TABLE 8.-List of steamers plying on the Missouri River and tributaries, in the district of New Orleans, enrolled at the port of Omaha, Nebr., in the year 1896.

REPORT ON COMMERCE OF OSAGE RIVER DURING CALENDAR YEAR 1896.
OFFICE MISSOURI RIVER COMMISSION,

St. Louis, June 30, 1897.

SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report on the commerce of the Osage River during the calendar year 1896:

The same methods as are referred to for the Missouri River were employed in obtaining the statistics.

The extreme and unseasonable flood which occurred in the valley of the river in December, 1895, diminished the amount of the lumber trade for 1896, but still a comparatively large amount was rafted out.

The larger part of the steamboat trade was performed by the steamer Frederick, she being engaged solely on the Osage River. She made fourteen trips to Tuscumbia, 60 miles above the mouth, once going as far as Linn Creek, 109 miles; in all she made eighty-one trips.

The following table, giving the amount of freight carried, towed, and rafted, is a near approximation of the 1896 commerce:

The following table gives the totals, in tons, of the different classes of freight carried for the series of years 1896-1890:

Table 3 gives the comparative commerce expressed in mile-tons for the three years 1896-1894, this data having been secured only since the river has been in charge of the Missouri River Commission.

The steamers engaged on the river during 1896 were as follows: Annie Dell, Gasconade, Kingfisher, Mill Boy, and Peerless, the custom-house measurements of which are given under the heading of the Missouri River.

Besides these steam vessels, barges propelled by manual labor, and the gasoline boat Hermann carried 248 tons of miscellaneous freight during the year.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Capt. H. M. CHITTENDEN,

A. H. BLAISDELL, Assistant Engineer.

Corps of Engineers, U. S. A.,

Secretary Missouri River Commission.

REPORT ON COMMERCE OF GASCONADE RIVER DURING CALENDAR YEAR 1896.
OFFICE MISSOURI RIVER COMMISSION,
St. Louis, June 30, 1897.

SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report on the commerce of the Gasconade River during the calendar year 1896:

The same method of obtaining the statistics was followed as are referred to under the heading of Missouri River commerce.

The steamboat trade was principally performed by the boats of the Hermann Ferry and Packet Company and by the steamer Kingfisher.

The latter made eight trips as high up as Vienna, 78 miles, but the larger amount of the trade was performed over an average distance of 34 miles above the mouth. Most of the lumber came from the Big Piney Creek, 122 miles, and the railroad ties were rafted from an average distance of 82 miles.

The following table gives a close approximation to the amount of the 1896 commerce of the river, although in a few cases parties who are reported as having carried on a small amount of river business failed to respond to letters of inquiry:

The following table gives the totals, in tons, for the different classes of freight during the series of years 1896-1890:

Total.

Table 3 gives the comparative commerce expressed in mile-tons for the three years 1896-1894, this data having been secured only since the river has been in charge of the Missouri River Commission.

Mile-tons.

The steam vessels engaged in commerce on the river during 1896 were only five in number, viz, Frederick, Edna, Urie, A. W. Ewing, and Harry, the official measurements of which are given in the report on the commerce of Missouri River.

The gasoline boat G. L. Geister, of about 45 tons, did a small amount of the packet trade.

REPORT ON STEAMBOAT WRECKS ON MISSOURI RIVER BY CAPT. H. M. CHITTENDEN, CORPS OF ENGINEERS.

MISSOURI RIVER COMMISSION, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY,

St. Louis, Mo., June 30, 1897.

COLONEL: I have the honor to transmit herewith for incorporation in the Annual Report a list of steamboat wrecks which have occurred on the Missouri River from the opening of steamboat navigation to the present time. The preparation of this list, which received your verbal approval before it was begun, has entailed much more labor than was at first expected. The number of wrecks has been found to be greater than anticipated, and the deficient and conflicting data in many cases have involved considerable research to get at the correct facts.

In collecting this information a working list was first prepared by the aid of Capt. Joseph La Barge, probably the oldest living pilot on the Missouri River, with over sixty years' active experience, and Capt. E. H. McFarland of the snag boat Charles R. Suter. This list was then mailed to all surviving Missouri River pilots whose length of service was such as to give them some historical knowledge of the river, with a request for information under certain specified heads. This correspondence resulted in ten replies, more or less complete, from Capts. J. B. Clarke, Joseph Fecto, E. H. Gould, John P. Kaiser, William G. Lingo, Grant Marsh, W. R. Massie, James O'Neal, W. H. Sims, and George W. Vaughan.

