4 BULLETIN 74, U. S. DEPAKTMENT OF AGKICULTUKB. 



SOME ADVANTAGES OF RAIL OVER RIVER. 



While steamboat transportation is generally regarded as cheaper 

 than rail, in practice the boats are at considerable disadvantage in 

 some respects. A railroad car is free to move between any two 

 railroad stations, while the steamboat is naturally Umited to those 

 places which it can reach. At terminals a car can be placed in any 

 one of a number of advantageous positions. A car of wheat can be 

 run into a grain elevator and unloaded over a grating, through which 

 the grain is received by the elevating machinery and carried to the 

 bins. A railroad car also may be placed alongside any one of a 

 number of warehouses, to receive or discharge its load across a few 

 feet of space ; and it may be held for a day or so, if not longer, awaiting 

 a convenient time for consignor to load or for consignee to unload. In 

 regard to rates, as wiU be shown later, the steamboats do not always 

 quote lower rates than are quoted by railroads. 



SOME ADVANTAGES OF RIVER OVER RAIL. 



Since the river is a public highway, there is an opportunity for 

 competition among carriers which does not exist with rail traffic. In 

 railroad business the roadway and terminals are regularly under the 

 same management as the trains which use them, so that competition 

 between two or more carriers over a single railroad is not to be 

 expected. The fact that the river is a pubhc highway makes it possi- 

 ble for persons of smaU capital to engage in transportation. Conse- 

 quently sail vessels, gasoline launches, and small steamboats compete 

 with larger boats for the traffic on many inland waterways. Sweet 

 potatoes, watermelons, grain, and other commodities are brought into 

 Washington and Baltimore from points from 100 to 200 miles distant 

 by means of sail vessels and power boats. A considerable part of the 

 produce sold at New Orleans is brought there by small boats, and on 

 the river system opening into San Francisco Bay gasohne launches, 

 sailboats, and other small vessels also share with the regular steam- 

 boat Hues in the carrying trade. The opportunity offered to persons 

 or companies of small capital to engage in transportation is one of the 

 advantages of river over raU. These pubhc -waterways are used also 

 by farmers to transport their own produce to market. 



Another advantage of the river is the economy possible in a large 

 part of the traffic, especially where relatively nonperishable articles 

 are carried. The capacity of a boat can be increased or diminished 

 greatly by attaching or detaching barges, so that a large load can be 

 moved at a relatively low cost. In a large part of its business a boat 

 can work much more cheaply than a railroad. 



Frequently river transportation is quicker than rail. A consign- 

 ment once loaded on a boat goes direct to its destination without 

 being subject to delays occasioned by transfer from one carrier to 



