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CHAPTER XVII

RIVER TRANSPORTATION AND TRADE.

FROM THE CANOE TO THE STEAMBOAT-HOW EARLY EMIGRANTS DESCENDED THE RIVER -- THE FLAT AND KEEL BOATS-CURRENCY IN USE AMONG THE FIRST SETTLERS-THE MAIL CARRIED BY CANOE-FIRST LINE OF PACKETS--APPEARANCE. OF THE STEAMBOAT-ITS RISE AND DECLINE-SEAGOING VESSELS-VAST COMMERCE BY RIVER.

THE steady and substantial growth of Cincinnati may be largely attributed to its transportation business by river and railroad. The former medium of trade had its beginning more than a hundred years ago, and for over half a century the canoe, the flat, keel, and steamboat flourished. When the vast volume of the transportation business of to-day is considered, it is interesting to inquire into its origin and history, and contrast the past with the present.

Probably the first Englishman * to descend the Ohio with any force at his command was George Croghan. On the 15th of May, 1765, he started from what is now Pittsburgh, on a visit to Vincennes and Detroit, on a commission from Sir William Johnson, then serving as the English Indian Commissioner. Croghan had two batteaux and a number of white men and Indians under his direction. In his

* It is claimed by a French writer that LaSalle descended the Ohio river in 1670-71, but the claim lacks confirmation, not that he discovered it In 1677 is pretty welt authenticated. lie himself says so in a memorial addressed to Count Frontenac in that year.["Illinois and Louisiana Under French Rule," p. 77.]

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journal he says that on the 29th of May they came to the mouth of the Little Miami, and on the 30th they passed the Great Miami. Three days afterward he was captured by the Indians and carried a prisoner to Vincennes.

Long after this came military expeditions against the Indians, in which batteaux and flatboats were used to transport the forces and stores. Early emigrants in search of homes in the wilderness also used the same, means of transportation, but very likely the canoe predominated.

When the first emigrants settled at Columbia, Cincinnati and North Bend, the only means of transportation they had was by the canoe and flatboat, because the country was a wilderness, and the only roads were narrow Indian paths. The river therefore had to be depended on as the quickest and surest channel of communication, and all supplies were drawn from Old Redstone Fort on the Monongahela and Pittsburgh.

EARLY CURRENCY.

One of the first drawbacks in the beginning of trade with the early settlers was the lack of a circulating medium. John G. Olden, in his reminiscences, says that the skins of wild animals were first used as currency. A deer skin was valued at a dollar, a fox skin one-third of a dollar, and a raccoon skin one-fourth of a dollar. These were passed almost as readily as silver coin at these valuations. This method lasted but a short time. The establishment of the garrison at Fort Washington, and the campaigns against the Indians, brought a fair supply of specie into the country. This being principally either gold, or Spanish silver dollars, did not relieve the natural difficulty of making change in the same currency. In this perplexity the early settlers coined "cut money " that is to say, the dollar was cut into four equal parts, each piece worth 25 cents, and again divided for 121 cents. This was soon superseded by a new and more profitable emission from the sallie mint,* which formed an additional quarter, or two additional eighths, to pay the expense of coinage. This last description of change, which was named " sharp shins," from its wedge shape, became speedily as redundant as were the dimes of 1841, when they ceased to pass eight and nine for a dollar. Later a great proportion of the circulation was in bills of $3. The soldiers of Fort, Washington were paid in these bills of the old United States Bank. They were called "oblongs." and three dollars was the monthly pay of a soldier. In 1794 a Cincinnati merchant, named Bartle, imported a barrel of copper pennies to inflate the currency, but his fellow merchants were so exasperated at his action that they almost mobbed him.

EARLY CRAFTS.

