. Saint Paul and the Northern Pacific Railway : grand opening, September 1883 . lled inengineering science predict, the upper Mississippi will be as valuableto commerce as the lower portion of the great stream. Boats of heavydraught can come and go at stated times without fear of low water,and the barge system for transporting wheat, the practicability ofwhich has been already demonstrated, will be used to convey theproduct of the fields of the Northwest down the river to where oceansteamers await it at the Gulf. There is little doubt that the time willcome when to be situated at the head of n
. Saint Paul and the Northern Pacific Railway : grand opening, September 1883 . lled inengineering science predict, the upper Mississippi will be as valuableto commerce as the lower portion of the great stream. Boats of heavydraught can come and go at stated times without fear of low water,and the barge system for transporting wheat, the practicability ofwhich has been already demonstrated, will be used to convey theproduct of the fields of the Northwest down the river to where oceansteamers await it at the Gulf. There is little doubt that the time willcome when to be situated at the head of navigation will mean asmuch as it did in the days of early settlement. The amount of river traffic, though small in comparison with thatof the railways, is itself an important item. Besides a large numberof outside boats plying on the river, there are two regular lines estab-lished between St. Paul and St. Louis. Their fifteen boats for pas-sengers and freight, and three for freight exclusively, brought to last season 9,000 passengers, and took away 2,000; and carried. 56,000 tons of freight, and 6,250 head of live stock. In addition tothis, outside boats brought up between 7,000,000 and 8,000,000 feetof lumber, an amount which estimates for the present season in-crease 50 per cent., 50,000 cords of wood, and 200 tons of coal. Theproblem of cheap transportation is one which is always approachinga satisfactory solution, yet is never wholly solved. In reaching theminimum of freight charges, water routes have an important part toplay, and first among them stands the Mississippi, the highway of acontinent. Iryarjuf^ciu res, ^LTHOUGH the manufacturing interests of St. Paul are con-JJL sidered to be of inferior importance to the commercial, yet thegrowth in this direction has been very marked, and it is rea-sonable to suppose that it will be greater every year. A commercialcenter naturally attracts to it manufacturing enterprise as well. lies in the midst of a region w
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectnorther, bookyear1883
