Perth Amboy evening news., 1906-11-27
five MINUTES
TO MANHATTAN
Now the Tunnels Under the Hud-
son River Will Bring a New Era
of Prosperity TO Jersey.

! Two years from now 1t will be pos
sible for the residents of New Jersey
to reach the heart of Manhattan with
out crossing the Hudson in a ferry
boat, an air ship, or v a bridge, for
by that time the six tunnels now in
the course of construction under the
rivers bed will be completed and
electric trains will be whizzing
through them to and from the me-
tropolis.
What this will mean in the way OF
saving of time, ease of communlca-
ton and the conservation of nervous
energy none but commuters will be
able to fully appreciate. The day
when the tunnel service is inaugural
ed will mark the beginning of a new
era of prosperity for every city and
town in New Jersey within a radius
of thirty miles of New York. Hith-
erto Long Island and the towns along
the line of the New York Central
and New York, New Haven and Hart
ford railroads have been the chief res
idential centers of the suburbs.
Ferry Trip ~ Barrier.
A great army of workers has pur-
chased or built homes in these places
because they were more accessible
than the villages and smaller cities
of New Jersey. Because there has
been no bridge across the Hudson OIL
no tunnel beneath it's bed by which
easy communication could be has
with our commonwealth, the tide Of
suburban travel has swept away from
instead of toward our borders. PEG
pie regarded the long ferry ride ant
its accompanying delays from fog
in summer, and from storms and ict
foes in winter, as serious drawbacks
to living in New Jersey.
1t will not be surprising il within
the next five years real estate value,
increase one hundred per cent. Much
of the available land on Long Island
suitable for residential purposes has
been gobbled up by spectators who
hold their property at prices far in
advance of what it is worth. Men OF
moderate means have been induced
to buy lots several miles from rail
road stations where there are no i'm
provements at from $500 to $500
each. When they have paid the as
sessments for street openings, sewers,
pavingl sidewalks, etc, these lots will
have cost them as much as lots locat-
ed within fifteen minutes ride of the
Brooklyn bridge.
Plenty of Land Here.
New Jersey has thousands of acres
OF land suitable for town sites and
suburban residences that can be pur-
chased at low prices. The completion
of the Hudson river tunnels will bring
to the state crowds of people who pre-
fer the sweet, life giving air and free
dom of the country to the nerve
racking atmosphere of the metropolis.
Therefore every property owner,
every manufactures or retailer in
New Jersey is interested in the work
that is now being done TO bring Man
haitian closer to this state. The best
presentation of the. subject that has
yet been printed may be found in
Charles ii. Cochrane's article in the
November number of the Broadway
Magazine, advance proofs of which
lave been forwarded to this office, en-
titled Five Minutes to jersey
Most of the steam roads from
Philadelphia and the West" says the
writer in outlining the plan now be-
ing worked out by the engineers,
VIII center at or near Newark, and
from that point the passengers will
be taken by electric trains and landed
direct in Manhattan or any of its sub
nrbs, crossing the Hudson either in
one of the McAdoo tunnels or by the
Pennsylvania's own tunnel at 32d
street.
10 Establish Electric Zone.
An electric zone will be establish
ed at Harrison east, all steam locomo-
tives being Confined to the territory
west. This zone will be operated by
steel passenger cars like those of the
New York Subway, except that they
Will have more steel in them, and be
Of a later pattern, running in trains
on the third rail system, without cleo
tric l~ocomotyess Passengers will
alight from steam trains at Harrison
and step into electric cars that are
waiting an9be whirled over a surface
line INTO Jersey City, and entering a
subway, pahs Through one of the tun-
nels and land in Manhattan.
IF the service should demand it.
there is no reason why electric ex-
press trains should not be run from
any of the Jersey depots to stations
In Brooklyn, and the Bronx, and in
the course Of time, if the plan for a
Staten Island tunnel ever develops,
may also connect with all Of Rich