|
|
|
|
July 24, 2006 -- Vol. 6 Issue 29 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
Sometimes good intentions lead to some unexpectedly devastating results. 
Editorial Comment From Jack
 I believe I can say with honesty that there is a portion of the performance of the U.S. Coast Guard that I think is admirable and another portion that I think is inefficient and damaging to the river industry.
From the time that the CG did battle over a bridge at Little Rock and the state’s legislative powerhouse, the goose of the Second Coast Guard District was cooked. It all happened a long time ago. The battle was over horizontal clearance for the bridge, and rivermen believed it was insufficient. My recollection is that it was the East Belt Bridge over I-440 and the clearance was 500 ft. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station at Vicksburg did some tests and believed the clearance should be 600 feet. Rivermen thought that because the bridge would be close to a bend in the river, the clearance should be 600 feet. The Second Coast Guard district commander agreed. Suddenly Washington politics reared its ugly head and the district commander was ordered to keep his mouth shut. Rivermen on the Gulf threatened to sue over it, but I don’t know if the suit ever came to pass. Well, the bridge and its 500 feet of clearance was built. I must admit that I have heard of no accidents ever having happened at the bridge. But what happened to the Second Coast Guard District was no accident. It was kaboshed. The former 2nd district served 22 states and a lot of rivermen as well as recreational boaters. What followed in the next few years probably was not related to the Arkansas issue, but almost all vital offices were yanked out of St. Louis. In the meantime, the Eighth Coast Guard District took over the responsibilities. The district knew very little about brown-water activities. So services plummeted. In the next few years we saw the Regional Exam Centers dwindle in number, all the while the CG saying it was for the purpose of improving service. Later the rules on drugs were awkwardly handled by CG people who fashioned them in fire-sale style after blue-water regulations. We got the short end of the stick again. The Coast Guard is very good at search and rescue, and we don’t want to cast aspersions at the fine men and women who do this work. There is also a large contingent of hard workers on buoy tenders (they call them cutters) that monitor buoy placement on the rivers and keep the system up to snuff. My good friend Dean Gabbert of Warsaw, Ill., speaks in very complimentary fashion about these buoy-tender crews, because he has ridden their vessels, ate and slept with them, and knows them inside out. So know right off that we are not critical of them either. And we cannot overlook the fine performance of the CG (search and rescue) in its proud performance following Katrina. Great heroes all. And that is where they shine. But when it comes to some other aspects of the marine industry, the CG is terrible. For many years its records of accidents was just a joke. One grounded barge could be the reason for a CG record that showed 15 barge accidents. The reporting system was bad. The requirements were silly, and the ultimate records were inaccurate. Now, as many you have already seen in your “Waterways Journal” editorial, the Coast Guard is, perhaps unintentionally, driving a nail in the coffin of the river industry. Licensing rules, impacted by the imposition of homeland security requirements, have become so restrictive that the industry is no longer able to fully man its boats. I will not go into it more deeply here, since the editorial spells it out. But you know that we have recorded some of the complaints in these columns. What is more important to consider is that water transportation is the only transportation system in the United States that can carry more cargo merely by modernizing the system and good facility maintenance. The industry is ready and willing. The railroads cannot keep up. They haven’t enough capacity and they have no where to expand. The trucking industry can only expand by adding more trucks to the already crowded high system and producing more pollution (the Maritime Administration has told of this for years) and eating up natural resources unnecessarily. Further, the river system is environmentally friendly. We currently carry roughly 15-16 percent of the domestic cargo in this country at a cost of about 2-3 percent of the total freight bill. The involvement in water transportation and its role in our import/export picture is tremendous. Are we willing to risk all this by making it impossible for the river industry to man its boats? Terrorist threats or not, we have to quit overreacting to security issues. Americans must continue to live and eat and work. Yet when one punk kid makes a hoax phone call, we close bridges, shut down buildings, spend hundreds of thousands of dollars by halting all activity until we are sure it was a hoax. Well, there are times when that has to be the reaction. But we do not need to build a licensing system that is so strict and demanding that in the end it proves worthless and disastrous to the river industry. (Editor’s note: I invite anyone who has run into great difficulty getting licensed or renewing licenses to write a note to this column. Of let me know if you know of someone who has lost a job due to overzealous enforcement of homeland security rules, such as those that keep a man from being hired because 20 years earlier (as a teenager) he had been arrested for dwi. Let's keep this pot boiling!)
