Congressional Serial Set Volume 6392 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1912 edition. Excerpt: ...of the coal originating or consumed within our State is originally mined In close proximity to these waterways. Sand and stone usually originate on waterways. The lumber that will be used In the State of Iowa in the immediate future will almost entirely originate on the Pacific coast. Petroleum, iron, pig and bloom, iron and steel rails, bar and sheet metal, cement, brick, and lime are most largely produced on the important waterways of our Nation. Should the Des Moines River be made navigable a very great portion of the tonnage positively Indicated by the foregoing figures would be affected and be available for transportation on the proposed waterway. The present movement of grain from our State is principally to the city of Chicago where it finds water transportation into eastern sections and foreign sections where it is consumed. With the proposed waterway from the Mississippi River to the Great Lakes at the city of Chicago the improvement of the Des Moines River for navigation is a most important subject to contemplate. The cost of grain at its point of consumption is made up very largely of the cost of transportation and handling, There is no one that will contend that the transportation of grain by rail is as economical as the transportation of this commodity by water. The element of time consumed in transportation is not important as the loss of interest on capital invested, and the depreciation of the commodity in transit is much more than offset by the money that can be saved in lowered transportation cost. The same reasoning will apply to the transportation of hay, coal, sand, stone, cement, brick, and lime. Where iron, pig and bloom, petroleum products, Iron and steel rails, bar and sheet metal can be carried any considerable distance...