|
|
|
|
May 1, 2006 -- Vol. 6 Issue 18 Written by Jack R. Simpson (unless otherwise noted), owner of J.R. Simpson & Associates, Inc. and contributing editor to The Waterways Journal.
| ||||||||
 In This Newsletter:
Thought For The Week
The time has come for all individuals to be held accountable for their actions. Taxpayers should not be forced to bear unfairly the unnecessary financial burdens brought about by property owners who insist that it is their right to build and operate wherever they choose and that taxpayers should pick up the tab when disaster strikes. Editorial Comment From Jack
More On The Pandora’s Box That Is New Orleans And Gulf Coast  Right on the heels of a federal hearing report that recommends eliminating (or totally replacing?) the Federal Emergency Management Agency, we are learning that home insurers are pulling away from U.S. Coastal Markets. That according to “The Washington Post.” “Meanwhile, homeowners are moving to state-backed insurer plans of last resort, which tend to be subsidized by taxpayers, and whose costs are also rising,” the “Post” discovered. We could have seen it coming over the months since Katrina struck the Gulf. Some insurance companies are denying their obligations to pay customers whose property, they say, was damaged as a result of a storm surge, not flooding. If what happens is what the “Post” is suggesting could happen, it is the taxpayers who will get it in the neck. It may not shake out as the “Post” suggests, but definitely it is a possibility. Also, some officials think that the insurance companies have been doing just fine with profits. The companies, however, point out that it is their duty to take care of their investors, not protect property owners with rates that are too low and inadequate. This scenario brings up the age-old question about whether or not U.S. taxpayers should be picking up the tab when property owners, business or otherwise, locate their property at sites vulnerable to natural disaster. FEMA already has reimbursed some owners for at least the second time around for property losses due to hurricanes. The question becomes more critical when one realizes that the government does not always require accountability to assure that double-dipping is not permitted. The “Post” said “Companies are shedding homeowner policies and driving residents to taxpayer-funded state insurance plans.” Kevin M. McCarty, state commissioner for the office of insurance regulation in Florida, said that if he lived over the San Andreas Fault in California, why would he spend $7,000 to $10,000 for earthquake insurance, when he could see that in Mississippi disaster victims are being assisted financially. If the government is helping victims in Mississippi, why shouldn’t they help victims in California, he wonders. The business of individuals believing that they have the right to build wherever they please without accepting financially responsibility for their bad choices is not new. But the time is here, perhaps, with costs mushrooming, for these people to be held accountable. If they insist on building in dangerous locations, let them be notified officially that they do so at their own risk and that they will not be covered by taxpayer insurance programs. Bitts About People And Boats
As we mentioned last week, Dan Owen and his Boat Photo Museum were the focus of a lengthy feature story in the “St. Louis Post-Dispatch” Sunday (April 30). Writer Joe Holleman traced the history of the museum from Dan’s boyhood days along the upper Ohio River to the present, where many of his photographs appear on various web sites on the Internet. His collection of more than 40,000 pictures is somewhat confined to 12-14 file cabinets in his basement, but in recent years he has been able to share them with thousands of people via web sites. Keep in mind, also, that because he has been a photographer, writer and editor with “The Waterways Journal” for more than 30 years, many of his pictures were published. Holleman used a choice selection of those pictures in Sunday’s feature story and noted a few sites where pictures could be seen on line. Our thoughts should be with our old friend Robert Miller these days as he prepares to enter the hospital overnight to have his pacemaker adjusted. As we pointed out last week, Bob is the former curator of the Geo. M. Verity at Keokuk, Iowa. One purpose of this section of B&B is to get more boat and people names into the news. Of course we do that also with the Boat Photo Center, which now boasts well over 2,000 photographs