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November 21, 2005 -- Vol. 5 Issue 47 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
Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together? A Personal Note From Jack
 Usually I do not write about books in this portion of the newsletter, but today I do, because the matter deals with the ongoing conflict over the Corps’ Upper Mississippi and Illinois river modernization and maintenance project. At least I believe it does.
 Recently I hawked the book “River of Conflict, River of Dreams: Three Hundred Years on the Upper Mississippi”. I said in Book Beat that I had read about half of its more than 300 pages but believed it to be of such importance that I recommended it highly. (Naturally we handle the book at www.littleriverbooks.com.)
Now, having completed reading the book, I am more convinced than ever that everyone who has an interest in the Corps’ proposed project, pro or con, should have the book in their library — and, of course, read it thoroughly. While writing editorials about environmental matters, I have frequently reminded readers that very few people had an interest in conservation and ecosystems 300 years ago, or even 150 years ago. Or should we add even 100 and 75 years ago? There were a few, like Audubon, who had great foresight and began early working toward conservation programs. But generally speaking, the struggle in America was to survive. The vast number of people who opened up the west (or settled around the head waters of the Upper Mississippi) were struggling for survival. Their drive was to find work to buy food to survive. Consequently, prior even to the presence of steamboats on the Upper, the vast hordes of new settlers had all but denuded the great pine forests that provided wood for houses, boats, all kinds of construction. They believed the forests were so large that damaging them was not possible. Hundreds of saw mills received their logs from huge log rafts floated down Mississippi. All of the trash, including millions of tons of sawdust, was just dumped into the river — that river that was so large that no one thought they could damage it. But they did. When steamboats reached the Upper, they began to tow logs. Later as railroads moved into the area, they knocked the steamboats out of business. Then, like highwaymen, they charged ridiculously high freight rates, even extracting “ransoms” from towns to assure that the trains would stop in them. Somewhere along the way, someone discovered the mussels in the Mississippi. They lay sometimes several feet deep on the bottom. A German button-maker opened up shop, and within a few years, hundreds of plants were making pearl buttons from mussel shells. Believe it or not, marble-size pearls were found on occasion and pay for them was as high as $2,000. Oh but there were so many mussels! So many, in fact, that mercenary mussel fishermen and button-makers didn’t believe they could deplete the supply. But they did. All in the name of earning a living. The government conservation people tried to seed mussels but the plan didn’t work. It takes 25 years to grow an adult mussel to four inches across. So the mussels are now endangered. In those bygone days, every city along the Upper dumped industrial waste and raw sewage into the great waterway pipeline they thought would never be ruined. It was discovered the sawdust lay very deep along the river’s bottom. Not one city had a sewage treatment plant. When the federal government realized what railroad magnates were doing to the people who needed transportation, they help set up the Inland Waterways Corporation. President Theodore Roosevelt endorsed a plan intended to develop our waterways and conserve our forests. Industrialists, the business people who depended on the river, realized the need for water transportation. They remembered too well that those towns along the river that did not have water transportation access died while those that did grew exponentially. They called for a four-foot channel on the upper. It was needed for navigation. It wasn’t enough. Later the plea was for six feet. It wasn’t enough. Finally, as the commercial traffic increased, industrialists realized that there was need for a nine-foot channel to handle the new barges. It could not be done without damming the Upper. What was most interesting to me was that leaders in the Corps at the time were against it. They warned about the damage it would do to the river. After a battle of several years, industrialists who were fighting to get the river dammed, convinced the government to transfer the reluctant chief of engineers and replace him with a man more receptive to the idea of damming and a nine-foot channel. Thus, the construction of dams on the Upper became part of the civil works program of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Literally thousands of wing dams were constructed between Minneapolis/St. Paul and St. Louis. Water was pushed to the center of the channel, and thus what the Corps had predicted earlier came true. Backwaters were squeezed and serious damage was done to wildlife habitat. Today, the mood of the public up north seems to favor housing along the river over navigation. There is a perception that environmental organizations would prefer to see water transportation eliminated on certain portions of the river. And, indeed, we do think some organizations have that as their goal. Perhaps more importantly, conservation has taken center stage. While former environmental officials did not do well the job of enforcing conservation and preservation of the ecosystem, the new breed of officials fights strongly for enforcement. In a sense, the lack of concern over the ecosystem still permeates a segment of our society. Rivers everywhere are