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November 7, 2005 -- Vol. 5 Issue 45 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:
Ever Wonder
If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal? A Personal Note From Jack
 About Homeland Security
I lost the email and can’t identify the subscriber, but his inquiry reminded me of an old clipping that I had on my desk amid the rubble. The writer was wondering about the homeland security tactics that have resulted in photographers being stopped when it seems to officials that they are too inquisitive, or too near a potential target, or too near something…or too interested. My response was that we live in different times now and that we have to go along with the rules. I personally do not blame officials for being cautious. We don’t know when or where terrorists will strike. We need to cut the officials some slack. Better safe than sorry. The clipping I referred to was published back in mid-August. It told of two photographers who were questioned by officials in South Dakota after they had been seen photographing near Chamberlain, and near Oahe Dam at Pierre, the state’s capitol. It was determined that they were no threat. However, the action that resulted when red flags raised over their presence was quite extensive. The details are sketchy at best, but the bottom line is that the word went out to dam officials in North Dakota and South Dakota and tours of the Missouri River dams were suspended until the matter was cleared up. We think it took just a few days for the whole thing to blow over, but it seems a little much. They were merely taking pictures of unusual places around the area. Tourists who missed tours were thinking, no doubt, “Damn those dam officials!” Contributors to our Photo Center, whom I shall leave unnamed so no harassment befalls them, spent a great deal of time more than a year ago planning Gulf cruise to photograph boats (and whatever). They even notified the Coast Guard in advance. Yet they were stopped and given a lot of grief. Even if it didn’t cause them serious trouble, it did leave a bad taste in their mouths, especially since they had been taking pictures unhindered for many years previously. So if you shoot pictures around anything that looks like anything, just be aware that anything can happen! Falsehoods In The News I was disgusted over the past few days to read about an honorably discharged GI, who wrote a book about Iraq and traveled the country telling lies about what atrocities American military personnel are committing there. I think the book name is “Just A Soldier.” Apparently, the man’s stories were repeated endlessly by numerous publications without any effort to confirm that what he said was true. It wasn’t. We got our report in the “St. Louis Post-Dispatch”, which was alerted when he talked about a certain incident that the “Post’s” photographers had covered. The man lied about what happened. One thing led to another, and finally a quite lengthy report resulted about the obligation of news people to confirm what they hear and not just be stenographers for those who speak publicly. Having been a journalist 50 years, it is upsetting. Only in the last year or so have we had national scandals about well-known writers “faking it.” Now for my own little contribution. I personally do not want to be responsible for reporting untruths. In situations like the aftermath of Katrina, early reports may be true or not (or they can just be incomplete and not up to date), but as time passes the truth or fiction of them comes out. Admittedly, there is a scramble to report news quickly to beat the competition. That makes many people careless. We learned that much that came out of the aftermath was false reporting, based on failure to confirm what was being reported by individuals and public officials. I guess I am now considered a blogger. That does not relieve me of my obligation to be honest. I cannot say for certain that I have not reported untruths. I can say for certain that it I never have done it knowingly. Usually, since I cannot afford to make phone calls all over the country to confirm some reports, I generally hope to see more than one report about the same incident, then hope that it is true. However, this is not foolproof by any means. As we have learned from experience, gray publishing gets into the works. Gray publishing is when someone writes up a report that looks official, signs it, identifies himself and then distributes copies. These copies get picked up by others who believe them to be true, although they may not be, and somehow work them into information they feed the press. In this manner some very big falsehoods have reached the pages of legitimate newspapers, then picked up by other newspapers and repeated and repeated. The ball just keeps rolling. So it is possible for me to get caught in one of these traps. Hopefully, when I consider what I hear in radio and television reporting, what I read in newspapers and what I find on the Net, I can be fairly certain that I am reporting the truth. When I find out that I am not, I try to explain it in an issue of B&B. I use Google a lot. Newsletter News
This week we are including a rather long story about the discovery of a steamboat, the North Alabama, along the Missouri shore near Vermillion, S.D. It is an interesting piece of history. But I can tell you why I am running it verbatim. Don Radel of the “Sioux Falls Argus Leader” sent the story, which appeared in his paper, and thought it might be of interest to us. I’m sure I’m not the only one who received it, but an offer to use a story like that does not come along every day. I was interested on general principals, but also I am a South Dakotan. So I hope you find the tale interesting. It is at the end of the On The Waterfront section below. For Those Inclined To Pray
 We have modified the steps for joining our Prayer Circle. If you visit the Prayer Circle link on at www.littleriverbooks.com, you will find that those who sign up are completely anonymous. We do not ask for first names nor states of residence. Joining is as simple as providing an email address to which we can send future prayer requests. Each prayer request list includes a link for including requests.