for your viewing pleasure. Dan Dennis, who operates Eagle Photography on the Gulf Coast, has passed along to our message board changes related to towboats, and we felt them to be worth repeating. Writes Dennis: The four most recent deliveries were The John Reid Golding, built by Quality Shipyard in Houma, La., for Golding Barge. It has 2,800 hp. It is painted with an attractive color scheme of red, white and blue. Blessey Marine had a recent delivery of the second boat from Ashton Marine of Harvey, La. It is named the Stacy Shelby. It measures 75 x 30 feet and has 1,700 hp. The next delivery taken was the new tractor tug Jane S for Bisso of New Orleans, La., built by Main Iron works of Bayou Blue, La. Do you remember the John 1:1, which sank last year? Now it is ready to work again. The former Mister Dufrene, which was built in Larose, La., is now named the Born Again. It now has a pair of Cat 3512s in it to make it either 2,200 or 2,400 hp. The Born Again is owned by American Tugs of Harvey, La., under the supervision of Autry Dufrene. Measurements remain the same. It will have quarters for six crew members. The John 1:1 has been Born Again! Florida Marine of Mandeville, La., will now have a new boat due out anytime soon. Can this ever continue? Well, it will. There is one more boat for Golding due out next month or in June. Eckstein Marine of Harahan, La., is expecting from Quality Shipyard of Houma a new boat named the Avie Marie (sic) it will be identical to the Redeemer and EMS Express. Then Republic Barge of Houston is expecting a pair of 2,400-hp. boats from John Bludworth of the Houston area. Blessey’s big 3,200 hp. is expected to leave either June or July from Bludworth Shipyard. Orders for new boats have increased about 100 percent since last year in the oil field industry. For Those Inclined To Pray
 For those desiring prayer support for themselves or others, we invite you to join our Prayer Circle, which allows you to submit requests, thereby tapping into prayerful support of our 40 Circle members. There is power in prayer.
Membership in the Circle and/or the submission of prayer requests is open to anyone and free. Request lists are sent out via email, generally, on the day they are received. Come join us! http://www.littleriverbooks.com/prayercircle.htm Prayer Circle
On The Waterfront
Senate Majority Leader Frist Ignores Marine Industry Pleas At least to this point, we believe Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has ignored pleas by the Waterways Alliance, et al, and thousands of supporters who called his office last Wednesday to urge that he bring the Water Resources Development Act 2006 to the Senate floor for a vote. The House passed the bill overwhelmingly last year, and some 80 members of the Senate signed a letter supporting the measure. Senate Reports Blame Leadership for Katrina-Response Failures Last week we received Senate reports that blamed governmental leadership for the failure to respond to Hurricane Katrina adequately. Also surfacing were recommendations to get rid of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The reports say the U.S. is not ready for new disasters. On another note, it is said that the holes in the New Orleans levee system have been plugged but the system will not survive a major storm. Workers In Seaports To Undergo Background Checks The Bush Administration has announced the seaport workers will undergo background checks for links to terrorism. Some seaport officials are complaining that the effort will take workers out of the work force and leave the ports shorthanded at a time when they are already finding it difficult to unload ships. The names of an estimated 400,000 workers in the most sensitive areas of U.S. ports will be matched against government terrorist lists. Senate Ignores Administrations Plea To Reduce Spending Bill Amid veto threats, the U.S. Senate ignored the Bush Administration’s pleas to reduce the $106 billion funding bill to pay for the rising costs of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and to repair Hurricane Katrina damage. The must-pass bill included more than $14 billion add-ons for farm aid, highway repairs and aid to the Gulf Coast fishing industry. The aid for hurricane relief, for example, exceeds the President’s request by $7.4 billion. We will have to stay tuned to see what happens in the conference committee. (Editor’s note: While it may not be immediately apparent, this bill impacts the budget of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has been called upon since the hurricane struck to transfer some of its own funds for emergency repairs. This causes delay in other authorized projects.) You can contact the editor directly at jacksimpson@littleriverbooks.com. advertisement
