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January 3, 2005 -- Vol. 5 Issue 1 Written by Jack R. Simpson (unless otherwise noted), owner of J.R. Simpson & Associates, Inc. and contributing editor to "The Waterways Journal." 
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 In This Newsletter:
Thought For The Week
People want the front of the bus, the back of the church, and the center of attention. - author unknown A Personal Note From Jack
Tsunami brings back old memories. The earthquake and tsunami waves that ravaged 11 countries from southern Asia to eastern Africa and claimed, as of January 3rd, more than 150,000 lives have brought back vivid memories. In June 1972 I was living in Rapid City, S.D., when a freak weather occurrence dropped more than 14 inches of rain over the Black Hills. If I may be so bold as to make the comparison, it created a sort of miniature tsunami that wiped out homes and business and killed more than 230 people in just a few hours. In the Indian Ocean, giant waves swept over beaches and caused massive destruction. In the Black Hills, water drained into three canyons and rose to a depth of more than 50 feet before first destroying canyon homes and people before striking Rapid City. The cause of the tsunami in the Indian Ocean was an earthquake. The problem in the Black Hills area was that prevailing winds kept the storm from moving, and it dumped record amounts of water with nowhere for it to go but down the canyons. As it neared Rapid City, two of the canyons emptied into a third. The onrushing water, carrying cars, trees and debris from ravaged buildings (perhaps even bodies), emerged from the canyon and struck right after the evening news. While some got early warnings, most did not. Our home was on the side of the city where the flood struck, but it [our home] was on higher ground and not in the direct path. Water rose in the streets and crept up our sidewalk till it touched the bottom step, then stopped. Our first awareness of things gone wrong was when we woke up cold in the morning with no power. Our two daughters, who were staying with their grandparents in a cabin alongside Spring Creek near Hill City in the Black Hills, awoke to flood water that tore out the bridge my father had built. But they were all able to retreat to safety. The creek was about 75 feet away. A rental home that my father owned in Rapid City was in the path of the flood. It withstood the onrushing deluge, but the basement was totally filled with mud, and the water rose four feet high on the interior walls of the main floor. On the day after the flood, just as in Sri Lanka, bruised and broken bodies were laid out by the hundreds, while saddened survivors moved among them hoping to identify loved ones. The condition of some victims was so bad that identification required dental records. Out of that 1972 tragedy came many survival stories that resembled the drama of those coming out of tsunami incident. My failing memory tells me that no fewer than half a dozen close friends and dozens of acquaintances (I worked as a reporter and photographer in the city for years) died in the flood. But I also knew of people with remarkable survival experiences. Fern - This lady, with whom I dealt frequently at the Builder’s Exchange, lived in a small home in Dark Canyon. It was no more than a foot above normal stage for Rapid Creek, which was less than 100 feet away. A friend who learned early of the coming onslaught, called Fern and told her to leave her home immediately. She didn’t. After several calls, however, she decided to humor the caller. Taking a Thermos of hot coffee, she gathered up blankets and a pillow. I chose my old stuff, she told me. I didn’t want to soil my good blankets. Fern then drove up the canyon road that led to the highway. Part way up the road, perhaps 100 feet or more above creek level, she spied a place where she could park her car and observe her house as she waited out the night. When morning came and the mist cleared, there was nothing to see. Her house was gone. Peggy - This mother of two was another canyon dweller. I do not recall all of the circumstances of her survival, except that, at the advice of friends, she took the hands of her small children and began walking out of the canyon. Swirling water and debris rose to her chest before she reached the point where she met her friends who were coming from the other direction to help her. When I saw her a few days later, she looked as through she had been stuffed in a running close dryer for a week. She was swollen and bruised beyond belief but alive. Her children were safe, too. Unknown - Strange things happen during disasters. Victims die. Others survive and wonder why or how. One lady was in her little house when the flood water reached it. By that time much of its destructive force had abated, and her house withstood the swirling water. I was observing the water from my porch, she said. An eddy ripped the porch loose from the house, and it literally became a raft. She was helpless as the porch swung out away from the house along a crazy route. Oddly, it circled the house and came to rest again against the front of her house. She was able to step back through her front door. I still didn’t know what to do, she said, so I went to my dressing table, sat down and began putting on makeup so I would look better when help arrived. No one came right away. As the water receded, she scanned the area and spotted