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 freë. Request lists are sent out via email, generally, on the day they are received. Come join us!
Newsletter News
The B&B household has been beset by power problems. Last Wednesday a storm came through the St. Louis area and knocked out power to half a million people. I felt lucky because I was not among them. I had much of the newsletter ready to go and was about to embark on a short trip. Then at 11 a.m. on Friday another storm came our way. We felt the full brunt of it. Although our trees were not badly damaged, we lost power. Trees and big branches were down all over the neighborhood. Sunday we got power back at 5 p.m. Monday morning the paper reported 270,000 people still without power. We suffered only minor inconveniences, cooked on the grill and boiled water on the grill for coffee. Our daughters and their families helped out by moving our frozen food for us. One of them was without power as we were. The area where the other lived was not hit hard. Restaurants fared just as badly. When some did reopen, lines were lengthy. We still had hot water for showers, so we did better than most. Our neighbor lost quite a bit of meat he had bought recently. Anyway, this is being written with hopes that we can still get it out today. I have been unable to communicate with anyone via email, but as of Sunday began responding where necessary.
On The Waterfront
Senate Passes WRDA The biggest news this week, though it has probably been well aired by now, is that the Senate passed the Water Resources Development Act on July 19 by a voice vote and soon will go to conference to iron out the differences between the bill it passed and the House version, passed almost a year ago. The main battle still brewing is still over imposing stringent oversight on the Corps so that other people can get their fingers into the pie and tell the Corps how to run its business. Word is the conference will probably take place in September. Until then, various leaders will do their best to explain to those in power the impact that could result from some amendments that were passed. So all we can do is stay tuned!
Summaries of Stories That Seem Pertinent — Due to demand in the nonresidential and highway construction markets, Caterpillar, Inc.’s profits surged 38 percent in second quarter, reflecting the strongest financial performance in at least four decades, the “Herald-News” in the Chicago area, reports. — The “Vicksburg Post” reports that the city of Vicksburg has transferred back to the Corps of Engineers, the 1961 version of the Mv. Mississippi, which will serve as the prime attraction of the U.S. Corps of Engineers Museum. The construction start on the $12 million city front project is still about two years away, the paper said. The 218-foot vessel served as the flagship for the Corps for 30 years. Its official name will be: Lower Mississippi River Museum and Interpretive Site. — A high tech Hawk camera is being used to discover barge leaks in Louisiana. A three-day survey revealed 20 barges leaking chemicals into the air, most of them in the Baton Rouge area. The cameras allowed the Department of Environmental Quality to survey nearly 100 barges a day from the air. There are no regulations governing barge emissions, but investigators feel it is important to inform the owners of the problems. — Austin Boudreau has been traveling around the country by barge for almost 50 years, entertaining audiences with his musicians from the decks of a barge. Now he has people at Madisonville, La., up in arms because following a performance in July, he took off for parts unknown and left his barge behind. Actually, he took his 45-member American Wind Symphony Orchestra to other parts of the country where he did not need 195-foot Point Counterpoint II, what southern writers are calling his futuristic performance barge. Officials don’t know what to do with it. It is taking up lots of dock space and drawing lots of complaints. Boudreau said someone will come after it, but he didn’t say who nor when. He also told town clerk Cindy Phelps that he’d like to sell the $2 million barge to the state and retire. Well, why not? He’s now 80.
Visit the Little River Books Message Board!