The early crafts used in river navigation were crude and clumsy in their construction, and would excite almost as much curiosity as the unique caravels used by Columbus to discover America, when compared with the magnificent boats now plying on our streams. They first consisted of flat-bottomed boats, keelboats and barges. One of the early river traders was Col. James Ferguson. In a record which has been preserved he informs us that he was trading on the Ohio river in 1790, and made several trips between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh during that year. From 1791 to 1 794 he made two trips each year, being at the latter periods "keeping store" at Cincinnati. Produce was brought down the river from Red Stone and Pittsburgh in Kentucky boats. They were small keelboats, constructed with sharp roof covers over the principal part, leaving a small section of the boat uncovered for oars, which were used as in a skiff below, the steepness of the roof not permitting the use of oars above. But more generally the transportation was in flatboats. He ascended the river in a canoe, poling when the water was shallow

* Cist. 1859. p. 154,

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enough, and "bushwhacking or poling along the shore by the bushes, and paddling the canoe in the intervals of deep water." By this method he usually made thirty miles a day.

These voyages, as late as 1793, were attended with considerable danger from the. Indians, who, up to that time, were hostile and lurked along the shore for the purpose of surprising canoes and boats. Col. Ferguson informs us that he had repeatedly to land and camp on the shore at night. A fire was built when the nights were so cold as to render it absolutely necessary for comfort and health. While thus camping it was not safe to remain more than a few minutes at, a time by the fire, but after obtaining some warmth, to immediately retreat to the seclusion of a spot selected for sleeping in the bushes, at some distance from the fire. This was for the purpose of not being exposed to the view of savages who might be lurking in the thickets, and, on account of the light of the fire, be able to shoot with accurate aim.

Major Swan, one of the officers at Fort Washington, who had taken a small detachment of troops from the fort to Pittsburgh, wrote back: "We arrived here after a passage of only forty-four days, in which we exhausted our provisions and groceries, and had to lay in fresh stock at Marietta."

In 1794, T. Greene, of Marietta, carried the mail between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati in a pirogue, or large canoe, propelled by poles and paddles. The post, office had been established at the latter place in 1793, and all the mail matter at that time could be carried in a small hand-bag. Long intervals elapsed between the deliveries at each point.

Traders at old Fort Redstone, Pittsburgh and Wheeling furnished boats for emigrants. They also furnished all necessary articles---provisions, furniture, cooking utensils, farming implements and boats at a moderate price. Each had a boat yard where the arks, keel or flat boats and barges were made. A boat of sufficient size for an average family, say thirty to forty feet long, cost $1 to $1.25 per foot, so that a pretty respectable vessel, well-hoarded up on the sides, and roofed to within six or eight feet of the bows, could be had for $35. This did not include the expense of a mooring cable, a pump and a fireplace. which cost, perhaps, $10 more. After these "family boats" Lad been used to descend the river, they were frequently employed for transient purposes. and then broken up for their lumber. Besides these craft a number of keelboats plied on the Ohio and its tributaries, in use as common carriers of merchandise. Their principal cargo, by way of import or export, was flour, apples, whiskey, cider. peach and apple brandy, bar iron and castings, tin, copperware, glass, cabinet work, millstones, grindstones, nails, etc. Returning they brought cotton and tobacco from Kentucky, lead, fur and peltry. Messrs. Raum & Perry, Riddle and others of Cincinnati. who dealt in the New Orleans trade, brought cotton from Natchez, sugar, coffee, rice, hides, wines, rum and dry goods. The Navrigator, for 1815, notes the great advantage it was to the commerce of Cincinnati, to have this line, slow as it was, and limited in its capacity.

First Packet Lieu:.--The first regular and periodical line of packets between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati was formed January 11, 1794, by the establishment of four keelboats, of twenty tons each, as appears by an advertisement in the Centinel of the Northwest Territory. The advertisement,* which is quite a curiosity, is omitted on account of its great length. The proprietors of this new enterprise announced that each boat would make the voyage between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, "once in every four weeks." And, as an assurance of safety to passengers, they announced that " no danger need be apprehended from the enemy, as every person on board will be under cover made proof to rifle or musket halls, and there are convenient port holes for firing out. Each boat is armed with six pieces carry-

* The curious may see the advertisement in full in Cist's annual for 1859, p. 156. The Centinel was the first newspaper started in Cincinnati, November 9, 1793, by William Maxwell.