The River School - Deck and engineer licenses, radar observer, tankerman, fire and water safety courses, video programs. Travel classes in convenient locations. (800) 238-7113 www.riverschool.com From Our Readers
Re: Left a Barge (SUV In River Story) I know you meant (left a bar) however, in the story you wrote, (left a barge). It was probably a long day, a slip of the ole fingers! I enjoy your publication very much. Keep up the good work. Jack “Superfoot” Brown (Editor’s note: That’s one of my lesser mistakes. I’m sure that I must have made some bad ones.) Re: Mvs. United States And America I really enjoyed the newsletter [last] week, and those were great pictures of the Mv. United States and the America passing each other. I decked on both of those vessels a number of times, and the majority of the crews were always from St Louis. That’s how I got to know a lot of good rivermen from good ole St Louie. The America was much bigger in size and power. A lot of people get it wrong and forget that the America had four 2,500 Cooper Besemers. The United States was rated at 8,500 hp. and you could sure tell the difference when you got a line on them . The America had to always have a doubled up line to fall back on or she would surely pop it. Byron Rozier Re: Security And Those Suspicious Photographers I guess I am doubly suspicious since I take photos of trains too. I have been questioned numerous times (before and after 9-11) while standing on an overpass or along a road waiting for a train to show up. So far no one has questioned my boat photography. Eric M. Johnson Re: Homeland Security and Eric’s Comments When all this stuff came to a head, there was an article in Louisville’s “Courier-Journal” with an accompanying photo of a CG officer and a Metro police detective with Homeland Security duties. I called the detective’s office and left a message with phone number and email address. He contacted me and I let him know about my photography activities at Portland Canal. He basically said that there would be no problem as long as no law was being broken. He did say, though, if somebody calls in, the authorities are obligated to check things out. He gave me his cell phone number to reach in case I encountered a problem. Somewhere, in route to Portland, I always call Metro Police and let them know that I will be in the area. I give the make, model, license number of my car and let them know where I will park. I’ve never had any major problems. Once in awhile a couple of sheriffs’ deputies may ride by on their four-wheelers. They just wave and proceed. Once in awhile a patrol car may pass, but the officer only smiles and waves. The only time that I was actually checked out, I was sitting in my lawn chair on a rail siding, in the shade. An unmarked car with heavily tinted glass drove up. It was a railroad detective. Some jogger/walker had called in. He said that I needed to move from the tracks, that technically I was trespassing. He gave me a railroad pamphlet discussing, among other things, the number of people killed/injured annually with being on railroad tracks. But, he too, gave me his business card and wished me a good day of picture taking. Ron Richardson (Editor’s note: Ron has the right idea. The people who may check photographers out have their responsibilities. It may seem inconvenient, but Ron’s method of keeping people informed seems fair and prudent.) Boat Photo Center
 This week will begin with Dan Owen’s eight-picture photographic history of the Mississippi Valley Barge Line stream prop towboat Tennessee and its later conversion to diesel as the Texas, courtesy of the Boat Photo Museum. Below our picture list, Dan comments on the boats. In addition to the eight pictures posted by Dan, there are 12 more boat photos: including the a portion of the Charlotte from Tom Waller; the Chip Lacy and Gail Ann from Ron Richardson; two of the Penny Eckstein from Chuck Perrin; two of the Dennis Collins from Eric M. Johnson; the Roy L, Miss Sterling, and original Donna Lee from Brent Maletic; and the Explorer and Tom Frazier from Ed Rahe. Dan tells us: Dravo Corporation, builder, usually photographed every boat it built. I have never seen a photo of the Tennessee or its sister boat Ohio, taken at Neville Island, Pa. Two other sister boats, Indiana and Louisiana, were built