The information in these several communications was collated on memorandum cards, one to each wreck, so as to bring all the data pertaining to each case into one group. From these cards the condensed descriptions have been prepared. Acknowledgments are due to those who have responded to the requests sent out as above described, and particularly to Capts. Joseph La Barge and William G. Lingo. The long acquaintance of the former with Missouri River navigation has supplied much information which would otherwise have been lost. Captain Lingo has rendered valuable assistance by searching the records of old St. Louis newspapers, the lists of steamboat disasters at the St. Louis Merchants' Exchange, and such publications relating to the subject as could be found in the city libraries.

The list thus compiled is believed to be very nearly correct. Its publication may elicit a few errors, and possibly some additions, and it may be desirable to revise it at a later period. Such revision, however, can effect only minor details, for in essential features the list, in its present form, may be considered complete.

ANALYSIS OF LIST.

The total number of wrecks embraced in the list is 295,* distributed according to cause of wreck as follows:

This includes 6 boats wrecked twice and finally lost, 1 boat wrecked three times and finally lost, 12 boats wrecked once and saved, and 1 boat wrecked twice and saved. This reduces the actual number of boats lost to 273.

From the above table it is seen that the great menace to the safety of navigation on the Missouri River has heretofore been the snags and rocks which abound in its bed, the total number of disasters from these two causes being 204. This fact fully justifies the maintenance of the elaborate plant now employed in clearing the lower river of these obstructions. The active service of the snag boat may be said to have removed largely the dangers to steamboat navigation from snags, and ought to have a favorable influence on the insurance rates for Missouri River boats.

The next most important cause of wrecks has been fire. In the majority of instances disasters from this cause have been due to sheer carelessness, as in the cases of the Butte and Chippewa. The carrying of candles into the hold, the overturning of lights, and other similar negligences, explain many of these disasters. Danger from this source is now greatly diminished by the use of electricity, which obviates almost entirely the necessity of carrying lights.

Ice has also been one of the principal causes of steamboat wrecks, and this danger can not be said to have diminished in recent years. Owing to the decline of steamboat navigation, suitable ways for hauling out boats have fallen into decay more rapidly than they have been repaired or replaced by new ones; and no ice harbors to speak of have been constructed on the river.

Accidents from steamboat explosions were very common, and of appalling fatality, in the early history of steamboat navigation. In Lloyds' Steamboat Disasters, published in 1856, out of a total of 213 wrecks given, 124 were from this cause, and of the 2,035 lives lost, the greater part were on boats so wrecked. This record is probably not to be relied upon strictly, for the sensational tenor of the work indicates that especial attention was devoted to the more terrible disasters, and other early records do not corroborate its statements. But, after making due allowance for exaggeration, it is nevertheless true that in the early steamboating days boiler explosions were both frequent and terribly destructive of life and property. The improvements in the material and construction of boilers, the better arrangement for supplying feed water, the application of various safety appliances, and, above all, the enforcement of Government laws and regulations which provide for the inspection and tests of materials and workmanship in marine boilers during construction, for annual inspection of the vessel after it is built, and for the licensing of the chief officers in the marine service, have largely removed this cause of steamboat disasters.

The other causes of wrecks, except bridges, are mostly accidental and require no comment.

The only danger to navigation on the river which has increased in recent years is the bridges which span the stream. It is probably true that at present these bridges are more dreaded by the pilot than all other obstructions put together. This unfavorable condition arises from two causes: (1) injudicious location of the bridges in some instances; and (2), in all, the ever-changing character of the channel of the river. With a good navigable depth and satisfactory approaches one year, there is no assurance that they will be there one or two years later. The channel may shift, and has done so, from a draw to a fixed span, thus cutting off the passage entirely. It would seem that a judicious improvement of the navigation of the Missouri River should require the permanent and fixed control of the channel of the stream for a sufficient distance above and below every bridge to allow of a safe approach for vessels.

A list of bridges over the Missouri River from the mouth to the head of navigation, prepared by Mr. A. H. Blaisdell, United States assistant engineer, with some comments and suggestions relating thereto, accompanies this report. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

HIRAM M. CHITTENDEN, Captain of Engineers, U. S. A., Secretary Missouri River Commission.

Lieut. Col. AMOS STICKNEY,

Corps of Engineers, U. S. A.,

President Missouri River Commission.