New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-11-29
STEAMSHIP TERMINALS.

| The outcome of the pending negotiations for
the purchase Of land on Staten Island for great
steamship terminal cannot be foreseen, and no.
| body except real estate men is willing to dis
cuss the possibility at present, but the project
itself Is one which 1t will be well to keep an
eye. If it is ever carried into execution It may
work great changes in the business of NewYo rk
Harbor.
The dissatisfaction felt by the managers Of
some of the transatlantic lines with their'accOm-
modations on the North River has long been
known, and it is not without excuse. Only q
little common foresight is needed to discover
the necessity for longer piers than any now
owned and administered by the municipality
Applications to the War Department for the
privilege of extending the pier line one or two
hundred feet have been denied repeatedly, and
there is little prospect that the national govern
ment will ever relent. There has been talk Of
finding room at the inshore end of the piers for
additions to their length, but the objections to
that plan are so formidable that it will probably
never be realized. Not only would it be neces-
sary to buy costly property but interference
with railway tracks and an alteration of the po-
sttion Of West-st. would also be essential. Again,
there is the question of q just rental. The
steamship companies declare that the present
charges are excessive, and they want q reduc-
ton. 1t is largely for the sake Of economy that
Jersey shore They are better suited over there
than they would be here and they pay less money
for what they get. If, then, any of the steam
ship companies now using piers on the New
York side of the Hudson were to go down to
Staten Island, the low price of land should in
sure modest rental, piers Of almost any de-
sired length and, If the new terminal were in
the vicinity of Stapleton, a sufficient depth Of
water for the largest vessels afoat
Before a change of this sort was effected
careful comparison would doubtless be made be-
tween the existing convenienCes for transferring
freight to the railways and those which would
be available at the new base OF operations
Everything considered, the steamships would be
as well OF as they are now, and possibly better
Ihey could not make as good q connection with
the NeW-1Ork Central as at present, perhaps,
but they would be close to the Baltimore and
Ohio terminal on Staten Island Only a short
distance away would be the wharves OF the Le-
high Valley and other companies on Bergen
Point, accessible with lighters, and the New
Haven freight yards at Port Morris would call
Tor scarcely longer transfer than is now
needed. Staten Island would probably not be
so convenient for cabin passengers as the west
side OF Manhattan Island, but the difference in
time both in embarking and dsembarking could
not exceed half an hour. Indeed. the requisite
ferriage might be fully offset by a shortening of
the steamship voyage if the liners stopped Just
above the Narrows instead of coming up through
a crowded harbor at half speed
1t Is not unlikely that If any single steamship
company or a group of companies, once estab-
Hshed new terminal on Staten Island the ex-
ample would be followed by others The lines
which have accommodations at Hoboken are so
well satisfied that they might not be tempted to
seek anything better. 1t is hard to see what
they would gain by moving. On the other hand,
while in one sense rivals, the Cunard and French
lines and those which embraced in the Inter
national Mercantile Marine Company have a
conspicuous community of interest They all
want low rentals, and most Of them will need
long piers sooner or later. Great DEVELOPMENTS
might be expected on Staten Island If the star
of commercial empire once took its way SOUTH
ward from the Hudson.