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ing a pound ball; also a good number of muskets, plants of ammunition, and stoutly manned."

Such were the conditions and assurances, on the part of the proprietors of the " first line of packets." established on the Ohio river. We are nowhere informed of the success of the now enterprise, or the cost of passage between the two points, but as it was a step forward in river navigation in those days, it is reasonable to conclude that,, inasmuch as this was the most expeditious method of travel in those primitive days, they rust with the encouragement which their enterprise deserved.

A notable event occurred at the hamlet of Cincinnati April 27, 1801, in the arrival of the brig " St. Clair," from above, commanded by Capt. Whipple, and bound on an ocean voyage. She was full-rigged and equipped, and loaded with produce for the West Indies, and was the first of the kind out of the Ohio. As she anchored off the port, says the Spy crud Gazette, "the banks were crowded with people, all eager to view this pleasing presage of the future greatness of our infant country."

At this time boats reached Natchez in seventy-two days. On their arrival below, and the cargo discharged, they were usually broken up and the material sold. The crew then generally returned home on foot and horseback through the wilderness of the Southern States, and from three to four months were required to make the journey.

A herald of the coming good time of steam navigation was manifest in March, 1801, in a call for a meeting of citizens at " Yeatman's tavern, " to consider the merits " of a contrivance" for propelling boats against the current. " by the power of steam or elastic vapor." This was fully ten years before the attention of Fulton and his associates was turned to the western waters as a hopeful field for the introduction of his invention. Somewhat later than 1801 Samuel Heighway and John Poole, proprietors of a "mechanical project constructed for the propelling of boats against the stream of rivers, tides and currents by the power of steam or elastic vapor," advertised for subscribers to their scheme of introducing it on the western waters, subscriptions " to become payable early on the [our] invention succeeding, and the boat performing a voyage from New Orleans to Cincinnati." As history is silent regarding their proposition it is inferred that nothing came of it.

Drake, in his description of Cincinnati in 1815, informs us that flat-bottomed and keel boats, and barges, were the vessels in which the commerce of Cincinnati had hitherto been carried. The first, he concluded, would long continue to be employed in the transportation of heavy articles down the river; but. the latter, he thought, would probably be in a great measure superseded by steamboats, as two kinds were then coming into use on the western waters. This sentiment, although only uttered about seventy-eight years ago, sounds very strange to-day. In further discussing the probable change, Dr. Drake thought the "reduction of the voyage from New Orleans to Cincinnati from 130 days, is equivalent to an approximation of the two places, or to the annihilation of two-thirds of the distance."

But the era of steam was not yet, and the river navigation was still conducted by barge, keelboat, "broad horns," or "Kentucky boats," moved commonly by oars and poles, but also by sails when the wind was favorable. They carried from fifty to one hundred tons, and the charge for freightage from Cincinnati to New Orleans was $5 to $G per hundred. In good-that was wet-seasons they could make as many as two round trips to New Orleans per year. Col. James Ferguson, it is recorded, made two trips a year from 1791. to 1794, while he was storekeeping in Cincinnati. The principal firms then engaged in the river traffic were Baum & Perry, and Riddle, Bechtle & Company. Their primitive business, indeed, was not destroyed by the river steamers until 1817, or six years after the first steam vessel passed down the Ohio.

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FIRST STEAMBOAT.

The first successful operation by steam on the western waters was in 1811-12 by the steamboat "Orleans," of about two hundred tons, built by Fulton & Livingston at Pittsburgh. She descended to New Orleans during the memorable earthquake, and ran between New Orleans and Natchez until July 14, 1814.* She was of three hundred tons burden, carried a low pressure engine, and cost about $38,000. She was finished and departed in October, reaching Cincinnati the day before Christmas, causing infinite surprise as well as joy. She was wrecked while lying at the wharf at Baton Rouge over night. The river was falling and the boat settled on a sharp stump which cut a hole through her bottom. The engine was taken out and, with a new boiler, placed in another boat, called the " New Orleans," in 1821.