a small boy sitting not too far from her house. She wanted to help him, so she struggled through muck and mud to where he sat. After only a word or two, she realized he was dead. One grandmother was able to save her granddaughter by placing her on a mattress that rose with the flood water and floated near the ceiling for hours. They both survived. A 75-year-old man, from whom I had once purchased a mandolin, lived near Rapid Creek and right in the path of rushing water. The water rose nearly to his ceiling. He clung for hours to the top of a window, struggling to hold his head up where there was life-supporting air. Obviously, he succeeded. One lady survived the night buried up to her chin in mud. When dawn came she could see rats running around the area. Another lady, operator of a dog kennel, made one last effort to make sure her wards were safe. She was swept away in the flood. Her husband, who had gone into the attic, broke a hole in the roof and climbed atop the house. He was to prepare their escape, while she was to do what she could, before joining him, to free the dogs. He waited on the roof, worried and helpless, as the flood passed. He said later that he was sure she was lost. But kindness has its own rewards. One of the large German shepherds that his wife had freed from the kennel discovered her struggling in the water and apparently sensed her desperation. The dog pushed and pulled and (whatever dogs do) was able to hold the woman against some brush so that she survived until a rescue-boat crew discovered her. The daughter-in-law of one of my long-time friends climbed atop her house for safety, while her husband and my friend went elsewhere to offer help. When they returned, they discovered that the house had been washed away. It was also later discovered at the sites of many of the destroyed homes that builders had failed to bolt the homes to the concrete foundations. They had merely floated up and away. Another friend and service club colleague was away when the tragedy struck. His small house was located near the mouth of a canyon. His wife and children perished. Death is a very personal thing. The overwhelming magnitude of the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster has sent shock waves around the world. In reality, the friends and relatives of the lost in each tragic event face similar trauma. There can be no comparison of the magnitudes of these events. The 1972 flood was miniscule by comparison. The tragedy didn’t make a ripple in the worldly scheme of things. But for those who were victims and those who were survivors, the experience was similar to what we are reading about today. As a photographer, I was called upon to document flood damage to assist realtors and bankers in obtaining federal loans to assist in the disaster. As a writer, I automatically catalogued stories I heard and read and those I witnessed personally. I have shared only a few of them. - Jack Newsletter News
We are happy to report that our subscription list for last week’s issue was 658, more than we’ve had before. Our web site visits are soaring. That means that a great big thanks is due to all you loyal folks out there who have stuck with us during our absence. On The Water Front
Port-Security Fund Short Despite accounting for more than 25 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product, America’s seaports and related industries have been virtually cast adrift by the federal government when it comes to homeland-security spending, says Jay B. Grant, director of the Port Security Council. Speaking at the annual meeting of the Information Sharing and Analysis Center Council, Grant said that while the Coast Guard had estimated conservatively that the need for fiscal 2005 was $1 billion, possibly more, Congress and the President authorized only about $400 million. Congress and the administration have not stepped up to the plate to make the kind of effort that is needed to protect the ports, he said. (The Waterways Journal, January 3) Brescia Leaves MARC 2000 Though we had reported earlier than Chris Brescia, president of the Midwest Area River Coalition, was leaving to assume a different role, the official announced appeared January 3 in The Waterways Journal. He has joined Smurfit-Stone, a St. Louis container company. MARC 2000’s vice president, Paul Rohde, assumes the role of acting president and takes over Brescia’s duties. Rhode said MARC 2000 will still remain the entity and that new locks and the Missouri River are still the issues. Editor’s note: We will produce more on this issue later, but the announcement clarifies any misgivings that the organization’s future might be in doubt. Boat Photo Center
