New-York tribune., 1905-04-09
HISTORY OF OLD FERRY.
Union Company Has Carried 49O,-
000Ogg IA Last Fire Years.

seen assertions on the part of the ofhcials Of
a. 1-rion Ferry Company lhat unless the city
er,,ls relieve then of the burden Of being oonsid-
- h1laorors after May they would stop the
.rs1.or ~ the boats on their i've lines have led
-. nara oE tne pop aatou az Brooklyn who use the
-sss either regularly or occasionally TO stop and
--5sr what 5t would mean 10 set along without
- means If transit between this borough and
Nanharran % l.as also brought pp questions as 10
-, l'-sz tl1s tclrles have been running what their
,o-v has been -au8 how their sphere of usefulness
- bsen c1t down bv The bridges only by a
low margin die the city escape the loss of the
,--,es temporarily al least. because II was not
.8 lsst Wednesday that Inc Sinking Fund COM
sion passed a resolution stating that II the com
Inv opefsfes SIS loats after May i a. VIII not be
t-rd thereby q settle mp with the city for an
,-ssr wears rental ON the terms OF the old fran
,tise which expired in 1884, and which the COM
-,rv asserts it cannot comply with again. This
,-sr-es rle c1utlnuance OF the service until some
.r,- arrangement is made with the city as a result
,ssn examination of THE books, now being made BY
e-,e-te tr5n Controller CIRCUITS Office
Tbs Union Ferry Company operates five lines, the
,-s~rt1r Sourh. NaIl-st.. Fulton and Catherine
s.--ss between Brooklyn and Manhattan. This
.-l-5es au of the ferrics In the Western District
= Prook,yn except The ssth-st. ferry and the an
~ which runs 10 the Pennsylvania Railroad sta
- ir Jersey Ctty. or this number the Fulton
r.--- which runs from Fulton-st-. Brooklyn. 10
7ten-st Manhattan, IS The oldest FERRY IN Brook
- II was established IN 1852, and is, therefore
:, rs th.r5 century Of existence. OF course orig
49,, il consisted merely Of a roNboat, run from
. c,rr.a os bushes on one side 10 a big spreading
IN Tree on the other hank. IN those days Il was
,--oVp simply as The "Ol6 Ferry II seems that
80 name Fulton came from Robert Fulton the in
s.-tor u tie steamboat who received the privilege
= ,rrsuE steamboats, on The line. II was the first
..ssr, ferry of which the world has any record.
To 70 the tine tlat the Brooklyn Bridge was
o,enea in -SSe. Fulton Ferry was the busiest in the
erv and was The centre of a certain life OF Brook
NJ The hrl5Ea practically killed lower Fulton-st
r-6 IRE region around the ferry is now gloomy
4 Mace as could he imagined. To illustrate the
shrnged conditions. Ihe year before the bridge
one-es 2s0-.l5 persons were carried on the ferry.
Ter years later $4,000 people were carried in a
EFsvemCl-A-
Invested VITA g solitude -hat clings around al
.hirgs t-af have passed or the active stage, at
Issst partially. and have become part Of history.
re old Fulton Ferry house, which is one of the
el5est n tie city, has q special interest 10 the
stu5ert q rhe early days. Its most striking
.s.or feature is 2 statue OF Robert Fulton.
For nearly TWO centuries Fulton Ferry was the
U-ly oue l1 Brooklyn. In -S-5 CathaTlne Ferry.
.unning between the street of that name in New
York aid Lain-st., Brooklyn. was established.
Eorsepowe- CT team beats. as they were called.
-sse used On his line until The early S9s, when
she use Of steam Was compelled On account Of
he competition of South Ferry, running from At
lsutic-are, Brooklyn. To the Battery n NeV--Ho ork
EEls was founded by Lyman Belts and Conklin
Brush after ten years oe discussion. They OBJ
ssined g lease from NeU-Eork for an annual rental
a E0l L year prior 10 this. Messrs. Leroy and
Re-repour had sol q lease for the Hamilton Ferry
sc- the nominal consideration OF s. a year. As
noz, Hamilton Ferry ran from the avenue OF that
name IN Bro0klyn 10 the Battery IN New-York.
Jacob sharp. who zfterward gained prominence
shrouEh his c2anection with the Broadway rail-
Foas ro- q lease for the Wan Street Ferry. TO run
sron the street of that name in New-York 10
,Fortseue-gt Brooklyn. The lease was for ten
years al 81 annual rental Of s1o.0Jl
II Iss commission appointed from outside the
counties q Kings and New-Eork granted franchises