions of electric lines have been abandoned. In 1912 there were 3,185.73 miles of track in Illinois; in 1917, 3.441.43 miles; and in 1922, 3,416.13 miles.^' One of these lines extends from Prince- ton to Joliet, practically paralleling the Rock Island Railroad through the upper Illinois Valley. From Joliet an electric line affords half hour service to Chicago, also following the route of the waterway. Illinois has also undertaken an extensive road building pro- gram, calculated to furnish a system of hard roads passing through every county and touching every important city in the State.^* Sums from State bond issues. Federal funds, and automobile license fees are to be used in its construction. When the new system planned by Illinois is completed there will be in the State about 9,900 miles of paved State road.^^ Service of the Railro.ads Though electric lines and improved roads will be able to care for an increasing amount of traffic, it is still clear that the main dependence of the State for transportation must be the railroads. ''Are they equal to the task?" is the question. An indication of the freight carrying capacity of the railroads is furnished by a description of the facilities provided by them, such as has been given on the preceding pages. However, a better idea of the actual service rendered is gained from an ac- count of their achievements in terms of tonnage carried and the ""Electric Railways," Bureau of the Census, 1922. p. 18. "■■"Annual Coal Report," Department of Mines and Minerals, Illinois, 1925, p. 67. "'■"Electric Railways," p. 21. ^Illinois Blue Book, 1923-1924, p. 5. ^Ibid., p. 255. 80 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [308 efficiency displayed in operation. The fact that there is a large amount of freight to be carried in Illinois has been noted (page 71) and this amount is steadily increasing. In the fiscal year 1915 the revenue freight carried by the railroad lines in Illinois totaled more than 207,000,000 tons including that originating on the lines together with that received from connecting lines.**" Of this the Illinois Central carried more than 22,000,000 tons, or nearly eleven per cent of the total.''^ In 1924 this railroad carried 35,600,000 tons,*^- of which more than 42 per cent originated in Illinois."^ The amount of freight handled annually at Chicago alone was estimated in 1924 to be from 175 to 225 million tons.*** Within the area enclosed by the Elgin, Joliet, and Eastern Rail- road, and known as Metropolitan Chicago (Fig. 5), it is said, more than ten per cent of the freight cars loaded in the whole United States are either loaded or unloaded. ^^ The package freight to which the Chicago district gives rise measures 9,000 tons re- ceived and 15,000 tons dispatched daily. "^ Of this class of freight only about five per cent of the daily tonnage was through business in 1913.^^ Eighty-four per cent of it in 1915 was handled through the fifty-seven freight houses located in the central railroad ter- minal district, an area less than four miles square.*^^ When to the above figures are added 1,300 passenger trains and 250,000 pas- sengers moving to and from Chicago railway stations during each twenty-four hour period,**^ some idea of the burden of the railroads may be obtained. It is also clear that transportation difficulties are not equally distributed over the State, but are concentrated '""Statistical Report," Illinois State Public Utilities Commission, 1915, p. 7. ''Ibid., p. 165. "'L. E. Wettling's Exhibit 50 in the Interstate Commerce Commission Docket 17,000 and Interstate Commerce Commission ex parte 87. "^Figures from a letter from C. H. Markham, President, Illinois Central Railroad. ""Rufus W. Putnam, "Modern Rail and Water Terminals," Trans. Amer. Soc. C. Eng., LXXXVII (1924), 844. "Lee, op. cit., p. 204. ""■'Chicago Facts," p. 9. •"Arnold, op. cit., p. 103. "^Preliminary Report of Chicago Railway Terminal Commission, submitted to City Council Committee on Railway Terminals, 191S, p. 25. """Chicago Facts," p. 9. 309] LAND TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES 81 to a remarkable degree in one small area in the northeastern por- tion. To care for this enormous traffic is a stupendous task, for which the railroads should be given due credit. In spite of such a record, however, complaints have been voiced repeatedly over the delays at Chicago that seasons of unusually heavy traffic oc- casion (page 55). Each period of congestion raises the question as to whether the railroads will be able to eliminate delays and to handle expeditiously the ever increasing volume of traffic in this most important commercial district. If not, will the development of the waterway as projected be an adequate and satisfactory remedy for the situation? The first question has been discussed on pages 65 and 66, and the answer seems to be that the solution for terminal conges- tion and traffic delays in large cities is not by providing more routes on which to carry goods to and from those areas, which the waterway would do. Relief for the railroad must come through expediting the movement of freight through the terminals. This can be done best by modern and adequately equipped terminals, use of trucks with demountable bodies for transfer, and, in some places, in additional switching and side tracks. In Chicago, co- operation of existing transportation lines according to some well- worked-out plan is greatly needed. The recommendation that all through traffic be diverted around the city by the outer belt line,'° and that only such freight terminals and service facilities remain within the city as are required for the business of Chicago origin or destination appears sound. This, however, would affect a rela- tively small per cent of the total trade of the district, as through transfers form only nineteen per cent of the total traffic and three- fourths of this is now handled promptly and economically by the existing belt lines. "^ It is believed that existing facilities, if prop- erly co-ordinated and efficiently used, are sufficient to care for present carload freight without construction of additional tracks. ''- According to E. H. Lee, the belt lines will be able to handle the through transfer business for many years, as it is no longer a vital "'"Sixth Annual Report of Illinois Division of Waterways, 1923, p. 40. "E. H. Lee, "Traffic Growth Imposes Burden on the Chicago Terminals," Railway Age, LXXVIII (1925), 562. "Noonan, op. cit., p. 288. 82 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [3 10 part of Chicago's transportation problem, and it tends to become of relatively less importance."^ Use of the waterway will contrib- ute little to the solution of the traffic problem of Chicago. Through traffic on the waterway must pass through the heart of Chicago, unless a considerable expense is incurred in the widening of the Calumet Sag Channel (page 29). If relieved of an appreciable part of this class of freight, the railroads have left to them the more critical problem of local freight. If carried on the waterway, traffic having its origin or destination in Chicago must utilize ter- minals along the banks in a region already more or less congested, while transfer to or from these terminals involves the same diffi- culties and requires the same expeditious handling as if carried by rail. Ninety per cent of all less-than-carload freight carried by the railroads into the Chicago terminal district is handled within an area of approximately two square miles in the central business district of the city."* Such concentration in a city of 190 square miles in extent reffects the necessity of reducing street haulage to the lowest figure possible, a situation which the water- way, as well as the railway, must face. In the State outside of Chicago there is no evident need of additional lines over which to transport freight. In fact, figures for railway mileage in Illinois indicate that the point of economic saturation in line trackage has, for present conditions, been reached. According to the figures of the Bureau of Railway Economics more miles of railway have been abandoned than have been constructed in Illinois since 1918"^ (Table V). A notable ex- ample Is that of the Chicago, Peoria, and St. Louis Railroad to whom permission for abandonment of 234.3 miles of line was given by the Interstate Commerce Commission, March 19, 1923. This was the longest section of railroad granted this privilege in the United States during the five year period since the Transportation Act requiring certificates of convenience and necessity was passed. It is interesting to note that it was located in one of the richest agricultural sections of Illinois and passed through thirty-five cities and villages, twenty of which were reached by no other rail- "Lee, ''Railway-Borne Commerce in the Chicago Region," p. 206. "Noonan, op. cit., p. 288. -^ 'Thompson, op. cit., 1918-1924. \ 3 I I ] LAND TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES 83 way."*' The main line extended from Pekin to Granite City, Illi- nois, via Havana, Springfield and Jerseyville. Branch lines con- nected Pekin with Jacksonville and Lock Haven with GraftonJ'' It was an old line railroad, part of which was built before the Civil War.'^* It evidently was poorly located, for it passed through sev- eral receiverships (one as early as 1893), was re-organized several times,^^ and was again in the hands of receivers when petition was made for abandonment.®" It is significant that competition of other railroads and lack of sufficient traffic were given as the explanation of failure to secure freight.®"- Good roads and the motor truck are believed to be a minor factor. The proximity of this railroad to the Illinois River, also, has a bearing on the prob- lem with which this paper is concerned. Though this part of the waterway route is most poorly supplied with railroads, it is not reasonable to contend, under the circumstances, that this section, at least, is inadequately served by railroads and in need of water- way improvement. Furthermore, this section is navigable for fair sized boats, yet the water-borne commerce cleared at Copperas Creek, between Pekin and Havana, in a section tributary to the above named line, totaled but little more than 6,500 tons during the fiscal year 1923.®^ It emphasizes the fact that the scattered population of a strictly agricultural region does not give rise to great quantities of freight to be transported by any public carrier. Again it is apparent that traffic congestion problems are not con- cerned with line haul, but rather with those of terminal transfer in centers of large population. Above Pekin the waterway route is fairly well supplied with railroads. The Rock Island follows it as far as Joliet, from which point it is paralleled by the Santa Fe and the Chicago and Alton to Chicago. An electric line parallels it above the Great Bend, and it is crossed by six railroads between the Bend and Joliet. Of the larger population centers along the route, only Marseilles "Henr>- R. Trumbou-er, '"Railroad Abandonments and their Relation to Highway Transportation," Public Roads, VI (1925), 171. ''^Poor's Manual of Railroads, 1924, p. 176. "Trumbower, op. cit., p. 171. ''^Poor's Manual of Railroads, 1924, p. 176. *°Trumbower, op. cit., p. 171. ''Ibid., p. 172. ^Sixtk Amiual Report of Illinois Division of Waterways, 1923, p. 73. 84 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [3 12 and Morris must depend on a single steam railroad, the Rock Island. It is reported that industrial interests at Marseilles are dissatisfied with the service rendered by the railroad and are anxious for the waterway.*^ The writer, however, found greater evidence of interest at this place in the power to be derived, than in the navigation phase of the project. At Ottawa an official of the industrial concern most advantageously placed to use the waterway showed little interest in water transportation, and stated that he considered the service rendered by the two railroads there "efficient, adequate, and satisfactory." As the markets for the product of this establishment are widely scattered over the coun- try in regions remote from the waterway, the Illinois project will be of little benefit until greater markets develop along the water route. A similar lack of enthusiasm in regard to the waterway was found at Joliet, which, through its Chamber of Commerce advertises its transportation advantages. Besides the service of the six steam railroads operating through the city, it has switch- ing service through a belt line extension of the Chicago Outer Belt Line, which encircles the city (Fig. 5). La Salle is similarly sup- plied. It has four lines of railway, an interurban, and a belt line giving "fine switching service." According to the Chamber of Commerce, "railroad facilities are ample. '"^^ A similar statement is made by the Pekin Chamber of Commerce, which reports that the eight railroads "furnish excellent transportation facilities by land."®^ Peoria, the second city in size in the State, is a railroad center of considerable importance, with fifteen steam lines and three electric interurban lines.®*' One hundred and twenty-eight pas- senger trains and one hundred and seven freight trains enter and leave the city daily. Freight tonnage received in 192 1 was 7,857,847, and 6,850,466 tons were forwarded.®^ There was also a small river trade. During the fiscal year 192 1 about 12,000 tons of freight passed through the locks at Copperas Creek.®® As practi- cally all freight from down-river points to Peoria by water is in- ^Verbal statement of an Inhabitant. ""Illinois Facts," Illinois Chamber of Commerce, p. 60. "'Ibid., p. 67. "Ibid., p. 69. "Ibid., p. 67. ^Fourth Annual Report of Illinois Division of Waterways, 1921, p. 28. 313] LAND TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES 85 eluded in this figure, it is apparent what a minor factor the river is in the commercial life of the community. Evidently the water- way is not essential at this point to supplement the railroads in the carriage of freight. From the foregoing it is apparent that there is no recognizable need of additional line facilities for traffic moving in the direction taken by the waterway. In fact, the existing facilities in the southern part of the route are utilized far less than to their full capacity. In the middle and upper parts of the Illinois Valley present railroad facilities are admittedly adequate and the service satisfactory, with the possible exception of Marseilles. Only in the Chicago district is there appreciable inefficiency and inade- quacy displayed, and this is due to duplication of service and lack of co-ordination among the several transportation lines, rather than to insufficient main line of track. The service of the water- way will be that of another main line for through transportation, a service for which there is no present need. Through traffic should be routed around the business district of Chicago, instead of being allowed to pass through the congested center of the city. This the waterway will be able to do satisfactorily only if some nine million dollars additional are expended in enlarging the Sag Channel (page 29). Through traffic along the Sanitary Ship Canal and Chicago River must be transferred to railroad or boat at some terminal in the Chicago district. This will in no way relieve the present congestion at the Chicago terminals, as it would only re- lieve congestion at one place to increase it at another. Traffic originating in Chicago or destined for consumption there will face the same problem of street haulage, whether transported by rail or water. The result is that such traffic carried by water will seek centrally located freight yards just as traffic for rail carriage does. The conclusion, therefore, is, that, whatever inadequacy or ineffi- ciency the railroads display, the solution in this district is not to be by use of the waterway. Rather than that, it is to be by some systematic well-worked-out plan of co-ordination of service be- tween all transportation agencies, and greater efficiency of hand- ling at terminals. Aids to the accomplishment of the latter may be found in the use of trucks with demountable bodies for street and yard transfer and short haul traffic, and of modern and spe- cialized appliances for speedy loading and unloading. 5» CHAPTER VI I THE POTENTIAL TRAFFIC I The degree of utilization of the waterway, when it is com- pleted, and the commodities that will be carried on it are prob- lematic. Several prophesies, however, of the probable future traffic have been made, the basis being, in most cases, the capacity of the waterway and the production of the tributary area. For in- stance, Mr. M. G. Barnes, Chief Engineer of the Illinois Division of Waterways, gives 60,000,000 tons as the capacity of the pro- posed Illinois Waterway, with prospects of attaining capacity tonnage as bright as possessed by the Soo.^ He upholds this state- ment with the fact that the Mississippi Valley is the greatest pro- ducing area in the United States with a population of 6o,ooo,coo. At the rate of production of 20 tons per capita^* this would give a total production of 1,200,000,000 tons for the waterway to draw upon.- He states, also, that a "hasty survey of the commerce available revealed that there was a large tonnage of raw products such as coal, sand, gravel, grain, and lumber immediately adjacent to the river banks awaiting a cheap means of transportation to a proper consumptive demand. This freight was supplemented by large tonnage of manufactured articles that would seek transpor- tation between Chicago and St. Louis and points southward to the sea."^ In a similar optimistic vein the late William L. Sackett, then Superintendent of the Illinois Division of Waterways, figured that ^20,000,000 would represent the annual saving on coal alone, when transportation on the waterway was furnished to Chicago.* On his list of commodities for waterway transportation are sugar, coffee, rice, and sisal moving upstream, and manufactures from Chicago industrial concerns downstream.^ To this Mr. Barnes adds lumber from the Pacific coast, which he believes will keep "several fleets of boats constantly employed."*' *M. G. Barnes, "The Illinois Waterway," Report of the Illinois Legislative Joint Committee, (Appointed under House Joint Resolution, 1921) 1921, p. 9. '"The Department of Commerce, U. S., gives 18 tons average for the United States. 'Barnes, op. cit. ^Fifth Annual Report of Illinois Division of Waterways, 1922, p. 69. ^Fourth Annual Report of Illinois Division of Waterways, 192 1, p. 13. ^Ibid., p. 14. 'Barnes, op. cit., p. 12. 86 ' •315] THE POTENTIAL TRAFFIC 8/ While this sounds very favorable for the waterway, and the people who are spending money for its improvement would like to believe it true, investigation shows such a line of reasoning to be fallacious. In the first place, in estimating the capacity of the waterway it is very probable that the figure set is much too high, for many factors beside safe distance between cargo fleets and time required for lockage must be considered. Traffic does not move in an uninterrupted stream with uniform flow throughout the year. The great seasonal fluctuation of traffic has been noted in the discussion of railroad car shortage (pages 63 and 65). The same condition would apply to the waterway, that is, slack seasons alter- nate with busier ones. The measure of the capacity of the waterway would be during the period of heavy traffic, and the practical an- nual capacity would be the twelve months total. Moreover, where locks are to be passed through, fleets do not move at a uniform rate. Delays and dissatisfaction occur long before capacity vol- ume is reached. Complaints have already been voiced of conges- tion of boats at some places on the New York Barge Canal,^ though it has never reached more than a small part of its esti- mated capacity."* It is said that, if canal commerce continues to increase and a few hundred more freight carrying vessels appear, "such congestion will be created as will demand widening the nar- row sections of the canal and building of additional locks along- side the present ones at several important points along the route. ^ This congestion appeared, therefore, with a record of only about two and one-fourth million tons of freight carried for that year (1922) on the entire system.^ Due allowance must also be made for the period during which movement of traffic is interrupted by ice. In this respect the Illi- nois Waterway is more favorably placed than the New York canals. Nevertheless, water navigation is interrupted by ice in the Mississippi farther south than St. Louis. During periods of ''Annual Report of Superintendent of Public JVorks, New York State, 1922, p. 36. '"Ten per cent in 1923, its heaviest tonnage year to date. ''Annual Report of Superintendent of Public JVorks, New York State, 1922, P- 37- '"Inland Water Transportation in the United States," Miscellaneous Series, No. iig. Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, 1923, p. 36. 88 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [316 ice closure the Federal Barge Line maintains traffic service be- tween St. Louis and Cairo by rail.^° During forty-three recent years the Mississippi north of Cairo has been closed by ice twenty- three times/^ and navigation wholly suspended for weeks each time. In the winter of 1917-1918 ice gorges extended to a point thirty miles below Memphis, and river traffic was interrupted for seventy-six days.^- An occasional winter occurs, however, as in 1912-1913, when the river remains open." On the upper Illinois River records made in 1891 showed an average of about seventy days each year when the river was closed by ice, the period ex- tending from about December 21st to March yth.^* Since that time, however, the closed period has undoubtedly been consider- ably decreased by the flow of warmer water from Chicago sewers, and now and then a winter passes in which the river is not closed. It is probable that the w'aterway could be kept open during the majority of winters by means of ice boats. However, the uncer- tainty attached to it and the fact that the winter season tends to be one of heavy traffic would always reduce the value of the water- way as an essential avenue of transportation. It is significant in this connection that the two commodities generally conceded to be the most promising articles for waterway carriage, — coal and grain, offer for transportation their heaviest traffic during the fall and winter months, two of which include the months when the water- way would be likely to be closed (Table VI). TABLE VI.— PRODUCTION OF COAL IN ILLINOIS BY MONTHS July 3,346,800 January 8,417,000 August 4, 474, ICC February 6,903,880 September 6,359,000 March 6,854,300 October 7,466,10c April 3>073j36o November 6,546,400 May 3,294,400 December 7,139,000 June 3»i79>550 (Average for the years 1922-1925, inclusive. April, May, June, and July production slightly reduced by the strike in 1922. Figures from Annual Coal Report, 1925, p. 39)' ^"The Federal Barge Line, 1921. (Pamphlet) "John H. Peyton, "The Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico Project," Cong. Digest, III (1924), 385. ''^Annual Report of St. Louis Merchants' Exchange, 1923, p. 37. ''Ibi^. "L. E. Cooley, The Lakes and Gidf Waterway as Related to the Chicago Sanitary Problem, Chicago, 1891. (Pamphlet) 317] THE POTENTIAL TRAFFIC 89 The assumption that a large part of the traffic of the Missis- sippi Valley will naturally go over to the waterway once it is finished also needs verification. It is true that this is a populous and prosperous region, giving rise to an enormous amount of both domestic and foreign commerce. However, the determination of the kind of carrier to be utilized involves many factors. Surveys from which conclusions such as the above have been drawn have been much too "hasty." The ton-mile freight rate is not always the major factor. The nature of the resource and its relation to the waterway, the distribution of consuming markets, the con- centration of population, other means of transportation and the advantages they offer, the relative cost of transportation by water compared to that by other agents, and already established trade practices are among the factors that must be considered. No two waterways are identical in their advantages and possibilities for carrying a large amount of traffic. To make prophesies based upon experiences on waterways quite unlike, in any important respect, the one under discussion is dangerous to the truth. In the remainder of the chapter the writer will attempt to analyze the situation in regard to each class of commodity offering any con- siderable promise to the waterway. The determination of the im- portance of this route as a part of the country's transportation system is the end in view. Coal Probably more has been said of the Illinois Waterway as a carrier of coal than of any other commodity. This is not strange, as Illinois is the third state in the Union in coal production and contains within its borders the greatest coal market in the coun- try.^^ The "Coal Measure" area is equal to 66.94 per cent of that of the entire State^° (Fig- n)? ^^d at least five important produc- ing seams have been worked.^'' "F. C. Honnold, "Chicago is the World's Greatest Coal Market," Coal Agg, XXI (1921), 18. "A. Bement, 'The Illinois Coal Field," Bid. 16, Illinois State Geol. Survey, 1917, p. 183. "Ibid., p. 185. 90 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [3 1 8 Coal Mining in Illinois Coal mining began in Illinois as early as 1810, when a "ship- ment of a flatboat load of coal to New Orleans" from Brownsville, Jackson County, was made,^^ the first shipment of Illinois coal to be recorded. ^^ Early mining was practically confined to the val- leys of the major streams and their tributaries, because here erosion had exposed the coal, making its presence known and eliminating the necessity of expensive prospecting. So commonly was it seen in this situation and not elsewhere, that the idea became current that Illinois coal lay "principally in the ravines and points of bluffs."-^ River valleys also contained the chief centers of popu- lation, for the river offered to the people the easiest means of pen- etration into the region. Water transportation also figured prom- inently in the marketing of coal, the first railroad in the Missis- sippi Valley being built to carry coal from the mine on the Mississippi bluff to the river opposite St. Louis, 1837.-^ That trans- portation of coal by water retained its importance until late in the nineteenth century is evidenced by the location of the leading coal producing counties. Of the nineteen counties reported in the United States Census for 1840, thirteen bordered the Wabash, Ohio, Illinois, or Mississippi rivers, and five others were reached by an important tributary of one of these streams.-^ La Salle County held first place in 1881, 1882, and 1887, and is eleventh in amount of coal produced in the forty-four years since county records have been kept.-^ Peoria County is fifteenth in the total coal produced during the same time, and it occupied 15th place in the production of coal for the year 1924. From this county was shipped the only coal marketed by water in 1925, the railroads in the meantime having appropriated practically all the coal traf- "S. 0. Andros, "Coal Mining in Illinois," Coal Mining Investigations, Bui. 13, Illinois State Geol. Survey, 1915, pp. 13-14. "N. 0. Barrett, '"Mineral Resources of Illinois in 1917 and 1918," Bui. 38, Illinois State Geol. Survey, 1922, p. 60. ^'''Illinois and its Resources," Hunt's Merchants' Magazine, V (1841), 434. "William K. Ackerman, "Early Illinois Railroads," Fergus History Series, No. 23, 1884, p. 14. "Barrett, op. cit., p. 61. ^^Annual Coal Report of Department of Mines and Minerals, Illinois, 1925, p. 38. 319] THE POTENTIAL TRAFFIC 9I fic.