By joining our Prayer Circle, you can tap into the prayerful support of circle members wherever they are. Membership and prayer requests are open to everyone. Advertising
Your classified ad can go in this space for $10 for one week, $20 for two weeks, $25 for three weeks, and $30 for four weeks. For details click here. On The Waterfront
Levee-Construction Fraud Reported To U.S. Senate A “Washington Post” story on November 3 said investigators, looking into why New Orleans levees failed after Katrina, presented reports of “deliberate misconduct by contractors who may have skimped on construction materials in building the city’s floodwalls and levees.” On August 29 there were four major breeches and dozens of smaller ones. Some 1,000 people died after water surged across 80 percent of the city and swamping an estimated 100,000 homes. Two investigators described the alleged misconduct — at least a dozen allegations about serious cheating were received — as “…potentially criminal acts that may well have contributed to the collapse of the city’s flood-control system on August 29.” Among the allegations were the use of badly compacted soil during levee construction and skimping on steel pilings used to anchor floodwalls to the ground, the “Post” said. New findings suggest that the 17th Street and London Avenue canals were not merely overtopped, as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said initially. One professor, an engineer and leader of one team of Louisiana investigators, said failure “was due to a design that did not take into account the very weak nature of the soils.” He said, “…poor design may have made the floodwalls more likely to fail.” From the Senate hearing came reports that at this point, all the investigators have are some stories of malfeasance and some field evidence that tends to correlate with the stories. It is not clear how big a role the acts may have played in the failure of the levees. (Editor’s note: When the investigator refers to “potentially” criminal acts, we think he uses the word potentially because the allegations are still just that. If confirmed, then we see no circumstances under which the acts would not be considered criminal.) Habitat For Humanity Barge Picks Up At St. Louis  When author Kathy Flippo’s column “River Talkin’” featured the Habitat for Humanity St. Paul story last week, we had no idea or advance warning that the barge would be stopping at the St. Louis riverfront to pick up 10 more houses for the trip to the New Orleans area. The Habitat for Humanity St. Louis group finished nine houses and the plan was to finish a tenth on Monday morning right at the waterfront for the “Today Show.”
The St. Louis group put on a 40-hour construction blitz to do the work; they were held up once for three hours due to a hail storm but still insisted that the deadline would be met. The last house was framed-up on a deck barge between 6 and 7 a.m. today (Monday). (Editor’s note: For those who might have missed the letter last week, we include here a link to the barge carrying the houses in containers. The picture was one of many taken by Nancy Mihalek of Lakeville, Minn. Nancy’s husband, Jim, is a regular contributor to our Photo center.) Illinois House Votes To Shut Down All Nine Of Illinois Casinos We don’t know where they were headed with this, but as our headline says, the Illinois House voted recently to shut down all nine of Illinois riverboat casinos. Well, it doesn’t matter, the Senate later pronounced the bill (HB 1920) dead. A “St. Louis Post-Dispatch” editorial speculates that politicians were using scare tactics to get the gaming industry to cough up more campaign contributions. That’s one guess. The paper said conspiracy theories abound in Springfield, the Illinois state capitol. The deciding factor was money. The gaming industry paid $700 million in taxes in Illinois last year and another $100 million to nine communities where the riverboats are sited. The industry employs 9,000 people, 2,800 of them in East St. Louis. Another Twist To Gaming Restrictions (In Missouri) It has been reported that about 145 addicted gamblers a month have permanently banned themselves from gambling for life in Missouri. Legislators, counselors and gambling foes find that comforting and say gamblers are getting the message. Now, however, the Missouri Gaming Commission suggested in its annual report that more gamblers might sign up for the ban if they changed the law to allow them to be banned for shorter periods. Stay tuned! (Editor’s note: Seems to us that it’s a way to get addicted gamblers back to the table eventually.) River Reveals Sunken Steamboat Archaeologists seize chance to study construction, history Nestor Ramos nramos@argusleader.com October 28, 2005 Vermillion, S.D.