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RIVER AND HARBOR COMMITTEE OF
CONGRESS LEARNING THE URGENT
NECESSITY OF IMPROVING THE OHIO.
The majority of the members of the rivers and
harbors committee of congress aie nearing the
final stage of a tour of inspection covering the
entire length of the Ohio river and designed to
convince them of the urgent necessity of canaling
that waterway and removing the natural restrictions
from Pittsburgh business interests which
originate an annual freight tonnage three times
greater than that of any other port in the world.
The party left Pittsburgh on the steamer Queen
City at 5 a. m. on May 10. The members of the
committee assembled in Pittsburgh on the previous
day which was spent in inspecting the city's
industries and shipping facilities. At a banquet
the same evening, attended by nearly 400 guests,
the committee was made acquainted with the subject
in hand through addresses by Congressmen
John Dalzell and James Francis Burke, ex-Congressman
James W. Brown, Col. John L. Vance,
president of the Ohio Valley Improvement Association
and others. Congressman Burton, the
chairman of the committee, speaking for that
body, said that he and his fellow committeemen
had already been convinced of the justice of the
claims made and that their support of the desired
improvements would be limited only by the
amount of money available for the purpose.
Statistics prepared by the United States government
were presented by Messrs. Brown and
Dalzell, showing that for the month of March of
this year the freight tonnage originating on the
Monongahela river, the principal tributary of the
Ohio, practically equaled that of all the Great
Lakes combined. The vast freight movement
passing through Pittsburgh harbor was illustrated
by the following table, showing the coal
tonnage of the Monongahela river, and Davis
Island dam, in the Ohio, for the calendar years
1900 to 1904 inclusive:
Passed Through
Year Lock 3,
Monongahela
River
1900 5,817,863
1901 7,945,480
1902 (a)9,305,927
1903 9,372,664
1904 6,985,576
Passed Davis
Island Dam,
Ohio River
Near
Pittsburgh
2,557,470
3,283,353
3,619,905
3,069,290
2,811.584
THE COAL TRADE BULLETIN. SJ9
Differences.
Approximate
Consumplion
of River Coal
at Pittsburgh
3,260,393
4,662,127
5,686,022
6,303,365
4,173,992
(a) The coal traffic on the Monongahela is obtained
by adding to that which passed Lock No
3 the coal mined and shipped in Pools Nos. 1 and
2. In 1902 there were consumed in Pools Nos. 1
and 2, 4,080,287 tons river coal. In the harbor
below No. 1, including the Allegheny river, 1,605,-
735 tons of Monongahela river coal—a total of
5,686,022 tons.
The members of the committee taking part in
the inspection tour are Congressmen Theodore
E. Burton, chairman; D. A. Alexander, B. B.
Dovener, R. J. Bishop, E. F. Acheson, J. H. Davidson,
William Larimer, W. L. Jones, J. Adam Bede,
J. E. Ransdell, S. M. Sparkman; James H. Cassidy
is secretary of the conimittee. and J. H. McGann
and E. T. Hutchinson are its stenographers. The
government engineering corps is represented by
Col. E. H. Ruffner, Maj. William L. Sibert, Maj.
G. A. Zinn and Capt. Burgess. In addition to
the foregoing gentlemen, many of whom were
accompanied by their wives, the Queen City carried
about 100 invited guests. The first stop was
made at Davis Island dam. The government
works there and at Dams Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 were
inspected in order. The itinerary on down to New
Orleans included all important stops.
TO END STRIKES AND LOCK-OUTS.
About 100,000 mechanics and 1,000 employers in
the building trades in New York City have entered
into an arbitration agreement which will
make such a thing as a strike or a lockout an
impossibility. The agreement has been signed by
delegates representing both sides. Thirty two
trades are represented, and the vote to adopt the
new agreement was unanimous. It goes into effect
at once. The closed shop is agreed to in
the following clause:
"The employers, parties to this arbitration plan,
agree to employ only members of trades unions,
directly or indirectly, through sub-contractors or
otherwise, on all work within the territory described."
The general arbitration board will consist of
two representatives from each employers' association,
and two representatives from each recognized
union. Business agents may act as arbitrators,
which formerly was prohibited. The following
section of the agreement is intended to
prevent strikes or lockouts:
"The unions as a whole, or as a single union,
shall not order any strike against a member of
the Building Trades Employers' association, nor
shall any member of the Building Trades Employers'
association lock out his employes."
Russia's difficulty in getting enough coal for
the war is said by British experts to be transforming
the whole outlook of the coal mining industry
in that country. If the revolutionists
refrain from overturning things it is probable that
the Baltic-Black sea canal will be built and that
a line of steamers will be put into commission
between the sea of Azov and the Baltic. The
great coal fields in both European Russia and
Siberia will be linked with the main systems of
transport by a network of branch railways.