-* One of the important factors in the remarkable increase in coal production in Illinois prior to 1893 was the development of railroad mileage (Fig. 10). However, the lack of accordance of the curves since that date shows that other factors have been of greater importance In the increase of coal production in recent years. One of the most important factors in the increase of coal pro- duction in recent years is the development of coal mining in the thicker seams of better coal in the southern part of the State. Illi- nois coal lacks uniformity in quality and in thickness of seams. In general, it may be said that the coal of the State increases in thickness and improves in quality toward the south. The northern field in Bureau, La Salle, and Grundy counties (Figs. 9 and 11) is one of relatively thin coal seams (three to four feet in thick- ness), though at an earlier date operation of a comparatively small body of thick coal gave La Salle County its lead.^^ Peoria and Fulton County coal seams average about four feet, and the middle field in Sangamon, Macoupin, Madison, and St. Clair counties seven and one-half, while in Williamson County the seam averages nine feet of coal.^'' Keen competition exists between the mines in the regions of thin and thick coal seams with the advan- tage on the side of the thicker coal. The result has been an abrupt rise in the curve of production of the southern counties, while the decline in the northern field has been actual as well as relative. The decrease in the production of Grundy County from more than four per cent of the State's production in 1903, or 1,457,935 tons, to one seventh that amount twenty years later illustrates the point.^^ In the meantime Franklin County has risen from 4,240 tons in 1904 to 9,267,320 tons in 1924, or one-eighth of the total production of the State. The southern mines are larger and the machinery more modern. More steady employment can be offered to the men, also, which has drawn miners to this district from other fields.^* Furthermore, this southern field has the advantage of containing coal with the lowest per cent of sulphur of any in the ^^12,750 tons of a total of 40,659,826 tons shipped in Illinois went by water. "Bement, op. cit., p. 193. ''Ibid., p. 191. "Jjinual Coal Reports of Department of Mines and Minerals, Illinois. ="The Illinois Coal Cases, 32, I. C. C. 672 (1915). 92 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [3 20 1 ^ / ' ■>v^ < ^^ — ^ / %:. ^x ( V •N K \ Nv \ *Sw •^ \ \ 1 ^ V c. \ *' \ 1 TfQ] \ ■— (^ \ ^ \ 2 \ ^ \ \ a 5a 1 r-i 1 rH +» fl •r* II a 11 c J 321] THE POTENTIAL TRAFFIC 93 Fig. II. Coal Fields of Ilunois (Double cross-lined area, less than 1.25 per cent sulphur, triple cross-lined, less than I per cent) 94 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [322 State (Fig. ii), some of it having less than a one per cent content of that element. Superior thickness and quality of coal, great care in washing and grading to suit market requirements,'^'-' and active marketing agencies have enabled the southern Illinois operators to compete successfully with the northern mines not only in the markets of the State, but also those of the Northwest. In 1925 Franklin and Williamson counties alone produced approximately one-third the total for the State, and furnished about three- eighths of the State's commercial coal, that is, that shipped to market^° (Fig. 10). The progressive migration of the center of coal production farther and farther from the principal markets has given rise to a vital transportation problem in Illinois. Operators in the southern fields, because of their great distance from markets, clamor for cheaper freight rates, and northern mine owners maintain that they must have a substantial differential below the rates to the southern mines in order to compete with them.^^ All Illinois con- cerns, therefore, which handle or use Illinois coal, are interested in the promise of cheaper rates on the waterway. Moreover, the coal business is of such proportions that a slight advantage oifered by water transportation would be magnified to a considerable im- portance. It is worth while, therefore, to give consideration to the degree that transportation of Illinois coal is likely to be affected by the projected waterway improvement. Markets for Illinois Coal Several factors enter into the problem of the marketing of coal, among which are distance from market, adequacy of transporta- tion facilities, quality of the product, cost of production, compe- tition with other coal, and the established system of railroad freight organization. The greatest single market for Illinois coal is the Chicago district, which consumes annually approximately thirty-six million tons of coal.^- Of this sum Illinois contributed more than sixteen 'The Illinois Coal Cases, 32, I. C. C. 672 (191S). "Annual Coal Report of Department of Mines and Minerals, 1925, p. 61. '32 I. C. C. 668-669 (1915). "Honnold, op. cit., p. 18. 323] THE POTENTIAL TRAFFIC 95 million tons in 1919.^^ In this district, however, Illinois coal must compete with eastern coal, which, because of its high quality and the low ton-mile rate offered by the railroads for long hauls, is permitted to enter the Chicago market successfully. In 19 19, about sis million tons of eastern coal is estimated to have been consumed in this district.^* The proximity of the Indiana field, also, accounts for the estimated consumption of about 6,896,000 tons of coal from that state. These amounts, with about two and one-half million tons of coke and about 1.6 million tons of Pennsylvania anthracite supplied the fuel demands of the Chicago district for 1919.35 The supply of Illinois coal for the Chicago district is obtained from, various parts of the State. The proximity of the Grape Creek field of Vermilion County and the excellence of its coal for steam give it an advantage in the industrial district of South Chi- cago. The coal of the Springfield district is rather high in ash, but it is hard and strong and low in sulphur, which, with relatively low mining costs, permits it to enter the Chicago market. Washed screenings from the Virden and Pana fields, also, find a sale there. The southern Illinois district, however, is particularly fav^ored. This coal is relatively clean and free from impurities, that of Sahne County having the reputation of being the best coal mined in the State.^^ The calorific value is higher and the sulphur con- tent lower in this southern section than elsewhere in the State (Fig. 11). Low cost of production, superior quality of coal, and atteniton to market requirements have enabled this district to com- pete successfully with other Illinois coals both within and without the State. It finds a ready sale in every market reached by Illi- nois coal. The St. Louis district offers another important market for Illinois coal, this city, with East St. Louis, having consumed about ten per cent of the Illinois product in 1915.^' The chief supply of coal consumed here is obtained from the nearby mines in the ad- jacent Central Illinois field. A smaller amount is brought also by 'Hbid. ''Ibid. ''Ibid. "Bement, op. cit., p. 2C2. ■'Andros, op. cit., p. 221. 96 THE GF.ONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [324 rail from Kentucky.^^ No coal has been brought by water since 1916, when 13,350 tons came from the Ohio River region. ^^ In 1924, more than 6,200,000 tons moved into the St. Louis district.*'' Illinois coal dominates not only the St, Louis market, but that of Missouri and Iowa almost to the eastern margin of their own coal fields and it has a scattering trade beyond. The coalless Northwest offers a large and growing market, especially in southwestern Wisconsin, northern Iowa, southern Minnesota, and eastern South Dakota. In this region, however, competition must be met with coal from Iowa and lake-shipped eastern coal.*^ The exceptionally low freight rates on the lakes enables coal from the Appalachian field to enter ports as far south as Milwaukee for distribution to the north and west in successful S competition with Illinois coal. This trade has been so important . ♦ that not until comparatively recent times has Illinois coal moved | in any considerable quantity as far northwest as St. Paul and ! Minneapolis.*^ A lesser market is offered by western Iowa and eastern Nebraska, to which coal moves in moderate amounts from Illinois.*^ To the south and southwest Illinois coal reaches markets as far as Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Competition with south- ern coal fields and increasing use of fuel oil, as well as limited industrial development in the South, contribute toward limiting the, demand for Illinois coal in this section. The amount, there- fore, moving in this direction is relatively small. To the east there is practically no movement of Illinois coal, due to the superior quality of eastern coals and the present organization of freight traffic, which makes it difficult to get cars for this purpose." Other markets within the State are mainly in the northern part, where is found the greatest concentration of industry. It is said that industries located along the route of the waterway from Joliet to Chicago accounted for an annual consumption of five ^'St. Louis Chamber of Commerce, a letter. ■, ^^The Coal Trade, 1921, p. 48. I *°St. Louis Chamber of Commerce, a letter. "H. Foster Bain, ''Studies of Illinois Coal," Bid. 14, Illinois State Geol. Survey, 1909, p. 253. ^'Ibid. "Ibid. **Ibid. ' 1 325] THE POTENTIAL TRAFFIC 97 million tons of coal in 1915.*^ In some sections the coal output is small enough for the local market to consume it all. For example, twenty-one of the fifty-four coal producing counties of Illinois in 1925 reported no shipping mines.**' This is true of Rock Island County, the small amount now produced being disposed of in Dav- enport, Iowa, and Rock Island and Moline, Illinois.*" The Grundy County product, also, is consumed locally, the less than 260,000 tons of commercial coal produced in 1925 being sold to the Santa Fe and to the Elgin, Joliet, and Eastern Railroads, which pass through the district.*^ This field of good quality coal lies only about fifty-five miles from Chicago and was once the chief source of bituminous coal used in that city. However, the seam worked is only about three feet thick and the cost of production is rela- tively high. Recently it has been successively displaced by the Indiana block coal and that from southern Illinois, both of which can be produced at a sufficiently lower cost to overcome the differ- ence in freight rates. A similar condition exists in the La Salle district, where a thin coal seam and high cost of mining have pre- vented successful competition with other coal. This coal has a considerable quantity of earthy impurities, but it is hard and strong and stands shipping well.*^ For this reason it once enjoyed a satisfactory market to the northwest, and washed coal was mar- keted in Chicago.^'' At present none of the greatly reduced pro- duction reaches Chicago, and it never moves farther than 150 miles from the mines. Cheaper mining costs and higher quality of product has enabled southern Illinois coal to displace it even in the home market. Though there are two mines at La Salle and Peru on the main street and requiring only a wagon haul, much of the domestic coal used there is from southern Illinois. Southern Illinois also furnishes the screenings used in the electric plant at ^^■'Will Midwest Rivers Reduce the Cost of Illinois Coal to Chicago and Northwest Consumers?" Coal Age, XXV (1924), 247. ^Annual Coal Report of Department of Mines and Minerals, Illinois, 1925, P- 59- "Communication from A. Bement. *^ Annual Coal Report of Department -of Mines and Minerals, Illinois, 1925, p. 63. ^"Bement, "The Illinois Coal Field," p. 199. ''Ibid. 98 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [326 La Salle. ^^ The Fulton and Peoria field has depended on western markets more than have the mining regions to the east, owing to the barrier presented by the Illinois River (Fig. ii). Formerly much of this coal was shipped to markets outside the state,^- but the present reduced production is consumed in the surrounding territory, none of it moving more than 150 miles to the west.^^ The railroads constitute the chief purchaser. Other important coal consuming centers in the State are Elgin, Rockford, Aurora, and Kankakee, which, however, are too far from the waterway to profit from its use. In competition with eastern coal the Illinois product is at a disadvantage. It has a comparatively high moisture content, which reduces the heat value per unit of weight and causes the coal to break more readily after mining. In storage it deteriorates and Is subject to spontaneous combustion.^* Considerable breakage with rehandling formerly retarded its entrance into distant markets, except by all rail routes and at the season of maximum demand.^^ Approximately one-half of the coal mined in Illinois is consumed within the State. For special uses coal of a certain quality is absolutely neces- sary. Gas making and the production of metallurgical coke require a relatively pure coal, sulphur being very objectionable. To be a good coking coal there should not be a sulphur content to exceed 1.25 per cent, and less than one per cent is preferred. As sulphur reaches as high as six per cent in some Illinois coals, it was for- merly thought to be unfit for coke production. Experiments with Illinois coal in recent years show, however, that coke suitable for certain purposes can be made from it. When unmixed with other coal it tends to make a light and friable coke, which shatters badly with handling and gives way readily under the overburden in iron furnaces.^" By mixing with low-volatile coking coal from the Eastern field the quality of coke is much improved. Mixtures of "Communication from A. Bement. "Bement, 'The Illinois Coal Field," p. 200. "Communication from A. Bement. "Bain, op. cit., p. 249. ''Ibid. '"F. K. Ovitz, "Coking of Illinois Coals," Btil. 13S, Bureau of Mines, 1917, p. II. 327] THE POTENTIAL TRAFFIC 99 twenty per cent of Illinois coal have given better results than those containing larger proportions.^^ Coal with a low ash content, also, is more successfully used. Though twenty to thirty per cent of the ash can be removed by washing or dry cleaning, the cost of five to ten cents per ton for washing and the loss of from ten to twenty- five per cent of the coal in the operation is usually sufficient to limit coke making to the coals with a low ash content.^^ The Illinois coal that answers the requirements most closely is found In the southern Illinois field, where two areas have been located having less than 1.25 per cent of sulphur (Figure ii). A part of the area, lying mostly In Franklin county has even less than one per cent. As this coal Is abundant and accessible, It prom- ises for Illinois a great future In coke making. Perhaps the most Important event In the history of coke mak- ing in Illinois is the perfection of the so-called Roberts coke oven, which permits the coal to be heated uniformly throughout during the process of coking.^^ Coke has been made successfully In this oven by the St. Louis Coke and Chemical Company at Granite City, Illinois, since January, 192 1. Mixtures have been used in which Illinois coal predominated, and also Illinois coal has been used alone, when one low enough in ash and sulphur could be se- cured. The coal used Is from Franklin and Williamson counties and the quality of furnace coke produced In this way Is exception- ally high.*^° The Invention of the Roberts process Is especially sig- nificant, as the amount of the recognized coking coal Is relatively limited. As this supply becomes depleted it is of Inestimable ad- vantage to the Iron and steel Industry to have made available to Its use the enormous deposits of the hitherto non-coking coal. It Is not to be understood, however, that by this process the Illinois coal becomes the equal of the eastern bituminous coking coal. The lat- ter, when coked in the Roberts oven maintains its standard of ex- cellence, and coke can be produced from It at less cost than can coke from the Illinois coal. The quality of the coke and of the by- 'Ibid., p. 13. ""Ibid., p. 18. "M. W. Ditto, '"Design and Operation of Roberts Coke Oven," Trans. Amer. Inst. Min. and Met. Eng., LXIX (1923), 494. '°H. V. Patterson, '"Roberts Ovens Successfully Coke Illinois Coals," The Blast Furnace and Steel Plant, X (1922), 392. 100 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [328 products from Illinois coal is comparable to that from other coals, but the amount of surplus gas is less, as the Illinois coal requires more heat for coking than the usual coking coal.*^^ It is improb- able, therefore, that Illinois coal will displace the eastern product in the competitive field of Chicago and of coke districts farther east as long as eastern coal can be obtained at a reasonable price. There are in and near Chicago 2,000 coke ovens with a capacity for coking 33,000 tons of coal per day, but none of them coke Illinois coal.^- That such a change as to a new type of oven is likely to be slow is evidenced by the tardy conversion of beehive coke plants to those with by-product ovens. Instead of that a new coke making district of considerable proportions is likely to de- velop in the regions easily accessible to the low sulphur coal. There are already in existence near the Illinois coal field over 1,500 by- products ovens using 9,000,000 tons of coal annually.^^ For successful gas making a similar selection of high quality coal must be made. Illuminating gas must be rid of the sulphur before marketing, and the cost of purification increases with the amount of sulphur to be removed. Therefore high sulphur coal will not be used when low sulphur coal can be obtained. Coal from the small field in Jackson County, now practically worked out, was used successfully several years ago in some small plants in Illinois and Missouri.^'* Now the main dependence must be the field in Franklin County. At some of the small gas plants, where the cost of eastern coal is too high, Illinois coal has been used alone. At other plants one-third Illinois coal and two-thirds east- ern gas coal have been used. During the war, when the zoning ordinance was in operation, Illinois was thrown back, for the time, on its own resources, and local coal came into more general use for coke and gas production. The lower yield of gas, however, largely due to the fact that Illinois coal requires more intense heat for coking, caused the plants operating as gas companies to re- "Patterson, op. cit. "'H. A. Patterson, "Good Coke now Manufactured from Non-Coking Coals of Illinois," Coal Age, XXII (1922), 45- *^M. M. Leighton, "Illinois Possesses Low-Sulphur Coal Areas," Press item, typewritten, Dec, 1924. "Ovitz, op. cit., p. 21. 329] THE POTENTIAL TRAFFIC 101 turn to eastern coals as soon as possible.^^ The Chicago By- products Coke Company consumes 720,000 tons of coal annually, all of which is shipped by rail from West Virginia and eastern Kentucky.®^ Illinois coal is recently gaining in favor as a domestic fuel, approximately 25 per cent of the total bituminous coal used for household consumption in the United States being produced in Illinois.^^ Strikes in Pennsylvania and the consequent increase in price of anthracite and in the difficulty of obtaining it has helped to put Illinois bituminous on the market for domestic use. This market, also, promises an outlet for Illinois coke, as for this pur- pose may be used a product of lower grade than is required for metallurgical work. Recently, however, Illinois coal has found a keen and successful competitor in the coal from eastern Kentucky and Tennessee. Non-union labor and low railroad rates enable these mines to put their coal on the markets of central Illinois at a price but little more than that of the Franklin County or Har- risburg (Saline County) coal. As the Kentucky and Tennessee product is a less smoky and more satisfactory fuel, the slight dif- ference in price is balanced by the advantages of using coal of a higher quality. Though much has been said about Illinois coal for coking purposes, it is as a steam coal that the Illinois product is used most. For this purpose it is excellent, the railroads being the largest users. In 1925, railroad companies bought nearly one-third of the total output of the Illinois mines and nearly one-half of that shipped to market.^® Industrial plants also use large quantities for steam production, and it is primarily to serve these concerns with cheap coal from the southern field that certain business con- cerns advocate the waterway. Probably some eight to ten million tons of coal are consumed by the industrial plants in the vicinity of the waterway. It must be remembered, however, that the wa- terway is not designed merely to provide another transportation °'H. V. Patterson, op. at. ''Studies made by Esther Utzig, University of Illinois. "Honnold, op. cit., p. 19. '^Annual Coal Report of Department of Mines and Minerals, Illinois, 1925, P- 57- 102 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [330 line, but a cheaper one than now exists. Only If fulfilling this re- quirement is its purpose served, and only then, also, will coal move along it to the industrial plants farther north. The Transportatio7i of Illinois Coal Turning now to the transportation of coal, it Is apparent from the preceding pages that the freight rate Is only one factor In the determination of the price, and a less Important one than is gen- erally supposed in determining the sale and delivery of coal. It is evident, also, that only a part of the output, in any event, would be available for carriage on the waterway. The taking over of the coal traffic by the railroads and the shifting of the important pro- ducing regions from the waterway has been noted (pa?es 90 and 91). Even proximity to the waterway, however, does not insure water carriage for coal, as a study of the records for the last twenty-five years discloses. Early in the period a few hundreds of tons were shipped from La Salle on the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and an occasional cargo went from Henry County on the Hennepin Canal.''^ Only Peoria County has a persistent and con- tinuous record of shipment of coal by water. At Kingston Mines the Lancaster Coal Company operates a mine three-fourths of a mile from the Illinois River, the product of which is shipped mainly by boat. The reason that this company uses the river is that they have no rail connections closer than four miles, and their business is that of supplying steamboats, dredges, pumping plants of drainage districts, and towns along the river which have no rail connections."*^ 12,750 tons vv'ere shipped by water in 1925. There are a few mines In Tazewell County within a mile or two of the waterway producing commercial coal, but none of it is shipped by water. There has been expressed a belief that this coal might be off'ered for transportation on the waterway when the improve- ment is completed, but this seems doubtful, as almost their entire output is now purchased by railroad companles.'^^ '"Annual Coal Reports of Department of Mines and Minerals, Illinois, 1900- 1925- '"Studies made by Esther Utzig, University of Illinois. ''^Directory of Operators of Shipping Mines, for year ending June 30, 1925, pp. 10 and 12. 33 I ] THE POTENTIAL TRAFFIC lOj A Study of Table VH and Figure 9 reveals the fact that a relatively small amount of coal is produced along the waterway. Figures for production for the period, 1920-1923, show an aver- age annual production of only one and one-half million tons mined within one mile of the Illinois River J- Even so the quality of this coal is not high enough to enable it to compete with other coal in distant markets, therefore it is eliminated from consideration of the waterway. The relative distance to the principal market by rail direct and by the waterway is important. For example, Springfield is about 180 miles from Chicago by the Chicago and Alton Railroad. By way of Havana and the waterway it would be nearly fifty miles by rail, and over 200 by water. This precludes the proba- bility of the coal from the Springfield district seeking the Chicago market by water. The difference in freight rate by rail and by water could not be great enough for a part, only, of the distance, to compensate for the extra handling required for transferrence from land to water carriage. This applies to an even greater de- gree to the Saline County, \'irden, Pana, DuQuoin, and Centralla fields. There has been some hope expressed that coal from the Belle- ville district (opposite St. Louis) might reach Chicago via the waterway. Here, again, an inferior quality of coal excludes it from successful competition with the better coals in the Chicago mar- ket, and it is doubtful if the slightly lower freight rate would en- able It to gain an entrance there. The Big Muddy Project The Franklin and Williamson County field is also a consider- able distance from a waterway. However, the great production and the high quality of the coal from this district has made the cheap marketing of it seem so important in some business circles as to have given rise to the contemplation of extensive improve- ments to make it available for water carriage. This plan involves the dredging and otherwise improving of the Big Muddy River, which flows through the heart of this important coal producing "Studies made by Esther Utzig, University of Illinois. 104 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [332 TABLE VII.— PRODUCTION OF COAL IN ILLINOIS, BY COUNTIES, 1925 County Tons Adams 390 Bond 296,383 Bureau 396,542 Cass* 3 , 844 Christian 3,823,214 Clinton 905,382 Edgar 4,420 Franklin 13,082,622 Fulton* 1 ,959,740 Gallatin 34>558 Greene* 1 2 , 794 Grundy* 484,870 Hancock i ,973 Henry 162,378 Jackson i ,497,263 Jefferson 271, 234 Jersey* i ,000 Johnson 2 , 500 Knox 47,296 LaSalle* 640,806 Livingston 31,892 Logan 283,774 Macon 145,064 Macoupin 6,215,109 Madison 3,100,494 Marion 298,911 Marshall* 36,972 "Counties bordering the waterway. County Tons McDonough 17,271 McLean 16,431 Menard 59,468 Mercer 11 1 ,623 Montgomery 2 , 1 56 , 726 Morgan* i ,900 Peoria* 915,356 Perry 2,062,345 Randolph 894,629 Richland 14,400 Rock Island 31 ,476 Saline 4,338,377 Sangamon 5, 471 ,826 Schuyler* 23,054 Scott* 4,250 Shelby 82,581 Stark 14,264 St. Clair 2,900,369 Tazewell* 644,688 Vermilion 3,547, 184 Wabash 11,800 Warren 7,54° Washington 41 ,784 White 12,988 Will* 8,016 Williamson 8,941 ,166 Woodford* 103, 538 area and enters the Mississippi some fifteen miles farther south (Figs. I and 11). It is very crooked, however, and also very low in the dry season, which occurs in the fall when coal traffic is heavy. Storage reservoirs are therefore necessary, which, with ad- justments to bridges, highways, and other existing conditions, makes the project very expensive. Estimates of cost for two routes have been made. Route One involves a cut-off which shortens the route northward by 24 miles, but adds to the expense. '^^ The esti- mates given are $4,279,364 and $3,175,346, respectively, for the two routes.'* Conclusion The amount of coal this would bring to the waterway cannot be definitely determined. William L. Sackett, however, estimated ''^Fijth Annual Report of Illinois Division of Waterways, 1922, p. 54. ''*lbid., pp. 52 and 57. 333] THE POTENTIAL TRAFFIC IO5 that nearly all of the seventeen and one-half million tons produced in the ten mile strip along the river route in 192 1 would be avail- able for water transportation."^ In the opinion of the writer this figure is much too high. The region Is crossed and re-crossed by numerous railroads, and conveniently placed tipples and handling devices are already in operation. To establish connections with the river, therefore, with adequately equipped facilities for hand- ling river traffic would mean a tremendous additional expense which few mines are likely to undertake. The West Kentucky Coal Company has Invested $2,500,000 in water terminals and now ships most of Its coal by rail.^" Moreover, some means of land conveyance must be employed to carry the coal from the mine to the boat, for little coal would be mined directly on the river bank. Instead of being loaded di- rectly from the tipple Into the railroad car ready for market, an extra handling would be required to make the transfer. This means not only extra cost for labor, but breakage and degradation of the coal.'