The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1852-03-26
frsRy CosAoSIcArloN BETWEEN NEW York AND

increase Of ferry communication
with New York, for the last few years, 10 very re-
but the supply is not yet eSaai TO the
demand. great outcry has been msde by Wall
street journal against new ferry about to DC
established between the foot Of Wall street on this
side Of the East river, and Jorasemon street on the
,oprosite side. This ferry ives very much needed
and il IL curious enough that it should meet with
opposition from the very quarter where support
might be expected. 1t is short-sighted and ma
row-minded opposition, for there cannot be doubt
that the ferry WI materially serve the interests
of Wall street, while, to the merchants and others
doing business IN that street and the adjoining |
streets it viii he Of great Importance saving their
time and giving them speedy transit to their resi-
dences in Brooklyn.
Instead OF too many ferries, there not yet hall
enough. There ought to be, there soon will be,
ferry at the foot of every second street to Broad
way on both rivers and instead Of the long intervals
at which Of the boats run, they ought to
every Ave minutes, like the Fulton boats. The idea Of
running only halfhourly the South ferry after 10
oclocki absurd and still absurd and ridiculous
is it for the Common Council to permit the Hamil-
ton Avenue ferry to stop running for the night at IL
o'cock-a for which reason earth can be
assigned, it is highly injurious to the ferry itself
and to the property al the other side Of the river
driving the residents to other localities where they
can get better accommodations. The result of the
great convenience of the Fulton ferry is that it is
crowded to excess and sometimes made most uncom-
Portable to the passengers whereas if there
ferries, and greater accommodations at those which
already exist, the pressure would be evenly di
vded, the public would be benefited, and the gain Of
the ferry companies and the Corporation would be
greater in the end.
The want of sufficient accommodation, the failure
to keep pace with the swelling tide of population
passing to and fro has suggested to some philoso-
piers the chimerical idea of vast bridge the
East river. No doubt, suspension bridge might be
erected, but not without obstructng the navigation.
Much better would be tunnel, such as that which
is under the bed of the Thames in London, or is
about to be constructed under the Mersey, between
Liverpool and Birkenhead, at cost of million of
dollars. But the best mediums of communication
the quickest, the safest, and the most pleasant-are
the ferry boats, if they only numerous enough
and run sufficiently often. They are but movable
wooden bridges, and there is no bridge equal to
them for convenience. They ought to be numerous
as the bridges across the Seine in Paris, or the
| Thames in London. Brooklyn and Williamsburg
Jersey City and Hoboken are suburbs Of this great
| metropolis, just as much rs Versailles, Passy and
st. Cloud are to the capital Of France, and Clapham
Richmond and Chelsea are to the city Of London,
and the communication with them ought to be as
ready and as complete.
The growth Of New York will be either retard-
ed or assisted, just in proportion as the inter-
communication with its suburbs is obstructed
and contracted, or enlarged and made easy
to the inhabitants. What has so much contributed
to the growth of the whole country, including New
York itself, the network Of railways spread over
the United States! The principle is just the same
as regards the city and its environs. And here we
would suggest a mode of communication between
the upper and lower parts of the city, which is
adopted very extensively, and with great success in
London--we mean steamboat commandments
across, but up and down the East and North rivers,
the boats stopping at certain streets to take passen
| gers in and let others out. In the Thames, some
| prty nIty sreampoats are constantly plying up
and down, day and night. We should like to know
if the Cockneys can do anything in the way of
steamboats, in which New Workers cannot equal, or
even surpass them! The necessity is as great here
as there and the advantages would be greater here
account of the severity of the cold in winter, and
the intensity of the heat in summer. No doubt the
railroad and omnibus interest would oppose this
Improvement tooth and NALL but nevertheless
the day is not distant when it will be an "accom-
pshed fact
TT