New-York tribune., 1911-11-29
CITY OWNS WHARFAGE
Continued from tenth page.


# was hardly greater than the Half
So The need Of great carrying power
Ns.s,sr service and economy OF handling.
:, the perfection OF the New York
FD which were regarded by Amer
- a. not by all the world, as the noblest
- vessels that ever floated in the mer-
rhant service.
s,oinnina of Steam Navigation.
go, e~st successful application Of steam
-, nropulsion Of ships having been ac-
w.n,ished by Fulton. TO New York also
~ me honor Of building the first vessel
. ~ s,ean across the ocean. This. the Sa-
,eb was built here by Francis Pickett.
" $50 for Daniel Dodd. Under the COM
-.,sof Captain Moses Rogers. she steamed
-. same year from her name port 10
,,.ornool. thence TO Stockholm and st
I,..s-s..irc. afterward visiting Constanti-
lie and I'm every port meeting the en-
.s,si.stic welcome so great novelty de-
served.
SUBSEQUENT improvements in the construc-
.4,, NJ steam vessels were. however. al.
.o., wholly British. In 1898 the British
,,esmer Great Western, forerunner Of the
.st fleets which now move in continual
.-,cession between this port and the OLD
u,or.d rassed through the Narrows for the
e~st time. The Sirius. a smaller steamer.
,bicb had been her avant-courier. reached
,,-t on April %. having sailed from Cork
=, Ap-H e The following day all New
work made a holiday 10 see the Great
western. the largest vessel afoat propelled
by steam.
she had sailed from Bristol on April s.
thus completing her journey in fifteen
6ays. and that despite the disadvantage of
new machinery and the prevalence Of high
winds. She registered 1.604 tons. was 234
,eet long IS feet wide over the paddle
boxes and her engines had 45O horsepower.
Later she cut her passage time 10 thirteen
dsvs tIt not even the Great Eastern.
which furnished Jules Verne with material
for book created so much Of a sensa-
ton
one Of the genial gossips Of the day was
Inspired 90 write: "Our countrymen, stu
dious Of change and pleased with novelty .
will rush forward TO visit the shores Of
Europe instead of resortiug TO Virginia or
Saratoga Springs. and steamers will con-
unue 90 be the fashion until some more
dashirg adventurer Of the go-ahead tribe
shall demonstrate the practicability Of bal
loon navigation and grarfy their impa-
tence by a voyage over. and not upon. the
blue water in two days. instead of as
many weeks. thereby escaping the rocks
and shoals and headlands which continue
o. fright the minds of timid passengers and
cautious narigators. Then they may soar
above the danger Of icebergs and look down
with contempt upon the Goodwin Sands or
Hsmpstead beach"
City Gets Land Under Water.
Not until 1870 did the city awake TO the
necessity Of controlling its waterfront. il
is commercial supremacy was to be re-
tanned. In that year and in 1871 the state
gave 10 the city all the land under water
contiguous % the Island of Manhattan
which had not been disposed Of already"
by previous grants. In 1855 the state took
the same course with regard 20 land under
water along the shores Of the Bronx. and
since the act Of consolidation which
welded together Brooklyn, Queens, Rich
m0ud and Manhattan and The Bronx sim
liar concessions have been sought for all
parts OF the city. Herein lies the possi-
blty Of future development for practi-
-a.lg the whole shore of Manhattan avail
able for wharfage is now under municipal
control To be exact, there are $3.50 miles
Of waterfront in Manhattan, of which the
CITY owns 2A6S miles. and 15.22 miles re-
main in private hands. Of which, however,
little Is Of value for shipping
ll The Bronx there are 1850 miles OF
waterfront, in Brooklyn. 1920 miles in
Queens. 115 miles, and in Richmond. 81
miles, making the total waterfront Of the
greater city +AsO miles. of which 3l5 miles
are available for ocean traffic
The actual value OF the city's holdings
las not been determined but IL may be
guessed at John A. Bensel when Com
missioner Of Docks told the writer that
the city's income from waterfront privi-
leges was about 100000 a year, which
represents a minimum value Of N00OOOOOO
The value Of unimproved city holdings
was at least as much again. Mr.. Bensel
added. which would make his guess not
less than S200000OJ0.
The transatlantic steamships occupy a
length of L27 miles on the Manhattan
waterfront which affords them about six
miles OF Wharfage room. The coastwise
steamships occupy lbs miles Of water
front. which gives them SIC miles Of
wharfage room.