^' What an increase In the relative amount of the finer coal means may be better understood If the relative prices are considered. Screenings bring less than one-half what It costs to mine the coal, and nut sizes less than the cost of productlon.'^^ The deficit which thus arises is charged to the lump sizes. This explains the high price paid by the public for coal for domestic purposes. Most of this fine coal results from mining op- erations. However, if extra breakage incident to the securing of a slightly lower freight rate to industrial plants through the use of the waterway means higher prices to domestic consumers, water car- riage for coal has a doubtful value. It may be said that other mines will be opened up along the river If the Big Muddy is improved, but such a development would be very unfortunate. The coal industry is already over- developed. One of the greatest problems of the coal operator is to dispose of enough coal to give his men a reasonable amount of 'Ibid., p. 36. 'Communication from the president of the West Kentucky Coal Company. '■"Will Midwest Rivers Reduce the Cost of Illinois Coal, etc.," p. 246. 246. ^Communication from the president of the West Kentucky Coal Company. I06 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [334 employment. If with the opening of new mines as many existing mines must be closed, the hardship to those concerned would at least balance any possible advantage accruing to others from the use of the waterway. It is not reasonable to suppose, either, that present markets will be relinquished in favor of the Chicago market. For instance, it seems quite probable that the mines now supplying coal to rail- roads will continue to do so. In 1925, more than six million tons, equal to more than 27 per cent of the total production of Franklin and Williamson counties, was disposed of in this way.''^ It may be recalled, also, that this is the district possessing the low sulphur coal suitable for coke making. Some of the mines, at least, from which the Granite City coking plant is supplied, lie within the five mile limit of the Big Muddy, and it is quite probable that they would be willing to continue to supply this company even after the improvement of the waterway. As the present capacity of the ovens at this establishment is 2,000 tons of coal dally, with a lay out for an ultimate consumption of four times as much,®° it is clear that a considerable amount of coal produced in the area trib- utary to the Big Muddy River would not find its way to market over the Illinois Waterway regardless of a freight rate slightly less than now exists. Only a small amount of coal for domestic consumption, also, would be likely to pass over the Illinois Waterway, because of the scattered distribution of consumers. It has been estimated that one-sixth of the world's coal is used for heating purposes,^'- a proportion probably maintained in this case, due to the severe winters of the region served by the coal field, the high standard of comfort of the inhabitants, and the increasing favor felt for the Franklin County coal for this use. The State is well supplied with railroads, which reach to every part of the State and bring fuel to within a few miles, at most easy trucking distance, of each house- holder. River towns without rail connection must be supplied by water, but there are none such in the upper stretches of the Illi- '"'Annual Coal Report of Department of Mines and Minerals, Illinois, 1925, p. 65. ^"H. A. Patterson, op. cit., p. 45. *'C. K. Leith, The Economic Aspects of Geology, 1921, p. 115. 335] THE POTENTIAL TRAFFIC IO7 nois. It is doubtful, even, if large centers like Chicago would find it profitable to use the waterway for transportation of domestic fuel. The great necessity of reducing street haulage has given rise to a great number of coal supply yards each reached by a spur railroad, over which loaded cars can be switched. The waterway could offer no such advantage. Every ton must be unloaded from the boat and hauled by rail or truck to some coal yard for further distribution. A consideration of the cost of terminal transfer (pages 42 and 43) makes apparent the improbability of water freight rates low enough to offset this disadvantage. Moreover, coal for heating is in greatest demand at just the time when the waterway will be least able to carry traffic because of ice. Table VI shows the response to seasonal demand in coal production, and, consequently, in coal traffic. As Illinois coal deteriorates rap- idly in storage this condition is likely to persist, unless, through some invention, m.ethods are devised by which to check the depre- ciation of this coal after mining. About one-half million tons, also of the 1925 production in these two counties, was used locally or wasted, therefore could not be counted as available for water trans- portation under any circumstances.^^ According to the above method of calculation, the railroads, domestic fuel, coke making, and the amount disposed of locally ac- count for something over fifty per cent of the total production of this district. In an estimate of coal available, therefore, the sum of eight or nine million tons would represent more nearly the true amount in the ten mile strip in 1921. Even this is not the whole story, for none of It will be likely to move by water unless the freight rate is substantially less. Mr. M. G. Barnes has given an estimate of about half the rail rate for the possible water rate from the southern Illinois mines to Chi- cago. This figure is corroborated by C. F. Richardson of the West Kentucky Coal Company, providing the tows are of great size. This company must carry twenty to thirty thousand tons In a tow to reduce the cost sufficiently to compete with rail rates. It is the opinion of Mr. Richardson that tows of ten thousand tons or more would be required in order to offer water rates lower than those "Annual Cod Report of Department of Mines and Minerals, Illinois, 1925, pp. 57 and 65. I08 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [336 by rail, while In tows of three to six thousand tons the water rate would probably equal or exceed that by rail.^'^ If this is true it leaves the advantage of the waterway for coal transportation on a very uncertain footing, as the locks on the Illinois Waterway will permit the passage of fleets of barges of only 7,500 to 9,000 tons (page 33). The conclusion of the writer is, therefore, that it is doubtful if any appreciable quantity of coal would move along the waterway, and that the expenditure of sev- eral million dollars more for the improvement of the Big Muddy would be an inexcusable waste. Mineral Construction Materials Sand and Gravel One of the commodities that offers greatest promise as a po- tential cargo for the Illinois Waterway is sand and gravel, If the experience on other waterways is used as a criterion. On practic- ally all the interior rivers the quantity of these materials carried exceeds that of almost all other kinds of freight. On the upper Mississippi in 192 1, sand and gravel accounted for about 82 per cent of the total traffic, and sand alone constituted almost one-half the river traffic of that year at St. Louis.®* Of the traffic carried on the upper Alleghany River in 1923, sand and gravel formed 96.3 per cent of the total, and on the Monongahela and the Ohio only coal exceeded them in quantity.®^ On the Illinois these commodi- ties are also important, being nearly half the tonnage in 1921.®^ As they hold a similar importance on the canals, for example, the Erie and the Illinois-Mississippi, it indicates that they represent a type of freight that is peculiarly well suited to water transpor- tation. The heavy, bulky, cheap character of these commodities and the fact that they can be handled more cheaply in bulk in large quantities than in any other way makes them especially well suited to barge transportation. It also necessitates a very cheap freight ^^Communication from Mr. Richardson. "'"Inland Water Transportation, etc.," p. 42. ^'Annual Report of Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., 1924, I, 1238, 1234, 1222. '"'Inland Water Transportation, etc.," p. 44. 337] THE POTENTIAL TRAFFIC lOQ rate, or a very convenient and accessible source, if they are to be marketed at all. More important than these factors, however, in accounting for the large quantity carried by water is the fact that one of the best and most accessible sources of sand and gravel is found in the bars deposited by the stream in its channel at the time of lowering water. These deposits have the advantage of cost- ing only the labor of dredging, washing, and screening, with an inexhaustible supply of water free for use in the process. It is en- couraged, also, by the fact that these operations tend to improve navigation through the dredging performed. The result is that large quantities of sand and gravel are taken from the stream channels and, of necessity, are transported to market, at least in part, by water. St. Louis, Alton, Quincy, Rock Island, and vicinity are so supplied,^'' which accounts for the importance given to this class of freight on the Mississippi. In general, it moves short dis- tances, a few miles at most. It must be remembered, also, in a discussion in which expenditure for waterway improvement is in- volved, that this business can be successfully carried on without much improvement. The cheap and heavy character of this class of freight, on the other hand, precludes the possibility of utilizing some of the sup- plies of excellent quality because they are not favored with ade- quate facilities for handling or transporting it. Trucking for any considerable distance and for any but very small quantities for local use is out of the question. Loading and unloading needs to be done in the cheapest manner possible. The result is that con- suming centers are supplied from sources that can be obtained at least cost, regardless of distance. For Illinois as a whole that means that sand and gravel deposits that are reached by railroads are developed and drawn on to the exclusion of others that may be nearer and of as high a quality, but are lacking in equipment for transfer and transportation. As there are few large cities on the lower Illinois there Is small demand there for sand and gravel. Moreover, these materials oc- cur in the river bluffs and terraces in or near Peoria, East Peoria, Pekin, and elsewhere along the Illinois, furnishing local supplies *'Jon Udden and J. E. Todd, "Structural Materials in Illinois," Bui. i6, Illinois State Geol. Survey, 1909, pp. 345, 383, 388. no THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [338 which would involve little, if any, rail or water movement. Ex- tensive deposits are also found in the Hennepin-La Salle region, the largest being that of the Hennepin terrace, and sand and gravel are also found at many places along the bluff of the Illinois River, as between Bureau and Depue.^® Supplies of these materials are also furnished by the smaller stream channels, as well as by the Illinois River, when it is low.^^ As the deposits lie near or ad- jacent to the navigable portion of the Illinois River, the cities along the river would depend upon them for their supplies if presence of a navigable waterway were the only factor to be considered. That this is not the case is evidenced by the fact that sand and gravel for construction requiring large quantity has been shipped into La Salle by rail, leaving the local pits to serve the smaller needs.^° Probably the deposits of the Illinois River would be more generally developed if the quality was entirely satisfactory, but the sand from this source is very fine and contains much foreign ma- terial, such as pieces of coal and fine clay.^^ Shipping costs by rail, also, have been low enough to permit sand and gravel to be brought from Chicago or Buda and sold on a par with the local product.^- As is the case with all other commodities, Chicago is the larg- est market for sand and gravel in Illinois, the amount consumed annually being given as 3,000,000 tons.^^ The city is fortunate, too, in having extensive resources within easy reach. Along the Fox River, both north and south of Elgin, along the Rock River near Janesville and Beloit, Wisconsin, and along the Des Plaines and its tributaries at and below Joliet are large deposits,^* most of v/hich are well supplied with railroad facilities. Though some of these deposits lie at a considerable distance from Chicago, lack of ^^Gilbert H. Cady, "Geology and Mineral Resources of the Hennepin and La Salle Quadrangles," Bid. 37, lUhiois State Geol. Stirzey, 1919, p. 116. ''Ibid., p. 117. '^Udden and Todd, op. at., p. 375. ^^Ibid. ^^Ibid., p. 376. ^'Communication from L. D. Cornish, Assistant Chief Engineer, State Divi- sion of Waterways, Illinois. *^Ernest F. Burchard, ''Concrete Materials Produced in the Chicago Dis- trict," Bill. 340, U. S. Geol. Siirvey, 1907, pp. 398, 403, 404. 339] THE POTENTIAL TRAFFIC III uniformity in railroad rates and prohibitive switching charges, in some cases, permit pits from more remote situations to compete with those within a few miles of the city.^^ The cost of team haul- age or trucking, or the lack of equipment for producing materials of desired sizes, also militate against the utilization of certain de- posits.^*^ The gravel pits on the banks of the Des Plaines River will be reached by the Illinois Waterway, and it Is estimated that half the requirements of Chicago may be obtained from them and moved to market by water. However, the very low rates railroads are able to offer for line haulage, the Importance of handling and transfer costs, and the large factor that dependable quality in pur- ity and gradation of size plays are likely to figure prominently in the competition between rail and water. Aloreover, if the material Is to be used for construction work at some distance from the waterway, it may be cheaper to use rail by which it may be de- livered near the place where used. In a distance of fifty miles or less the difference in freight rate between rail and water must be considerable to represent any appreciable economy in waterway utilization. Sand for other purposes, such as for glass and moulding is fur- nished by the St. Peter Sandstone, which outcrops in the river bluff between Ottawa and Utica. Some of this has been claimed for the waterway, but it seems doubtful to the writer if much is carried in this way. The Rock Island Railroad tracks hug the bluff from which the sandstone is quarried practically the whole distance between Ottawa and Utica, and the broken rock falls al- most into the cars standing alongside. On the other hand, the river is separated from it by from one-fourth of a mile to more than a mile of flood plain, which, together with the Illinois and Michigan Canal, would have to be crossed to reach the waterway. As much of the product is carried to the glass factories at Ottawa but a few miles away, it is not probable that a rate enough lower than the low rate offered by the railroad could be secured on the wa- terway to overcome the extra expense of transfer from the bluff '''"Materials Available for Highway Construction in Illinois,"' Bid. 14, Illi- nois State Highway Department, 1917, p. 7. Vbid. 112 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [34O quarries to the river. As to more distant consumers, the proba- bility of any considerable number being located directly on a waterway is so small that they need receive no serious considera- tion. It is clear that a commodity so in need of cheap transpor- tation could not afford expensive haulage or transfer at destina- tion. Cement Materials With the increase in the use of steel and concrete type of con- struction the cement industry of Illinois has assumed a steadily in- creasing importance. It is largely centered in the La Salle district, where four of the five large cement plants of the State are found. The industry began at Utica, being based upon supplies of natural cement rock outcropping there. The plant at this place has been in constant active operation since 1838,®' and produced in 1918 60,000 barrels of natural cement.^^ In the meantime the possibility of standardization in the man- ufacture of Portland cement and the wider availability of the raw materials for its manufacture brought this product to the fore, and plants subsequently established are of this class. The Portland cement industry depends on supplies of the La Salle limestone which Is found outcropping at La Salle and along the bluff of the Vermilion River. Three plants at La Salle and one at Oglesby have a capacity of more than 10,000 barrels daily. The five state plants produced 4,500,000 tons in 1917, which failed to meet re- quirements and large quantities were imported from neighboring states.^^ It Is possible that some of this commodity will be carried to Chicago by the waterway when it is completed, providing it is to be used nearby. However, demands elsewhere in the State and nearer sources of cement materials in Michigan and Indiana will tend to reduce the amount. Dimension and Crushed Stone The building stone industry was more Important before con- crete came into so much favor for construction. In this respect ''Barrett, op. cit., p. 90. ''J. A. Ede, '"Mineral Resources of the La Salle District," Trans. Amer. Inst. Mm. and Met. Eng., LXIIl (1920), 251. ^'Barrett, op. cit., p. 93. 341 ] THE POTENTIAL TRAFFIC II3 Chicago was particularly fortunate in the numerous exposures of the Niagara limestone, which affords one of the best building stones in the State. It furnishes both dimension stone and crushed stone in large quantity and of high quality. In the vicinity of Le- mont it was once quarried and sold as dimension stone under the name of "Athens marble." It is a fine-grained even-textured lime- stone of a pleasing light-drab color, weathering to buff or yellow on exposure. From it fine cut and sawed dimension stone and flagging can be secured, as well as rubble and several grades of crushed stone. The rock is exposed, or covered with so thin an overburden that it is available for quarrying at several widely distributed places at and near Chicago. It is found along the Des Plaines valley for long distances, as at Lemont (Fig. 3), the Sag, and at Joliet. Outcrops occur also at Stony Island, near Thorn- ton, near Elmhurst, and elsewhere in the Chicago district. It was through this rock that the Sanitary Ship Canal was cut, the amount excavated being estimated at 12,912,000 cubic yards.^"" It is said that the amount piled along the canal represented enough material of this kind to construct concrete docks from the mouth of the Chicago River throughout the length of the canal and Illi- nois waterways to St. Louis.^^^ These piles of broken rock are spoken of as "spoil" and are being slowly reduced through the operation of the Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company and by the Lincoln Park Commission of Chicago (page 25). The stone is transported by barge on the canal to the lake front at Chicago where it is used for filling cribs and breakwaters. In 1924, 301,781 short tons from spoil banks and 63,108 tons from quarries were transported on the Sanitary Ship Canal. ^*^- It is significant that, though the waterway is adequate, the amount carried that way is much less than by rail. Other quarries in the vicinity include that of the Consumers Company at Lemont with an annual production of about 400,000 tons, and the one at Summit with a daily production for about 300 days each year of 1,100 to 1,200 cubic yards each. The pro- duct of the Lemont quarry is switched to the Chicago and Joliet ^•"Burchard, op. at., p. 397. '^'^ Annual Report of Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., 1924, II, 1 142. 114 "I'HE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [342 Electric Railroad and the Chicago and Alton. Shipments from the one at Summit are switched to the Santa Fe Railroad, or made by motor truck.^"^ Therefore, while the presence of this valuable resource in the environs of Chicago is of the utmost significance to Chicago, it is not at all probable that the Illinois Waterway will affect its transportation in the least. If there were any advantage for it in water transportation to Chicago the waterway would be more largely used now. As for the other parts of the State which are in need of this material, they are not so situated as to profit by utilization of the Illinois Waterway in obtaining it. Grain In the transportation of grain railroads have the advantage of a waterway from the beginning. A relatively small amount of grain is raised within easy shipping distance of a waterway with- out the intervention of a railway, and once It Is In the railway car It Is usually easier to carry It to destination that way. In the season following harvest, grain must be constantly moved from the farm to prevent damage by bad weather, and railroads must be ready to move a large amount constantly to the primary market In order to prevent country stations from becoming blocked. The bulk of the wheat, corn, oats, barley, and rye marketed in carlots moves from country shipping stations to large primary markets, such as Chicago, St. Louis, and Minneapolis.^"* The states sup- plying the Chicago and Minneapolis markets, Iowa, Illinois, Min- nesota, and the Dakotas, send a relatively high per cent to termi- nal markets, ^"^^ therefore there is a heavy through movement of grain in this region. In the expeditious movement of large quantities of grain ele- vators are absolutely indispensable. They may, or may not, be built along waterways, but railroads, in their capacity of public carriers, are obliged to provide elevator facilities at bulk-break- '•"Frank Krey and J. E. Lamar, "Limestone Resources of Illinois," Bid. 4.6, Illinois State Geol. Survey, 1925, p. no. ^°*Report of the Federal Trade Commission, Tke Grain Trade, II (1920), 37- '''Ibid.,\ (1920). 135- 343] THE POTENTIAL TRAFFIC II5 ing polnts.^"'^ As the possession of elevators enabled them to se- cure tonnage in competition with other lines and to release equip- ment for transporting more grain, they have invested immense sums of money in construction and appliances for storing and handling grain. An example is the new two million bushel con- crete elevator constructed by the Missouri Pacific Railroad Com- pany at St. Louis and opened to use during 1923.^°'' Unlike most of them, this elevator is situated and equipped so as to handle waterborne grain. Thirty-five per cent of the terminal elevator capacity of the country today Is owned by rallroads.^"^ Because grain keeps well, Is always marketable, is easily handled In bulk, and can stand a relatively high transportation rate, competition for grain traffic has been keen. To secure this trade for their lines railroads have rendered free service in trans- ferring, cleaning, switching, and loadlng.^"^ The practice of offer- ing "transit privileges" was Inaugurated for the same purpose. According to this arrangement a shipment of grain is permitted to stop for a time at a transit point to undergo some commercial process, such as grading, milling, cleaning, drying, etc. In general, there is no extra charge for unloading and loading, and the rate al- lowed is the through rate, rather than the combination of the local rates.^^° A large proportion of grain exports are shipped under transit privileges. These advantages belong almost entirely to rail transportation, as routes connected with water lines do not, as a rule, grant any transit arrangement, or, if they do, a small charge Is ordinarily imposed.^^^ This advantage possessed by the rail- roads Is said to be largely responsible for the practical disappear- ance of grain from the Mississippi River a decade or more ago. The high local rate from the grain fields to St. Louis, with a sep- arate charge for elevating, transfer, insurance, etc., more than off- ^^ Report of the Federal Trade Commission, The Grain Trade, III (1921), 82. ^"^Report of St. Louis Merchants' Exchange, 1923, p. 13. ^'^Report of the Federal Trade Commission, The Grain Trade, III (1921), 123. ^"^Ibid., p. 104. ""Roland M. Kramer, "Transportation in Relation to the Export Trade on Agricultural Products," Bui. 216, Trade Information, 1924, p. 19. ""'Ibid. Il6 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [344 setting the advantage of a slightly lower transportation rate on the rlver.^^- However, the grain trade is so sensitive to slight differences in transportation costs that, when other conditions are advan- tageous, the waterway is able to regain a portion of the trade. This is true on the Mississippi today, where the Federal Barge Line is carrying grain to New Orleans for export. Although a dif- ferential of three cents per bushel has prevailed, wheat was car- ried for four cents below the rate charged by rail during March and April, 1924.^^^ A decrease in ocean rates, together with an in- crease in export rail rates, accounts for the diversion of a large quantity of grain to Gulf ports in 1920 and 192 1. The following tables reflect the lack of stability in water movement of wheat. TABLE VIII.— EXPORTS OF WHEAT FROM NEW ORLEANS"* Year Bushels Year Bushels 1910 213,654 1918 10,480,092 1911 602,417 1 91 9 12,678,000 1912 7,948,103 1920 49,590,000 1913 14,357,000 1921 55,904,000 1914 31 ,492,000 1922 27,420,000 1915 30,030,000 1923 II ,365,000 1916 22,910,000 1924 21 ,286,062 1917 16,947,000 Table IX shows the substantial gain made during the last few years in the water movement of wheat from St. Louis, a traffic which is likely to increase as long as ocean and rail rates are favorable to it. However, Chicago lies in an entirely different situation as related to the Illinois Waterway than does St. Louis to the Mississippi. Grain moving to Chicago is grown, for the most part, north of the latitude of central Iowa. Of the country grain received at Chicago for the crop years 1912-13 to 1916-17 51.98 per cent was furnished by Illinois, 31.43 per cent by Iowa, '^^ Report of National Waterways Commission, 1912, p. 548. ""'Providing for the Improvement and Completion of Prescribed Sections of the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio Rivers," Hearings on House Report 3921, 68 Cong., 1 sess., 32 {1924). "*Anniial Report of New Orleans Board of Trade, 1924, p. 62. 345] THE POTENTIAL TRAFFIC II7 TABLE IX.— SHIPMENTS OF WHEAT FROM ST. LOUIS^s Bushels Year By rail By river 191C 15,149,789 200 191 1 12,162,495 1912 21,195,775 450 1913 25,148,065 1 9 14 25,626,870 1915 28, 179,270 1916 31,435,720 1917 25,060,400 191 8 20,481 ,010 584,490 1919 30,584,470 1,165,450 192c 25,219,550 984,600 1921 31,950,700 4,295,840 1922 31,522,780 723, 450" IQ23 24, "517, 800 4,332.235 'Low water in the Mississippi River in September. 5.79 per cent by Minnesota, and 3.3 by South Dakota.^^^ This was added to by shipments from other primary markets, especially wheat from MinneapoHs. the bulk of which was grown still farther to the north and west. For this grain to utilize the Illinois Water- way, therefore, it must either pass through the Hennepin Canal, or make the detour south on the Mississippi and back up the Illi- nois. With the advantages of rail transportation for grain enum- erated above, and the slow and inadequate facilities offered by the Hennepin Canal given in a previous chapter in mind, it seems wholly improbable that any of the grain from the northwest should select this route. Neither is it probable that grain ship- pers would choose the river route with its extra handling and some five hundred miles of extra distance in preference to all rail direct with transit privileges. Moreover, grain moving to Chicago is go- ing more and more to the Calumet district, w^here the larger, newer, and more adequately equipped elevators have been erected (Fig. 12).