

New Tennessee River Barge Service S^' 



lumbrr uiid otiipr iibtppors loratt'<l nloiiR tti« 'r<>iiiH>fukH< rivor from 

 lliattniioo({0, Tcnn.. to I'adiirali, Ky. t)ii timt tiny n rivor kUmiiiht 

 tuwiiii; tlinf liargo loadit of lunilior loft Dwutiir, Alii., utartiii); on 

 tlii'ir journi-y to Loui*villi>, Ky., rnrryiiig n conRigninont of 700,000 

 fivt of )<laiii mill qunrtorMiiwiMl oiik roniiif^tioi) by tlic II. II. Ilitt hiini 



CotniMtny, Dwntii 



\h 



tli- W. IV Hro 



\ 



>im|>aii 



of I^uia- 



alo. It is uiiiler- 



:.kkI that it will 

 Mkc about fift.vii 



.y» to oonipl.'lo il" 



..iirney. 



Thi« uii.U'rlak 

 '* tlio outgrowth 

 •l„. .li-volopmetit "1 



M iiloa orininiillv 

 ..>iiccivo<l by H. II. 

 Ilitt of Decatiir 

 i-onocotion witli i 

 l«argo line whiili i 

 concern establi.-slu-.i 

 years ago as a lo^;- 

 hauling proposition 

 '.. supply his mills 



t Decatur with tim- 

 i.<'r from adjoining 

 territory along the 

 Tennessee river. This 

 was the original pur- 

 poso of the Deoatur 

 Navigation C o m - 

 j.any, the operating; 

 ■ nncern, but sime 

 ■iiat day its fleet has 

 iM-en augmented by 

 several steamers and 

 a number of barges 

 of first-class charac- 

 ter, and in competi- 

 tion with the already 

 established barge 

 line on the Tennes- 

 see river the coni- 

 l>any has been doing 

 :i considerable busi- 



ri.'SS. 



The actual possi- 

 bilities l.ving dor- 

 mant in the barge 

 line have been real- 

 ized for some time 



by the officers of the company, which, while organized by Mr. Hitt 

 and his associates, is an absolutely independent corporation from the 

 H. H. Hitt Lumber Company, operating under separate charter, and 

 having as its only connection with that concern officers who are 

 also closely identified with the II. H. Hitt Lumber Company. 



The greatest drawback to the development of the idea of the barge 

 line drawing from various points on the Tennessee river to Louis- 

 ville, Paducah and Cincinnati (thus establishing a straight connec- 

 tion at a materially re<luced rate to northern points) has been the 

 attitude of railroads drawing upon the territory from which the 

 Decatur Navigation Company would receive its cargoes other than 

 lumber. The railroads have evidently favored the already established 

 company to the extent of refusing a combination of schedules on 

 through shipments arriving over their lines. They have contended 

 that the granting of combination schedules to two competing lines 



further n-Kult in the disorgiiniuition of lhi> whole trnltir. It aUo 

 coiilemti'd iJiiit tho Dcrntur Navigntiun Company in n nubaidinry coriio- 

 ration to the H. II. Ilitt LuinU'r Coiiipuiiy. Itiilh of lheM< contentions 

 have l(e«>n emphatically diHproveil in lieiiringH In-fore the IiitiTKlate 

 C^ininorcv CoinniiNsion. and it now reniainH for an ultimate dorUion 



on May i:i. Definite 

 ittlcnieiit of the 

 I u e M t ion will be 

 cirthcoming at that 



t.,- '.■ 



.reused tarifTH be- 

 luei'M Decatur and 

 ' )liio river crossing 

 |.c)ints, which went 

 iito effect May, 19i:J. 

 riiese were instituted 

 I'V the Louisville t 

 N.-.shville Railroad, 

 ^<hile on .\pril 1. 

 1!(H. the Southern 

 Kailrond increase<l 

 lis tariffs two cents 

 |M'r liumlred pounds 

 from Decatur to sini- 

 ll:ir ]>oints, thus ef- 

 tectiiig an increaso 

 over a rate which 

 liad already been 

 protested as being 

 excessive. This now 

 ■•-tablishes a rail rate 

 lietwecn Decatur and 

 I ' i n c i n n a t i of 18 

 ' ents, and between 

 I'ecatur and Louis- 

 V ille of 15 cents, put- 

 ting Decatur on a 

 liighcr basic rate 

 tlian any other point 

 between Chattanoo- 

 Lja anil Memphis. 

 I'he two latter cities 

 riiFW enjoy a 5-cent 

 lesser rate over De- 

 [•atur to Cincinnati, 

 while to Evansville, Louisville and down-thc-river points Memphis is 

 benefited to the extent of 7 cents. 



It will'Teadily be seen that this combination of rates effectually 

 cut out Decatur and contiguous territory from shipments to Chicago 

 and northern markets via rail. 



From this combination of facts it became evident that if the total 

 through-rate to northern points could b'? reduced materially, Deca- 

 tur and contingent territory would be able to compete successfully 

 with any other southern points for northern territory. As a result 

 the Decatur Navigation Company has issued comprehensive tariffs 

 which are based on a close calculation of cost of operation and time 

 consumed en route. 



Decatur, in the schedule furnished by the Decatur Navigation Com- 

 pany, will now be able to ship lumber and other products from that 

 city to Louisville for 9 cents, and from Decatur to Cincinnati for 



■ Ic'li 



The plan was given 

 impetus 

 le time ago by tlie 

 rganirjition of the 

 ■iiliir Navigation 