filled with discarded trash. Riverbanks seem popular as dumping grounds for unwanted items that owners discard rather than haul to landfills. Flood waters exacerbate the problem by washing the trash into the river. Chad Pregracke, who heads up Living Lands And Waters, now is gaining growing financial support for his efforts to clean up rivers. His crews have recovered tons of refrigerators, chemical barrels, old cars, etc., etc. There seems to be a growing concern now for cleaning up rivers. While some people still dump trash, others are volunteering time to help Pregracke do the river cleanup work. Pregracke now operates what can be described as a fleet rather than a solitary boat. What I am leading up to is this. Just as the people of today had nothing to do with slavery, it was not the people of today who denuded the pine forests, fished up all the mussel beds, dumped sawmill trash into the Upper, poured industrial waste and raw sewage into the suffering river. Somewhere along the line people began to realize those mistakes. People of today are working to rectify the racist mistakes of years past. And conservation-minded people, too, are trying to correct mistakes of the past, mistakes that were not theirs. Now, however, we have problems that resulted from some of those early actions. River cities built floodwalls to protect them from the changing river. This, then, convinced some that they should build right down to the river’s edge, put structures in the flood plains that once flooded each spring and were covered with many feet of rich soil. Like Florida and the Gulf region, people ignored nature and one way or another they secured the right to build where they shouldn’t have. The aftermath of Katrina is a prime example of why. All over the nation, we have people who build in flood plains, risking their homes and lives. Many of them expect the rest of the nation to pay when nature comes down hard on them. But solutions are not so simple. Let us skip over to the problems in the Pacific Northwest. There is a cry to knock down the dams on the Snake River because the dams have resulted in decimating the once billion-dollar salmon industry. Another major factor is that fishermen from many nations, equipped with miles-long drag nets and modern boats, have fished the ocean relentlessly, taking from it everything that lives and breathes. The salmon that do manage to get back to their home river, have a tough time, and they cannot hatch enough fingerlings to make up for the loss. Corps efforts to hatch salmon and move them down the Snake to the sea have not been terribly successful. Efforts to help salmon go back up the rivers to spawn are not adequate either. In the Pacific Northwest, just as on the Upper, there are billions of dollars of business developments — among them hydroelectric power production — upon which millions of people have come to depend. In the Pacific Northwest, farming businesses up north depend on barges to haul their products down the Snake and to tidewater. On the Mississippi, multi-millions of tons of farm products are moved to tidewater by barge. You cannot just shut it down. You cannot just turn it off. The financial losses would be devastating. What we can do, however, is insist that the Upper be modernized and maintained so as to provide a viable waterway system. We must insist on a viable river system, because our nation needs it. While the world is working to improve water transportation, we have an army of “aginners” fighting to stagnate ours. At the same time, we can (as the Corps is doing now) begin to spend more money on fixing the river that those who came before us broke. We certainly can have efficient water transportation and good conservation at the same time. We can do what we have the will to do. Just because the “old timers” killed off the passenger pigeon, just because the Indian haters ordered the decimation of the bison herds to cut off life support to native Americans, that doesn’t mean we have to ignore the fact that some very bad results came from the acts of people who, at the time, had no regard for nature and probably did not think they could harm it. It took 40 years to denude the pine forests, 25 years to kill off most of the mussels. If we are to approach this controversy over the Upper Mississippi intelligently, I think we must understand it. I can’t believe that I am the only person who has been so uninformed about the 300-year history of the river. Author Biloine Whiting Young has done a great amount of research and, I think, has taken no sides. And if I ever have the pleasure of meeting her, I will tell her so. Her book is heavily sprinkled with references, providing dates and events that are important in the development along the Upper. It is truly a wonderful reference book (loaded with footnotes listing other books to read) and would be valuable to all historians and writers. If you have any interest in river history and how the Upper Mississippi River regions from St. Louis to St. Paul/Minneapolis developed, you can do yourself no harm by buying this book. Our Price: $17.95  Web Site News
We have added for your Christmas gift-buying pleasure a new section offering book-package deals that make it possible for buyers to save many dollars buying their own gifts and stocking stuffers for others. Please click here to visit the special Christmas book page deals. 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
Barge Capsizes In Gulf After Striking Unidentified Object (Coast Guard release)  Port Arthur, Texas (Nov. 15, 2005)- The integrated tug and barge Rebel struck an object in the Gulf of Mexico late Thursday evening. The collision caused a 35-foot long by 6-foot wide hole in the barges starboard bow. It turned upside down after listing heavily on Monday.