^^*^^ As this region is not reached from the waterway, it is not reasonable to suppose that grain having that destination will move east by water. "^Reports of St. Louis Merchants' Exchange, 1910-1923. ^''Report Federal Trade Commission, The Grain Trade, I (1920), 132. "*"0n the Chicago River are ten elevators with 13.700,000 bushels capacity. On the Calumet, thirteen, with a capacity of 20,300,000 bushels. ''Water Term- inals and Transfer Facilities," House Document 652, 66 Cong., 2 sess., 1712, 1729, (1921). ii8 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [346 Neither would the greater part of the grain producing area of the State find it advantageous to use water transportation. Since the bulk of the grain moving into Chicago is ultimately reshipped east, there is practically no "local" billing to Chicago from country points in Illinois. Rates applied on shipments from the Illinois producing territory to Chicago are made on through billing to eastern points with transit and reshipping privileges at the inter- mediate market.^^" These privileges are not usually offered to shipments by water. Of the grain grown along the waterway, it is probable that a certain amount will be offered for transportation wherever ade- quate elevator facilities exist. In 1924 the counties bordering the waterway produced 69,400,000 bushels of corn, 10,287,000 bushels of wheat, and 37,158,000 bushels of oats. Using the ten year aver- age of 35 per cent for corn, 61 per cent for wheat, and 48 per cent Fig. 12. Lake Shipments of Wheat from Chicago From Chicago River From Calumet River (From reports of Chicago Board of Trade) ''Report Federal Trade Commission, The Grain Trade, II (1920), 44. 347] THE POTENTIAL TRAFFIC II9 for oats as the amount shipped out of the county where grown the amount of marketable grain of these counties is obtained.^^* This would be 24,290,000 bushels of corn, 6,275,300 bushels of wheat, and 17,835,900 bushels of oats. A good portion of this, however, is produced too close to Chicago to realize any appreciable profit from the use of the waterway, even if the rate is low. Elevator facilities along the whole route are also very meager. In 1913 in the navigable portion of the river below Peru only eight land- ings were provided with elevators, only one of which had rail con- nections. ^^^ Moreover, the capacity of existing elevators is very inadequate. The available public storage capacity of the three houses at Peoria is said to be so small "as to make it difficult to transfer grain for shipping purposes."^^^** ^^° At Pekin there are two private elevators with a capacity of 370,000 bushels, ^-^ and those at the other landings are much smaller. It is quite certain that addi- tional elevators must be constructed along the waterway before any considerable amount of grain is carried over it. Unless muni- cipal or other governmental authorities appropriate the money for this purpose, it is very doubtful if it is done. No company could carry grain at a rate sufficiently below that now offered by the railroads with their well established equipment in operation to se- cure from them a large enough portion of the trade they now en- joy and, at the same time make a sufficient profit to pay for the investment of a large sum in elevator facilities. It Is the opinion of the writer, therefore, that, while grain will be carried in small quantities on the waterway, as it is today on the Illinois River, the amount thus transported will be a negligible item. Livestock While livestock formed one of the earliest items cf long-dis- tance traffic on the railroads, and it still demands an important share of its services, it is not considered an especially lucrative "*''Crops and Markets," Monthly Supplement, U. S. Department of Agri- culture, II, Supplement No. 3, March, 1925, pp. 78-79. ^"House Document 652, p. 1733. "'"The elevator capacity at Peoria is giv^en by the Federal Trade Commis- sion, III, p. 288, as 2,130,000 bushels. ^"Report Federal Trade Commission, The Grain Trade, II (1920), 177. "^'Ibid., Ill (1921), 288. 120 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [348 type of traffic. In 1920 the transportation of livestock on the Chi- cago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad required nearly eleven per cent of the cars used to transport carload freight, but con- tributed only 6.14 per cent of the total revenue of such freight.^^^ The gross ton-mile earnings on the Chicago and Northwestern was only five mills, as compared with 6.7 mills for grain over a similar distance,^-^ while the car-mile earnings represented little more than half that of grain, and only about seventy per cent of that of all carload freight.^^* The reason for this lies in the nature of the traffic. If the dis- tance is long, yards must be provided where the animals may be fed, watered, and rested. Stockyards on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad are reported to have cost ^2,000,000.^^^ If two carloads or more are shipped under one caretaker, free trans- portation is provided both ways and full liability, as with general passengers, is assumed. A type of car must be used that is not adaptable to many kinds of freight so that there is a large move- ment of empty equipment, and car loadings can not be Increased as has been possible with other kinds of traffic. Loss and damage claims are also heavy, the per cent of claims to revenue on the Chi- cago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad In 1920 being more than two and one-half times as much as for all carload freight. Speed Is required, in order to reduce shrinkage In transit, possibility of loss of market, and extra feed charges. Stock train schedules are faster than the usual movement of ordinary freight,^-'' and delivery is made immediately on arrival, if possible. Because of these exactions there Is very little movement of stock by water. A small number of animals are carried to St. Louis each year by the Eagle Packet Company operating on the Illinois. Cargoes of from 1,000 to 1,200 cattle are sometimes ob- tained from the towns not served by railroad along the lower Illi- nois below Beardstown, That this traffic Is relatively unimportant, however, can be seen from Table X, "^Docket No. 12, 146, before the Interstate Commerce Commission, 1921, p. 27. '''Ibid., p. 26. ^"Jbid., pp. 20 and 21. "'Ibid., p. 31. ^'Report of the Joint Commission of Agricultural Inquiry, III (1921), III. By River From Illinois River 8,176 62,475 5,085 1,356 21,474 1,253 1,039 60 349] THE POTENTIAL TRAFFIC 121 TABLE X.— RECEIPTS AND SHIPMENTS OF LIVESTOCK AT ST. LOUIS, 1923127 By Rail Receipts Cattle 1,439,502 Hogs 5,254,417 Sheep 554,771 Shipments Cattle 651,508 Hogs 2,110,684 Sheep 126,928 The fact that Hvestock does not lend itself to barge transpor- tation miHtates against its carriage by water, this being one class of traffic not accepted by the Federal Barge Line. The need for speedy movement and prompt delivery also makes the transporta- tion of livestock by water in any considerable number undesirable. It Is clear, therefore, that livestock cannot be counted on to fur- nish any appreciable amount of traffic for the Illinois Waterway. Lumber The thorough depletion of the forests in the more densely populated sections of the country and the steadily retreating center of lumber production has presented a serious transportation prob- lem. It is not that the railroads are unable to handle the traffic, but the increasing length of haul with its attendant increase of transportation costs is reflected in the price of lumber to such an extent as to be almost prohibitive. Prior to the Civil War the common long lumber hauls in the United States were from 200 to 400 miles. The beginning of the long haul came with the exhaustion of the eastern forests and the development of the white pine lumber Industry in the Lake States. By way of the lakes, Erie Canal, and Hudson River lumber trav- eled from Saginaw, Michigan, to New York, a distance of 1,000 miles, and 500 miles to many points In the Middle West. After 1890 the reduced supply from the Lake States and the develop- ment of rail transportation permitted the entrance of southern pine Into the eastern and middle western markets, and rail ship- ments of lumber exceeding 1,000 miles became common. With the ^Report of St. Louis Merchants' Exchange, 1923, pp. 182 and 187. 122 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [35O developing industry on the northwest coast rail hauls for lumber have increased to 2,000 miles, or more, to interior points, while the water route has been lengthened to 7,000 miles via Panama Canal from Puget Sound ports to New York.^^® With the lengthening haul lumber freight costs have been mounting higher and higher. In normal times about 14 per cent of all railroad revenue comes from lumber.^-^ In 1920 the lumber freight bill on American railways was $230,000,000 and water freights were $20,000,000, more than 90 per cent of the bill being for transportation alone."" In 1923 the country's lumber freight costs were $300,000,000."^ Average transportation costs jumped from $3.25 per M board feet in 1905 to $11.75 "i IQIQ? and the pre-war rail rates of $12 from Puget Sound points to the Middle West have become $17.50. The price of lumber to the consumer has increased even more, for retail dealers figure profit on the total cost, including freight. Douglas fir flooring paid a freight of $12.50 to Minneapolis in August, 1922, and the retail price ex- ceeded the retail price at Portland, Seattle, and Bellingham by $28.^^- Lumber which brings from $22 to $30 in parts of the South costs $50, or more, in the consuming regions of the East and the Middle West, transportation costs, large investments in stocks, profits, and reduced competitive facilities involved in its transpor- tation explaining the difference in price. It is evident, therefore, that one of the economic problems before the country today is how to reduce transportation costs on lumber. Of the immense freight charge for lumber transportation in 1920 Illinois paid more than $28,000,000."^ Moreover, this charge is bound to grow, for the tendency is to draw increasingly from the more distant forests of the northwest. Of the 98,756 cars of lumber received in 1913, 66 per cent were from the southern, 21 per cent "'Earle H. Clapp, "The Long Haul from the Woods," American Forestry, XXIX (1923), 260-261. "'Hu Maxwell, "The Sawing and Transportation of Lumber," American Forestry, XXIV (1918), 336. """Forest Service, Timber: Mine or Crop?", Yearbook, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 1922, p. 115. '""Lumber and its Utilization," Lumber and Timber Information, National Lumber Manufacturers Association, I, chap, ii, (1924), 7. "*Clapp, op. cit., p. 263. "'"Forest Service, Timber: Mine or Crop?", p. 116. 351 ] THE POTENTIAL TRAFFIC I23 from the northern, and 13 per cent from the western forests.^^* In 1923, 25 per cent of the lumber received came from Washing- ton, Oregon, and CaHfornia.^^^ In that year Illinois received 2.669,764 iM board feet from thirty-two states, Louisiana, Mississ- ippi, and Washington being the leading contributors. It received 1 5 per cent of the southern pine distribution, 8 per cent of the western pine, 5.7 per cent of the domestic shipments from the Douglas fir region, and 19.5 per cent of the output of the North- ern Pine Association mills.^^^ Chicago consumption accounted for about 1,600,000 M board feet in 1924.^" With the rapid depletion of the southern forests and the pros- pect of their being unable to meet more than local requirements at the end of thirty years, ^®* Illinois, like other lumber consuming re- gions, is seeking a remedy for the difficulty. Two methods have been suggested. Systematic practice of scientific forestry in the once forested lake states has the disadvantage of requiring a long period of time. The other suggested solution of the problem in- volves the transportation of lumber from the northwest by water, in this way making use of the Illinois Waterway. That water transportation for lumber may be cheaper than that by rail is shown by the rates between Pacific and Atlantic Coast points. The coastwise rate via Panama Canal from ports on the northwest coast to New York is from $10 to $15 per M board feet, whereas a rail rate of 90 cents per 100 pounds amounts to from ^24 to $30 per M board feet, depending on the size, grade, and method of dressing.^^^ The response to these low water rates is shown by the following table. In 191 5, after the canal was opened the Atlantic Coast received 85,897,000 feet, or six per cent of the total shipments from the northwest that year. In 1923 such "William B. Greeley, ""Some Public and Economic Aspects of the Lumber Industr>%" Report No. 114, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 1917. Map opposite p. 52. "^''The Principal Lumber Industries," Bureau of the Census, 1923, p. 53. "'"Where the Lumber is Shipped," National Lumber Bulletin, Series II, No. 2, April, 1925, p. I. "'■■Receipts less Shipments," Chicago Board of Trade, 1924, p. 105. "^K. J. Braden, "The Cost of Transportation as a Tax on the Lumber Con- sumer of the Lake States," Jour, of Forestry, XV (1917), 6c6. "'Nelson Courtlandt Brown, The American Lumber Industry, 1923, p. 148. 124 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [352 TABLE XL— LUMBER SHIPMENTS FROM PACIFIC TO ATLANTIC COAST POINTS"" VIA PANAMA CANAL Year Tons Year Tons 1 921 448,087 1924 2,127,952 1922 1,121,705 1925 2,681,133 1923 1,656,774 shipments were 925,000,000 feet, which represented nearly 22 per cent of the total water shipments, and the succeeding years show a continuation of this increase. Lesser demand for lumber and smaller economy by water transportation for shorter distances, however, give to the Gulf ports only a small per cent of this trade. For the four weeks ending Dec. 26, 1925, Gulf ports received via the northwest and Panama Canal only 3.4 per cent of the total movement east, while New York City alone received 22.4 per cent of such shipments.^*^ Prior to 1880 water transportation played a very large part in the movement of lumber, but since that time the decline has been rapid. As the forests accessible to waterways were exhausted, rail- roads were extended into the forest regions, and, eventually, they secured the major part of the traffic. This change from water to rail is, no doubt, an important factor in the increased cost of trans- portation. The floating of logs down stream with spring floods, the cheapest method of transportation known, ceased with the removal of the trees from the river banks, and the rafting of lumber on the Mississippi has been abandoned because of the closing of practic- ally all the large mills formerly located along it.^^- At Chicago where water-transported lumber represented 81 per cent of that received in 1875,^'*^ only seven per cent came by water in 1914, and no water shipments were made from there. The interior river trade is practically negligible. Barges with a capacity of 600,000 to 700,000 board feet have been used occasionally, especially dur- ing periods of acute railroad car shortage, but no transportation ""■"Lumber Transportation Records in 1925," The National Lumber Bulletin, March 7, 1926, p. 3. "^■'Waterborne Lumber Movement of Pacific Coast," National Lumber Bul- letin, March i, 1926, p. 6. ^"Ralph Clement Bryant, Lumber, 1922, p. 378. '"Greeley, op. cit., p. 44. 353] THE POTENTIAL TRAFFIC 125 company has established a permanent service of this character.^** Fully 95 per cent of the lumber consumed annually in the Central States is transported wholly by rail.^^^ The relative importance of the rail and water trade is shown by the figures for St. Louis, where in 1923 the receipts of lumber by rail amounted to $3,899,- 197,500 board feet, while that by river was 2,739,000 board feet. Shipments were 2,797,459,500 and 1,303,000, respectively.^**^ These figures raise the question, "If water transportation is cheaper than by rail, why is not the river trade in lumber at St. Louis larger?" St. Louis is on a navigable waterway cutting the southern forest region. Lumber lends itself to water, as well as to rail transportation, as it requires neither speed, concentrated seas- onal movement, special equipment for handling or transporting, nor special care during transit. The answer is that water transpor- tation is cheaper only under certain conditions. The mills are no longer along the navigable streams. They have followed the in- dustry to interior points, where railroads must be depended on for transportation. Lumber to be marketed must be loaded on a railroad car, and water transportation would involve expensive trans-shipment. The railroad car is able, as a rule, to deliver the shipment much nearer the place where it is to be used. Lumber transportation by river to St. Louis would mean upstream move- ment, which is more expensive than movement in the opposite di- rection. Rail lines are more direct, therefore shorter, than river distances between the same points. Railroads offer certain privi- leges, also, such as "milling in transit" and reconsignment, which water lines would find it difficult to do. It has become the custom in recent years to sort lumber at the sawmill and fill the orders directly, rather than to send the whole quantity to large centers for redistribution. The result of all these changes is to shift the ad- vantage from water carriage more and more to the railroad until, for the greater part of the lumber carried, rail is cheaper for the service performed than water could be. The advantage from the standpoint of cost of rail transporta- tion for lumber over that by water is sometimes surprising. This is '"Bryant, op. cit., p. 376. "^Ovid M. Butler, "The Distribution of Softwood Lumber in the Middle West," Report No. 115, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 1917, p. 42. ""Report of St. Louis Merchants' Exchange, 1923, p. 40. 126 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [354 the case with lumber from the northwest coast to Chicago at the present time. According to the recent decision of the Interstate Commerce Commission the rate by rail to Chicago on Group D commodities, which include fir, spruce, hemlock, birch, and pine lumber in single carloads, from north Pacific and California coast points is to be 68 cents per lOO pounds, to take effect May 17, 1926."" Counting 1,800 pounds to the thousand feet,^*'* this would give a freight charge of $12.24 P^r M board feet. Not all Atlantic- Pacific lumber carriers stop at Gulf points. One of the few that does is the Luckenbach Steamship Company, whose quoted rate on lumber from Seattle to New Orleans, April, 1926, was $15 per M board feet, plus fifty cents a ton wharfage at Seattle.^** The rail rate from New Orleans to Chicago is 43 cents per 100 pounds, or $7,74 per M board feet.^*^ Eighty per cent of this rate by the Barge Line would be $6.19. Therefore lumber brought by water via Panama Canal, the Mississippi River, and the Illinois Water- way would involve, at present rates, a freight charge of $9.40 per M board feet in excess of the all rail rate. It is to be noted in this connection, also, that no appreciable reduction, if any, is made to New Orleans under that to New York, though the distance is much less. Apparently this is one case where rail competition holds down the water rate. It is needless to say that no lumber will move by the all water route from the northwest coast to Chi- cago unless there is a decided shift in rail or water rates. Imports A study of the commodities carried on the Mississippi River by the Federal Barge Line shows not the commonly expected cheap and heavy bulk commodities usually delegated to water- ways, but a great variety of miscellaneous freight. Important on the list are the imports, especially sugar, which amounted to 138,- '^*'The National Lumber Bulletin, March 7, 1926, p. 3. (Reduction from 72 to 68 cents). "'"Brown, op. cit., p.- 150. "^Communication from traffic representative of that line. "Tariff schedules in possession of Mr. S. L. Foote, Secretary, Madison Chamber of Commerce. 355] THE POTENTIAL TRAFFIC 12/ 873 tons in the fiscal year 1923.^^° Other important items were coffee, with 15,612 tons, sisal, with 9,120 tons, and burlap, with 11,573 tons. These four articles constituted 65 per cent of the ton- nage of northbound freight carried by this line in 1923.^^^ Of this freight a substantial proportion was destined for Chicago, and would probably be carried over the Illinois Waterway, if facilities permitted. In the 8-day period from ^larch 10 to March 18, 1925, 16,546 tons of sugar were moved by the Barge Line, an amount equal to 622 loaded railroad freight cars. Illinois took 128 cars of this nineteen of which went to Chicago and twenty to Pe- oria.^^- At the per capita consumption for the United States the five million people tributary to Chicago would require 210,000 tons of sugar, 30,000 tons of coffee, and 40,000 tons of rice annually .^^^ Sisal bound for Chicago is imported through Xew Orleans to the amount of more than 250,000 tons each year. Some indication of the actual northbound movement of these com.modities is given by the recent appeal by the Illinois Central Railroad for authorization to construct a line 180 miles long paral- leling the existing one between Edgewood, Illinois, and Fulton, Kentucky. The reason given was to relieve traffic congestion, the chief business of the line (which is double tracked) being shipping of grain south and hauling sugar, coffee, rice, sisal, etc. on the re- turn. ^^* This class of freight is especially well adapted to barge transportation, as the experience of the Federal Barge Line will testify. Moreover, at the 20 per cent differential by water under the all rail rate, there is a considerable saving, that on coffee and sugar representing 10 cents per 100 pounds, according to tariff schedules in recent use. It is reasonable to predict, therefore, that a considerable portion of this traffic will move to Chicago by the all water route, providing as favorable shipping conditions as are now furnished by the Barge Line are maintained. '^"'Annual Report of Ch'uj of Inland and Coastwise Waterways Service, 1923, P- 54- "VmJ., pp. 54-56 (Table). ''^'"Shippers Save on Sugar Moved by Water," Mississippi Valley Mag., March-April, 1925, p. 16. '^'M. G. Barnes, Inland Waterways and Transportation Costs, 1920, p. 26. '""Improvement of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers and Diversion of Water from Lake Michigan," Hearings before the Committee on Rivers and Har- bors, House cf Representatives, 68 Cong., i sess., 113, (1924). 128 the geonomic aspects of the illinois waterway [356 Manufactured Articles Standing next to grain in the list of articles comprising the southbound traffic of the Barge Line are manufactured articles. The most important group is that made of iron and steel, which in- cludes steel billets, rails, bar iron, iron pipe, fabricated steel, struc- tural iron, nails, bolts, wire and wire fencing, barbed wire, and a host of other items of this character. Plumbers' supplies, agricul- tural implements, prepared roofing, and galvanized materials are also important.^^^ Most of these articles may be recognized as representative of the industries located in or near Chicago, and, if the industrial concerns choose to do so, can be shipped conven- iently on the com.pleted waterway. Already farm implements are shipped from Chicago for export to South America to the extent of 1,500 to 2,000 cars annually.^^*' This district also undoubtedly furnished an appreciable part of the 14,234 tons of export freight carried by the Mississippi-Warrior Service in 1921.^^'' However, not all industrial plants located on the waterway will find it practicable to ship their products that way. The region adjacent to the lower Mississippi is one of relatively sparse popu- lation, quite unlike the German Rhine with which it is so often compared. The population per square mile in Germany Is about 330, whereas little of the territory tributary to the Illinois-Mississ- ippi waterway exceeds 40 per square mile. Moreover, along the Rhine are many large industrial centers, while throughout the en- tire stretch of 1,600 miles of river and canal from Chicago to New Orleans there are only two cities of over 100,000. Manufacturers of domestic supplies, therefore, may find small use for the water- way. This is especially true of certain types of Industry, for In- stance, clay products, whose output Is distributed to widely scat- tered Interior points. Exports destined for European markets are not likely to move by way of the Gulf, either. The most likely ex- port movement south is of those commodities finding an outlet in Latin American countries, of which manufactures of Iron and ^^'Annual Report of Chief of Inland and Coastwise Waterways Semice, 1923, pp. 54-56 (Table). ^'''^ Fifth Annual Report of Illinois Division of Waterways, 1922, p. 79. ^''■'The Port of New Orleans," Port Series No. 5, War Department, 1924, p. 214. 357] THE POTENTIAL TRAFFIC 129 Steel, plumbers' supplies, agricultural implements, hardware, and packing-house products offer greatest promise. The Latin Amer- ican market for these exports is limited, however, by competition with other manufacturing regions both in the United States and in foreign countries, by a sparse population, and by a relatively low purchasing power among the people. High expectations of un- limited outlet for manufactured products in this direction, there- fore, are likely to be disappointed. It is probable, also, that a portion of the traffic originating in Chicago or St. Louis and destined for the other city may be counted as potential waterway cargo. It is said that the railroads carry approximately 2,500,000 tons between the two cities annu- ally."^ Representatives of certain industries, particularly of iron and steel, have expressed their desire to use water transportation to bring supplies from the north to their industrial plants in St. Louis. According to reports, some 60,00c tons of this type of freight are awaiting transportation over the waterway .^^^ ^'"^Fifth Annual Report of Illinois Division of Waterways, 1922, p. 79. "'^"Improvement of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers and Diversion of Water from Lake Michigan." CHAPTER VII TRANSPORTATION COMPANIES One of the most perplexing questions concerning transporta- tion on the Mississippi River system today is, "Who will carry the cargo?" Only a small part of the splendid fleet of a few decades ago remains, one line after another having gone out of business because it did not pay. As the operation of those remaining has not been especially prosperous, little new capital has been tempted to invest In it, and more than one case can be cited of short-lived companies that have attempted to revive water traffic, but have failed. Yet the clamor for cheaper transportation is constant. Ap- parently private concerns whose boats care only for the needs of their own business have been more successful, and a number of these may be counted among the river cargo carriers. On the whole, therefore, the prospect for public carriers on the Missis- sippi system has been most discouraging. However, a new impetus seems to have been given to river transportation through the establishment, in 191 8, of the Missis- sippi-Warrior Service by the Federal Government. Though it was the outgrowth of war needs, it has been continued as an experi- ment to ascertain the degree of feasibility of water transportation and the conditions under which it can be most successfully car- ried on. The Federal Barge Line The Federal Barge Line of the Mississippi-Warrior Service was put into operation on the lower Mississippi, September 28, 1918.^ It was at first under the supervision of the Committee on Inland Waterways under the Railroad Administration; later it became a charge of the Inland and Coastwise Waterways Service when that was created by the Transportation Act of 1920,- As the Service is to be conducted on a strictly business basis, the need was felt of a more business-like administrative organization, and in June, 1924, the Inland Waterways Corporation, with a capital ^Annual Report of Chief of Inland and Coastwise Waterways Service, 1923, p. 22. ''Ibid., p. 3. 359] TRANSPORTATION COMPANIES I3I of ^§5,000,000 was created.^ The business of this organization is to foster both rail and water transportation, but especial attention is given to the operations of the Government owned inland water- ways service with the idea of disposing of the system, or any part of it, to private parties as soon as its feasibility has been demon- strated. In this way the Government hopes to re-establish com- merce carriers on every navigable stream where it is at all practical.