Towboat On The River (1953)

the first highways of the world were a rivers over most of the earth as in the United States they are still among the busiest highways today thousands of barges and Sleek towboats sail us rivers in American history the Indians paddled canoes on these Rivers the Trappers Traders explorers and colonists followed and as people settled the West towns grew up along the rivers life there was described by Samuel Clemens in two books life on the Mississippi and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn books that will live forever for a pen name Clemens chose Mark Twain a river phrase meaning 12 ft [Music] deep today's towboats have highly experienced captains and control rooms as well equipped as those on an ocean liner the captain teg grafts his directions to the modern engine room where they're carried out by Engineers who have been riding the river for years most toeb boats today are diesel powered with two screw propellers instead of the old paddle Wheels radio reaches a towboat anytime for instance suppose Freight is already moving in a barge on some part of the 28,000 Mi of navigable inland waterways in the US the shipper wants to change the destination of the shipment the captain of the toeo is notified by radio while the freight is actually in [Music] transit a group of barges is called a toll or flotilla life aboard a tobo has changed since Mark Twain but the love of the river is still the same be it on the Ohio the Illinois the Mississippi or any of the other streams that join to make the great Mississippi river system in the heart of America many barges make up a toe sometimes a toe is 12200 ft long longer than the longest ocean liner the Queen [Music] Elizabeth here a toe is too long for the 600t lock through which it must pass therefore the flua must be broken into [Music] a deck hand knocks loose the coupling with a sledge [Music] [Music] the rear part of the toll is pulled out of the way by the towboat and the gates close the first part of the toll may be pulled through the lock by barge pullers on the lock wall then the towboat pushes the second half through and the toe is once more joined together as the trip continues continues for what may be a journey all the way down the continent for America's Great River system joins Pittsburgh Cincinnati Louisville Chicago Minneapolis St Louis Memphis New Orleans and via the inter Coastal Waterway joins all these and other cities with Houston [Music] the come ahead Bell tells the crew that a meal is ready from a spotless kitchen with the latest equipment you'll find all sorts of good things to [Music] eat there's ham deep fried potatoes cake and all that goes to make a fine dinner officers and crew eat the same food in the same dining room men work for 6 hours then get 6 hours off offat they relax in Lounge rooms with games like solitire or with Checkers always a favorite among [Applause] rivermen for the offat the night brings rest radio music and a chance to settle down with a [Music] magazine for men on duty the night requires alertness and skill blinking lights on Shore are guide posts [Music] the search light has trouble penetrating fog the enemy of men on the river as it is of men who sail the sea but today radar helps by showing the way and any obstacles that may be in that way radar a product of World War II an invention that Mark Twain never knew keeps the toeo moving ahead [Music] a few passenger boats remain on the rivers but most traffic now is Freight each cargo requires special handling scrap iron is unloaded by a giant [Music] magnet new automobiles 600 at a time move down the river to the South [Music] sometimes a cargo like soap or detergent must not get wet it's carried from a closed freight car by truck down an elevator and into a closed River barge where it is kept dry [Applause] [Music] sometimes the cargo is coal a heavy product that like many items may be shipped economically by the [Music] river or it may be gasoline from Louisiana in a special a constructed [Music] barges or pipe for oil fields or refineries carried in the open Hopper barges that are the most commonly used barges on the River today or grain from Minnesota for America's great farming area is served by this river system whatever the cargo towboats like this one of the Union barge line and all kinds of barges keep it moving through sun or fog day or night today thanks to the Army Corps of Engineers who keep the rivers open and thanks to the thousands of officers and rivermen aboard the toes America's great heart of the nation river system is better than ever and busier than Mark Twain ever imagined it could [Music] be the Golden Age on the river was not Mark Twain's time it's today [Music]