The barge was carrying about 5 million gallons of a heavy oil product onboard and contained 300,000 gallons in the damaged tank. The barge is located approximately 29 miles south of Calcasieu Pass, La. and 100 miles east of Galveston, Texas. U.S. Coast Guard photograph by Petty Officer 1st Class Gary Sanchez Three Escape Burning Mv. Wendy Ann At St. Louis On Friday  Three crew were able to jump to safety from their burning Mv. Wendy Ann Friday when a towboat belonging to American Commercial Barge Lines pulled alongside. The Wendy Ann, a 1,350 hp., 74- by 26-foot, twin screw vessel owned by Jefferson Barracks Marine Service, is operated by Osage Marine Service, Inc., St. Louis.
St. Louis firefighters put out the blaze, which had spread to the second deck. The vessel did not sink. One crewman was injured. When the Wendy Ann caught fire on the Mississippi River at 12:30 a.m. Friday, the crew sent out a distress call to the Coast Guard and to nearby boats. The boat was near Arsenal Street. (Editor’s note: Dan Owen and the Boat Photo Museum were kind enough to provide a stock photo of the Wendy Ann. According to Dan, a Friday telecast showed fire coming out of all three decks and later showed the vessel pretty well gutted and tied up at ACBL’s landing at the old Louisiana Dock and St. Louis Ship landing. Our many thanks to Dan for a timely and very early report.) 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
Greetings from Baytown, Texas. RiverBarge Excursion Lines office in New Orleans will be fully operational on Monday, November 28! As far as your comments on the MRGO, the Corps is only following the instructions of Congress, who has mandated the construction & maintenance of the MRGO. The Port of New Orleans has been and continues to be a staunch proponent of the MRGO. The Port owns a number of docks behind the Industrial Lock, which the MRGO bypasses. A number of years ago the main terminals were the Bulk Terminal on the East Canal and France Rd. container terminal, which was the first dedicated container terminal in the Port. Now there is the Napoleon Ave. container terminal on the river, the Bulk Terminal has been demolished, however, New Orleans Cold Storage operates a warehouse that exports thousands of tons of frozen chicken. The solution is to speed up construction of the Industrial Lock replacement and then abandon the MRGO for deep draft navigation. About Louisiana corruption, it is no different than anywhere else in this country, it is only talked about more loudly and openly. As a native Chicagoan residing in New Orleans, I have also lived in Columbia, MO, St. Louis, and Kansas City, among other places. Corruption is everywhere. The governor of Connecticut was recently ousted, New Jersey has always been rife with corruption, former Illinois Governor Ryan and his administration has been under federal scrutiny with indictments handed down, members of the Chicago City Council were subject to a Federal sting operation with many taking the bait, a recent Arizona governor was under fire for alleged inappropriate actions, and certain Kansas City officials were under Federal investigation 10 years ago. I can go on and on as you get the picture. So to paint Louisiana as the “only corrupt place” in the U.S. is simply unfair and untrue. I don’t think you painted Louisiana as the only corrupt state; a Congressman from Idaho did. The Corps cannot shut down the MRGO, only Congress can. This is like the arguments on the Missouri River. As long as Congress directs the Corps to have navigation on the Missouri River, the MRGO, or any other river, then the Corps will do that. I think the MRGO probably exacerbated the Katrina problem. Personally, even before Katrina, I felt the MRGO should be shut down. Jeff Kindl (Editor’s note: Thanks for your informative comments on the MRGO. I’m sure many of our readers, including me, didn’t know all that inside stuff.)  Re: Get Your Barge Off My Levee
I thought of this photo when I read the piece about “get your barge off my levee.” Wade McGrady Funny Stuff! One of our subscribers, Ron Richardson, received a pamphlet from Texas Gas Transmission, L.L.C., which states the following: Commercial Marine Vessel Operators If you plan to cross Texas Gas pipelines, follow these guidelines: Call Texas Gas Transmission, LLC (1-800-626-1948) at least 48 hours before crossing Texas Gas’ underwater pipelines with a commercial vessel. Provide a destination map to Texas Gas Transmission, LLC. For water fifteen feet deep or less, a de-motorized crossing is recommended. (Editor’s note: Since the company is trying to spread the word, Ron shared the message with several of his river rat friends.) In response, Dan Owen wrote: Wonder how many towboat pilots know about this? Can you imagine that poor telephone operator at Texas Gas if every pilot