* At first quite inadequate for the service required, the fleet of the Mississippi-Warrior Service has been increased and improved until by December, 1924, fifteen towboats, four self-propelled barges, and iii cargo barges, besides numerous miscellaneous harbor boats, oil tankers, etc., were in use.^ In a sense, the fleet is still inadequate, as it is insufficient, at times, to handle all the grain that is offered to it,® and no provision is made for the carry- ing of oil on the Mississippi, a considerable quantity of which is available for transportation." According to reports, a recent acqui- sition is two open-top 1,000-ton barges suitable for carrying bulk cargo, mainly sulphur to East St. Louis.^ Service is conducted on the Mississippi between St. Louis and New Orleans, with stops at Cairo, Memphis, and Mcksburg, and on the Black Warrior be- tween Birmingport and Cordova, JMobile, and New Orleans. A recent ruling of the Secretary of War, however, makes possible the extension of this service on the upper Alississippi,^ and ar- rangements are reported to have been made to operate between St. Louis and the Twin Cities as soon as the necessary equipment can be furnished, probably about April, 1927.^" Every effort has been made by those in charge of the Federal Barge Line to have the service efficient and satisfactory. In estab- 'T. Q. Ashbum, '"Governmental Pioneering on Inland Water Transporta- tion," Cong. Dig., Ill (1924), 369. *T. Q. Ashburn, '"Mississippi-Warrior Service Forms Test of Waterway Pol- icy," Christian Science Monitor, Dec. 2, 1924. 'Ibid. "Report of St. Louis Merchants' Exchange, 1921, p. 19. ''Report of the Secretary of War to the President, 1922, p. 322. ^Mississippi Valley Magazine, March-April, 1925. "Ibid., Jan.-Feb., 1926, p. 7. ^"Communication from Theodore Brent, Traffic Manager, Mississippi-War- rior Service. 132 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [360 lishing the rates it was felt that they should be somewhat lower than applied by corresponding rail routes, in order to attract traffic, and 80 per cent of that rate was decided upon as the water tariff. It was evident from the beginning, also, that the service of this line must be equal to that tendered by the railroads in order to compete with them. As land carriers assume liability for the safe keeping of property intrusted to them for transportation, water carriers must also accept full responsibility for the safety of goods in transit. Therefore both fire and marine insurance were included in the Barge Line tariffs.^^ Railroads also render certain terminal services, and the water line must do likewise. Reliability and de- pendability were necessary. This was secured by a scheme of scheduled sailings, approximating five days, from each terminal, the use of wireless aiding in the direction of the tows.^- Detour arrangements, which permit diversion of traffic between East St. Louis and Cairo when ice or drouth interfere with operation by water between these points, were made between the Barge Line and the railroads, ^^ so dependable schedules could be maintained. More important than all this was the securing of joint rates with the railroads. Extension of the service to interior points was absolutely necessary for the success of the project, as not sufficient tonnage could be obtained on the banks of the stream to make exclusive water haulage profitable. Since January, 1919, when joint rates were first secured, the area under its influence has been gradually extended to include the territory south to the Mexican border at Brownsville, Texas, and north through St. Louis to Minneapolis, Sioux City, Grand Rapids, Cincinnati, and other more distant points.^* Interchange relations have been secured with approximately 165 railroads in the United States. Through bills of lading are issued, also, to Pacific Coast points through the Barge Line to New Orleans and by the Pacific-Caribbean-Gulf Line through Panama Canal. ^^ Three self-propelled barges carry '^'^Annual Report of Chief of Inland and Coastunse Waterways Service, 1920, P- 73- ""Mississippi-Warrior Service," Supplement No. 2 to Freight Tariff No. Q-B, Dec, 1922. "Mississippi-Ifarrior Serzice, Dec, 1921. (Folder) ^* Annual Report of Chief of Inland and Coastwise Waterways Service, 1923, p. 42. "Mississippi-Warrior Service, Nov., 1923. (Folder) 361] TRANSPORTATION COMPANIES 133 on an express business for shipments requiring more rapid move- ment. These boats give a five day service from St. Louis to New Orleans, and a ten day service on the return.^*' Truck delivery service is also employed to Insure more prompt delivery.^' The influence of the Inauguration of joint rates was noticeable in the character of the traffic, high grade merchandise gradually taking the place of the bulk grain south, a change that was especi- ally desirable to the Barge Line, as grain paid only about ^2.40 per ton as against the higher rate of $4 to $S on merchandise. It also resulted in a larger movement north, the barges now being loaded to capacity with sugar, coffee, rice, molasses, sisal, etc.^^ Only two bulk commodities are carried, grain south and bauxite ore north. In 1923 the former accounted for 64 per cent of all southbound freight on the Mississippi. Even so, it represents a relatively small part of the total rail and river movement of export grain to New Orleans. In the three year period, 1919-1921, inclusive, 5,395,033 tons of grain were exported from New Orleans,^^ of which 192.224 tons, or little more than three and one-half per cent, were carried by the Barge Llne.-° The remainder of the cargo southbound in- cludes a great variety of articles, manufactures of iron and steel from the Pittsburgh region, agricultural Implements from Chicago, soap from Ohio, condensed milk from Wisconsin, etc. It is note- worthy that a considerable tonnage has been contributed weekly by the industries in the Chicago district, and from manufacturing centers elsewhere in Illinois and in Wisconsin.^^ Northbound traffic amounts to about 45 per cent of the total, the chief item being sugar, which accounted for nearly 52 per cent of all north- bound freight in 1923. It has experienced a more noticeable in- "Verbal statement by operator of Barge Line, Cairo. ''C. A. McCombs, '"The Present Status of Navigation on the Lower Mis- sissipi River/' Jour. Geog., XXIV (1925), 13. ^*Theodore Brent, "Inland Water Transportation," Joiir. W. Soc. Eng., XXIV (1919), 363. ""The Port of New Orleans," Port Series, Xo. 5, War Department, 1924, pp. 195 and 196. ""■■Report of Joint Commission of Agricultural Inquiry, Part III, Transpor- tation," Report 40S, Ft. 3, House of Representatives, 67 Cong., i sess., 385 (1922). '^Annual Report of Chief of Inland and CoasPivise Waterways Senice, 1923. p. 42. 134 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [362 crease and a steadier flow than the southbound traffic, the differ- ence being due to the larger population in the northern area. Imports entering New Orleans reach via the Barge Line a broad distributing territory from the Alleghany to the Rocky Mountains. Commodities moving south reach via the Barge Line only two important distributing centers, Memphis and New Orleans."- The following table gives the leading articles for the fiscal year 1923 (Table XII). These articles have, for the most part, relatively high value, therefore they can stand a comparatively high trans- portation rate. They are also non-breakable, non-perishable, and relatively easy to handle. Much of it requires no special handling appliance, for example, sugar, coffee, soap, etc., which can be trans- ferred on two-wheeled hand trucks. It is, therefore, as desirable a type of freight as a waterway can reasonably expect to handle. Table XIII shows the volume of traffic handled each year since the beginning of operation. While the figures do not show a great actual increase each year over the preceding, the gain is steady and the per cent increase is satisfactory. TABLE XII.— LEADING ARTICLES CARRIED BY THE MISSISSIPPI- WARRIOR SERVICERS ON THE MISSISSIPPI FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 1923 Commodities Short tons South- bound Sugar Corn 102,669 Wheat 81,311 Rye.; 27,554 Bauxite ore Cottonseed hulls 12,559 Nitrate of soda Coffee Burlap Oyster shells Sisal Canned goods. .. . 7,544 Prepared roofing 5,0^5 Tobacco 4,875 North- bound 138,873 27,517 16,045 15,612 11,573 9,334 9,120 Commodities Short tons South- bound Fabricated steel 4,483 Bags 246 Iron pipe 3,898 Soap and soap powders 3,893 Ammonia 3,7ii Bagging 989 Merchandise 3,292 Bar iron 3,042 Cement 2,914 Structural .iron 2,435 Tin plate 2,217 Molasses and sirup. Potash. 1,223 North- bound 4,246 3,350 881 2,250 2,082 p. 42. 'Annual Report of Chief of Inland and Coastwise Waterways Service, 1923, ■''Ibid., pp. 54-56. (Table) 363] TRANSPORTATION COMPANIES 135 On the Other hand, the financial statement is rather discour- aging, as the figures in Table XIV show, no year giving a surplus of revenue over expenses until 1925, the seventh year of opera- tion. However, these figures should not be interpreted as a criti- cism of the operation of the line, as, at the 20 per cent differential below the rail rate the revenue received leaves so small a margin of profit that to make it pay enormous quantities must be car- ried.-* Therefore, if there is any interruption to service, or any TABLE XIII.— TONNAGE HANDLED ON THE MISSISSIPPI BY THE FEDERAL BARGE LINE^^ Year Short tons Year Short tons 1918 23,359 1922 599,699 1919 104,769 1923 710,431 1920 160,701 1924 849,503 1921 443,267 1925 910,755 adverse circumstance, a deficit is likely to be created. Moreover, the numerous incidental services performed by the Barge Line as essential to the securing of trafl[ic neutralize the effect of the econ- omy of water transportation. About 25 per cent of the gross rev- TABLE XIV.— OPERATING REVENUE AND EXPENSES OF THE FEDERAL BARGE LINE BY YEARS^^ Total Total Year Operating Operating Net Revenue Expenses^ Income 1919" $ 444,658.72 ^1,139,420.45 ^-694,761.73 1920 702,219.35 1,252,238.20 -550,018.85 1921 1,791,324.47 1,920,206.30 -128,881.83 1922 2,249,483.16 2,723,031.44 -473,549.00 1923 2,420,190.00 2,461,279.00 —41,089.00 1924 3,097,348.33 3,223,408.30 -126,059.97 1925 3,546,989.56 3,278,134.28 268,855.28 "Contains figures from September, 1918. ••Includes depreciation. — Signifies a loss. '*Ibid., p. 23. "Figures from communication from Theodore Brent, April, 1926. ^Figures for 1919-1922 from Annual Report of Chief of Inland and Coast' wise Waterways Service, 1923, p. 62: for 1923, from Hearings before the Com- mittee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, 68 Cong., I sess., 162 (1924); for 1924 and 1925 from letter from War Department. 136 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [364 enues of the Barge Line still go to pay the cost of the terminal rail services, and transferring of freight from car to barge and barge to car adds about $1.50 a ton more.'^ Theodore Brent, Traffic Manager of the Mississippi-Warrior Service, is quoted as saying, ''However, with the exception of bulk grain, the Barge Line must agree to pay the cost of bringing the freight in a car to the river bank, unload the contents into its barges, transport the contents to another port of interchange, secure a railroad car in which to deliver a lading, load the car, pay the railroad for the use of the car and the delivery of the freight and insure the arrival of the lading in as good condition as if it had moved through by rail — all this at a substantial difference under the cost of rail service."^^ It appears, therefore, that en as favorable a stream as the Mississippi, the odds against the waterway are sufficient to make the task of competing successfully with the railroads a difficult one. The Waterway Service realizes, also, that the outcome of the experiment is most significant. If all the experience, knowledge, and capital available to the Mississippi-Warrior Service can not make the venture an undisputed success, appropriations for the improvement of rivers for navigation might just as well cease.^^* The Mississippi possesses the essential requirements of a success- ful waterway to an unusual degree, (i) The river is ample in width and depth (except in short stretches at rare intervals); (2) the water haul is long, (about 1,150 miles from St. Louis to New Orleans); (3) adequate and suitable terminals have been provided at the freight transfer points by the expenditure of large sums of money; (4) the fleet represents the best and most efficient floating equipment that six years of operating experience has been able to devise and collect; (5) the traffic has reached an almost perfect balance;"^*" (6) a large part of the tonnage is desirable high class freight which can stand a relatively high transportation ^'Edward Hungerford, ''Down the Mississippi," The Country Gentleman, LXXXIX (June 21, 1924) 24. "^Ibid. ^"Gen. Ashburn claims that the Service would have ^22,500 additional monthly earnings if the excess war costs could be written off, as was done by the Shipping Board tonnage. ^"It is said that no barge is moved empty. Southbound barges are loaded to capacity; northbound, as heavy as is practical against the current. 365] TRANSPORTATION COMPANIES I37 charge; and (7) as satisfactory arrangements for joint rates with the railroads as can be expected have been obtained. However, unless the economy of water transportation more than offsets the cost of transfer of traffic from land to water, and vice versa, there is no saving in the use of the waterway. Development of water- ways should not be for the sole purpose of reducing rail rates. If rates are excessive recourse may be had to the Interstate Com- merce Commission, while to reduce rail rates from river points only to have them increased from interior points in order to re- coup the railroads is unfair. Only when "sufficient tonnage of heavy commodities exist, or can be developed to justify the estab- lishment of new transportation facilities" should inland waterways be developed.-^ That this time has not come along the Mississippi, from the standpoint of volume is patent, and the increase in popu- lation in the territory adjacent to the river, according to the figures of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Censuses, does not indicate that that time is rapidly approaching. According to Secretary Herbert Hoover, larger populations and more diversified industry in reach of interior waterways form a prime factor in successful water transportation. '^^ It is possible that several decades hence the In- crease of population In central United States will insure to a ven- ture such as the Mississippi-Warrior Service a much greater degree of success. The present difficulties of water transportation, how- ever, are inherent in the geographic and economic conditions ex- isting in this territory, and not until they change to an appreciable degree can the unqualified success of water transportation in this region be assured. Other Transportation Companies The Federal Barge Line is the most Important cargo carrier on the Mississippi River System today, and the only one giving regular and continuous service to the public for any considerable distance. The remainder of the business is done by a number of companies which offer a variety of services. Not more than a ^■■Report of the Joint Commission of Agricultural Inquiry, Part III, p. 386. '"Herbert Hoover, "The Need of Inland Waterways for Agriculture and Industry," Commerce Reports, Nov. 2, 1925, p. 255. 138 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [366 score or two of the old style stern-wheel vessels are now in use, and no through service from St. Louis to Memphis, VIcksburg, or New Orleans is offered by them. However, several boats make daily trips between the landings both north and south of Mem- phis, and a number of the smaller boats find it profitable and con- venient to deliver their water shipments by truck to a distance of twenty miles.^^ On the Ohio River packet boat service is most important between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, several short lines being operated out from each of these cities. Packet boats carry- ing passengers and local freight operate also from St. Louis to Tennessee River points, to Peoria on the Illinois, and up the Mis- sissippi to Quincy and intermediate points. During the summer sea- son the excursion business is very large, and many of the fine large packets belonging to the upper Mississippi have been remodeled for this purpose.^^ As this type of service is much more profitable than transportation of general cargo, it is, in many cases, the chief source of revenue. In 1922 the River Transit Company of St. Paul was incorpo- rated for the purpose of the transportation of package freight on the Mississippi between that city and St. Louis. In addition to its individual shipper patronage, this company transports freight from St. Louis to upper Mississippi River cities on through bills of lading and joint rates with the Mississippi-Warrior Service.^^ The increase in navigation on the upper Mississippi within the last year or so is no doubt a response to the influence of the Government- owned line, as is probably the case on the Missouri, where, on two widely separated sections of the river, water service has been recently inaugurated.^* Aside from the public carriers which trans- port any freight brought to them are contract carriers, that is, those companies which observe no regular schedule, but run only when having a full load. For example, the Barrett Line out of Cario operates a towboat and barge line to carry, on contract, such things as lumber, logs, and powder from the works at Nash- ville to New Orleans.^^ ^McCombs, op. at. ^^ Annual Report of Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., II, (1924), 1478. '^Mississippi Valley Association Folder. '^"Missouri River Trade Revival Now Forecast," Christian Science Mon- itor, Dec. 2, 1924. '^Verbal statement of Captain Hacker of Cairo City Ferry Company. 367] TRANSPORTATION COMPANIES 139 A recent noticeable development of transportation on inland waterways is that of private floating plants engaged solely in carry- ing materials belonging to the individual enterprise. The bulk of the freight carried on the upper Mississippi today is handled in this way. Various business firms own and operate small steam or gasoline boats, usually with barges, for the purpose of transport- ing freight in connection with their business.'^'' One of the most im-portant of the private companies is the Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation of Pittsburgh, which began in October, 192 1, to ship by water steel products from their works on the Ohio and Monongahela rivers.^' Barges of wire, iron pipe, tin plate, struc- tural shapes, nails, and fence material are floated down stream to Cincinnati, Louisville, Evansville, St. Louis, Memphis, and New Orleans, from which points the freight is distributed by rail to the interior territory or shipped to Pacific Coast points via Panama Canal. ^^ It is strictly a delivery service. No hauling is performed for others, and no joint arrangements of any sort are made with rail carriers. Little return cargo is carried, perhaps a little lumber and some scrap. Coal is brought in the same manner from their mines on the banks of the Monongahela. The coal drops directly from the tipple into the barge, and is transported the 60 miles to the industrial plant at a cost of 15 cents a ton, including loading.^^ The manufacturing plants are also on the banks of the rivers, where they were located, not primarily for navigation, but to secure easily an adequate water supply for industrial purposes.'*" This com- pany, whose producing capacity is 10,000 tons of iron per day, makes the claim that the immense growth of the industry which has taken place would not have been possible without the benefits of water transportation.^^ They own limestone and dolomite quar- ries in Pennsylvania and West Virginia and iron mines in Michi- ^^ Annual Report of Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., II, (1924), 1478- ""Providing for the Improvement and Completion of Prescribed Sections of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio Rivers," Hearings on House Report 3921, 68 Cong., I sess., 74, (1924). ^National Industries, April 6, 1925, p. 6. (Magazine, Pittsburgh) ^"Hearings on House Report 3921, p. 66. **A. B. Shepherd, Shipping Steel Products on Itdand Waterways, 1922, p. 3. (Address before 17th Convention of National Rivers and Harbors Congress.) "Ibid., p. 5. 140 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [368 gan and Minnesota, and operate a fleet of vessels on the Great Lakes/- Thls rather detailed account of waterway operations on the Ohio has been given to show that, under favorable conditions, water transportation is still profitable. When the commodity to be carried can be transferred directly to or from the barge without the intervention of some other means of transportation, the econ- omy of water transportation can be appreciated. As has been said many times before in this treatise, it is the expensive transship- ment between land and water carriage, and all the switching, drayage, and other charges incidental to it, that make it difficult for water transportation to be profitable at a rate sufficiently be- low that by rail to secure the traffic. It is the low margin of profit, coupled with the uncertainty attached to water transportation, that deters capital from investing in such an enterprise. During the years of railroad ascendancy industries were located conven- iently to railroads, rather than to waterways, and to establish water connections would require, in most cases, considerable ex- penditure. Terminals would have to be provided, the cost of which could not be met from the small profits from water haulage. Since the profit on each ton carried by water is very small, large quantities must be carried to make any considerable profit on such a venture. Large quantities can be handled only when terminals are adequate and equipment extensive. Floating equipment alone has been estimated to cost at the rate of $20 per ton of capacity for steel barges and $}0 per ton for modern towboats.*^ There is no governmental control of water rates, therefore cut-throat com- petition of other companies might mean serious temporary loss. Occasional interruptions from low water or ice might reduce the profits still further. Arrangements with railroads for joint rates might, or might not, be satisfactory. Many of the services rendered by the railroads are impossible, or very inconvenient and expen- sive, for the water line to perform, and shippers of certain com- modities prefer to pay a slightly higher rate to secure these advan- tages. On the whole, the prospect of much money being invested in equipment for handling and transporting freight by common "Shepherd, op. cit., p. 3. "C. J. Grimm, ''Waterway and Railway Equivalents," Pro. Amer. Soc. C. Eng., LI (1925), 322 (Discussion). 369] TRANSPORTATION COMPANIES I4I public carriers is very unfavorable. It appears to the writer, there- fore, that the tendency will be more and more for individual inter- ests, so placed as to profit from a waterway gradually to monopo- lize its use. In many such cases the profits arising from a low water rate are absorbed by the favored few, instead of being shared with the public. This is true of eastern coal in Wisconsin, where the price to the consumer is set by the all-rail rate, although some of it comes by the cheaper lake route to Alilwaukee.''* There- fore the wisdom of the public's spending large sums of money for improvements to 'be enjoyed by a few is questionable. As long as the Federal Government backs a transportation line and offers to the shipping public conveniences of rail transportation and rates sufficiently below those by rail to offer any appreciable saving, a considerable amount of traffic will be forthcoming. However, if rates are raised sufficiently to make the project a decidedly pay- ing one, traffic will undoubtedly revert to the railroad, except it may be in periods of severe car shortage. On the other hand, the financial balance of the Barge Line must be decidedly favorable for a considerable period of time for it to be at all likely that pri- vate capital will be spent in its purchase. Changes now unfor- seen, or slow changes such as growth of industries along the water- way, requiring a long period of time, are required to make the situ- ation otherwise. "Statement of a Madison retail coal dealer to Professor R. H. Whitbeck. CHAPTER VIII THE VALUE OF THE WATERWAY The new Illinois Waterway, when completed, will present to the public a reasonably satisfactory avenue for water transporta- tion between the two great inland waterway systems of the coun- try, the Mississippi and the Great Lakes. It will be entirely ad- equate for barge traffic, not only for present needs but for many years to come. The Illinois portion of the connected waterway passes through the center of one of the most prosperous sections of the United States, and at its eastern terminus lies the second city in size. Toward the south, through the New Orleans gateway, exports may be carried by water to all parts of the world, and on the return imports will be able to reach the heart of the great central valley and beyond to the far shores of the Great Lakes. Truly, few waterways are so favorably placed. Let us now attempt to ascertain, in a general way, the probable economic contribution that this waterway will make. To Relieve the Railroad Burden The strongest argument used by advocates for waterway im.provement is the necessity of relieving the railroads of a portion of their increasing volume of freight. It is asserted that the trans- portation of large quantities of low grade bulk freight at low freight rates is unprofitable, and that the railroads, If relieved of this by the waterways, would be able to handle the remainder profitably at rates below the present ones. Experience, however, shows this to be untrue. It has been shown in the preceding pages that water borne traffic on the Mississippi system today is made up of an increasingly greater proportion of high grade freight on which the 20 per cent differential of the water rate below that by rail can be appreciated. All but a very small part of the grain, coal, and lumber moves by rail, because the advantages of rail over water are sufficient to retain it. On the other hand, railroads maintain that this Is the most profitable business they have.^ Coal, for instance, moves In carload shipments, with cars loaded to the 'C. H. Markham, '"Waterway and Railway Equivalents," Pro. Amer. Soc. C. Eng., LI (1925), 307. 142 371 ] THE VALUE OF THE WATERWAY 143 maximum. Heavy train loads of this commodity are operated more economically and there are fewer claims to pay, than in the transportation of miscellaneous freight. It is claimed that rail- roads prefer to handle coal at a rate one-fourth that received for merchandise, and that almost any American railroad would "starve to death,'' if its heavy freight business were taken from it.- There- fore it is not desirable that the transfer should be made. More- over, it is extremely doubtful, as has been shown previously, whether the waterway will be able to offer sufficiently advan- tageous rates for the transportation of any of these commodities to secure from the railroads an appreciable quantity of them. In the second place, the amount that the waterway will be likely to carry, compared to that moving by rail, w^ill be too small, at best, to make any impression on freight congestion in periods of car shortage. In 1923, the railroads of the United States handled nearly 1,277,000,000 tons, while the total volume of foreign and domestic commerce of the United States and dependent territories, except on the Great Lakes, and not counting coastwise traffic twice, Vv'as about 96,000,000 tons,^ The Illinois Central Railroad alone handled 65,000,000 tons,* while all the water-borne traffic of the Mississippi \'alley would account for little more than seven-tenths as much as was carried by this one road (Table XV), TABLE XV.