You can contact the editor dírectly 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: The FEMA Story I think the purpose of FEMA is to make the FAA look good. Takes the pressure off of them. I saw a TV report some time ago of a builder who had a small house plan that could be built for $70,000—a permanent house. Because federal law prohibits FEMA money to be used for permanent housing they wouldn’t pay for them, but they would pay for a trailer that cost $75,000. This whole thing stinks so badly, but if anyone calls for a true accounting of all the money ($3000 to tarp a roof) they are vilified. I truly believe that the government has to throw so much money at a problem just so some of it will actually get to where it is supposed to go. The sad part is that the next time something happens, they will dump even more money into it with the same results. Like my brother says, “don’t confuse motion for progress.” Keep up the good work! Jim Mihalek Lakeville, MN
Re: B&B When I checked my email today I was very happy to see the new Bitts & Bytes. It appears to be a very good publication. I will read it in depth later today. Thanks for sending it to me. Capt. Philip Ritchie
Re: Flood Control As to flood control, if you want to live by the water, then you take your lumps as they come and don’t whine because of floods. Kathy Flippo Albany, Ill.
Re: Great Lakes Boat Pictures We know B&B readers are mostly river people, but an old friend who has written about Great Lakes boats for years is planning a move to Oklahoma and wants to sell his “lifetime” collection of Great Lakes boat pictures. If anyone is interested, they can contact J. Baumhofer at baumhofer58@comcast.net
Boat Photo Center
Need I say that we need photos? I do! This week’s eight photos include: the O. H. Ingram, American Beauty, Frank R. Alter, and Bill Stegbauer from John Miller; and the Titan, Wanda B, Joe T, and Ralph B from Eric M. Johnson. Click here to see the latest pictures.
Recipe Box
Do you have a good recipe you’d like to share? Submit your recipes here! LOUISIANA DUMP CAKE 1 box yellow cake mix (any brand/price) 2 cans pie filling (any flavor/brand/price), sweetened* 1 stick butter or margarine, salted 1-2 sm. pkg. nuts (halves, sliced, chopped or slivers) 1 pkg. raisins (optional, good with apple filling) *Any low cal or diet version does not have enough juice. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Pie filling - Dump into a 9 x 12 inch pan. Shake/spread evenly. Raisins - Add to pie filling at this point. Cake mix - Shake/spread evenly on top of pie filling (do not mix). Butter - Cut into small bits (a butter slicer works great) and place in rows on top of cake mix. This part will be messy. Nuts - Shake/spread evenly on top of all. Total prep time 10 minutes max! Bake at 375 degrees F. or 45-min/1 hr (when cake mix and nuts are golden brown). Pie filling should bubble up through cake mix. Serve warm or cold, with or without vanilla ice cream or Cool Whip. Sliced or shredded cheddar cheese is also good on the apple version. Cinnamon and/or nutmeg are also nice sprinkled on some of the flavors. This dessert is even better the second day, and it can be frozen. Enjoy! Submitted by: Beverly Clarke, Houston, TX (Morgan City, Louisiana 1982-1986)
The Book Beat
Missouri River books are always good reading, and as you know we have several, all very reasonably priced. They include:  For Wood and Water: Steamboating on the Missouri River from Saint Louis to Fort Union, Dakota Territory 1841-1846 - by Mark H. Bettis, which is offered at the bargain price of $8 + S&H, $4.95 below normal retail. 160 pages. Soft cover. Nonfiction. For Wood and Water is based on never-before-published material that documents the life and times aboard Missouri River steamboats of the 1840s. The book is a collection of journals authored by Capt. Joseph A. Sire on his annual voyages to the Upper Missouri River. Sire was chief transportation officer for the Pierre Chouteau and Co. He was instrumental in the Upper Missouri River fur trade and often accompanied the supply boats to the posts of the Northwest. 
