Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1906-07-26
HE Maryland-Virginia peninsula
and the eastern part of Mary
I land have always been garden


land have always been garden
sections, their vegetables and
fruits going to meet the demands of the
New York, Philadelphia and Boston
markets.
Thirty years and more ago the prob
lem of how to get the products of these
regions to market quickly became ex-
ceedingly acute At that time the method
followed was to transport the food stuffs
to Baltimore, or some other port on the
Chesapeake, and thence despatch them
north by rail This was slow and
roundabout method, to say the least, and
as result none of the fruits and vege-
tables got to market in the first blush
of ripeness, and more than one cargo
spoiled daily. Norfolk wss the natural
forwarding point for quick service, but
it was across the Chesapeake from the
market cities, and to skirt the Bay meant
loss of valuable time
AS for the peninsula, railroad COM
munication ceased On its border at Del
mar, on the Observation-Disclosures line.
From Delmar to Cape Charles, at the
tip of the peninsula, the distance is ninety
miles. The hard, practical problem be-
fore the modern authorities in transpor-
tation matters-the railroad men-was
how to tap both regions in one and the
same way for quick handling of their
products.
One day. less than twenty-five years
ago, man who had retired from active
railroad management but few weeks
before, presented himself to friend, the
late William L. Scott, and said:
Lets build railroad from Delmar
to Cape Charles and connect with Nor
folk and Portsmouth by boat"
Every good" replied Mr.. Scott; "but
how will you transfer your freight across
Chesapeake Bay eNpeditiously?"
1--WE will build powerful and fast
transfer tugs that will transfer loaded
trains across the bay" was the answer.
'But the distance is thirty-six miles,
and the bay at times is rougher than the
English Channel" objected Mr. Scott
ave can build the boats strong
enough and equip them with engines of
sufficient power to make the run in three
hours" was the confident rejoinder.
The upshot of the matter was that
Mr.. Scott became speedily convinced of
the feasibility of the scheme, and with
money from his private bank account and
that of the plans promoter, the New
York, Philadelphia and Norfolk Railroad
was built.
The other mamie who thought out
the way to put fruit, picked the afternoon
before in Virginia, on the breakfast tables
of New Yofkers-was A. J. Cassatt,
President OF the Pennsylvania Railroad,
Like other railroad men, Mr.. Cassatt
recognized that the ideal route for quick
service lay over the waters of the Chesa-
peake Bay from Norfolk, and thence up
the peninsula by rail to the cities to the
north But unlike his brethren, he did
not balk at the thought that such long
ferry service had never been undertaken.
Instead, when he found himself at COM
parative leisure, he set about designing
boats that would perform this difficult
transfer service, and when he felt that
he had secured the right sort of design,
he had his interview with Mr.. Scott
Suffice it to say that these boats have
been carrying the Berry Express" across
Chesapeake Bay ever since, with remark
able promptness, and that the same sys-
ten, is now ip nneration on Lake Baikal,