— TONNAGE CARRIED ON THE PRINCIPAL INLAND WATERWAYS^ OF CENTRAL UNITED STATES IN 1923 River Short tons River Short tons Allegheny 4,612,640 Tennessee 842,677^ Cumberland 382,iii« White I94>793" Illinois 174,078 Yazoo 79,937* Kanawha 1,572,821 Canal Mississippi 6,230,646* Illinois and Missouri 388,651" Michigan 9>047 Monongahela 23,560,024 Illinois and Ohio 8,280,520 Mississippi 10,093 Sanitary Ship 412,051 Total 46,917,121 •Sum of tonnage on various sections. Considerable duplication. •"Tons boated. "^Floated logs omitted. ^Ibid. ^Ibid. *lbid. ^Re-port of Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., II, (1924). 144 "^'HE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [372 These figures reflect the advantages of rail transportation over that by water. For certain types of freight, such as cast iron and drain tile, the extra handling by water increases the breakage, so that rail movement, even at a higher rate, is preferred.** Speedier delivery, also, secures certain traffic.'^ The convenience and econ- omy of the railroad car, which can be switched to any number of advantageous positions, even to the very doors of the industrial establishment, can not be duplicated in water transportation. Re- consignment and transit privileges offered by the railroad are almost impossible to a water line. These, and other advantages, attract to the railroad nearly all the traffic, even in regions served by navigable waterways. The tendency, in periods of serious car shortage, is to ship more by water, providing such facilities are to be had. This, however, is not, as a rule, the case, and to keep boats idle most of the time in order to have them in emergencies would be more expensive than the occasional use would warrant. It is not reasonable to suppose, either, that the Illinois Waterway will contribute more to relieve transportation emergencies than other navigable waterways have been able to, and this is practi- cally negligible. On rivers lined with many cities and towns, where there is a considerable port to port movement of freight, the advantages of a waterway may be realized. Many small boats may find profita- ble employment In short water hauls, and the service may be even more speedy and reliable than by rail, which is likely to involve switching. This is not so true for carlots, however, as for small amounts in less than carload lots. For communities not served by railroads, also, river transportation may be invaluable, as along the lower Illinois, where shipping points may be established at frequent Intervals along the way. However, for any large move- ment of freight this is out of the question. In the region under discussion so small an amount of freight originates close to the river that a rail haul at one or both ends of the line is necessary. The Illinois waterways and the Mississippi flow through an area of relatively sparse population and having very few large cities or towns on the river banks. Moreover, there are no large and '81 I. C. C. 693 (1923). ^■'Improvement of Illinois and Mississippi Rivers and Diversion of Water from Lake Michigan," 67 Cong., 2 sess., 47, (1922). 373] THE VALUE OF THE WATERWAY 145 important deposits of valuable minerals close enough to the water- way for the output to be shipped without the intervention of the railroad. Coal, for instance, from southern Illinois must be carried forty miles by rail to the river to avail itself of water carriage, and any increase in the amount carried by water would increase to the same degree the need for rail facilities between the mine and the river landing. In Chicago the transfer between land and water must be made in the congested terminal area within trucking dis- tance of the origin or destination of the freight, or railroad transfer must be provided farther out. Neither of these would offer relief from railroad traffic congestion. The one would augment street traffic in the terminal area, just as if the freight had come by rail, and the other would demand railroad cars when they are at a premium. As the railroad cars can be unloaded, and loaded and switched out of the way more speedily than the transfer can be made with barges, the former would mean more rapid movement of freight through terminal areas, which is the most satisfactory solution of traffic congestion. There would be no advantage, therefore, in the use of the waterway at such times. To Offer a Cheaper Transportation Route The second argum.ent favoring waterway Improvement, and one very often stressed, is that transportation by water is much cheaper than that by rail, and freight rates by rail and by water are quoted to prove the point. Theoretically, this is correct. As the people are taxed, to provide navigable waterways, some of the money thus spent should return to them in the form of lower transportation rates. However, investigation shows that this is not always true of the transportation rate alone, and when all costs are considered, it is seldom, if ever, true. Twenty per cent of the operating expenses of railroads apply on maintenance of way,^ while the United States Government spends a similarly large sum on the improvement of navigable waters, a fact usually ignored in a comparison of the two rates. The cost of tractive power is less by water, but that is a very sm.all fraction of the cost.^ Large 'Baker, "What is the Future of Inland Water Transportation?", Eng. News- Record, LXXXIV (1920), 188. 'Ibid. 146 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [374 sums are paid by the railroads as taxes, also, some of which helps to pay for the upkeep of the waterway, the latter pays none. To illustrate the point, rates in France and Germany are often quoted, but conditions are not at all comparable to those in America. There is a difference in gov^ernmental attitude toward canals and rail- roads in both France and Germany. It is their policy to foster the transportation of low grade bulk commodities on the waterways by direct financial contributions, while arbitrary restrictions are imposed on the railroads with regard to the same class of traffic.^" Therefore it is governmental interference that accounts for the large quantity of this class of freight carried on the waterways in those countries, and for the correspondingly great difference be- tween the rates by rail and by water. In estimating the cost of transportation by rail and by water all the items of cost should be considered. The water rate usually Includes only the cost of haulage. The rail rate must also include interest on investment in roadbed and terminals, and the cost of maintenance of way. Estimates of transportation costs on the Illi- nois Waterway should be figured in the same way. In respect to cost of construction and maintenance the Illinois Waterway is favored by geographic conditions. No deep rock cuts are necessary, such as those made in excavating for the San- itary Ship Canal, which cares for the most expensive portion of the whole waterway between Chicago and Grafton. If the $18,000,000 spent by the Sanitary District of Chicago,^^ over and above that necessary for sanitary purposes were charged to transportation on the Illinois Waterway the situation would be much less favorable. The annual cost of maintenance on the Canal of some $75,000 will not be charged to it, either, though this Chicago portion is a very essential part of the whole route. Excavation on the State project is largely in alluvium, and the distribution of slope Is such that conditions satisfactory for navigation can be obtained by only four additional dams and locks,^^* a relatively small number to construct ^"Walter L. Fischer. '"Waterways and Our Transportation System," Jour. Pol. Econ., XXIU (191S). 649- "W. Frank McClure, 'The Chicago-St. Louis Waterway," Set. Amer^ XCVII (1907), 209. ""The fifth lock at Lockport is a substitute for the existing lock of the Sani- tary District. 375] THE VALUE OF THE WATERWAY I47 and operate on so long a river stretch. When compared with the Ilhnois and Alississippi Canal with its 34 Locks, the advantage of the former is easy to comprehend. Nevertheless, there will be very substantial expenses, which, if charged to navigation, will tax the waterway to the utmost. Assuming that $5,000,000 will be suffi- cient for construction of the necessary terminals along the 325.5 miles of waterway,^- and that $50,000 will suffice for operation and maintenance,^^ the waterway must net the State more than $1,050,000 annually to be self-supporting. This cares for operation and maintenance and interest on the investment of $25,000,000 (construction and terminals) at 4 per cent per annum.^* Of the leading commodities carried by the Federal Barge Line for which Chicago and the region of the waterway may be held responsible,^^ it would require a quantity approximately 1,000 times as great as all such freight carried by the Barge Line in 1923 to make expenses at the 80 per cent differential of water under present rail rates.^^ In order to pay the bonds when due an additional million dollars must be laid aside from the savings each year, until the last bond installment is paid.^^ Tolls are mentioned in the bill providing for the project,'^* but with the close competition existing between river and rail, it is clear that tolls to an amount that would be worth counting could not be charged and any appreciable volume of traffic secured. It seems certain, therefore, that any saving that is possible through the use of the waterway will be much more than offset by the expense of the project. To Reduce Railroad Rates Another reason given for the expenditure of money for the maintenance of water transportation is to reduce rail rates. The ^'e\v York spent about $25,000,000 for terminals for its barge canal of about 340 miles in length. "These charges were $133,782.46 on the Illinois and Mississippi Canal in 1924. "Interest is to be paid semi-annually. *^Sugar, coffee, and sisal, north; Iron, steel, and manufactures of the same, agricultural implements, prepared roofing, and galvanized materials, south. "Computed on a saving of 20 per cent of rail rates. "One million dollars worth shall become due January- ist in each of years 1921 to 1940 both Inclusive. Laws of Illinois, 1919, p. 988. ^^Lau's of Illinois, 19 19, p. 979. 148 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [376 force of this argument is much weakened by the power given to the Interstate Commerce Commission to regulate rail rates, so that indiscriminate cutting of rates simply to eliminate competition is no longer possible. Nevertheless, lower rail rates to competitive water points than to inland stations is permitted. The most marked example of the operation of the principle of water competition in reducing the cost of rail transportation is that of the comparative rates between Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States, and the appeal made by the railroads for relief. The long water haul via Panama Canal between these points creates so low a trans- portation cost that railroads must carry commodities at a much lower than ordinary ton-mile rate to compete with them. For in- stance, in 1922, the rail rate on points from Boston to Seattle, 3,000 miles, was ^1.83% per 100 pounds, while that from St. Louis to Denver, 1,000 miles, was $1.0614.^^ At the same time, lemons moved in carload lots from Los Angeles to Boston at the same rate that was charged to Kansas City.^° Mississippi River points have likewise profited from lower rail rates than were offered to inland stations, the advantage being continued even after active water transportation had ceased. ^^ Within the last ten years, however, there has been an increasing tendency with the Interstate Commerce Commission to refuse to recognize potential water competition as a justification for reduced rail rates to river points, and railroads have been obliged to prove that actual water competition existed.^^ Doubts were expressed as early as 1913 as to the extent to which potential water compe- tition should be recognized,-^ and, in the decision in the "Rates from New Orleans and Galveston*' case in 1917, the Commission held that lower rates from New Orleans to Kansas City were not compelled by water competition, and that the situation was con- trolled entirely by rail lines,^* In December, 1919 in the "Mem- phis-Southwestern Investigation," it was stated, also, that, to be considered a controlling influence, a water line must not simply ""Railroad Rates vs. Water," Cong. Record, LXII (Feb. 7, 1922), 2234. Vbid. ^391. C. C. 242 (1916). ^371. C.C. 581 (1915). '28 I. c. c. 583 (1913). *44 I. C. C. 727 (1917). 377] THE VALUE OF THE WATERWAY I49 follow the lead of the railroads and set their rates at a point barely sufficient to compensate for inferiority of service. -° According to this decision, cities on the Mississippi touched by the Federal Barge Line must be considered active water competitive points, as, on several occasions, the Line has reduced its rates prior to the reduction of similar rates by rail. Many cases can be cited in which water competition appears to be the explanation of a lower ton-mile rate. For example, Dubuque, Iowa, and La Crosse, Wis- consin seem to be favored by their position on the Mississippi. Madison, Wisconsin, which is only about seven-tenths as far from Chicago as Dubuque, pays a higher rate on through freight, while points between Madison and La Crosse pay Twin City rates, which are considerably more than is charged to La Crosse.^® On the other hand, comparative rates often indicate that other factors than water competition are responsible for differences found. Long- haul rates are usually less per ton-mile than are rates for short distances. Export all-rail class rates in effect January ist, 1923, from St. Louis and Pittsburgh to New York and New Orleans do not accord with either principle. From St. Louis to New York, 1,069 miles, the ton-mile rate on Class I freight was .156 cents; to New Orleans, 699 miles, it was .193 cents. From Pittsburgh to New York, 444 miles, the ton-mile rate on the same class of com- modities was .079 cents, while it was .152 to New Orleans, 1,142 m.iles distant. ^^ Apparently, in these cases, neither distance nor present water competition is the controlling influence. The lower east-west rates are probably a legacy of the rate wars between railroads during the disastrous competitive period, and of compe- tition of these lines with lake and canal transportation. Chicago, from its position on Lake Michigan, has profited for many years by the cheap lake and canal rates, and the competitive rail rates to the east. It seems to be favored, also, to the south, where no active water competition has existed for decades. Estab- lished relationships resulting from numerous agreements among the several railroads from time to time appear to be more impor- *'H. B. Vanderblue and K. F. Burgess, Railroads, 1923, p. 166. ^"Tariff schedules in possession of Mr. S. L. Foote, Secretary, Madison Chamber of Commerce. ""The Port of New Orleans," Port Series, No. 5, War Department, 1924, p. 178. 150 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [378 tant than other factors in the determination of present rail rates. According to the present system, the country is divided into several rate-making territories within which are other divisions called rate zones. Illinois, because of its central position between four of the great rate-making territories, has the advantage of through rates to the east, southeast, south, southwest, and west, which not all middle western states have.-^ The position of Chicago in this central territory, and at the head of Lake Michigan where rail- roads converge, has given it exceptional advantages in rate mak- ing. Its location and importance, and the importance of the rail and water routes between it and New York have made it the rate basing point for a large area in central United States, and have given to it some of the most advantageous rail rates the world has ever known. As the same rates are extended to the entire zone in which Chicago lies, and proportionally low rates to the whole central freight association territory, of which Illinois forms a part, this is a region which enjoys rail rates much below the average for the country. In view of the fact that railroads are now offering rates as low as will permit them to continue in operation as busi- ness enterprises, no further reduction of rail rates in this territory can be reasonably expected or desired. The Illinois Waterway, therefore, will be absolutely valueless in this regard. To Furnish Water Power Another contribution possible to the W' aterway and one men- tioned much more often in the beginning than at the present time, obviously for political reasons, is that of water power. By the amendment to the Constitution in 1919, the State of Illinois was permitted, as a part of the Illinois Waterway project, to provide for the development of water power along the route. The State may construct water power plants and lease the output, or the water may be leased to a company who will build the plant.^^ The amount of power that can be obtained is directly dependent on the volume of water diverted from Lake Michigan, as the natural flow of the river is very irregular, partly due to the extensive ^"Illinois Facts," Report Chicago Association of Commerce, 1921, p. il. "Laws of Illinois, 1919, p. 979. 379] THE VALUE OF THE WATERWAY IJI drainage operations carried out in the State.^° The volume at Marseilles during the dry season does not exceed 50,000 cubic feet per minute,^^ an amount insufficient to make power develop- ment at that point profitable.^- Estimates of the power which the project will make available range from 110,000 horse power in 1911^^ to about half that amount at the present time. Earlier fig- ures are undoubtedly much too large. Moreover, estimates are based on a diversion of water through the Chicago drainage canal of 10,000 cubic feet per second, whereas, by the order of the Sec- retary of War, the present flow of 8,500 cubic feet per second is permitted only until 1930, after which time the amount is not to exceed 4,167 cubic fet per second.^* According to the Illinois Division of Waterways, 55,000 horse power will be developed as a by-product of the waterway construction,^^ but, in order to com- ply with the Federal Water Power Act in that the fullest practi- cable utilization may be made available, an installation of 75-000 horse power is to be provided. It is to be distributed as follows: At Brandon Road, where there will be a fall of 31 feet, 28,000 horse power; at Dresden Island, with a fall of 17 feet, 18,000 horse power; at Bell's Island, with a fall of 21 feet, 7,000 horse power; and at Starved Rock, with a fall of 16 feet, 22,000 horse power. The small amount at Bell's Island is due to the fact that the re- mainder is being developed by private interests.^'' The sum of $8,000,000 has been mentioned as the cost of the necessary struc- tures.^^ The net revenues accruing to the State from water power will depend on the cost of development and the size of the market. '"A. H. Horton, "Water Resources of Illinois," Report of Rivers and Lakes Commission, 1914, p. 373- ""The Conservation of Water Power in the Des Plaines and Illinois Riv- ers," Bui. I, Rivers and Lakes Commission, 191 1, p. 7- '"'The Illinois Water-Power-Water-Way," Bui 9, Rivers and Lakes Com- mission, 19 1 2, p. II. ""Prospectus of a Project for a Deep Waterway," Bid. 2, Rivers and Lakes Commission, 191 1, p. 9. "•"Weeks Sets Limits for Chicago Canal," The New York Times, (March 7, 192s), XXI, 2. '^"Communication from L. D. Cornish," Illinois Division of Waterways. ''Ibid. ""The Illinois State Waterway for Barge Navigation," £7!^. News, LXXXV (1920), 1098. 152 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY I380 Early estimates placed this figure at ^2,500,000 annually,^^ but the more recent one of $750,000^^ is much more likely to be correct. However, great uncertainty accompanies the development of hy- dro-electric power. Installation is very expensive. For public safety the structures must be built very strong, and floods during construction may cause serious damage. Not only dams, but im- pounding reservoirs, flumes, etc., and long transmission lines must be provided. In this case, however, dam and flowage rights are cared for in the waterway project, thereby reducing the charge otherwise assessed to water power. A water power plant consumes no fuel, so operating cost is less than for electricity generated by steam, but fixed charges are much heavier, as the original plant costs from two to five times as much per unit of capacity. *° In 191 2, the cost of installation was estimated to fall somewhere be- tween ^100 and ^200 per horse power, depending on the physical conditions and the length of the transmission lines.^^ In Illinois, where coal is relatively cheap, the advantage of steam power com- pared to that generated by water is greater than in some parts of the country. In 1911 the cost of steam generated electric power was said to be $35 per horse power year.*^ Since that time coal has increased in price on an average of i per cent per year, but the cost of electric power production from coal has decreased on an average of 2^4 per cent per year.^^ Therefore the actual cost of developing electricity from steam is less than it was in the pre- war period. Moreover, the sale price of hydro-electric power must be materially less than that of steam generated power to compete with it, as the service is less dependable. Interruptions may come through irregular stream flow, floods, wind, sleet, or lightning.** Basing the estimate on other power prices, the State has assumed '"■'The Illinois Water-Power-Water-Way," p. 10. ^Second Annual Report of Illinois Division of Waterways, 1919, p. 6. ^Hearings before the Committee on Water Power of the House of Reprc" sentatives, 65 Cong., 2 sess., 542, (1918). *"Water Power Development in the United States," Report of the Com- missioner of Corporations, 1912, p. 87. *'"The Conservation of Water Power in the Des Plaines and Illinois Riv- ers," p. 8. *^Hearings before the Committee on Water Power of the House of Repre- sentatives, p. 8. *'Jbid. 381] THE VALUE OF THE WATERWAY I53 a sale price of from four to five mills per kilowatt hour, which is believed to be conservative.*^ The four-mill rate gives approxi- mately $25 per horse power year,**^ which probably represents the maximum price the State will be able to receive in competition with coal-using plants. Assuming that $2$ per horse power year can be received for the State's product, the next question is the one of markets. It is very important that a ready market exist for practically the entire output from the start, as with water power development substan- tially all the expenditure for the whole plant must be made before any power can be delivered.*^ In this respect a steam plant has the advantage in that additional units may be constructed as needs arise. The main demands for electricity are for lighting, traction, and manufacturing, the surest and most immediate market being offered by the growing municipalities. If reports are true, how- ever, most of these markets are closed to the State developed product for a very long time through the granting to already in- corporated companies of long term franchises. It is said that 50- year franchises were obtained by the newly Incorporated Illinois Valley Gas and Electric Light Company in 19 10 from fifteen cities and towns In the vicinity of the waterway, Including Jollet, Streator, and Ottawa.*^ Other corporations, such as the Common- wealth Edison Company and the Illinois Traction Company, have similar rights In other centers of population In the area. It would seem, therefore, that the State's product must depend very largely on manufacturing establishments for its market, In which case the competition with steam power will be keen. The cheap and easily obtained coal in Illinois, and the high Initial expense and the un- certainties accompanying hydro-electric development have pre- vented anything like an equal development of the two. In 1920, six per cent of the electrical output of central stations In the State was generated by water and 94 per cent by fuel, a proportion which will probably be maintained for a considerable period of ^''■'Communication from L. D. Cornish." ^'One horse power = .746 kilowatt. "Digest of Transactions of First World Power Conference, (London, 1924), p. ID. (Quoted from II, p. 1230). "Gov. Charles Deneen, Special Message to the Illinois General Assembly, 1911, p. 14. 154 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [382 time.*^ The estimate, therefore, of ^750,000 as annual net revenue to the State from developed water power probably represents the maximum that can reasonably be expected. With this return there would be some ^400,000 surplus each year over and above the interest at four per cent on the Investment, if the $8,000,000 esti- mated as cost of construction is sufficient. Part of this might apply on original cost of construction and subsequent repairs. It is pos- sible, therefore, that this sum will permit a sinking fund with which to meet the original cost of water power development, but only after a long period of time. However, it is quite evident that the original expectations that revenue from water power will con- tribute sufficiently to provide for the cost of the entire waterway project in a limited time will not be realized. It will be many, many years, if ever, before the State of Illinois is properly com- pensated for its expenditure on the Illinois Waterway. Conclusion As conclusi-ons have been drawn freely during the progress of this discussion, little that is new remains to be said in this closing paragraph. A summary, therefore, in which all the findings are brought together will suffice. They are as follows: 1. Under the favorable geographic conditions offered by the chosen route, the State of Illinois will be able to construct with an expenditure of $20,000,000 an adequate waterway connecting the Sanitary Ship Canal with the navigable portion of the Illinois River, a waterway suitable in all respects for the traffic it will be called upon to carry. It will accommodate practically all the ves- sels afloat on the Mississippi system at present, except the 2,000- ton barges used by the Federal Barge Line on the Mississippi. However, to construct it deep enough for vessels of nine feet draft would require an unwarranted additional expenditure. 2. Trans-shipment charges are relatively high compared to the cost of haulage, and handling and transfer facilities are very meager along the entire route between Chicago and Grafton. Ter- minal facilities must, therefore, be provided, if any appreciable amount of traffic is to be handled. A conservative estimate of the **Samuel Insull, Production and Distribution of Electric Energy in the Central Portion of the Mississippi Falley, 1921, p. 15. (Lecture) 383] THE VALUE OF THE WATERWAY I55 cost of these facilities, based on similar expenditures elsewhere, is an additional $5,000,000. 3. Traffic conditions in this region do not indicate a need for an additional transportation line such as will be provided by the waterway. Railroads are numerous, and they are admittedly ad- equate, with few, if any, exceptions, for the transportation service required. In fact, present facilities are not used to the fullest degree possible, as is indicated by the small amount of traffic car- ried on the navigable Illinois, and by the appeal for abandonment by a railroad traversing the region adjacent to the waterway. Moreover, the amount that will be carried on the waterway, com- pared to that carried by rail, will be too small to make any ap- preciable impression in relieving the railroad burden. 4. Traffic congestion occurs chiefly in terminal areas of large cities, such as Chicago. The preferable remedy is to expedite the movement of freight through these areas, by more extensive use of existing terminals and of modern handling equipment and the motor truck, rather than by a waterway and additional terminals. 