called in to announce that he was going to cross over one of their pipelines? Probably get 10,000 calls a day. And a guy named Cecil wrote: Yes, I got that pamphlet also. I guess they sent it to everybody likely to be involved in digging or living near one of their crossing sites. They also mentioned the words “Homeland Security,” of course. And they mentioned to not turn any valves, you might be sending gas where it doesn’t belong. Hell, I thought all those valve sites were inside chain link and locked gate. I sure hope so. What a potential for threat! (Editor’s final note: We do not play down the seriousness of homeland security and certainly are not critical of the pamphlet. Other companies may be sending them out, too. It’s just that we marvel at what the response to this exercise could be. Besides, we want to help spread the word to pilots. It might be difficult to enforce. Are they going to plant guards at every underwater pipeline?) Re: George Vincent I saw that several of your pictures were submitted by George Vincent. I worked at SCNO in the ’80s with a George Vincent from Alton, IL. Is this the same person? I would like to get back in touch with him if possible. Also Dad (Dan Burnett) and his company sold the m/v Dan C. Burnett (ex Lachlean Macleay) to South American interests in Paraguay. Do you have any pics of it in South America? If not do you know anywhere I can get any? Bill Burnett (Editor’s note: We’ll find out.) Boat Photo Center
 I want everyone to know that if you see pictures in our Photo Center that you wish to purchase for your own use, contact us, and we will put you in touch with the photographer to cook up your own deal. The jpegs in the center are for the viewing pleasure of our web site visitors and are not to be used without the permission of the photographer whose name appears after the copyright in the description. Several of our contributors are professional photographers.
Among this week’s 10 new photos in the Center we have: a capsized integrated tug/barge from the U.S. Coast Guard; a stock picture of the Wendy Ann, a boat that burned Friday, from Dan Owen and the Boat Photo Museum; a “misplaced” barge and the Mv. Mary Ann from Wade McGrady; the Ray A. Eckstein from Tom Waller; W. H. Dickhoner, Warren W. Hines, and Caleb Lay from Ron Richardson; and the two views of the Virginia Ingram from Jim Mihalek. 
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! The Book Beat
 Help Non-profit Historic Sternwheeler Preservation Society
 Steve and Barbara Huffman, who operate the non-profit Historic Sternwheel Preservation Society aboard the Mv. Barbara H, have just released their new 2006 calendar titled “Steam Towboats of the U.S. Engineers. The calendars run $15.95 and ship for $4.50 S&H from the Society, 11 Ashland Cove Road, Vevay, IN 47043. Proceeds from the calendar supplement the maintenance of the sternwheel vessels under the care of HSPS. Their web site is at www.hspsi.org. They also have books and a variety of other items on their site.
For those who may not recall, the Barbara H is the former Donald B, which was renamed when Steve took Barbara to be his bride. The b/w pictures vary somewhat in depth and width, but can all be trimmed easily to fit an 8.5 x 11 frame. The pictures are, January through December (in that order), the James Rumsey, Tollinger, Scioto, Cayuga, E. A. Woodruff, Cherokee, Iroquois, LaFourche, Kankakee, Miami, George S. Nutt, and Jadwin Below each picture is printed a history of the vessel. The Gift Shop
 The Orion Collection of ship's bell clocks, ship's wheel bell clocks, and matching barometers make the perfect Christmas gift! The forged brass case is polished and lacquered to resist tarnishing. The screw bezel allows easy access to the components for adjustment. Provided with complete instructions, mounting hardward, and a fresh battery as required. All instruments carry a limited lifetime warranty.
Tow Talkin'
November 21, 2005 By Kathy Flippo  Ahh! The weather outside is delightful! Winter has finally arrived (11/16) with a skiff of snow, a howling wind and dropping temperatures. No more grass to mow! The boats that are still between Dubuque and St. Paul got more than a skiff of snow on them. I’ve counted up and there are about 38 big boats between the end of Iowa, which is Keokuk, and Lock and Dam 19 and St. Paul. Thanksgiving is coming this week, so the rush is on to get everything squared away up here before then.
I get Smithsonian magazine, and have found a couple interesting tidbits in the October issue that I am going to share with you. First off, it was only 40 years ago that the Gateway Arch was bridged at the top with a 10-ton keystone 630 feet above ground. And then, only 150 years ago…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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