by Charles Ward Engineering Works, Charleston, W. Va. Because no photos of Tennessee or Ohio at the Dravo yard have surfaced, I am wondering if Dravo built just the hulls of these two and [they] were taken to Charleston for completion. MVBL ordered four boats, at one time; in order to get the boats as soon as possible, two builders were chosen. The Tennessee measured 202 by 40.6 by 8. It had vertical Uniflow condensing 3 cyl. single expansion engines which developed a total of 2,140 hp. Two water tube boilers, burned fuel oil. The boat was taken back to Dravo in July 1946 where the original stern was lopped off and a completely new stern, with Kort nozzles, was installed, and the boat was back in service six weeks later. I believe Dravo did the same with the other three sister boats. I do not know if the rebuilding had any effect on its overall length. Mississippi Valley Barge Line sold the Tennessee in November 1962 to Texas Menhaden Co., Port Arthur, Texas, a fish processor. This may have been to “hide” the real purchaser. It was moved to Houston where Parker Bros. Shipyard did the major rebuilding project, including shortening the hull 20 feet. All of the steam machinery was taken out and a pair of Fairbanks Morse 38D8 1/8 diesels were installed which gave it 4,000 hp. The name was changed to Texas, and the owner became Houston Barge Line, Inc., Houston. This was part of the Parker family of businesses which included partial ownership of Greenville (Miss.) Towing Co.; East Liverpool (Ohio) River-Rail Terminal, an oil dock on the upper Ohio River; Texas Molten Sulphur Transport Co., and a number of other companies. Dan Owen P.S. The last photo Boat Photo Museum has of the Texas was undated. In 1985 the boat was listed as “out of service.” He suggests that Allen Wisby might be able to offer details of the vessel’s last years. Click here to see the latest pictures. 
Recipe Box
Do you have a good recipe you’d like to share? Submit your recipes here! The Book Beat
In recent issues we have highlighted high quality river books, the prices of which have been reduced drastically so we can cut down our inventory. Among them are “For Wood And Water”, “Portraits From The Past”, “Taming The Upper Mississippi”, “If Ships Could Talk”, “Steamboats on the Fox” and many others. Some we have in very limited numbers, and they will not be restocked. Visit them and others on our web site. Self-publishing your book:  Self-publishing your book is a good way to go, but there are booby traps everywhere. Call us at 314/921-4419 to find out how your book can be published without experiencing the problems many writers have faced. Remember, when you self-publish with us, you pay the costs, but you get the books. With some subsidized printing schemes, you don’t. Get More Visitors To Your Web Site - Join The U.S. Inland Waterways Site Ring!
This is a web ring owned by Little River Books. It is dedicated to those who work, rest, or play on the inland waterways of the United States. Owners of river-related commercial or private sites can apply to join, bringing together as many waterways related sites as possible. Sign up (FREE), put the code on your page, and watch your hits skyrocket! Let’s see if we can make this one of the biggest and best river site rings on the web. Benefit from other river sites’ traffic and gain new visitors. If you sell a river-related product on your site, this is the ring for you! (You must copy and past the site ring graphic onto your web site as soon as your site is approved.) Check out the sites currently in the ring and their hit statistics as a direct result of being in the site ring. Tow Talkin'
May 1, 2006 By Kathy Flippo  Had a surprise visitor to these parts on April 25th, but after looking her up in the Inland River Record, I see she isn’t a stranger after all, just a new name. I knew her as the Mv. Frederic B. Wells when Peavey Barge Lines owned her. She’s the Mv. Amy Frances now and has been since 1999 when she was renamed by her new owner, Magnolia Marine Transport co. of Jackson, Miss.
Built in 1979 by St. Louis Ship, the “new” Amy Frances is 140 feet by 38 feet and is powered by a pair of GM diesels giving 3,800 horsepower. From 1994 to 1999 she was leased to Inland River Towing, Inc., and then by Brown Water Towing, Inc. Other visitors this past week, that I saw anyway, included the Mvs. Gene Herde, John M. Rivers and…to continue reading, click here. See you on the Web, Jack Little River Books jacksimpson@littleriverbooks.com Don't forget to visit our web site! |
||||||||