- On Oct. 27, 1870, the North Alabama steamed up the Missouri River, burning through a cord of wood every hour. As it traveled, riding high on the river, paddle wheels churning, it snagged on something just beneath the water. The hold filled with sand. The crew couldn’t save their ship, so they salvaged what they could. Now, the remains of a ship that archaeologists think is the North Alabama sit exposed, uncovered for the first time in 75 years. “All indications seem to be that this is the North Alabama that sunk on this date in 1870,” Larry Bradley, an archaeologist at the University of South Dakota, said Thursday, standing on a sandbar in the middle of the Missouri. Last year, Bradley said, he would have been under six feet of water. The river’s low water level, sand migration and the ongoing drought all played a part in exposing the ship’s hull. To Larry Murphy, the boat’s bleached, deteriorated remains are a fascinating reminder of the lifeblood of a lost era, when the country’s rivers were as vital to commerce as the highways and the air are today. “People growing up now see the river in a very different way, rather than fundamental to their existence,” said Murphy, director of the National Park Service’s Submerged Resources Center in Santa Fe, N.M. The park service and the university have been working for two weeks to document the precise location of the boat’s remains, each morning ferrying their gear to a sandbar in the stretch of river southwest of Vermillion where the boat snagged. The location of the wreckage, as well as the details of its construction, tell the small crews that this is indeed the North Alabama, a riverboat designed to move large amounts of cargo. Using global positioning locators and electric pulse imaging, the archaeologists can document and map the exact location, to within 1 centimeter, of every piece of eroding wood and rusted metal. “All we can see now is just a small percentage of the boat,” Bradley said. Some of the remains now sit under the sand, including another rudder - the North Alabama had four. The ship’s skeleton reaches out of the water, then winds back under, the bow still pressing, just beneath the water, against the heavy stump that probably brought it under 135 years ago. The hull is split down the middle, and much of what made the boat a boat has been lost to time and scavengers and the relentless river. Murphy has seen the Titanic, the monuments at Pearl Harbor and Spanish galleons with the parks service. For him, the planks and boards of the boat that once traversed North America’s most dangerous river to navigate are a treasure. He pointed upriver at the stumps and logs jutting out of the water, hazards that would have been impossible to see when the river was higher. Piecing together history “Every time there’s a chance to look at one, we are able to learn a little bit more and to piece together a history that’s going on 150 years old,” he said. Centuries from now, men like Murphy might be picking over the fascinating skeleton of a rusted jet. Because the boat’s remains are well-preserved, the crew has been able to document a substantial amount, Murphy said. “The only real threat now is that people are removing things,” Murphy said. That danger is much more significant than the river, which erodes the oak slowly. Even so, Murphy hopes people will come to visit the wreckage. “This is a part of our common history,” he said. A 260-ton steamboat built in Pittsburgh in the 1860s, the North Alabama was captained the day it was lost by Grant Marsh, who had found his fame four years earlier, when he transported wounded soldiers down from the Little Big Horn River, bringing with them the news of Gen. George Custer’s defeat. Not built to last Riverboats were built light and fast to save money, Murphy said, and they typically had a life span of only five or six years. Their architecture was unique the world over. Owners could make back their investment in one trip, provided the ship carried enough cargo, and every trip thereafter was pure profit. So when the North Alabama hit the snag, it wasn’t a complete disaster. Nobody drowned, and many of the usable parts of the boat - the paddle wheels, in particular - were quickly salvaged. In the 1930s, Bradley said, the boat surfaced briefly. “All the local bars emptied out,” he said. People flocked to pick over the wreckage. The rumor was that “there’s a hold full of whiskey, and it’s well-aged,” Bradley said. Anything is possible, but it’s unlikely that anyone scored anything of value. Until last year, that was the last time anyone saw the North Alabama above the water. When the boat surfaced in 1890, Murphy said, the town came out to gawk. “It was quite spectacular,” he said. “The local news at the time said, ‘The river has given up one that it had once taken.’ ” Now, a century later, it has given it up again. Crossing The Bar
