| OCR Text |
Show of bearing a steamer of 103 142 tons burden loaded ( with -with with ) merchandise and passengers . " Navigability was discussed in The ( ILontello gontello ) , 20 ( "Wall Wall 'WaU WaU ) . , 430 . The question in that case was whether or not the ( Pox Fox ) River was navigable and the ( evi- evi ) dence showed that , since the year 1675 , the river had been used as a highway of commerce by fur traders merchants and others for trade and travel , , into the western country . The Court ( followed followel ) the rule laid down in The ( Daniel Dawiel ) Ball supra and said at page 441 as ( follows follo'ws follows ) : It ( would would- would ) be a narrow ( rule rude ) to hold that in this country , unless a river was capable of being ( navigated na-vigated navigated ) by steam or sail vessels , it could not be treated as a public highway . The capability of use by the public for ( pur- pur ) poses of transportation and commerce ( af- af ) fords the true criterion of the navigability of a river , rather than the extent and manner of that use . If it be capable in its natural state of being used for purposes of ( com com- com ) merce , no matter in what mode the commerce may be conducted , it is navigable in fact , and becomes in law a public ( river ri'ver river ) or ( high high- high ) way . Vessels of any kind that can float upon the water , whether ( propelled propelled- propelled ) by animal power , by the wind , or by the agency of ( steam steani ) , are or ( may inay ) become , the mode by which a vast commerce can be ( conducted cond-ucted conducted ) , and it would be a mischievous rule that would exclude either in determining the navigability of a river . It is not , however , as Chief ( Justice Tustice ) Shaw said , " every small |
