The New York herald., 1867-02-09
ouR FERRIES.

vcseigutln9 ComoItSee-Tpe Nertn NJ ler
Ferries and Their Abuses-Tho Evid ..ce
Taken by the Csmmittee. &c.
The Ferry investigating Committee held q er first
Meeting In this city yesterday At the Astor Iouse
lumber OF gentlemen appeared 70 give ~idcnce in
ecronce 70 the grievances OF passengers n the North
iver ferries, and suggest remedy fc the existing
vita Most of The Witnesses examine yesterday were
worn.
M. Oakey, the chairman. havynrf extended general
avason 70 any 70 give Evidence before the
nittee Mr. Whiting, In be- aa1 Of certain citizens Of
New Jersey forward nd raid thai he prepared
% present 70 the comm tee scientific and other evil
asace IN regard 70 the character OF the boats and the
general bad managem, ant Of the Hobokcn ferry COM
panies After brie consultation Il arranged that
che committee shou, devese the whole OF to-day the
investigation Of sh, Hoboksn ferrea
Mr. Potter saiS., in reverence 70 the Hoboken ferry
chat although rac nearly equal 70 that Of any
ether ferry Zero was but one slip on the New York
side the 90 is were run with scarcely any regularity
boat The room for iadies very small, and was
sometimes filled with gentlemen smoking. Probebiy
half the yassengerS had 70 stand IN the morning and
evening rshsn thc beats full some Of the bosts
were vCy old, 10 some cases forty yeus the pasaen-
gers kd a. vaons times sens N ps.nlons 70 sne COM
ncijse had been taken Of IL The mon employed on the
boats BY the company were extremely urciviI, ana
scsed 70 think that they could treat the passengers
Mr. r. T. Bradshaw sworn -witness fuzzy confirmed
soksn ferry ssss gentleman omitted 70 ssss however
she great dangers 70 which passengers are subjected in
aandng owing % the ferry people, letting the teams 90
shore before the passengers III landed witness had
himself narrowly escaped accident In this 1ay;
ing he Aosown he noticed that the space 81 either
ss =" was crowded oy a and os q he H.
nearly drove his vehicle over him; tho remedy was
:npy % ALLOW a the time isav: hs he bOas
former, NC believed having 6csn running about forty
years thsre bad been great deal Of detention lately
day, and 20 much dsgnsted with that experissce
that hedid not cAe up to New York from Orange for
the next two days; some friends Of bis Who did werc
Mr. % J. spva9ne, Of south Orange, sworn-Had
Travelled for abos ten yea on the jersey City anx Ao-
ferry we're utterly Inadequate; . the New YORK side
there ladics roon and drsnken and smokers
ssn.lsmsS % or sdy could ia svoa | getting their clothes
soised Il they went IN tasre shorc was tts pen on
the New Yk de where ssn,snsn stood % get
had frsqueatly broken down; the Passaic and James
must feel thankful whsn they get into the aock the
boats and ferry houses wore unreasonahty crowded
% sss dsss ~
and uncv and talked very rsdely 70 the passengers;
he bridges were without aosis they had broken down
teams; The Hoboen SIDE the bridges wsTe mot COW
sred there should be two slips both SIDES and the
ferry 70 Christopher street were greatly oubed With
cattle; Il important that policemen should bs
che CeDral Railroad had tridges With Hoats and shor
ssshy protected thsm they had also system OF aatos
y.s sss sn he fess ~as picSaSy s.s I but sSs s
convenience 10 the public was very great s e
Ex-senator Laiusoeer who was not sworn, sid 'thAt
che management IL the Weshawksn ferry for the last
500 had sss0 had che grievances Of ~ pas
ssnsers had bssa vssy fairly - forward in presnt
county against me company on the sps0ad thss tuan
ony whichy being old ind yCesn, endangered
ne yss Of p..engsr that sheep and nsss .ers sansd
sdce having swals covered with indecent caEcatares
and writings, used moking room, and that the
chose satemeni ks Va fully able endorse about
year since the lease Of the privilege Of running the
y several gentlemen owning property on the
other side sSove the fsrry and cshsrs Interested in
Ssosns the ,:ssss: q New Jssy e .s city :,
not secnYe alandtue pcs on the WeekawkeA side with
great daoulty, and was nnally thought bster 70
consequently permitted 70 obtain further lease Of
teo years. and things now were worse than ever ne ire
hswkcn; wheui takinr his family acress he had fre-
qsenty embsd for their safety. and wished himsef on
Os.o KoSier. swsrnLivsd Close u weshawkea ferry;
three four teams of hts crossed every day. old
Charo0 would be ashamed 70 the styx in such q
with the ferry, the bridges boats &c, was dapdated
worn out; abe boat with pretence 10 reg
Inc lnDer OF ine DOat rOJteu tnot
in repairing the deck OF the boat unable 70 make
awo inch nail bold; the company picked up their hands
on. Of the quarry he aid not believe there was COM
did mot all for three days. they charged I've cents
for passengers and only three cents for sheep.
M William Anderson sworn--Witness appeared a.
representative OF the editors reporters composors and
newspapers ON pleyed upon New York journals. many
request the sdo OF for securing the
better and safety or passengers using the
Williamsburg fevries; he had himself witnessed one
fatal accident upen the ferry. and II the necessary
statistics could ben procured II would be found that the
loss OF life considerable; little while ago the fact
the OF pmmodaton was brought very orcbly
70 his mind By see ting crowded with passengers
that there only room for one team thcre were prob
ably twelve MI hundred persons At that time upon
boat had Yard IL remarked t,at the cabins OF
the Lad been clean during the past
three days; possibly the company had heard that the
committee would In spect the boata
Mr. VIM w. Ship, ven sworn-Was one OF the mana
gers OF the two ftoboken ferries; he wished to
draw the notice Of she committee the fac, that the
two gentlemen would net asrco one witness said that
the teams drove amo E sns p.s:sngsrs ana sns. ane
crowded. thess things had occurred, NO doubt; they
could no. be avoided. ep. they occurrsd very seldom
less by the cs than thse OF any q the other ferries;
thcr opinion Of their boss and was also that OF
need tney were equal to any heats East riser
tney also large 1Ae latter they claimed that
ssr life preserving and E apparatus Us was % more pefsc.
Ilcd with air vessels feef square. that
a any accident their boats cpud not sink toe company
had q ferry mile and half wide, and were obliged IN
order compete with the other ferries TO make the
same time, though they had TO travel less distance
their boats had consequently 70 be built for speed
the Boboken ferry did pay by ITSELF though il paid
them because they owned large tract OF land on that
side they had sold half thai land yet the ferry had
been run since 1895 since that time the difference
tween receipts and expenditures would not amount TO
two per cent on the cap inyesisd last year the ferry
made some Money hut tlAs year IL would take all the
profits for the years and SO 900 besides 10 meet
the expenditures they were cong 70 incur tne nomns
complaints that had been made IN reference 10 the
ferry houses Hoboksn, svnos the oompeton OF the
Morris and Essex Rairoad they had intended TO move
ferry 900 the RIVER that Ind only been
delayed by the 1psnsis oarrassments OF thai road
witness believed y sHixfaciovy arrangements would I've
made IN spring; the teams perhaps ought not 70 oc
on the same boat psssenges, but ihe people with
teams thought they hAd some rights IN the Ferry
great many Of the cMme, not very mid spoken,
and might swear st the p,~ensers they might, per-
hApe, keep the chains up till abe passsogers landed;
there q separate massage for the passen-
gers and teans. but the passengers would