But the vision of Dr. Drake was not a prophetic one. The invention of Fulton was destined to cause a greater revolution in the transportation business than he anticipated. As shown, the first steamboat was built at Pittsburgh in 1811. The first constructed at Cincinnati was the " Vesta." which was launched in 1816. She was only 100 tons burden, and consequently was quite diminutive in size. She wore out in 1821.

It was not, however, until 1817, that steamboat building was actively and extensively engaged in at Cincinnati. The second boat built, here was called the "Comet." This was in 1817. She was 154 tons burden, a considerable increase over the " Vesta." She was lost in 1823 The " Comet " was built on a new plan. Her machinery was known as French's stern wheel vibrating cylinder plan.

The " Eagle," a small steamer of 70 tons, was also built at Cincinnati for James Berthoud & Son, of Shippingport, Ky., to run in the Louisville (afterward Natchez) trade. Then followed several other small boats. The first steamer owned entirely by Cincinnati capital was constructed in 1818-the "Experiment," a forty-ton craft. "Thus," says Cist, "it seems that thirty-two boats had to be built before we could furnish capital and enterprise to own one."

As Dr. Drake records in his " Picture of Cincinnati in 1815," navigation was still conducted by flat and keel boats and barges only, though two kinds of steamers were beginning to ply on the Ohio. One hundred days were still necessary for the New Orleans round trip, which it was expected steam would reduce to thirty. Cincinnati had been made a port. of entry in 1808, but no vessel was cleared here until 1815 on account of the cessation of ship building on the Ohio.

Flour was now the chief article of export from the Miami country, several thousand barrels being sent thence annually to New Orleans. A good business had also been begun in the exportations of pork, bacon, lard, whiskey, etc. At this time more than seventy shops in "the village" were now keeping imported goods for sale, about sixty of which were selling dry goods, hardware, glass and queensware. Castings were already made in Ohio, at Zanesville and Brush Creek, and were brought thence to Cincinnati. Pennsylvania and Virginia furnished bar, rolled and cast iron, and various manufactures in iron, besides millstones, coal, salt, and so forth.

New Orleans was then, and Dr. Drake thought must continue to be, the great emporium of the southwestern country, and even in 1815 many articles of import from the East could he obtained more cheaply from that city than by Pittsburgh. This was riot to be wondered at. The only means of transportation from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh was by pack horses and wagons; from New Orleans the goods came direct by water at a less cost.

The " ingress of foreign merchandise through other channels," remarks an early writer, " was already anticipated." The general government was expected to com-

* Western Annals, Vol. 1. p. 68.

* Ford, Vol. p. 64.

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plete a National road from the Potomac to the Ohio, which would greatly reduce the expenses of transportation by reducing the time en route.

The imports this year at Cincinnati, from places east and south, amounted to $534,680. In 1816 they, had reached $691,075; in 1817, $1,442,206, and in 1818, $1,619,030. During the two years following the last war with England, there was a great increase in the importation of foreign goods, with a consequent depression of prices.

In 1817 the commercial aspects of Cincinnati were noted in an interesting way by the traveler Burnet. He says in his book:

" Numbers of arks, with emigrants and their families bound to various parts of the western country, are generally near the landing. Whilst we were here I counted the different craft. which then lay ill the river: and as it, way convey some information, I shall state their number.- seven Kentucky boats similar to ours with coal, iron and dry goods, from Pittsburgh: four barges or keelboats-one was at least 1,50 tolls, and had two masts. These boats trade up and down the river, exchanging and freighting goods from and to New Orleans, Pittsburgh and other places; four large flatboats or scows with stone for building; salt from the Kanawha; six arks laden with emigrants and their furniture. Emigrants descending the Ohio mostly call at Cincinnati to purchase provisions and collect information. These arks are similar to the Kentucky boats, only smaller. They can only descend the river."

During the season of 1818-19 the amount of flour inspected at Cincinnati for export reached 130,000 barrels. It. was estimated that at least 50,000 tons of produce went abroad that year out of the city and the two Miami rivers. The imports that year were only about half a million. The balance of trade had been against Cincinnati, and the local merchants were uncommonly prudent and cautious about their imports. The exports, however, from October, 1818, to March, 1819, amounted to $1,334,085 of flour alone, pork 10,000 barrels, worth $150.000. To the Indiana, Illinois and Missouri territories, alone, the value of the exhorts amounted to 300,000 for that time.