(As reported by “The Waterways Journal”) Capt. Joseph Toomey, 95, of Brownsville, Minn., died on October 9. He had worked for most of the larger barge lines in St. Louis and retired as a Master Pilot for Material Service Corporation, Chicago. Evelyn Lorraine Bullock Rushing, 86, of Cape Girardeau, Mo., died September 29 at Chateau Giraraeau. She was the wife of the late C. W. “Woody” Rushing and part of the family that has been operating towboats on the family for years. Rushing Marine Service has named at least two of those boats in her honor. A painting of one of them graces the Mississippi River floodwall at Cape Girardeau. 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
About That Waterways Trust Fund Could you tell me - How much per gallon is the fuel oil tax on towboats? How much money did it bring in last year? What was the money used for? People that work for the Corps of Engineers tell me that even their operating money is being taken and used for FEMA and National Security. Walter H. Maund B&B sent the inquiry to Harry N. Cook, who is presently associated with the Waterways Council. As president of the National Waterways Council for about 40 years, Mr. Cook reported regularly on river matters, including how the Trust Fund was being used. Of late he works with the Waterways Council, Inc.’s newsletter “Capitol Currents.” Here is his reply, for which we are grateful. “The Treasury has just announced the Inland Waterways Trust Fund totals for the last fiscal year: $98,949,323.88 in revenues (including $91,287,000.000 in waterway fuel taxes and $7,662,323.88 in interest) and transfers to the Army Corps of Engineers for inland navigation construction and major rehabilitation of $136,319,500.00, a record. To answer the other questions, the tax is 20 cents per gallon on the fuel used for propulsion on 27 shallow-draft waterway segments specified in Congressional acts. The money is used only for navigation construction (mainly lock replacements) and major rehabilitation on the fuel-taxed waterway system. From time to time, the Corps of Engineers has to divert funds to emergencies, such as dredging Gulf Coast Waterways following the recent hurricanes, but usually the money is paid back to the various accounts from subsequent enactments. Harry N. Cook Needs Info On Dredge Tulsa Is there any way you can steer me to more information pertaining to the Dredge Tulsa sinking in the Ouachita River back in August? I was an engineer on Tulsa, working the Mississippi River in the St. Louis area back in the late ’80s. I’d like to know the details, crew, etc. Mike Carter MMC USN (ret.) (Editor’s note: Any helpers out there?) Where Is The Vessel E & G Enterprises? I’m trying to track down a vessel operator named E & G Enterprises. They used to report to the Corps, but they disappeared, and I recently heard they’re operating again, but can’t confirm a new address and phone number. We are desperately trying to reconcile the tonnage differences between the Waterborne Commerce data and the lock monitoring data. I think they may have also been involved in hitting a pier (in the Pittsburgh/Morgantown, W. Va. area) with a barge because they couldn’t steer the boat due to ice. I believe all this occurred in January 2004. This was during the time that your newsletter was in hiatus, so there’s no archived data. Melanie A. Reynolds  Boat Photo Center
We have 10 more nice pictures for your viewing this week, including a Rhine shot from Germany that shows an interesting industrial background and what I take to be a string of barges, with different-looking covers (for us anyway), along the near bank. Contributions this week came from Jim Mihalek, who posted the Queen City; Hape Kraus of Oberhausen, Germany, who posted three pictures of the Herkules XV on the Rhine; Dan Owen and the Boat Photo Museum, who posted the Robert L and the R. H. Beymer (trick shot here); Ed Rahe, who posted the Mary Parker; and George Vincent, who sent us the Amber Brittany, Beth Wilson, and Mary Harter. Recipe Box
If you are a towboat cook, home chef, backyard barbecuer, tailgater, or know anybody who is, please pass the word along to submit recipes! Book Beat
“The Inland River Record” The 2006 “Inland River Record” is due to be released about mid-November. Therefore, we have suspended sales of the 2005 edition unless the buyer insists on having it. We are making up a list of those desiring to purchase the 2006 edition as soon as it is available. You can give us your name, email address and phone number via email at any time and we will contact you when we can start delivering and to consummate the sale. The price, we’re told by the publisher, will remain the same, $37.50 plus S&H from the WJ. We market it for $32.50 plus S&H. Book Feature “Delta Queen” a novel by Charles Bowen. When I first began reading “Delta Queen,” I had my doubts because one has to wonder how it fits into things. The $19.95 price threw me for a slight tilt. That’s a bit much for a soft cover book of fiction, I thought. But I was in for quite a surprise. First, I should mention that Bowen is the author of more than two dozen nonfiction books. This book was inspired by a trip he and his wife, Pamela, took on the Delta Queen. Well, I soon discovered, and my conclusions were confirmed the more I read, that this is not