5. The traffic that can be carried more cheaply by water than by rail is limited in both kind and amount. a, A relatively small amount of freight originates directly on the banks of the waterway in Illinois, or along connected water- ways. The region adjacent to the Illinois-Mississippi waterway between Chicago and New Orleans has a relatively sparse popula- tion. There are few large cities on the route. Industries have grown up with reference to rail, rather than to water transporta- tion, and to establish water connections is very expensive. The route traverses no region of large mineral wealth which can be tapped without the intervention of rail haul, and the cost of transfer between land and water usually makes rail transportation cheaper than that by water. b. The cheapness and efficiency of rail service made possible by perfected organization, long trains, and heavily loaded cars have given the advantage to the railroads in the transportation of bulk freight, such as coal. In Illinois the coal near the waterway is of too poor a quality to compete with the better product of the southern fields, which lie 40 miles from the river. The cost of extra handling, counting investment in water terminals, and break- age incident to transfer, will offset the difference between rail and 156 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [384 water rates. Special privileges offered by railroads make them preferable in the transportation of much of the grain, and most of that coming to Chicago grows too far to the north and west to be benefited by use of the waterway. Lumber is no longer obtained along the streams, and it reaches Chicago cheaper by rail than it could by water. c. The type of freight most likely to pass over the waterway is of a miscellaneous character on which the economy of railroad service is realized the least. Judging from the experience of the Federal Barge Line, the chief commodities will be imports of sugar, coffee, sisal, etc., north, and manufactured articles south, representing a relatively high value on which transportation rates are proportionally high. On this class of freight the 20 per cent differential of water below rail rates can be appreciated. 6. The benefits from the use of the waterway will be limited to a relatively few people. Some of the industrial concerns located directly on the waterway may find its use profitable, also whole- sale houses handling such imports as sugar and coffee. 7. The uncertainties of water transportation and railroad competition have made the profits from the business of common carriers so low as to discourage private capital from investing in it. There are few common carriers on the Mississippi system, and no through service for any considerable distance, except that of the Federal Barge Line. Much depends on the success of this Govern- ment experiment. Unless it demonstrates conclusively that water transportation pays, private capital will not invest in it. The tendency is for private carriers to increase in number, and the chances are that this type of service will gradually monopolize the waterways. 8. To meet the annual expense of interest at 4 per cent on the original investment of ^25,000,000 for construction and termi- nals, and of $50,000 for maintenance would require an amount of freight of the character most likely to pass over the waterway approximately one thousand times that carried by the Federal Barge Line in 1923, counting the saving at 20 per cent of the pres- ent rail rates. To provide for a sinking fund v/ith which to pay the bonds when due would require an additional million dollars for each of twenty years. That the tonnage will be great enough for many years, if ever, to account for more than a small part of 385] THE VALUE OF THE WATERWAY 157 the annual expense in savings through the use of water transpor- tation, instead of rail, is highly improbable. The remainder must be met by the taxpayers of Illinois. As a business proposition, therefore, the Illinois Waterway, from the standpoint of naviga- tion, promises to be a decidedly losing venture. 9. In the reduction of rail rates it will also be of doubtful value. Railroads are already performing the service of transpor- tation under rates that are barely suflEicient to enable them to con- tinue operation as business enterprises. Illinois, through its geo- graphic position, and especially Chicago, is favored by exception- ally low railroad rates. It is neither desirable, nor reasonable to expect, therefore, that railroad rates will be reduced through the construction of the Illinois Waterway. 10. The development of water power is the nearest to a justi- fication for the construction of the Illinois Waterway. It will probably be able to bring into the State treasury enough to pay for its own construction in a reasonable length of time. That it will not meet earlier expectations In defraying the expenses of the entire project Is very evident, though after a very long time it may contribute a very small amount toward that end. 11. The fact that large sums of money are continually being spent on waterways that are not needed and will apparently never justify the expenditure through their use is evidence of a need of governmental regulation of such operations. Waterways should be required to show their need, just as railroads are now required to do before construction of additional lines Is permitted by the Interstate Commerce Commission. The decision should be based on a thorough and scientific study by competent and disinterested persons. Only in this way can extravagant and useless expenditure on waterway Improvement be prevented. BIBLIOGRAPHY PRIMARY SOURCES I. Federal A. Bureau of the Census Abstract of the Census, 7th and 8th. Electric Railways, Census of Electrical Industries, 1922 Manufactures, Vol. IX, Fourteenth Census, 1920 Preliminary Report, Eighth Census, 1862 The Principal Lumber Industries, Census of Manufactures, 1923 Transportation Business in the United States, Pt. II, Transportation by Water, 1890 Transportation by Water, 1906 and 1916 B. Bureau of Public Roads Browne, E. L., 'Transportation of Hogs by Motor Truck," Public Roads, 5:20-22, 1924 McKay, J. G., "Commodity Transportation by Motor Truck," Public Roads, 6:124-126, August, 1925 , ''Connecticut Highway Transportation Survey," Public Roads, 5:1-18, 1924 Ladd, George E., "Sand and Gravel Production Survey," Ptiblic Roads, 4:12-23, May, 1921 Trumbovver, Henry R., "Railroad Abandonments and their Relation to Highway Transportation," Public Roads, 6:169-173, 1925. C. Department of Agriculture Andrews, Frank, "Inland Boat Service: Freight Rates on Farm Prod- ucts and Time of Transit on Inland Waterways in the United States," Bui. 74, 1914 Butler, Ovid M., 'The Distribution of Softwood Lumber in the Mid- dlewest," Studies of the Lumber Industry, Pt. VIII, Report No. 115, 19 I 7 Church, L. M., "Farm Motor Truck Operation in the New England and Central States," Bui. 1254, 1924 Collins, J. H., "Motor Transportation for Rural Districts," Bui. 770, 1919 'Torest Service, Timber: Mine or Crop?" Yearbook, 1922, pp. 83-180 Greeley, William B., ''Some Public and Economic Aspects of the Lum- ber Industry," Studies of the Lumber Industry, Report No. 114, Part I, 1917 ToLLEY, H. R., and Church, L. M., ''Corn-Belt Farmers' Experience with Motor Trucks," Bui. 931, 192 1 , ''Motor Trucks on Corn Belt Farms," Farmers' Bulletin, No. 1314, 1923 D. Department of Commerce Hoover, Herbert, "The Need of Inland Waterways for Agriculture and Industry," Commerce Reports, Nov. 2, 1925, p. 255 "Inland Water Transportation in the United States," Miscellaneous Series, No. 119, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, 1925 158 387] BIBLIOGRAPHY 159 Jones, Grosvenor M., ''Ports of the United States," Miscellaneous Ser- ies, No. 33, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, 1916 Kramer, Roland M., "Transportation in Relation to the Export Trade in Agricultural Products," Trade Information Bulletin, No. 216, 1924 "Mississippi River Barge Line," Commerce Reports, Nov. 28, 1921, pp. 782-783 Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1906-1924 "Transportation Routes and Systems of the World," Bureau of Statis- tics, 1909 E. Department of the Interior Alden, W. C, "Chicago Folio," Geological Atlas, U. S. Geol. Survey, 19C2 , "The Stone Industry in the Vicinity of Chicago," Bui. 213, U. S. Geol. Survey, 1902 Burchard, Ernest F., "Concrete Materials Produced in the Chicago District," Bui. 340, U. S. Geol. Survey, 1907 OviTZ, F. K., "Coking of Illinois Coals," Bui. 138, Bureau of Mines, 1917 Udden, J. A., "Geology and Mineral Resources of Peoria Quadrangle," Bui. 506, 1912 Leighton, Marshall 0., "Pollution of Illinois and Mississippi Rivers by Chicago Sewage," Water Supply and Irrigation Paper, ig4, U. S. Geol. Sun-ey, 1907 /. Department of JVar Ashburn, Brig. Gen. T. Q., Waterways and Inland Seaports, 1925 Chief of Engineers of U. S. Army, Annual Reports, 1890-1925 Chief of Inland and Coastwise Waterways Service, Annual Reports, 1920, 1923, Fiscal Years Chief of Inland Waterways Corporation, Report, Calendar year, 1925 Development of Transportation Facilities on Inland Waterways under terms of Transportation Act of 1920, igii Legislative Documents "Chicago Harbor and Adjacent Waterways," House Document 237, 63 Cong., I sess., 1913 "Examination, etc., of Harbors and Rivers at and Near Chicago, 111.," House Document 710, 62 Cong., 2 sess., 1912 "Experimental Towboats," House Document 108, 67 Cong., i sess., 1914 "Final Report Waterway from Lockport, 111., to Mouth of Illinois River," House Document 762, 63 Cong., 2 sess., 1914 "Illinois and Mississippi Rivers," House Document 2, 67 Cong., I sess., 1921 "Illinois and Mississippi Rivers," House Document 7, 67 Cong., 2 sess., 1922 "Report of Survey of Mississippi River," House Docu^nent 50, 61 Cong., I sess., 1909 l60 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [388 "Survey of Illinois River," House Document 263, 59 Cong., I sess., 1905 "Survey of Mississippi River from St. Louis, Mo., to its Mouth," House Document 50, 61 Cong., i sess., 1909 "Water Terminals and Transfer Facilities," House Document 226, 63 Cong., I sess., 191 3 , House Document 652, 66 Cong., 2 sess., 192 1 , House Document log, 67 Cong., i sess., 192 1 Mississippi-IFarrior Service, 192 1, (Pamphlet) , "A New Express Service of the Federal Barge Line on the Mississippi River," Jan., 1924, (Pamphlet) , "Concerning the Present Service of the Federal Barge Line," Nov., 1923, (Pamphlet) , "Federal Barge Line," Supplement No. 2 to the Freight Tariff No. 9-B, Jan., 1923, (Pamphlet) , "Turn South," Federal Barge Line, (Pamphlet, no date) Secretary of War, "Reports," 1921, 1922 (Fiscal Years) "The Port of New Orleans, La.," Port Series, No. 5, 1924 Warren, Col. J. G., "Report on Investigation of Water Diversion from Great Lakes and Niagara River," Letter from Secretary of War, 1921 ZiNN, Maj. George A., "Terminal Facilities in their Relation to Water- way Improvement," Prof. Memoirs, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A., 3:236-248, 1911 G. Hearings, Congressional "Improvement of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, and the Diversion of Water from Lake Michigan," dl Cong., 2 sess., 1922 , 68 Cong., I sess., 1924, Part I and Part II "Interstate and Foreign Commerce," 68 Cong., I sess., 1924. "Providing for the Improvement and Completion of Prescribed Sections of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio Rivers," Hearings on House Report 3921, 68 Cong., i sess., 1924 "Water Power," 65 Cong., 2 sess., 19 18 H. Interstate Commerce Commission Chapin, E. T., Company et al v. Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway, 85:263-266, 1923 Cincinnati Association of Purchasing Agents v. Louisville y Nashville Railroad Company, 89:285-295, 1924 Commercial Exchange of Philadelphia v. New York Central & Hudson River Railroad Company et al., 38:551-565, 1916 Detroit Traffic Association v. Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Rail- way Company, 21:257-265, 191 1 Earle Cooperage Company v. St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Company et al., 53:295-305, 1919 Illinois Coal Cases, 32:659-686, 19 15 Indiana Veneer y Lumber Company, Inc., v. St. Louis, Iron Mountain y Southern Railway Company et al., 37:579-581, 1915 389] BIBLIOGRAPHY 161 Jackson Traffic Bureau v. Alabama [ff Fkksburg Railway Company et ^■, 87:535-536, 1924 Lumber Rates from Helena, Ark., and other Points to Omaha, Nebr., Iowa and other Destinations, 33:297-301, 1915 Memphis Freight Bureau v. St. Louis, Iron Mountain y Southern Rail- way Company et ah, 39:224-248, 1916 Memphis-Southwestern Investigation, 55:515-582, 1919 Merchants Exchange of St. Louis et al v. Aberdeen y Rockfisk Rail- road Company et al, 87:547-563. 1924 Mississippir-W arrior Sen-ice v. Abilene y Southern Railway Company et al, 77:318-363, 1923 National Livestock Shippers' League et al v. The Atchison, Topeka y Santa Fe Railway Company et al, 63:107-121, 192 1 Pelican Lumber Company, Inc., v. Ficksburg, Shreveport y Pacific Railway Company et al, 50:540-543, 1918 Rates from New Orleans and Galveston to Missouri Cities, 44:727-742, 1917 "Rates-Water Competition," Index-Digest, 87:837, 1924 Texarkana Freight Bureau et al v. St. Louis, Iron Mountain y Southern Railway Company et al, 28:569-583, 1913 I. Reports of United States Commissions, etc. Commissioner of Corporations, '"Transportation by Water in the United States," Part 2, 1909; Part 3, 1910; Part 4, 1912 , '"Water Power Development in the United States," 1912 Federal Power Commission, ""Annual Reports," 1-4, 1921-1924 Federal Trade Commission, "The Grain Trade," Volumes 1-4, 1920-1923 , "Meat Packing Industry," Part VI, Cost of Marketing Livestock, 1919, pp. 133-183 Joint Commission of Agricultural Inquiry, Pt. Ill, Transportation, 67 Cong., I sess., 1922 Inland Waterways Commission, "Preliminar>' Report," Senate Document 32s, 60 Cong., I sess., 1908 National Conservation Commission, 1909 National Waterways Commission, "Final Report," Senate Document 4.6g, 62 Cong., 2 sess., 1912 , "Preliminary' Report," Senate Document 301, 61 Cong., z sess., 1910 United States Coal Commission, Pt. I, ""Principal Findings and Recom- mendations," Senate Document 103, 68 Cong., 2 sess., 1925 United States Deep Waterway Commission, 1909 /. Miscellaneous Cooper, Hugh L. & Co., Report to International Joint Commission en Navigation and Power in the St. Laurence River, 1920 Newton, REPRESEXT.'VTrvE, Mo., Railroad Rates v. Water, Speech in the House, Cong. Record, 62:2234, Feb. 7, 1922 l62 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [39O II. State A. Illinois "Annual Coal Report," Department of Mines and Minerals, 1883-1925 CooLEY, Lyman E., '"The Lakes and Gulf Waterway," Deep Water Way Debates, 46 General Assembly, 1909, pp. 307-356 Deneen, Gov. Charles, Special Message to General Assembly, 1907, 1910, 1911 Directory of Operators of Shipping Mines for the Year ending June 30, 1925, Department of Mines and Minerals House Debates, 51 General Assembly, 1919 Illinois Blue Book, 1923-24 Illinois Division of Waterways, Annual Reports, 1-7, 1918-1924 Illinois Waterway, Senate Bill 252, Laws of Illinois, 51 General Assem- bly. 1919, pp. 978-988 , Senate Bill 2Q0, Laws of Illinois, 1919, pp. 988-990 . Report of the Legislative Joint Committee, (Appointed under H. J. R. No. 41), Jan. 2, 1923 "Illinois and Michigan Canal," Annual Report of Canal Commissioners, 1837-1844, 1872-1916, 1861 , Report of Board of Trustees, 1 844-1 868 , "What it is and How it Might be Made More Service- able," Special Report, Canal Commissioners, 1912 "Illinois River," Report of Canal Commission in Relation to the Im- provement of the Illinois River, 1847 "Materials Available for Highway Construction," Bui. 14, Illinois State Highway Department, 1917 Rivers and Lakes Commission Alvord, John W., and Burdick, Charles, Illinois River and its Bottom Lands, 1915 Argument on Behalf of the State of Illinois Supporting the Prayer of the Sanitary District of Chicago, 19 1 2 Conservation of Water Power in the Des Plaines and Illinois Rivers and the Improvement of these Rivers for Navigation, Bui. I, 1911 Cooley, Lyman E., "Prospectus of a Project for a Deep Water- way," Bui. 2, 1911 HoRTON, A. H., 'Water Resources of Illinois," Bui. 14, 19 14 "Illinois Water-Power-Water-Way, Illinois," An Attack by Benj. J. Ward and defense by Robt. Isham Randolph, Bui. 9, 1912 "Illinois Waterway, The," A Review by Robert Isham Randolph, Bui. 13, 1912 "Illinois Waterway, The," A Guide for Navigators from Lake Mich- igan to the Mississippi River, Bui. 10, 1916, Ed. 2 "Illinois Waterway, The," Report of Board of Engineers to Gov. Dunne, Bui. 15, 1915 McCoRMicK, Robert R., Common Sense Applied to the Inland Waterway Problem, Bui. 12, 1912 391 ] BIBLIOGRAPHY 163 Stickney, G. W., Project for Navigable Waterway from Southern Illinois Coal Fields, Bui. 19, 1917 State Geological Survey AxDROS, S. 0., "Coal Mining in Illinois," Illinois Coal Mining In- vestigations, Bui. IS, 191 5 Bain, H. Foster, "Studies of Illinois Coal," Btd. 14, 1909 Barrett, N. 0., "Mineral Resources of Illinois in 1917 and 1918, Bui. 38, 1922 Barrows, Harlan H., "Tlie Middle Illinois Valley," Bui. 15, 1910 Bement, a., "The Illinois Coal Field," Bui. 16, 1910, pp. 182-202 BuRCH.\RD, Ernest F. "Concrete Materials Produced in the Chicago District," Bui. 8, 1907, pp. 345-372 Cady, Gilbert H., "Cement Making Materials in the Vicinity of La Salle," Bui. 8, 1907, pp. 127-134 , "Coal Resources of District II (Jackson County)" Bui. 16, Cooperative Coal Mining Series, Illinois Coal Mining Investigations, 19 17 -, "Coal Resources of District IV," Bui, 26, Coopera- tive Mining Series, Illinois Mining Investigations, 192 1 , "Coal Resources of District VI," Bui. IS, Illinois Coal Mi}iing Investigations, 1916 "The Geology and Coal Resources of the West Frankfort Quadrangle, Illinois," Bui. 16, 1910, pp. 244-265 , "Geology and Mineral Resources of the Hennepin and La Salle Quadrangles," Bui. $7, 1919 Cady, Gilbert H., "Low Sulphur Coal in Illinois," Bui. sS, 1922, pp. 432-434 , "Mines Producing Low-Sulphur Coal in the Central District," Illinois Mining Investigation, Bui. 23, 1919 Culver, Harold E., "A Preliminary Report on Coal Stripping Pos- sibilities in Illinois," Illinois Mining Investigations, Bui. 28, 1925 Kay, Fred H., and White, K. D., "Coal Resources of District VIII," Bui. 14, Illinois Mining Investigations, 1915. Krey, Frank and Lamar, J. E., "Limestone Resources of Illinois," Bui. 46, Department of Registration and Education, 1925 Leighton, M. M., "Illinois Possesses Low-Sulphur Coal Areas," Press Item, Dec. 7, 1924 Littlefield, M. S., An Investigation of the Molding Sand Re- soiirces of Illinois, 1925 McCrary, E. W., "Topographic Mapping of Bottom Lands," Bui. 8, 1908, pp. 64-67 Parmelee, C. W., and Schroyer, C. R., "Illinois Fire Clays, Fur- ther Investigation of," Bui. 38, 1922, pp. 272-417 Parr, S. W., and Wheeler, W. F., "Alteration of the Composition of Coal During Ordinary Laboratory Storage," Bui. 8, 1907, pp. 167-175 164 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [392 Parr, S. W., "The Chemical Composition of Illinois Coal," Bui. 16, 1910, pp. 203-243 , "Purchase and Sale of Illinois Coal on Specifica- tion," Bui. 2g, 1914, pp. 1-80 , "Valuation of Coal for Gas Manufacture," Bui. 20, 1915, pp. 131-138 Savage, T. E., "The Geology and Coal Resources of the Herrin Quadrangle," Bui. 16, 1910, pp. 266-285 Sauer, Carl 0., "Upper Illinois Valley," Bui. 27, 1916 Shaw, E. Wesley, "The Geology and Coal Resources of the Mur- physboro Quadrangle," ///., Bui. 16, 1910, pp. 286-294 Udden, John, and Todd, J. E., "Structural Materials m Illinois," Bui. 16, 1910, pp. 342-390 State Public Utilities Commission, First Annual Report, Vol. II, Trans- portation, 1914 , "Statistical Report," Pt. I, Transportation, 1915 B. New York Barge Canal Bulletin (monthly), September, 1917, and July, 1918 Cadle, Chas. L., "New York Barge Canal," Progress Report No. i of Commission in Opposition to St. Laurence Ship Canal and Power Project, Legislative Document 33, 1922 Greene, F. S., and Fuller, Royal K., The Canal System of New York State, 1923 Legislative Manual, New York, 1925 "New York Barge Canal," Annual Report of Comptroller on Canals for year ended June 30, 1924 Superintendent of Public Works on Canals, Annual Reports for 1900 to 1921 III. Municipal Arnold, Bion J., Report on the Re-Arrangement and Development of the Steam Railroad Terminals of the City of Chicago, Submitted to the Citizens' Terminal Plan Committee of Chicago, 1913 Chicago Harbor Commission, Report to Mayor and Aldermen, 1909 "Chicago Municipal Markets' Commission," Preliminary Report to the Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Chicago, 1914 Chicago Railway Terminal Commission, Preliminary Report, Submitted to City Council Committee on Railway Terminals, 1915 CooLEY, Lyman E., The Illinois River; Physical Relations and the Re- moval of the Navigation Dams, with Supplement on the Waterways Relation of the Sanitary and Ship Canal of Chicago, 1914 , "The Lakes and Gulf Waterway as Related to the Chi- cago Sanitary Problem," Preliminary Report to the Board of Trus- tees of Chicago Sanitary District, 1890 , The Lakes and Gulf Waterway as Related to the Chicago Sanitary Problem, 1891 393] BIBLIOGRAPHY 165 "Deep Waterway from Lake Michigan to Mississippi River at St. Louis," Memorial Presented by the Board of Trustees of the Sanitary Dis- trict of Chicago to Congress of the United States, 1902 "Diversion of Water from Lake Michigan," Report on the Sanitary District of Chicago by District Engineer, 1924 "Memorandum Concerning the Drainage and Sewerage Conditions in Chicago," Board of Trustees, Sanitary District of Chicago, 1923 Memorial by Trustees of the Sanitary District of Chicago Favoring the Construction by the Government of the United States of a Deep Watenvay from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River, 1900 Randolph, Robert Isham, A Review of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, 1909 Sanitary District of Chicago, History of its Growth and Development, 1919 Sanitary District Prospectus, Sanitary District of Chicago, 1906 Sanitary Ship Canal, Report on, by the Board of Trustees, Sanitary District of Chicago, 1906 SECONDARY SOURCES L Books BoGART, E. L., and Mathews, J. M., The Modern Commonwealth, 1893-1918, 1919, Vol. V Brown, Nelson Courtlandt, The American Lumber Industry, 1923 Bryant, Ralph Clement, Lumber, 1922 Callender, G. S., Selections from the Economic History of the United States, 1765-1860, 19C9 Chamberlain, J. P., The Regime of the International Rivers: Danube and Rhine, 1923 Chatburn, George R., Highways and Highway Transportation, 1923 Clapp, Edwin J., The Navigable Rhine, 191 1 Collins, Francis A., Our Harbors and Inland Waterways, 1924 HuNGERFORD, Edward, Our RaHroads Tomorrow, 1922 Jackman, Wm. J., Express Service and Water Transportation, Vol. IV, 1912 Jeans, James Stephen, Waterways and Water Transport, 1890 JoijES, Eliot, Principles of Railway Transportation, 1924 Lane, F. Van Z., Motor Truck Transportation, 192 1 Leith, C. K., Economic Aspects of Geology, 192 1 Moulton, Harold G., Waterways Versus Railways, 1912 Peyton, J. H., The American Transportation Problems, 1909 Pratt, Edwin A., Canals and Traders, 1910 Program of Railroad Legislation, National Transportation Conference, 1919 Putnam, J. W., An Economic History of the Ulinois and Michigan Ca- nal (Reprinted frcm Jour, of Pol. Econ., 17) 1909 l66 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [394 RiNCWALT, J. L.. Development of Transportation Systems in the United States, 1888 Shei.ton, \V. a.. The Lakes to the Gulf Deep Waterway, 1912 Shurick, a. T., The Coal Industry, 1924. Vanderblue, Homer Bews, and Burgess, Kenneth Farvvell, Rail- roads; Rates-Service-Management, 1923 Weld, L. D. H., The Marketing of Farm Products, 1916 White, Percival, Motor Transportation of Merchandise and Passen- gers, 1923 II. Magazines, Newspapers, Proceedings, and Transactions A. American Society of Civil Ejigineers Proceedings Beach, Lansing H., "The Work of the Corps of Engineers on the Lower Mississippi," 49:1133-1140, 1923 Black, Wm. M., "Waterway and Railway Equivalents," 50:837-851, 1924 KuTZ, C. W., "The Relation of the Ohio River and its Tributaries to Transportation in the United States," 51:1642-1658, 1925 "Locks and Movable Dams on the Ohio River" Brown, Earle, 48:1003-1006, 1922 Duis, Frederick, 48:1286-1293, 1922 Elliott, Malcolm, 48:1281-1286, 1922 Hall, Wm. M., 48:3-42, 1922 Harts, Wm., 48:1006-1009, 1922 Roberts, Thomas P., 48:731-6, 1922 Shenehon, Francis C, "St. Lawrence Waterway to the Sea," 51:1237-1309, 1925 "Waterway and Railway Equivalents," Discussion by Wm. C. At- wood, C. J. Grimm, C. H. Markham, and J. R. Sl.attery, 51:306-328, 1925 Transactions BiBBiNS, J. Rowland, "Railroads, the Arteries of Commerce," 87:693-707, 1924 Brumley, D. J., "Chicago Terminal Improvements," 87:802-810, 1924 Kendrick, John W., "Some Phases of Present-Day Railroad Trans- portation, 87:682-688, 1924 Merrill, O. C, "The Operation of the Federal Water Power Act," 86:749-756, 1923 Newell, J. P., "Analysis of Cost of Freight Service," 86:351-384, 1923 PiTTNAM, RuFus W., "Modcm Rail and Water Terminals," 87:828- 860, 1923 Smith, Charles S., "The Railroad Freight Terminal Problem in St. Louis, Mo.," 87:740-794, 1924 395] BIBLIOGRAPHY 167 B. Annals of American Academy of Political and Social Science Bradford, Ernest S., '"Water Terminals in the United States and their Control," 55:237-242, 1914 Jones, L. M., "Improvement of Missouri River and its Usefulness as a Traffic Route," 31:178-188, 1908 LoTZ, Prof. Walter, "Significance of German Inland Waterways," 31:246-262, 1908 Way, R. B., "Mississippi River Improvements and Traffic Prospects," 31:146-163, 1908 VoN Volcker, Ministerialrat, "German Transportation and Communica- tion," 92:76-86, 1920 C. Coal Age Baker, Donald J., "Coal is Assembled by Motor Truck and Shipped by Railroad," 18:491, 1920 Handle Coal Ten Times in 15 Miles, 28:467, 1925 HoNNOLD, F. C, "Chicago is the World's Greatest Coal Market," 21:18-19, 1922 Patterson, H. A., "Good Coke now Manufactured from Non-Coking Coals of IlHnois," 22:45-50, 1922 Rates on Coal, 28:36, 1925 Want Big Muddy Improved for Coal Traffic, 28:437, 1925 Water Transportation for Relieving Railroad Congestion, 13:831-2, 1918 Will Midwest Rivers Reduce Cost of Illinois Coal to Chicago and North- west Consumers? 25:246-7, 1924 Williams, A. W., "Old-Time Ohio River Coal Traffic is Revived," 24:137, 1923 D. Congressional Digest AsHBURN, T. Q., "Governmental Pioneering on Inland Water Transpor- tation," 3:368-370, 1924 Is Transportation Cheaper by Water than by Rail? (pro and con) S. A. Thompson, pro; H. G. Moulton, con. 3:374, 384. 1924 Two Views on Coordination of Rail and Water Routes (pro and con) Hon. Cleveland A. Xewton, pro; H. B. Cummins, con. 3:379, 380, 1924 Will Waterway Development Solve Transportation Problem? (pro and con) Hon. J. Hampton Moore, pro; C. H. Markham, con. 3:376, 399, 1924 E. Engineering News-Record Baker, C. W., "What is the Future of Inland Water Transportation.'" 84:19-28; 85-89, 137-144- 134-191, 234-242, 1920 Beach, Gen. L. H., "Lower Mississippi River Problems," 90:752-3, 1923 Illinois State Waterway for Barge Navigation, 85:1095-1098, 1920 Illinois Waterway to Connect the Lakes and the Mississippi, 84:433, 1920 New River-and-Rail Terminals on the Mississippi, 89:18-20, 1924 l68 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [396 Rail and Water Terminal for Nashville, Tenn., 86:766, 1921 Reports Government Operation on Inland Waterways, 84:506, 1920 Ton-mile Freight Costs on Great Lakes, 90:595, 1923 Walsh, Edward, "Traffic and Prospects of New York Barge Canal," 84:512, 1923 F. Journal of Political Economy Fischer, Walter L., '"Waterways and our Transportation System," 23:641-662, 1915 MouLTON, Harold G., "A Setback for the Waterways Movement," 23:961-970, 1915 , "Some Aspects of the Waterways Question," 22:239-252, 1914 Tunell, George G., "The Flour and Grain Traffic," 5:340-375, 1897 G. Journal Western Society of Engineers Barnes, M. G., "The Waterway Terminal Situation in Illinois," 28:404- 412, 1923 Brent, Theodore, "Inland Water Transportation," 24:359-364, 1919 Griffenhagen, E. O., "Water-Borne Commerce of the Chicago Region and its Requirements," 30:185-203, 1925 Harris, E. T., "The Future of Chicago's Water Transportation," 28:402-3, 1923 Lee, E. H., "Railway-Borne Commerce in the Chicago Region and its Requirements," 30:204-210, 1925 Millis, Col. John, "Water-Borne Transportation Inland and Marine," 27:287-293, 1922 MouLTON, H. G., "Inland Water Transportation, Discussion," 24:364- 371, 1919 NooNAN, E. J., "Chicago Terminal Situation," 24:282-306, 1919 Putnam, Mahor R. W., "Chicago's Need for a Comprehensive Water Terminal Plan," 28:413-418, 1922 , "Fundamentals of Terminal Building," 30:177-184, 1925 Randolph, Robert Isham, "Review of Development of Chicago Water- ways," 28:395-401, 1925 ZiNN, Maj. George A., "Chicago's Waterways in their Relation to Transportation," 17:285, 1912 U. Marine Review Bartenfeld, Wilford G., "Why not Use the Barge Canal?" 