To show the steady growth of commerce it play be mentioned that the imports for 1826 amounted to $2,528,590, and the exports reached $1,063,560. The difference in trade is explained on the ground that the country was new and the products fell short of supplying the home demand. For 1832 the commerce of Cincinnati was estimated at four million dollars; for 1835 at something more than six million dollars. The steamer arrivals this year numbered 2,237, and among the imports were 90,000 barrels of flour and 55,000 of whiskey.

STEAMBOAT BUILDING.

Steamboat building, when it was fairly started, soon began to look up briskly. Navigation changed rapidly from the keelboat to the steamboat. The first steam vessel, as already stated, was the " Vista," built in 1816. During the next year steamboat building began to be active, and was most successfully prosecuted. Vessels were built at Cincinnati and elsewhere on the Ohio more cheaply than in any eastern city, and the preference was given to Cincinnati. Of all that were built on the entire western waters in the two seasons between 1817 and 1819, nearly one-fourth was launched here. A large number was also built here in the years 1824-26; in fact, it is considered doubtful whether more were constructed during that time in any city in the world. The woodwork especially was superior. Black locust, which was not found even at Pittsburgh, was considerably used for boats, and vessels thus made were more desirable than those constructed at the east, from Jersey oak, Upon these waters there had been 233 steamboats by 1820. Ninety had been lost or destroyed, and there were 143 remaining, of about 24,000 aggregate tonnage. One was built in 1811, and another in 1814; two in 1815 three in 1816; and in the years following successively, 7, 25, 34, 10, 5, 13. 15, 16, 27 and 56. Of these 48

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were built at Cincinnati, which had half a million dollars invested in the river business. By this time the primitive craft had been almost wholly superseded by the steamers, some of which were so adapted to the river as to run through the very driest season. Thenceforth steamer building was to be exceedingly prominent among the industries of the Queen City. The number built, however, has varied greatly from year to year. Marine reports show that in 1833, for example, only eight steamers were launched from the Cincinnati shipyards, with a total tonnage of about 1,730.

In 1840 thirty-three steamboats, representing a carrying capacity of 5,361 tons, were built at Cincinnati at an aggregate cost of $592,500. The "Joan of Are" was the largest and finest. She carried 343 tons, and cost $32,000. The "Ben Franklin," another popular boat of a later date, carried 312 tons, and cost $40,000. The passenger traffic up and down the river afforded an important item of revenue in those days. Older readers will recall the scenes of excitement attendant on the arrival at the wharf of these "magnificent floating palaces," as they were called, and the pride with which they were regarded by their owners and the people. A trip on one of them was regarded as a peculiar privilege, and marked an epoch in the life of the traveler.

By the census of 1840 it appears that the capital invested in Cincinnati houses in foreign trade and in the commission business was $5,200,000; capital employed in the retail dry-goods business, and other branches of trade, $12,877,000, There were twenty-three lumber yards, employing seventy-three hands. The capital invested amounted to $133,000, and the sales reached $342,500. The total manufactures for that year showed 10,667 hands employed, and the value of products $17,432,670.* The capital invested in manufactures is given by the authority at $14,541,842.

So rapid, however, was the development of commerce, that in January, 1841, there were eighty-eight steamboats belonging to the district of Cincinnati. These boats plied between Pittsburgh, St. Louis and New Orleans, and did a large transportation business in freight and the carrying of passengers.

In 1841-42 the value of imports to Cincinnati was $41,236,199; of exports, $33,234,898, In 1857 the value of imports had reached $74,348,758, and of exports $47,497,095. Cincinnati suffered less by the monetary panic of 1857 than any city of importance in the country. The coal consumed in 1841 amounted to 1,900,050 bushels; in 1851 it had risen to 7,785,000 bushels.