just a well-written novel that keeps you turning pages. It’s a love story and a good one. But what I discovered was that it is well worth the price, because if you can’t take a trip on the Delta Queen, you can read pages and pages of delightfully written descriptions that really give you a tour of the famed vessel. It was a pleasant surprise. I have read about the DQ for years. The information available in the book seems endless, as Bowen weaves in his descriptions skillfully and interestingly to advance the plot and give you a complete picture of what the setting for this romance novel is. The book is $19.95 plus S&H and will be on our web site in a few days. Don’t miss it. If you are a DQ fan, you will really enjoy it. It’s a keeper. If you want a copy quicker, call Jack at 314/921-4419 and order with Visa or MasterCard. If and when you call, ask about a freebie, and I will give you a choice from five. “Field of Conflict, River of Dreams” by Biloine Whiting Young. 300 + pages Some illustrations. Another great surprise came when I delved into this book. I had once editorially panned the message that appears on the back of the book, because I do not agree that river transportation is obsolete. But that message came from environmentalists and St. Paul planners who really want to see the river put to other use besides transportation. What I have read so far is beautifully detailed and readable history. It is not often that I say a book “is one of the very best that I have ever read.” But I say that sincerely about this one. Author Young traces the development of towns and the Upper Mississippi portion of our heartland clear back to the first steamboats. It is thorough and a page-turner. You will be surprised to learn about the various peoples who came to the heartland to settle along the rivers, and not so surprised to learn that communities that did not have access to the river faded, while those who did grew into healthy communities. All the more reason that the rivers are still so important. I have read only 130 pages so far (I read “Delta Queen” in between.) I do not intend to change my evaluation. I am still in the area of early development, but I see that the later portions relate to later, more modern issues. This book, I’m sure is a keeper. We have it for 17.95 plus S&H. It will be on the web site within a few days. To order more quickly, do as I suggested before. Call Jack at 314/921-4419 and order via Visa or MasterCard. If and when you call, ask about a freebie, and I will give you a choice from five. The Gift Shop
Models And Caps Discontinued Because Cherokee Barge and Boat has announced interest in advertising its multitude of river-related products in our newsletter and perhaps on our web site, we have discontinued handling the scant choice of barge models and the American Steamboater caps that we previously carried in our gift shop. These products will be available in a larger variety from Cherokee, so it will actually be more convenient for those desiring to buy models. By ordering directly from Cherokee, customers can get the precise selection with boat and company name, type of barges, etc. that they want. This is a service we could not offer. Zerstörer Rommel Patch We still have on hand a limited number of the large, attractive patch bearing the woven image of the German ship Zerstörer Rommel, and its designation D-187. We continue to offer it through B&B for $5, including S&H. The patches were a unique discovery at a recent exploration of a St. Louis area shop. It seems highly likely that the vessel, still operating in the late 1990s, was named after Field Marshall Erwin Rommel, famed Panzer Korps battle strategist during World War II. Interested buyers can send a $5 check or money order to Little River Books, 2175 Huntington Dr., Florissant, MO 63033-1227 or phone 314/921-4419 with Visa or MasterCard. Tow Talkin'
November 7, 2005 By Kathy Flippo  I was on the road to up north and back October 27-29 and pretty much in hog heaven the whole time. I didn’t even get out of town before having to do some tow watching. Ingram’s Mv. Bruce R. Birmingham came up with the Richard E. Waugh in tow. The Waugh was just going along for the ride and came back down a few days later with 15 loads. It’s getting to be that time of year to get everything out before freeze-up. Of course when it is in the mid-70s on the 2nd and 3rd of November, it’s had to think of winter coming soon. The Birmingham is a regular as she usually is taking coal loads up to the power plant at Alma, Wisconsin. I know nothing about the Waugh. Have never seen it, and it isn’t in my 2005 Inland River Record.
Finally got out of town with a slight detour to Sabula, Iowa’s, only island city. It’s not a true island any more, as it has four causeways connecting it to the mainland and Savanna, Illinois. The Mv. Charlie Boy was moving…to continue reading, 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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