New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-09-22
END or A GREAT SCHEME.
sor-TH BROOKLYN RAILROAD AND TER
MINAL COMPANY TO Re SOLD.

JOHN W AMBRosEs PLANS HAVE ArrARH> *
COME TO xArGHr But THERE rs NrrH OF
VALUE LEFT Is TIE PROPERTY.
Tho South Brooklyn Railroad and Terminal Come
panv mas long been in state o. collapse ana u
looks as II crisis IN rs affairs had been reached.
i has been practically defunct for years and tho
death Of John W Ambrose some months ago AZ
rears 10 have brought rs affairs 10 a focus.
The Supreme Court has ordered the sale. under
foreclosure proceedings, OF the South brooS-
lvn Railroad and Terminal Company The sale
VIII be by auction next week. Tn" acton WAS
brought by Jonathan X Gapin on slcoP' ~ prom
issory notes The plaintiff Is associated win :"
Havard Cutting and r. Fulton Cutting both O.
whom are largely interested in the Terminals az
fairs.
The property apparently consists Of the block o.
land between Thirty-eghth and Thirty ninth SIS,
on which the huge barnlike station stands the
row Of small houses on the same block ant the
railroad itself which only extends 20 Ninth
ave. or about mile IN length II eas ono
OF the most expensive pieces OF work ever builf N
this city. The cutting goes through the backbone
Of Long Island and Is eighty feet deep In paris
II runs right through the moraine OF glacier tnat
either came down the Hudson River or the Con-
necticut Valley in the ice age. This Is composed
entirely Of powders. ranging from stones the slzs
Of blasting powder to rocks several tons IN weight
No borings had been made by the engineers. who
apparently acted on the belief that they had
merely to deal with Long Island SAND lhey
I'm the Federal courts to recover 5000 Tor breach
Of contract. The steam shovels were useless anu
the work was finally finished by hand
Among the men who were Interested IN the enter,
prise Joseph Richardson. q spite rouse
fame who sunk $3.50 100 In the work The IDEA was
to make the Battery the great entrance - New
York. and concentrate all the Long Island kai.'
road and the Thirty-ninth-st. ferry e. Whitehall.
St Network For the use Of this mite OF rack.
fia for min cd IN ppf
two cents for each passenger carried Ih sn,
would bring grist TO the Tnirty-ninth street ferr'
Company. which is branch OF the concern.
The scheme failed because the railroads declined
to come in. and the property has been practioay
idle ever since. From the material taken from mo
cutting, however, a splendid piece o. properly was
made. consisting Of about twenty-five city blocks
Twenty-eiShth and Thirty ninth sts II vas hs n,
that John W. Ambrose hoped to realize the amoi-
nous steamship piers, varying from 500 70 20 fee'
IN length. These he hoped would bring 20 Broos,,
with massive warehouses and double tracks be,
tween At tho head OF each pier he had planned
tent To this end he went before Congress ard
made such strong representations that money was was
channel Bay Ridge channei and Gowarus channel.
as well As for the deepening OF the Sandy HOOK
rinansis DEPRESSION ct in and hsse s. .1sEo:.
never for moment lost faffh IN his great plan or
IN the future that lay before the Gowsnus ard
Bay Ridge water fronts
Terminal property FOR 81 200 cn paying per cent
bur the SO0ow OF bonds takes precedence OF thls.
The holdings Of the mortgages will be wiped on.
unless the property T. bought n the upset priSse
being $4,000 The property includes also he rlsh:
to build railroad to the boundary OF Queenss
county az or near Jamaica. The $1,000 81 nohuss
were sold for 10000, but the proms-ory notes nrs
been secured by preferred mortgage. There az
other outstanding notes "a the amount ~ ko,"
The Railroad commissioners last repor, showed I'VE ~
deficit for 1898 OF $1,000 and total deacit of Ss-p
Al present the road Is operated by the kap.i
transit COMPANY as route TO Coney lsano. an. an
Is also used 10y the Long Island Railroad 20 reach
Manhattan by way Of the Thirty ninth-st. terry.