This week’s Photo Center pictures (15) include: two shots of the Mv. E. Bronson Ingram, one each by Barry Griffith and his son-in-law Lee Thomas; Mv. Goodwin and three pictures of the Memphis Engineer District’s dragline Odum by William Steel; Mvs. Elizabeth Dewey; Gladys Ford and City of Joliet, and two of the Jennie Dehmer by Jesse R. Lybarger; and the Mvs. Bob Benter, City of Huntington, A. L. Long, and Mike Creditor, posted by Capt. Jeffrey L. Yates. About the photos of the dragline Odum, Bill Steel says: The pictures of the Odum working at night reminds me of those times when insects swarmed under the boom floodlights in clouds so thick that we could not see through them. Walking on the deck under them (and crunching on them) was not a whole lot of fun either! (Editor’s note: This is one of those rules made to be broken. I included the Odum in our Center.) The four Ohio River Company boats are from the series of twin-screw, 2,160 hp. Boats built by St. Louis Ship during the mid to late 1950s, writes Capt. Jeffrey L. Yates. He adds: I always thought it was a treat whenever one of these smaller boats would venture as far down the Ohio River as Evansville, Ind., or Henderson, Ky., when I was a kid growing up along the river in the mid to late 1950s. Usually, only the larger triple-screw boats made it down past Louisville at that time. (Editor’s note: This concludes a series of ORC boats that were posted by Jeff after we all but suspended the posting of pictures at the end of 2003. Sorry to have broken up the continuity.) We welcome more photographs whenever it is convenient. Letters From Our Subscribers
We wish to submit a hearty thank you Carl. H. Jones for his wonderful contributions to our proposed gas and diesel vessel directory with his listings in last week's B&B newsletter. This project will take a very long time to complete, but with support from people like Carl, Dr. Leland Johnson, and others, it can only make this project even more interesting! I misspoke a bit with the scope of this project when I submitted it to B&B. We are actually proposing to do a gas- and diesel-powered sternwheel VESSEL directory, not limiting it to only towboats. We appreciate any and all info anyone has to share! We'll keep posted to B&B for responses, and remember, you can submit info directly to me at http://www.hspsi.org -- simply click onto the "Bulletins" button on the right-hand side of the page and a submission form will magically appear. Thanks one and all! Steve & Barbara Huffman Questions From Our Readers
Jack: You've gotten back to intense in content. Stay with it. Such a diverse accumulation of information. One question: How much of a problem will Homeland Security be to the container-shipping barges? And what kind of extra precautions will be taken against spills on the river? I know what kind of chemicals go by rail past our villages along the Mississippi. I don't want them dumped on land either, but would it be safer to send by barge? I can't imagine the water supply problems if those chemicals ended up in the river water with the municipalities that draw drinking water from the river. Just curious. I admit I'm a novice when it comes to what's on a barge. If I have a question, I usually just call Kathy Flippo. But you prompted this one, so you answer it, okay? Joanne Wiklund Note: That’s two questions! See response to your chemical-spill question below. The one about Homeland Security and container-on-barge shipments will take a little longer. My perception is that Homeland Security eventually will have to deal with all manner of cargo shipments, including container-on-barge movements. As for special problems, we’ll see. Our Readers Respond
Re: Joanne Wiklund’s question about chemical spills Though I write about a lot subjects, I am an expert in none of them. Generally I prefer to get answers from those who know more than I do. In this case I asked a river captain, who writes: An independent modal safety study of transporting bulk hazardous substances prepared for the Maritime Administration, found that barge spills occur much less often than spills from either tank trucks or tank cars. The environment of the Waterways system places more room between it and concentrations of population, making the human exposure index lower than for truck or rail. U.S. Coast Guard statistics prove water transportation has fewer accidental spills than any other mode. Capt. Bill Beacom Sioux City, Iowa B&B Note: Some say the solution to pollution is dilution. In many cases, when river spills do occur, the product is so diluted by the time it reaches populated areas that the danger is greatly diminished or gone completely. I personally don’t expect to see much shipped by container that can be spilled. - Jack Re: Joanne Wiklund’s question about Homeland Security and containers on barges To get a little more information on this question, I called J. A. (Joe) Gagnon, a consultant of Newburgh, Ind., who is involved increasingly in the evolution of containers-on-barges. Having used the word consultant, I want to emphasize his insistence that he is not an expert on the subject. He does, however, exchange information with a some industry people on the subject. When it comes to Homeland Security, Gagnon sees no additional problems because containers move by barge, but, he says, that’s one man’s opinion. Others might have a different take on it. Nevertheless, the Coast Guard finding that water transportation is more safe because being on waterways place more distance between the product and concentrations of population holds true. He sees no particular reason to ship liquids by container but if chemicals or other products that might be considered hazardous materials were to be shipped, they would likely be in sealed containers. According to the Coast Guard, many containers are checked at the point of departure overseas under agreements the U.S. has with port officials there. Vessels are also watched at sea, and many are boarded and searched when the Coast Guard receives messages indicating that there is a reason to do so. The most dangerous transportation of hazmat cargoes is thought to be on railroad cars that pass right through cities and end up in freight yards. They travel at high speed, and there are usually more than one car carrying the same material. In train accidents it is not unusual for one car to crash and burst open, with cars behind following suit. As for security issues, new technology, says Gagnon, is helping to develop more efficient methods of checking container contents. While the system is not perfect, it is improving rapidly. (By the way, Osprey Lines has moved container-on-barge cargoes to several ports over the last five or six years.) The Book Beat