The number of vessels, barges, and steam ferryboats, built at Cincinnati between 1853 and 1879, inclusive, is strikingly exhibited in the following statement, which gives the number of boats built each year: 1853. 33 boats; 1857, 34; 1858, 14; 1859, 11; 1860, 28; 1861, 11; 1862, 4; 1863, 43; 1864, 62; 1865, 44; 1866, 33; 1867, 18; 1868, 11; 1869, 11; 1870, 52; 1871, 44; 1872, 52; 1873, 48; 1874, 29; 1815, 16; 1876, 19; 1877, 21; 1878, 30; 1879, 24.

The aggregate tonnage ranged from 1,745 in 1862, to 20,838 in 1870. The first year of the war, it will be observed, caused a great depression in the business. But in 1863 and 1864 the great demand for boats caused unusual activity. After peace was made there was a decline, but it revived in 1870. The range of boats plying to and from the city was 225 in 1862, to 446 in 1865.

The eleventh annual report of the Cincinnati Board of Trade says of the boat building of 1880-81, that " a good number of boats were built during the past year the number of till crafts being 20, with a tonnage of 6,683, against 24 the preceding year, and tonnage 10,641. A heavy increase of tonnage was expected, but not in the number of boats. This was expected to be in stern-wheel boats for making short trips. Many of these had reached a carrying capacity of 3,000 tone."

* Cist, 1859, p. 345.

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For the commercial year ending August 31, 1880, the Chamber of Commerce reported that " the arrival.." for the year aggregated 3,163 boats, compared with 2,725 in the year immediately preceding, and the departures 3,167, in comparison with 2,730. The whole number of steamboats and barges which plied between Cincinnati and other ports in the past year was 322, with an aggregate tonnage of 83, 560. "

SEAGOING VESSELS.

Very early in the century the construct-ion of sailing vessels, for river and ocean navigation, be_gan on the upper Ohio. Among the sailing vessels built at Marietta between the years 1801 and 1805, was a beautiful little 70-ton schooner called the "Nonpareil," constructed by Capt. Jonathan Devil. one of the earliest shipwrights on the Ohio, for himself and sons, and Richard Greene. In the spring of 1805 she was finished and loaded for a voyage down the Ohio and Mississippi, and Gen. Mansfield took passage on her with his family. The little craft left Marietta April 21st, The distance to Cincinnati, 160 miles, she made after a voyage of seventeen (lays, being kept back by adverse winds and a low stage of water. Cincinnati then had a population of 950, Capt, Devoll also made the boats which brought the first settlers to Marietta for the Ohio Company.

In 1844 a bark was built at Marietta of 350 tons burden, and pained the "Muskingum," which loaded at Cincinnati for Liverpool. She reached her destination safely in ,January, 1845, and the Liverpool Tunes noted her arrival in flattering terms, and said that by her it received a file of Cincinnati papers. She was the first vessel that ever cleared here for Europe. The voyage was regarded as a very remarkable one.

Other seagoing vessels were fitted out here at various points on the Ohio. John Swasey & Company, of Cincinnati, built three vessels, before 1850, of 200 to 350 tons-one full-rigged brig, the "Louisa," and two barks, named, respectively, the ` John Swasey" and the "Salem." They were towed to New Orleans, and prepared for sea. One made a six months' trading trip to the west coast of Africa. She proved to be a good sailer. The "Minnesota," a ship of 850 tons, was built here about the same time by another firm, for a New Orleans owner.

THE CANAL SYSTEM.

The canal system of Cincinnati, which also became an important factor in the transportation business and- the development of the city, was commenced in 1524, but was not, fully completed until 1842. The Miami canal commences at Cincinnati, and follows the Great Miami valley until it passes the summit at St. Mary's and enters the Maumee valley, terminating at Toledo. In 1826 it was fairly under contract, and thirty-one miles, from Main street to the dam at Middletown, were nearly finished. In 1828 it was completed to the month of Mad river, a distance of 67 miles. In 1841, it was in operation to Pequa, and the extension was completed eighty miles beyond Dayton. For two years it had paid more than the annual interest upon the debt incurred in its construction, which was considered "the best evidence of its utility,"

The amount of tolls for 1850 collected on the canal was $315,103.60. During this year there arrived at Cincinnati 117,655 tons of merchandise, and there were cleared during the same period 42,784 tons. The total amount of tolls collected from 1828 to 1840 was $637,837.10.

