The New York herald., 1869-04-05
OUR WHARvES AND PIERS.

Them.
II has become Q matter OF great difficulty In con-
sequence OF the scarcity Of wharf room for vessels
not connected with regular line OF transportation
having the exclusive use OF wharf to fnd the ne
cessary accommodation forreceivng and discharging
cargoes. On the North river, from pier No to the
foot OF Fourteenth street, the water front almost
entirely and exclusively used by steam lines ferries,
depots, stationary barees oyster houses moored In
slips, and the bulkheads occupied by buildings OF
used for the storage OF lumber, wood and heavy
materials to the exclusion OF vessels seeking berhs
Many OF the piers covered with sheds and gates
interposed to deter persons from going upon them,
a OF which Is at varunce with the present laws or
this State relating to the wharves ana piers OF this
city. 1t IS an indisputabe fact, however, that the
laws OF the State In reference to the occupancy and
control Of our wharves and piers require great
alteration Most OF the statutes nov In force were
enacted many years ago. and are not at all adapted
to meet the present requirements OF commerce. In
the first place It Is very essential that steam lines Or
irving at and departing from wharf at certain
stated time should have such necessary protection Il
ana accommodation as wonl1 enable them to do
70, without which the advantages OF steam would
be useless Again, there are certain articles OF
chandise pershable In their nature, ice for In
stance shat cannot be stored and must be sent upon
their arrival Immediately to the consumer, without
which the price would be greatly increased and the
supply materially lnterfered with. Such aroles re-
Quire depot exclusively for their use.
The principal reason Of the great want Of wharf
accommodations lor large sailing ships, vessels
gagged in the coast trade, and the many thousand
smaller craft barges, &c. that make short trips to
TO this CITY, Is, tnat they require berths at wharves
maintained by the collection OF the legal rates OF
wharfage passed IN, he year 1Sl3 and which in 1860
were slightly, though not materially, amended. The
amendment only slightly increase d the wharfage on
large vessels and decreased the wharfage vessels
Under nity tons measurement. the wharfage on
The rates of wharfage passed In the year 1913 COM
PEELED all vessels under hty tons measurement to
pay nfty GEMS per day. The act OF 1o60 was drawn
BY those parties whose wharves were mainly occu-
pied by the larger class OF vessels and TO simplify
the act the rate stated at cent per ton upon
eli vessels under 200 tons. The wharves that are
principally useu by vessels under nifty tons receive
less compensation than was given by the act
OF 1878. The only Ieaslbie method Of collecting
wharfage Is by the custom House measurement OF
the vessel and so 1t mas always been collected. In
1854 Congress passed law to renleasure all vessels
by q dihercnt method, which reduced the measure
ment OF oil single deck vessels at least one tbrd.
and OF course reduced the wharfage in the same
ratio These vessels ION about onehalf their carry
lag capaciLy; as, Tor instance vessels IN the brick
trade now average nom thirty TO forty tons register
though tncy carry double that weight OF brick they
are seldom more Than one day dscharglng, and
almost always PIE the brlck upon the wharf or pier
ana the owner OF The whalf has no practicable
power to prevent 1t. He receives some thirty or
forty cents Tor the and injury OF his property and
the owner ol the brlcA has loryeght hours TO cart
them off, without paying anything Tor the use of the
wharf or pier coal barge measures on an aver
age about 10 tons; Her average weight OF cargo
Is about 240 tons OF COAL The Wharfage, as estaD-
hsled by the act Of 1913. is seventy-fve
cents per DAY, the average time OF unload
ing cs da a dis na esf the warase
ceives about forty dolars-that ls from sixteen to
eighteen cents per tonPof coal He alrxes derrick
10 pie on the pier and hOlsts out the coal with
horse, whose CONSTANT tread wears through the
planking, while the derrick, acting as a lever,
loOsens and materially inJures the structure Of the
wharf, for which he pays nothing whatever. A fair
estimate OF the compensation necessary to make
Go0d the injury done 70 & per oy the heSng a and
Frequently great pes OF iron lumber or other neavy
materials are thrown upon pier, endangerng the
structure and some lines breaking 1t down, for
which the compensation scarcely worth the trouble
OF collecting. 1t cannot be denied that the owners
altogether inadequate compensation authorized BY
tho laws OF the STATE Tor the use and maintenance
p the % wharves and gers occupied py vessels paying
wise tnat those wharves and piers are generally In
such an impaired condition tnat there should be
want OF wharf accommodation for the positively
needed requirements Of commerce. when the in.
creased expense Of maintaining the wharves and
piers In good condition and repair IN consequence
6f the advanced price OF labor aud materials Is con.
pideredf There are very Few sips IN the city OF
New York that do not require TO DO dredged out,
nearest the streets. Many are nearly II not quite
bare at low water ana some are bare at hall tide,
and the stencil arising thererom 10 very disagreea
bic and oriens We and undoubtedly must be very
Injurious TO health. In fact the slips OF the city are
gradually becoming nlled with mud and It is din
in many OF the slips at high water. The cause Of
this Is the want Of proper legslation aud the
accumulation OIL silt from the sewers OF the
city fills the slips rapidly. The general occupancy
lures stationary vessels engaged In trade used
Q permanent place OF deposit for heavy and cum
e
would II occupied by vessels paying wharfage, and
the saving OF the great expense OF dredging, are the
chief things requiring TO be remedied BY legislation.
the provisions OF an act passed April 10, 1867, re-
CURED the silt or mud dredged from out OF q slip 10
be deposited under the discretionary directions OF
the HarbOr Commissioners, under the penalty OF
heavy hne. Previous TO the passage OF this act the
ecow upon receiving the matter excavated by the
dredging machine was drawn by means OF q rope
and anchor to the centre OF the river and by the re-
moval OF o portion OF the bottom OF the scow the
by the tide. The rice paid then was sixteen cents
per yard. II slips were dredged now In the same
manner the proe wSuid 90 S a9out twenty cents.
ol the Harbor Commissioners, ordering the towaye
OF the mud scows some distance from the city, the
price was from twenty-five to thirty cents per
yard. They have recently issued an order that the
mud dredged from the slips must be deposited above
high water marx which would require the scows TO
be unloaded by shoveling or by some other contrv.
ance, 70 be put In vehicle TO be conveyed and de-
posted upon some ground dinicut II not impossible
10 nnd In fact, the order renders the dredging out
OF the slips nearly an impossbility. Though the
laws Of the state empower the Harbor Commission.
eTb 10 COmDel OWHefs VI tnc urcuxe tucm
out, they throw every obstacle and impediment in
the way OF Its being done. There II no law OF this
State relating 10 the wharves and piers OF this
city, except very old, vague and inappiicable
one, enforcing the payment OF wharfage that gives
the least projection or consideration to the owners
OF the wharvcs aud piers OF this city Naturally the
wharf owners seek To let lease their property 10
some steamship or transportation company who
will pay tnem lair rent and keep and use the wharf
exclusively. The reason why the public wharves
and piers In better condition is that the slips
are ied with mud and that they are becoming
gradually aud exclusively used lthe laws 70 the CON
trary Notwithstanding, TO the exclusion OF sailing
vessels, barges ana transient crafts WHO seek wharf
accommodations to load unload their cargoes aud
pay for the same IN accordance with the legal rates
Of wharfage.
We give below a tabular statement Of the various
wharvcs aud plers OF the city, showing such ~ are
used exclusively ana those maintained by the col
lection OF wharfage US also the names OF the steam
boat companies, &C, having the use OF them:-
NORTH RIVER PIERS.
No. By Wbolt Used. Hoo Used.