Just a reminder that the At The Water’s Edge DVDs and VHS tapes featuring the 1999 Tall Stacks event at Cincinnati are available at an outstanding (really a giveaway) price. Quantities available by case lots. These are excellent for fundraising activities for Propeller Clubs, museums, or even marine websites. Contact us for details at JackSimpson@littleriverbooks.com Nautical Gift Shop
American Towboater Caps are here! These high quality canvas caps are adjustable to all sizes. $18 plus S&H.  Weems & Plath Binoculars - Since 1928, navigators have relied on the Weems & Plath name for safe passage. These rugged all-weather binoculars are hermetically sealed and nitrogen purged for true waterproof and fog proof performance. Navy One and Apache optics are extremely sharp and bright. By using high purity index lenses and prisms, aligned to perfection, the best possible image quality is achieved. Exclusive SPARC (Stimulated Penetration Anti-Reflection Coatings) optics eliminate internal glare and ghost images resulting in very high light transmission at night or in low light. The anti-corrosive, lightweight aluminum body will pass the military specification drop/shock test from 6 feet, and withstand a vibration test equal to 20 gravities of force. Extreme temperature resistance and waterproofing make the Navy One and Apache perfect for marine use and other tough outdoor activities. All Navy One and Apache binoculars have a five-year limited factory warranty against defects, fogging, or leakage.
Profit From Self-Publishing Your Book
Turn a loser into a profit maker. A $100 consulting fee to Little River Books can help you to get your book into print while avoiding the hidden booby traps in book publishing. The proper advice can turn a loser into a profit maker. If you self-publish and allow us to handle your book, the fee will be discounted from the cost of the project. We have helped individuals and businesses to self-publish since 1995 and, to our knowledge, no one has lost money. To learn how this works, call 314-921-4419 and ask for Jack. Click here for more information. advertisement
Maps For Sale
Maps for Sale: John W. Gorman, Inc., of Minneapolis, is offering U.S. Geological Survey maps, DeLorme State Topo Atlas & CD’s, historic maps of the Mississippi River, and world and USA wall maps. Contact the firm at 7320 Portland Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55423; by calling phone/fax at 612/869-7730; or via email: johnwgorman@usinternet.com. Additional details are available in the "new book" offers column on the right side of our home page. Bargain Books
If you check out our website and browse through the pages of books, you will still find a few left that we are letting go at our cost or less. They are flagged on the right side of the page for each book so priced. For Those Inclined To Pray
Bitts and Bytes has established a “Prayer Circle” so that readers who request it can tap into the prayerful support of the circle members. At this mailing we have 15 members representing seven states. Please note that membership and prayer requests are not restricted to B&B subscribers; it is open to people anywhere in the world. We pray that God will find our efforts pleasing. The activity of the Prayer Circle will be confined totally outside of our weekly newsletter, with the exception of this portion, which will invite membership and update our statistics. All arrangements must go through jacksimpson@littleriverbooks.com in order to determine that an intended recipient is willing to receive mail. To learn how to join the prayer circle or to request prayer click here. Tow Talkin’
By Kathy Flippo January 3, 2005 Welcome to another new year! May yours be healthy, happy and full of great towboat watching. There are a whole bunch of people that don't work on the river, never have worked on the river, but think that towboat watching is the greatest spectator sport there is. All it takes is a pencil and paper to log your sightings, and a couple of things like binoculars and a thermos of coffee to make watching better. Towboat watchers tend to be towboat photographers also, and it becomes nearly an obsession to get a picture of every boat a company has. Or every boat that Nashville Bridge or Dravo or whatever has built. One can travel lots of miles on that little project! I've kept a log since I was a little kid. Unfortunately my mother threw it away the one and only time she ever cleaned house. That was in the 1960 when I was away in college. I would give lots to have that little book again! Then I moved away from the river from 1968 and lived in Colorado and California. Talk about a fish out of water! That was me! It is amazing how ingrained having the great Upper Mississippi River.... To read the rest of the column, click here. See you on the Web, Jack Little River Books jacksimpson@littleriverbooks.com Don't forget to visit our website!  |
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