Usually same-day shipping!List Price: $12.95 Our Price: $8.00 You Save: $4.95 (38.2%) “Steamboat Legacy”, “Steamboat Treasures” and “Steamboat Kid” by the late Dorothy Heckmann Shrader 11.50 each plus S&H.  Steamboat Legacy - by Dorothy Heckmann Shrader 276 pages. Illustrated. Soft cover. Nonfiction - The book is based on the diaries of Mary Louise Miller Heckmann, the author's grandmother. Steamboat Legacy is a faithful record of 43 years of the life and times of a steamboat family. It is a tale told by those who were there, recorded by the granddaughter Mary Miller Heckmann never knew. The diaries begin in 1866. The reader will step back a century to the rowdy port of Hermann, Missouri, and the shining heyday of the steamers that once plied the beautiful Gasconade, Osage and wild Missouri rivers. John Hartford said it best, "…For river buffs, historians, folklorists, and readers in general-Steamboat Legacy is a keeper." Usually same-day shipping!List Price: $12.95 Our Price: $11.50 (1 in stock) You Save: $1.45 (11.2%)  Steamboat Treasures - by Dorothy Heckmann Shrader252 pages. Illustrated. Soft cover. Nonfiction - In the critically acclaimed Steamboat Legacy - the first book of her Missouri River Trilogy-Dorothy Heckmann Shrader told the poignant tale of her grandparent's generation. In Steamboat Treasures, she traces the writings and career of her wonderfully outspoken uncle, Steamboat Bill Heckmann, the Mark Twain of the Missouri River. Usually same-day shipping! List Price: $12.95 Our Price: $11.50 (3 in stock) You Save: $1.45 (11.2%)  The Conquest of the Missouri by Joseph Mills Hanson, a great read filled with exciting river events, including the move of U.S. Cavalry troops in Yellowstone country to fight the Sioux and the historic journey of the Far West back down the Missouri while loaded with Indian war survivors. $12.95 + S&H. 496 pages. 23 b/w photos. Soft cover. 5.25 in. by 8 in. A classic narrative as seen through the eyes of Capt. Grant Marsh. Capt. Grant Marsh was one of the river pilots who navigated the shoals and rapids of the Missouri River. Captain Marsh watched Jackson's sense of American Manifest Destiny unfold. He helped survey the upper reaches of the Missouri, he took his steamer to the shallows of Little Bighorn to return battle-weary soldiers to their homes, and he watched as the region was transformed from a lonesome wilderness to a region of agriculture, commerce, and industry. In his presentations of the life of the great steamboat captain, Joseph Mills Hanson provides historical context for Capt. Marsh's accomplishments and uses accounts of his contemporaries to breath life into one of the men who helped shape the future of this nation. "The Conquest of the Missouri" is one of the classic narratives on the history of the American West. Usually same-day shipping!
Our Price: $14.95  Grab a Bush by R. Allen Coleman. A neat little book about river tales and truths and yarns and myths and fun, as told by three men who had been on the river 60 years at the time of its writing. $6.50 + S&H. 150 pages. 14 illustrations. Soft cover. 5.25 by 7 in. R. Allen Coleman, according to the late James V. Swift, spent some 60 years on the Missouri River. He has had a lot to say about environmentalists claims about what the river is and what the river isn’t. Grab A. Bush, however, is a different way of revealing the secrets of the river. It is filled with tales of the Missouri River steamboat days. About Coleman, Al Frisbie of the "Omaha World Herald" wrote: Son of a one-time riverboat man, Coleman knows the Missouri well. For years he has been fascinated by stories of boats that plied the snag-strewn river of long ago. In 1972, he wrote a booklet detailing steamboat wrecks, which occurred along the 20-mile channel in Douglas County. In other words, he knows where of he speaks and writes. In Grab A Bush, though, he strays from the narrow channel of truth to dabble delightfully in some tall tales of Missouri River lore." Yet, according to Frisbie, the book gives the reader considerable insight into what it took to head a steamboat up the Missouri’s treacherous waterways long ago. "…the book is something of a short course in river navigation and a personality study of the men who have been bound in the river. Usually shipped with 48 hours.
Our Price: $6.50
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 (F-R-E-E), 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.) Chëck out the sites currently in the ring and their hit statistics as a dírect result of being in the site ring.
Tow Talkin'
July 24, 2006 By Kathy Flippo  Wednesday, July 19th, was hot and humid until mid-afternoon when the clouds started piling in from the west. Here in Albany we had a little wind and a little rain and a good show of lightning. Over in Clinton they had a regular tree trimmer. Winds of 60-70 mph. downed trees like crazy. And, of course, they fell on power lines, so that took care of the electricity. Reminded me of the great Easter Sunday ice storm of 1952 that took trees down by the dozens. No one could get to church that Sunday because of the ice, the trees all over the streets and downed wires.
Clinton has a showboat up on the dike. It’s the old Omar steam sternwheeler, which became the Rhododendron, which became…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! |
||||||||