55:190-191, and 219-221, 1925 Church, Major E. C, "Weakest Link in Transportation," 55:50-54, 1925 Cities Improve Terminal Facilities to Share in Benefits of River Traffic, 53:50-51, 1923 Gleason, Gordon P., "Watenvays Need New Terminals," 52:439-443, 1922 Jacobs, Fred R., "Hurt by Government Competition," 50:172-3, 1920 397] BIBLIOGRAPHY I69 /. Railway Age BiBBiNs, J. R., '"The Co-ordination of All Transportation," 74:801, 1923 HiNES, Frank T., "The Government and Inland Waterways," 69:1014, 1920 Lee, E. H., "Traffic Growth Imposes Burden on the Chicago Terminals," 78:561-3, 1925 Scott, Joseph L., "Freight Handling with Trucks," 79:944-5, 1925 Some of the Illinois Central's Plans for the Chicago Terminal, 78:736- 740, 1925 Summary of Freight Traffic for 1924, 78:577, 1925 Survey of the Bus and Truck Situation, 79:1023-1028, 1925 /. All Others American Forestry, Maxwell, Hu, "The Sawing and Transportation of Lumber," 24:333-342, 1918 , Clapp, Earle H., "Tlie Long Haul from the Woods," 29:259-264, 320, 1923 American Geographic Society, Bulletin, Brown, Robert M., "Review of the Waterway Problem," 43:573-586, 1911 American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, Trans., Ede, J. A., "Mineral Resources of the La Salle District," 63:244-265, 1920 , Ditto, M. W., "Design and Operation of Roberts Coke Oven," 69:485-507, 1923 Annalist, Harding, H. A., "Coal Mine Profits," 20:51-2, 1922 , "What Will the Coal Cost?" 20:101-104, 1922 Automotive Industries, Chapin, Roy D., "Highway Transport's As- tounding Growth Based upon Service to Public," 48:1066, 1923 , "Possibilities of Coordination Disclosed," 48:1063-4, 1923 , "Two Thirds of Truck Hauls are Less than 30 Miles," 49:846-7, 1923 Blast Furnace and Steel Plant, Patterson, H. V., "Roberts Ovens Suc- cessfully Coke Illinois Coals," 10:388-393, 1922 Canadian Engineer, Riggs, Henry E., "Interrelationship of Highway, Railway and Waterway Transportation," 38:441-2, 1920 Christian Science Monitor, Series of articles on waterways, Dec. 2, 1924 Commerce Monthly, "Inland Watenvay Transportation," 2, No. 12, 3-12, April, 192 1 , "Motor Transportation," 2, No. 8, 3-10, Dec, 1920 Country Gentleman, Hungerford, Edward, "Down the Mississippi," 89:7, 24, June 21, 1924 Engineering and Contracting, "The Illinois Waterway," 53:261-2, 1924 , Kingman, Dan C, "Decision of the Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., Against the Illinois Waterway," 45:252-4, 19 16 Geographical Review, Brown, Robert, "Our Waterway Requirements," 5:119-126, 1918 Govertiors Conferetice Proceedings, Deneen, Gov. Charles S., "Inland Waterways," 1912, pp. 134-144 170 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [398 Hunt's Merchants' Magazine, Bloomfield, Joseph E., "Canals of the United States," 42:49-55, i860 , "Illinois and its Resources," 5:427-437, 1841 Illinois State Academy of Science, Buzzard, Robert G., "The Hennepin Canal," 1922 Iron Age, Ditto, M. W., "Roberts Type of By-Product Coke Ovens," 109:580-583; 624-625; 649-650, 1922 Iron Trade Review, Ditto, M. W., "Making Coke from Illinois Coal," 70:664-7, 692, 1922 Journal of Forestry, Braden, K. J., "The Cost of Transportation as a Tax on the Lumber Consumer of the Lake States," 15:605-608, 1917 , Compton, Wilson, "The Present Conditions in the Lum- ber Industry," 15:387-393, I9I7 Journal of Geography, McCombs, C. A., "The Present Status of Naviga- tion on the Lower Mississippi River," 24:11-19, 1925 National Geographic Magazine, "The Deep-Water Route from Chicago to the Gulf," 18:676-685, 1907 New York Times, "Weeks Sets Limits for Chicago Canal," March 7, 1925, 21:2 Nineteenth Century, Saunders, George, "The Free Navigation of the Rhine," 85:179-187, 1919 Pan American Magazine, "The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Waterway Project," 37:361-366, 1924 Popular Mechanics, "Lakes to Gulf Waterway Nears Reality," 40:824, 1923 , Gaines, Cleveland, "Upper Mississippi Opened by Canal and Lock," 39:564-5, 19^3 Railway Review, "Auto Truck Freight Service by Rock Island and Michigan Central," 76:836, 1925 , Herman, B. W., "The Basis of Rate Construction," 77:566-567, 1925 , "Study of Livestock Prices in Relation to Transportation Costs," 76:168, 1925 Scientific American, M'Clure, W. Frank, "The Chicago-St. Louis Wa- terway," 97:209-210, 1907 United States Daily, "Army Engineers Advise Improving Illinois River," March 31, 1926, 5:2 , "Privilege Asked to Schedule Fares by Rail and Bus," March 29, 1926, 7:1 World Today, Long, Theodore, "The Lakes-to-the-Gulf Deep Water- way," 17:1265-1268, 1909 , Ward, Ebin J., "Another Phase of the Deep Waterway," 18:102-5, 1910 III. Miscellaneous Secondary Sources AcKERMAN, Wm. K., "Early Illinois Railroads," Fergus Hist. Series, 23, 1884 399] BIBLIOGRAPHY I7I Alfred, Frank H., The Relation of the Ohio River and its Tributaries to Transportation in the United States, 1925 Andrews, H. W., The Marketing of Bituminous Coal, 1923 (Master's thesis, University of Illinois) AsHBURN, Brig. Gen. Thos. Q., "The Inland Waterways Corporation of the United States," National Rivers and Harbors Congress, 1925 "Barge Line Purchases Bulk Tonnage Equipment," Mississippi Valley Magazine, March-April, 1925, pp. 11-16 Barnes, Mortimer G., Inland Waterways and Transportation Costs, (Pamphlet), 1920 Beach, Lansing H., "The Improvement of the Ohio River," Official Proceedings of Central States Conference on Rail and Water Trans- portation, 1916 BixBY, Gen. Wm. H., "River and Harbor Improvements," National River and Harbor Congress, 1910 Chicago Board of Trade, Annual Reports, 1900-1925 "Chicago Facts," The Chicago Association of Commerce, 1921 Clarke, Thos. C, "Effect of Depth Upon Artificial Waterways," Pro- ceedings, Deep Waterways Association, 1895, pp. 343-5 "Comparison of Transportation Costs by Rail and via Barge Canal," Consecutive No. 2gs, Miscellaneous Series, No. 36, Bureau of Rail- way Economics, 1925 CooLEY, L. E., "Rivers of Mississippi Valley," Proceedings of Interna- tional Deep Waterways Association, 1895, pp. 353-7 , "The Deep Waterway," Lakes-to-the-Gtdf Deep Water- way Association, 19 10 "Debate on Diversion of Water from Lake Michigan, between Wm. G. Bruce and Gardner S. Williams," National Rivers and Harbors Congress, Bui. 2, 1924 Delano, Frederic A., Waterways, Their Limitations and Possibilities, 1910 Dunn, Samuel 0., The Farmer and the Railroad Question, 1924 , Railroad Freight Rates and the Farmer, 1917 "Federal Barge Line," Mississippi Valley Magazine, March-April, 1925 Felton, S. M., The Railroad Question, 1923 Fink, Albert, Waterways and Railways, their Mutual Relations, 1881 Gray, C. A., And the Cars Came, 1923 Hall, Sidney A., The Coal Trade, 1921 Harts, W. W., "Natural Waterways in the United States," Annual Re- port, Smithsonian Institution, 1916, pp. 545-578 Hoover, Herbert, "Secretary Hoover Champions Waterways," Mississ- ippi Valley Magazine, Jan.-Feb., 1926, pp. 9, 11, 15, 19, 21, 23 Huff, C. H., "The Illinois River and Canal Route," Series of articles reprinted from Chicago Daily News, 1918 "Illinois Facts," Illinois Chamber of Commerce Insull, Samuel, Production and Distribution of Electric Energy in the Central Portion of the Mississippi Valley, 1921 IJ2 THE GEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [4OO International Deep Waterways Association Proceedings, First annual convention, 1895, Cleveland James, Edmund J.. "The Canal and the Railway," American Economic Association Publications, 5:281-324, 1890 , "The Railway Question," American Economic Association Publications, 2:278, 1887 Knox, Philander Chase, The Future of Commerce, 1908 Lavand, C, "Inland Navigation," Proceedings International Association of Navigation Congress, 1920 Lingo, C. L., "Bases for Freight Charges," La Salle Extension Univ., 1914 "Lumber and its Utilization," Lumber and Timber Information, Vol. i, Chapt. 2, April, 1924, National Lumber Manufacturers Association. "Lumber Transportation Records in 1925," The National Lumber Bulle- tin, Vol. 6, No. 7, March 7, 1926, p. 3 McElwee, Dr. R. S., "The Way to the Sea," St. Lawrence Tidewater Cong., 1920 Markham, C. H., Need of a Square Deal for the Railway Investor, 1922 , Railway Situation as it Affects the Movement of Farm Products, 1924 , Shortage of Transportation, igzz , Some Fundamentals of Transportation, 1925 Mathews, A. G., How Illinois Will Feed her New Waterway, 1922 (Master's thesis, University of Illinois) Morgan, Dwight C, "The Railways of Illinois," In Yearbook of Rail- way Literature, Chicago, 1897, pp. 199-207 "Motor Trucks and Canal," National Automobile Chamber of Com- merce Mississippi Valley Association, Folder National Industries, (Commercial Magazine, Pittsburgh), April, 1925 National Rivers and Harbors Congress, Declaration of Principles, 1916 New Orleans, Annual Reports, Board of Trade "New Orleans and her Commerce," Research Department, New Orleans Association of Commerce, 1924 "Ohio Valley Federal Barge Line Survey," Ohio Valley Improvement Association Bulletin, June 15, 1925 Peoria Board of Trade, Annual Reports, 1873-1924 Poor's Manual of Railroads, 1924 "Present Railroad Situation," National Industrial Conference Board, Special Report, No. 23, 1923 "Relation of Highways and Motor Transport to other Transportation Agencies," Report of Special Committee appointed by the President of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, 1923 "Retail Lumber Trade," National Lumber Bulletin 6, No. S, Jan. 7, 1926, p. 3 Riley, R. E., "Traffic Glossary," La Salle Extension University, 1914 401 ] BIBLIOGRAPHY 173 Shepherd, A. B., "Shipping Steel Products on Inland Waterways," National Rivers and Harbors Convention, 1922 Smith, Alexander, "An Existing CXitlet to the Sea," Proceedings In- ternational Deep Waterways Association, 1895, pp. 384-389 Smith, Herbert Knox, "Water Terminals," Atlantic Deeper Waterways Association Proceedings, 1910, pp. 65-71 St. Louis Merchants' Exchange, Annual Statement of the Trade and Commerce, 19001923 Thompson, SljVson, The Railway Library and Statistics, 1915 , Railway Statistics of the United States of America for 1924, 1925 "Upper Mississippi River to Have Barge Line by Spring," Mississippi Valley Magazine, 8:7, 23, Jan.-Feb., 1926 Wadleigh, F. R., a Coal Manual for Salesmen, Buyers, and Users, 1921 Wallace, John F., Joint Terminals and Facilities (mimeographed) Ward, Ebin J., The Illinois-Power-Water-Way, 19 12 'Waterborne Lumber Movement of Pacific Coast," National Lumber Bulletin 6, March I, 1926, p. 6 West, C. C, "The Way to the Sea," Great Lakes St. Lawrence Tide- water Association. 'Where the Lumber is Shipped," National Lumber Bulletin, Series II, No. 2, April, 1925 Woodruff, G. C, New York Central's Use of Trucks and Unit Con- tainers, 1925 (Address before Nat'l. Dry Goods Assn., N. Y., Feb. II, 1925) , "600 Motor Trucks and the New York Central," Na- tional Chamber of Commerce, Coordinated Transportation Series No. II, 1925 I INDEX Advantages, rail ever water transporta- tion, 142-144; of a waterway, 144 Barges, size accommodated by Illinois Waterway, 40; use, size, etc., 38 Barnes, M. G., capacity of Illinois Water- way, 86; rail rate ^'5. water rate on coal, 107 Barrett Line, 138 _ Big Muddy River, project for improving, 103 Boats on Mississippi, 138 Brent, Theodore, quoted, 136 Calhoun County, 74 Calumet Harbor, terminal planning re- quired, 60 Calumet Harbor and River terminals, 53-54 , . ^ Calumet River, iron and steel mdustry, 54, 55 Chicago, advantages in rate makmg, 150; coal market, 72; freight handled. 80; importance of position, 72; package freight, 80; source of grain received, 116; through freight, 81 Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, cost of stockyards, 120 Chicago By-Products Coke Company, loi Chicago commerce, 55-59 Chicago district, source of supply of coal, 95 Chicago favored by cheap rates, 149 Chicago Harbor, 51 Chicago, Peoria, and St. Louis Railroad, permission for abandonment granted, 82 Chicago railroads, 54-55, 76-78 Chicago River, bridges, 28, 51; current in, 27, 28; dock frontage, 60; improve- ment, 27; wharfage, warehouses, etc., 51-53 Chicago and Rock Island Railroad, com- petition with canal, 19 Chicago Switching District, coal con- sumption, 72 Chicago's terminal problem, 50 Coal, breakage with handling, 105; Chi- cago greatest market, 72; competition of Illinois with other coal, 95-96, loi; importance of thickness of seams, 91; local markets, 97; markets for Illinois product, 94-98 Coal, consumption along waterway route, 96-97; domestic consumption, 106; for gas. icc; mining in Illinois, 90-94; pro- duction in Franklin and Williamson counties, 94; in Illinois, 89 Coke, from Illinois coal, 98; ovens in Illi- nois, 100 Commonwealth Edison Company, power rights, 153 Consumption of coal in Chicago district, 94 Contract carriers, 138 Cook County manufactures, 72; popula- tion, 72 Copperas Creek, freight, 84 Des Plaines River, gravel pits, in; lo- cation of, 13 Electric power derived from coal, cost of, 152 Electric rail lines, abandoned, 79; in Illi- nois, 78-79 Elevator, constructed by M. P. R. Co. at St. Louis, 115; facilities along Illinois River, 119 Elevators, built by railroads, 114; of Cal- umet district, 117; on Calumet River, 54 Federal Barge Line, 137; active water competition, 149; express business, 133; financial statement, 135; grain carried, 116; imports carried, 126-127; PUt into operation, 130; rail service St. Louis to Cairo when river closed by ice, 88; joint rates with railroads, 132-133; ter- minal costs, 136; type of service, 131- 132 Franklin County, increase in coal mined, 91; low sulphur coal, 91-92 Freight, car loadings, 65; shortages, 62- 63; carried by railroads in Illinois, 80; handled at Chicago, 80 Gallatin, Albert, report of, 13 Grain, movement to primary markets, 114; rail and water movement to New Orleans, 133; trade diverted to Calu- met Harbor, 56-57; transportation by water, 116 Grain on Illinois Waterway, 117-118 Granite City, coking plant, 106 Hoover, Herbert, quoted, 137 I Ice, interruption to navigation, 88 175 176 THE CEONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY [404 Illinois, advantages for railroad building, 73; coal mining, 90-94; electric rail lines, 78; freight carried by railroads, 80; lumber freight costs, 122; northern boundary fixed, 13; railroad distribu- tion, 74-78; railroad mileage, 73; rail- ways abandoned, 82; source of lumber used, 123 Illinois Central Railroad, constructs new- line, 127; freight carried, 80; tons handled, 143 Illinois coal, compared with eastern coal, 98; deterioration in storage, 107; as do- mestic fuel, loi; for steam, loi Illinois and Michigan Canal, Board of Trustees created, 16; completed, 16; construction authorized, 15; dimen- sions, locks, etc., 16; economic import- ance, 17; feeders. 16; financial diificul- ties, 15; financial history, 22; land grants for, 15; location of, 16; present use, 23; railroad proposed as substitute, 15; season of navigation, 17; substitu- tion of shallow cut for lake fed canal, 15; tolls reduced, 20; traffic commodi- ties, 18-19; traffic decline, 19-20 Illinois and Mississippi Canal, cost, 30; location, dimensions, locks, etc., 29-30; purpose of construction, 29; use, 30 Illinois River, commerce, 83; dams and locks, 17; Federal projects for improve- ment, 34-35; low water, 17; width of valley, fall, navigability, etc., 16 Illinois roads, 79 Illinois Traction System, coal carried, 79; power rights, 153 Illinois traffic, 71-73 Illinois Waterway, advantages of, 142; favorable geographic conditions, 146; interruption by ice, 87; livestock on, 121; service as main line, 85; trans- portation of grain, 117 Illinois Waterway Project, plans for, 32- .34. Illinois Waterway Route, natural condi- tions of, 13; railroads of, 83-85 Imports carried on Mississippi River, 126-127 Inland Waterways Corporation created, 130-131 Jones, Grosvenor M., estimates cost of hauling freight, 67 Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation, 139 Lake Michigan, fluctuations In level, 28 La Salle district, center of cement indus- try, 112 Latin American market, limited, 129 Lemont quarries, 113 Livestock, earnings on Chicago and Northwestern, 120; exactions of trans- portation, 120; transportation on C. R. I. & P. R. R., 120 Lumber, Chicago consumption, 123; freight costs Increasing, 122; length of haul, 121-122; rail vs. water rates, 126; transportation by water, 123-125 Manufactures on waterway, 128 Markets for hydro-electric power from Illinois Waterway, 153 Markets for Illinois coal, 94-98 Marseilles, interest in Waterway, 84 Milling in transit, 125 Mississippi River, characteristics, 136; Federal projects for improvement, 35; imports carried, 126-127 Mississippi-Warrior Service, 130; extend- ed on upper Mississippi, 131; fleet, 131 Missouri River, water service, 138 Motor truck, advantages of, 70; transfer of package freight, 69; use In terminal areas recommended, 68; used by New York Central Railroad, 68; use for short haul, 69-71 Motor truck haulage, distance profitable, 69 Motor truck and water transportation, 70 National Industrial Conference Board, use of terminal facilities, 66. New York Barge Canal, complaints of congestion, 87 New York Central Railroad, use of motor trucks, 68 Niagara limestone, 113 Ohio River, packet boat service, 138 Package freight at Chicago, 73; of Chi- cago part carried by water, 58; Chi- cago district, 80; equipment to handle, 69; on the Mississippi, 138 Packet boats, on Mississippi and Illinois rivers, 38-39 Packet boat service on Ohio River, 138 Pekin, elevator capacity, 119 Peoria, elevator capacity, 119; freight tonnage, 84; river trade, 84 Pope, Hon. Nathaniel, efforts In fixing northern boundary of Illinois, 13 Portland cement, production, etc., 112 Prim.ary grain markets, 114 Private boats, 139 Railroad distribution In Illinois, 74-78 405] INDEX 177 Railroad mileage, switching and terminal roads, 66; Illinois. 73 Railroad rates and water competition, 148, 149 Railroad terminal costs, 67 Railroad terminals, 41 Railroad ton-mileage, 66 Railroads, Calumet district, 55; Chicago, 76-78; of Illinois Waterway route, 83-85; purchasers of coal, 106 Railways abandoned in Illinois, 82 Railway terminal problem, importance discussed, 67-68 Rate zones, 150 Rates, factors affecting, 149 Richardson, C. F., cost of coal transporta- tion. 107-IC8 River Transit Company of St. Paul en Mississippi River, 138 Roberts coke oven, 99 Rock Island railroad, competition with canals, 74 Sackett, William L.. estimate of amount of coal available for water transporta- tion, 104-ics; figured saving on water- borne commerce, 86 Sag Channel, construction, 23; cost of widening, 29 Saline County coal, 95 Sand and gravel, Chicago market, lie; local supplies along Illinois River, 109- lio; on waterways, ic8 Sanitar>' Ship Canal, commercial use, 25; cost of construction, 25; cost of main- tenance, 146; dimensions, controlling works, etc., 24; diversion of water through, 17; increase in amount of water diverted from Lake Michigan, 24; location, 24; power house con- structed, 24; transportation of stone, 113 Smith, Herbert Knox, factors of water terminal, 41 St. Louis, lumber trade, 125 St. Louis Coke and Chemical Company, make coke from Illinois coal, 99 Stone transported on Sanitary Ship Canal, 113 St. Peter Sandstone, source of sand for glass, etc., Ill Sugar. Federal Barge Line, 133 Sulphur in coal, 91-94 Summit, limestone quarries, 113 Terminal costs. Federal Barge Line, 136 Terminal elevators, capacity owned by railroads, 115 Terminal facilities, needed along Illinois Waterway, 59 Terminals along Illinois Waterway, esti- mated cost of construction, 147 Through freight at Chicago, 81 Traffic between Chicago and St. Louis, Transit privileges for grain, 115 Transportation by water and rail, rela- tive cost, 145-146 Transshipment costs discussed, 42-43 Utica, natural cement, 112 Wallace, John F., time of cars at term- inals, 67 Water competition, ruling by Interstate Commerce Commission, 148 Water craft, relation between cargo car- rier and waterway discussed, 37 Water power affected by water diver- sion from Lake Michigan, 150-151; available by project, 151; cost of in- stallation, 152; distribution along Illi- nois Waterw-ay, 151; of Illinois Wa- terway project, 150; revenues from, 151-152 Water shipment of coal, 102 Water terminal, St. Louis, 44 Water terminals, along Illinois Water- way, 48-50; and nature of the water- way, 46; neglect of, 41-42; New York Barge Canal, 43; ownership and con- trol, 47-48; relations between termin- als and traffic, 44-46; relations with railroads, 54 Water transportation for marketing coal, 90; profits discussed, 140-141 Waterway, capacity measured, 87; rela- tion to Chicago traffic, 82 West Kentucky Coal Company invest- ment in terminals, 105 ILLINOIS BIOLOGICAL MONOGRAPHS Vol. Ill No. I. Studies on the factors controlling the rate of regeneration. By Charles Zeleny. $1.25. No. 2. The head-capsule and mouth-part of Diptera. With 25 plates. By Alvah Peterson. $2.00. No. 3. Studies on North American Polystomidae, Aspldogastridae, and Paramphis- tomidae. With 11 plates. By Horace W. Stunkard. $1.25. No. 4. Color and color-pattern mechanism of tiger beetles. With 29 black and 3 col- ored plates. By Victor E. Shelford. $2.00. Vol. IV No. I. Life history studies on Montana trematodes. With 9 plates. By E. C. Faust. ^2.00. No. 2. The goldfish (Carassius carassius) as a test animal in the study of toxicity. By E. B. Powers. $1.00. No. 3. Morphology and biology of sonre Turbellaria from the Mississippi Basin. With 3 plates. By Ruth Higley. $1.25. No. 4. North American Pseudophyllldean cestodes from fishes. With 13 plates. By A. R. Cooper. $2.00. Vol. V No. I. The skull of Amiurus. With 8 plates. By J. E. Kindred. ^1.25. No. 2. Contributions to the life histories of Gordiuj robustus Leidy and Paragordins varius (Leidy). By Henry Gustav May. With 21 plates. $1.50. Nos. 3 and 4. Studies on Myxosporidia. A synopsis of genera and species of Mjrsospo- ridia. By Roksabro Kudo. With 25 plates and 2 text figures. ^3.00. Vol. VI No. I. The nasal organ in Amphibia. By G. M. HIggins. With 10 plates. $1.00. Nos. 2 and 3. Revision of the North American and West Indian species of Cuscuta. With 13 plates. By Truman George Yuncker. $2.00. No. 4. The larvae of the Coccinellidae. With 6 plates. By J. Howard Gage. 75 cents. Vol. VII _ No. I. Studies on gregarines. II: a. A synopsis of the polycysted gregarines of the world, excluding those from the Myriapoda, Orthoptera, and Coleoptera; and b. An annotated list of the new gregarines described from 191 1-1920. By M. W. Kamm. $1.00. No. 2. The mollusk fauna of the Big Vermilion River, Illinois, with special references to the Naiades or fresh water mussels. By F. C. Baker. $1.25. No. 3. North American monostomes, primarily from fresh water hosts. With 9 plates. By E. C. Harrah. ^1.25. No. 4. A classification of the larvae of the Tenthredinoidea. By Hachiro Yuasa. With 14 plates. $2.00. Vol. VIII No. I. The head capsule of Coleoptera. By F. S. Stickney. $2.00. No. 2. Comparative studies on certain features of nematodes and their significance. By D. C. Hetherington. $1.00. No. 3. Parasitic fungi from British Guiana and Trinidad. By F. L. Stevens. $1.25. No. 4. The external Morphology and Postembryology of Noctuid Larvae. By L. B. Ripley. $1.25. Vol. IX No. I. The calciferous glands of Lumbrlcidae and Diplocardia. By Frank Smith. $1.25. Nos. 2 and 3. A biologic and taxonomic study of the Microsporidia. By Roksabro Kudo. $3.00. No. 4. Animal ecology of an Illinois elm-maple forest. By A. 0. Weese. $1.25. Vol. X No. I. Studies on the Avian Species of the Cestode Family Hymenolepidae. By R. L. Mayhew. ^1.50. No. 2. Comparative Studies on Furcocercous Cercariae. By H. M. Miller. $1.50. No. 3, Some North American Fish Trematodes. By Harold W. Manter. $1.50. No. 4. A comparison of the animal communities of coniferous and deciduous forests. By I. H. Blake. $1.50. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS STUDIES IN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE Vol. IX No. I. Studies in the narrative methods of Defoe. By A. W. Secord. $1.50. No. 2. The Ms. tradition of Plutarch's Aetia Graeca and Aetia Romana. By J. B. Titchener. $1.00. No. 3. Girolamo Fracastoro Naugerius, sive de poetica dialogus. With translation by Ruth Kelso and introduction by Murray W. Bundy. $1.00. No. 4. The text-tradition of Pseudo-Plutarch's Fitae Decern Oratorum. By C. G. Lowe. $1.00. Vol. X No. I. Rhetorical Elements in the Tragedies of Seneca. By H. V. Canter. $1.75. No. 2. Oriental affinities of Die Liigend von Sanct Johanne Chrysostomo. By C. A. Wil- Hams. $1.00. No. 3. The Vita Merlini. By J. J. Parry. $1.50. No. 4. The Bogarthing Law of the Codex Tunsbergensis. By G. T. Flom. $1.50. Vol. XI Nos. 1-2. Child Actors of the XVI and XVII centuries. By H. N. Hillebrand. $2.00. No. 3. A study of Spanish manners, 1750-1800, from the plays of the Ramon de la Cruz. By Arthur Hamilton. $1.00. No. 4. Oriental affinities of the legend of the hairy anchorite. By C. A. Williams. $1.00. Vol. XII No. I. El Bernardo of Bernardo De Balbuena. By John Van Home. $1.50. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES Vol. X, 1922 No. I. Monarchical tendencies in the United States, 1776-1801. By Louise B. Dunbar. $2.25. No. 2. Open price associations. By M. N. Nelson. $1.50. Nos. 3 and 4. Workmen's representation in industrial government. By E. J. Miller. $2.00. Vol. XI, 1923 Nos. I and 2. Economic aspects of southern sectionalism, 1840-1861. By R. R. Russei. $2.00. Nos. 3 and 4. The Turco-Egyptian Question in the Relations of England, France, and Russia, 1832-1841. By F. S. Rodkey. $2.00. Vol. XII, 1924 Nos. I and 2. Executive Influence in Determining Military Policy in the United States. By Howard White. $2.00. No. 3. The Size of the Slave Population at Athens During the Fifth and Fourth Cen- turies Before Christ. By Rachel Louisa Sargent. $1.75 No. 4. The Constitutionality of Zoning Regulations. By Helen Alargaret Werner. 75 cts. Vol. XIII, 192s No. I. Soil Exhaustion as a Factor in the Agricultural History of Virginia and Mary- land, 1606-1860. By Avery Odell Craven. $1.50. No. 2. The Iron and Steel Industry of the Calumet District. A Study in Economic Geography. By John B. Appleton. $1.50 No. 3. Administrative Procedure in Connection with Statutory Rules and Orders in Great Britain. By John Archibald Fairlie. $1.00. No. 4. Regulation of Security Issues by the Interstate Commerce Commission. By David Philip Locklin. $1.50. Vol. XIV, 1926 No. I. State Regulation of Public Utilities in Illinois. By Charles Mayard Kneier. $1.50. No. 2. The Geonomic Aspects of the Illinois Waterway. By Bessie L. Ashton. $1.00. Requests for exchange for the Studies in the Social Sciences, the Biological Monographs, and the Studies in Language and Literature should be addressed to the Exchange Editor, Library, University of Illinois, Urbana, III. All communications concerning sale or subscription, or of an editorial nature, should be addressed to the Editor of the University Studies, University of Illinois, Urbana, 111. The subscription price of each series is three dollars a year. The prices of individual monographs are shown in the liitB given above. ' 'H UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA tKeONOMIC ASPECTs'oF the ILLINOIS WAT