The Wabash canal, which is wholly in Indiana, joins the Miami at the junction in the Miami valley, and therefore becomes a contributor to the commerce of Cincinnati.

The growth of the commerce of Cincinnati has been rapid. In 1869 the river trade was $169,500,000, against $150,000,000 of imports and exports for Pitts-

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burgh, $115,000,000 for Louisville, $30,000,000 for Wheeling, and $40,000.000 for Paducah. This year crackers were exported to China and candies to Greece,

The local commerce for 1873--about $540,000,000-was nearly half of the commerce of the United States. The law of Congress passed July 14, 1870, allowing direct importation of goods from abroad to Cincinnati greatly facilitated foreign transactions. The total of direct importations entered at the port of Cincinnati in the fiscal year of 1877-78 was $632,528 ; for 1878-79 it was $896,540 ; for 1879-80, $995,372, showing an increase of $101,831, or nearly 12 per cent. in favor of the, last.

From an elaborate table prepared by the Merchants Exchange it appears that from 1856 to 1880, inclusive, there were received at Cincinnati 38,662,428 bushels of wheat, and 15,468,911 barrels of flour. For the same period the receipts of corn amounted to 58,311,493 bushels.

TRADE OF 1892.

But it is from the carefully prepared and elaborate reports of the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce and Merchants Exchange, that, we are enabled to get the best insight of the trade and commerce of the Queen City and the wonderful progress it has made in a little over fifty years. This powerful association of merchants was organized October 15, 1839, and has therefore been in existence about fifty-four years. The forty-fourth annual report shows that at the beginning of 1893 there were about 2,200 members. The organization represents the" concentrated activity of the leading business men of the city in every department of trade and commerce, and the influence it exerts in the advancement and material wealth is far reaching and invaluable. The following extract from the report for the commercial year ending August. 31, 1892, will give the reader a comprehensive idea of the business situation of Cincinnati

The exhibits and detailed statements relating to the commercial and industrial interests of Cincinnati make it plain that the past year [1892] has been one of important advancement, and of very satisfactory results. These conditions, yielding a good degree of prosperity. have been reached through no inflation in values, affording unusual margins for profits. but are due to business enterprise and energy and meritorious work, supported by the various special advantages which the locality affords for economical prosecution of Competitive pursuits. It is quite apparent that the tendency of prices in staple lines for the year was more in the direction of reduction titan otherwise. And yet our merchants and manufacturers have hall a good year. the volume of general business operation, having been materially enlarged. Perhaps the clearing house exhibit of bank exchanges is as fair ion index ft these matters its anything available. This shows a gain of left per cent in these returns In comparison with the preceding year. There has been an increase in the volume of business in nearly every important line, and in sons, the gain has been large. There hats been also a fair increase in the value of manufactures turned out by local establishments, with a still greater enlargement in volume of products, as values have been lowered in most of the prominent lines of such industry.

A plealing feature in the affairs of Cincinnati is the evidence of more of co-operative effort than heretofore on the part of manufactures and merchants not only in the way of securing fuller recognition of just claims from transportation companies, but also in the extension of business into fields where other markets have heretofore had more important control. Our people have prospered in all the years of the past, and many of them have been content with conditions which have surrounded them. and have not manifested a full degree of determination to sound abroad the advantages of this locality as a market amid more positively assert the merits of facilities here commanded, and thus to invite more generally the attention of the commercial and industrial world. This locality is especially favored in facilities for securing supplies of cheap fuel for manufacturing and household uses a feature of prime importance. It has convenient and cheap homes for the working classes and those of limited incomes. It has a climate comparing favorably with any other region in the country. Our city has abundant educational facilities, Trout the free public schools to the university, with also those covering technical fields, music and art, all of the first, order of merit.

