IITLAND BOAT SERVTCB. 9 



The old route from New Orleans to St. Louis on the one hand, 

 or to Cincinnati on the other, is no longer followed by any one line 

 of boats. From the pioneer days of steamboating until a few decades 

 after the Civil War, New Orleans was reached by Hnes terminating 

 at St. Louis and Cincinnati, but with the development of railroads 

 and improvement of their service steamboat traffic gradually changed 

 in its nature, so that the bulk of the freight movement became local, 

 and long-distance shipments grew less and less important. With 

 the passing of the Anchor Line in the early nineties, St. Louis ceased 

 to be connected with the city of New Orleans by any direct hne of 

 packets, and about 10 years later through freight service also ceased 

 when the Hne of barges and towboats operated by the Mississippi 

 Valley Transportation Co. went out of business. The through 

 traffic consisting of large tows of coal barges^ taken from Pittsburgh 

 down to New Orleans, is not to be classed with regular steamboat- 

 Une service, which is conducted according to fixed schedules of 

 arrivals and departures. 



PACIFIC COAST. 



One important system of waterways on the Pacific coast consists 

 of the rivers emptying into San Francisco Bay; the Sacramento from 

 the north and the San Joaquin from the south. The delta near the 

 junction of these two rivers affords a number of channels which are 

 used by various boiats and which afford transportation to a rich 

 truck region not conveniently reached by rail. The principal cen- 

 ters of steamboat traffic here are San Francisco, Sacramento, and 

 Stockton. Each of these cities is connected with the other two and 

 with numerous landings by regular lines of boats. Here, as weU. as 

 on the Atlantic coast, sail vessels (especially on the lower river) and 

 gasoline launches share in transportation. Here, also, barges are 

 used to increase the capacity of steamboats in handling the large 

 amount of business on this inland water system. One characteristic 

 of this traffic is the large quantity of potatoes, beans, asparagus, and 

 other vegetables. Their tonnage is great enough to give a distinctive 

 character to the commerce, although grain, hay, and other products 

 are carried in considerable quantities. Another important item in 

 the river trade is milk shipped to the cities of San Francisco, Sacra- 

 mento, and Stockton. 



A second important system of waterways consfets of the Columbia 

 River and its tributaries. On the lower section of the river steam- 

 boats from Portland, on the Willamette a few miles from the Co- 

 lumbia, run down the Columbia to Astoria and others run up the 

 river as far as Celilo Falls. Other routes extend from just above the 

 falls to various points on the upper Columbia and Snake Rivers. On 

 the upper Columbia one line connects Wenatchee with Bridgepoit. 



62705°— 14 2 