A very clear illustration of the substantial and phenomenal advancement in the industrial growth of Cincinnati is shown by a tabulated statement accompany the report, but as it is too elaborate for these pages a few extracts and comparisons mast

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suffice. For 1891-92 the value of commodities received was $346,000,000; value of manufactures, $230,000,000. During the same period the Clearing House exchanges amounted to $721,000,000. The figures for 1890-91 are: Value of commodities received, $326,000,000; value of manufactures, $244,000,000. The Clearing. House exchanges for the same period reached $655,000,000, or fifty-six millions below what they were the subsequent year.

These figures not only indicate the comparative volume in many interests, but also suggest the important extent to which values have receded in the past ten years. The report shows that in 1881-82 the value of commodities received reached $295,000,000, whilst the value of manufactures was $186,000,000, and the Clearing House exchanges $485,000,000. In these ten years, continues the report, the decline in prices has averaged fully 25 per cent., while the aggregate valuation represented by commercial and manufacturing operations has been enlarged to an extent of probably 40 per cent. On this basis the volume of goods, so far as quantity is concerned, has increased during the period to the extent of fully 85 per cent.

The report states that full detailed returns of the manufacturing interests of Cincinnati have not been obtained since 1890, but sufficient information has been acquired relative to prominent industries to indicate that the past year [1891-92] has been one of decided progress. In 1870 the value of products of manufacturing establishments at Cincinnati and the immediate vicinity was about $125,000,000. In 1880 this had increased to $135,000.000. In 1890 the total, according to special investigations of the Chamber of Commerce, was $236,000,000. For 1892 the aggregate may safely be estimated at $250,000,000. It is thus indicated that in the value of products there has been an advancement of 100 per cent in the period of twenty-two years from 1870 to 1892, and more than 60 per cent in the twelve years from 1880 to 1892.

These totals will convey to the mind of the reader a fair comprehension of the magnitude of the trade and commerce of Cincinnati, and show him the vast increase in transportation since the days when the flat and keel boats navigated the river.

The flat and keelboats gradually gave way to the steamboat, which appeared, as has been shown, in 1816. It had a grand and glorious day, and exerted a powerful influence in the development of trade, while the period of its supremacy lasted. The first interference was the canal-boat, then came the locomotive, which marked the beginning of its decline. The struggle between the two methods was a long one, but finally the locomotive triumphed, and the steamboat, as a great factor in the work of transportation, was driven from the waterway.

The Chamber of Commerce report gives some interesting facts as showing the decline of the steamboat interest brought about by the constant increase in railway facilities. In 1883-84 the trade was represented during the year by 81 vessels with an aggregate tonnage of 40,000. In 1891-92 the number had declined to 40 vessels with a tonnage of 24,000. Previous to the opening of the Cincinnati Southern and the Louisville & Nashville railroad from Cincinnati the Southern Transportation line maintained from fourteen to sixteen vessels of large carrying capacity, with three arrivals each week during favorable water. In the past year (1891-92) this line had but four vessels in the trade, and one departure each week. At the present time railways intercept all important points, and a great portion of the smaller ones from Pittsburgh to Cairo, and with the rapid business methods which prevail there must necessarily be rapid transit. The steamer " Golden Rule," of the Southern Transportation Line, was burned at the wharf in Cincinnati March 31, 1892, on the eve of departure for New Orleans, causing a loss of six lives and total loss of cargo and vessel.

Steamboat building has almost entirely disappeared from Cincinnati yards. Ten years ago she built the principal part of the boats engaged in her trade, and employed annually from three to five hundred men. But if one source of employment declines

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another takes its place. Such are the inscrutable ways of Him who rules over the destiny of nations. The world is constantly advancing in every department calculated to elevate the condition of man. With the increase of population, there is a corresponding increase in the facilities calculated to meet his wants, and therefore better his condition. The greatest of these facilities, so far as the transportation of articles of commerce are concerned, is the railroad. So great is this mighty factor in the promotion of trade and commerce that the history of the railroads of Cincinnati must be reserved for a separate chapter.