Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1912-02-22
I THE DELAWARE TUBES,
South Jerseymen Meet in in Camden
to Further the Delaware River
Tunnel Project. Chairman
Dixon's Address.

Business men, professional men, and
commuters from towns representing
all South Jersey met at Camden Sat
urday night to boom that<>fenture
Woodbury. was particularly honored
when her spokesmag<Prof. H. c..
Dixon, selected at Especial meeting
of Woodbury. citizens, was picked to
be the chairman of the meeting.
In addition to Prof. Dixon, the fol-
flowing well-known men made adj
dresses:
John B. Kates, of Coliingswood: !:
Congressman VIM. ]. Browning, of
! Camden; Ralph Kellum, of Merchant
Vile; Prosecutor William T. Boyle,
of Camden; Mayor Harry Bacharach,
of Atlantic City; F. S. Groves, Jr., of
Philadelphia, and Charles A. Reynolds
of Camden.
Mr.. Dixon said:
ours is largely a residential city.
Our people have their business in
Philadelphia or they are employed in
| the stores, offices, mills and factories
/ there. Train loads of them leave
Woodbury. and the other plac. long
! ployments in the city, and return to
4 their homes every evening The
I Pennsylvania Railroad furnishes us
an admirable train seryice-no SUI
burban city has better. We have no
complaint nor criticism ito make of
the treatment our towns receive at
the hands of that corporation 1t has
been just, even generous, TO us in
the matter.
But when we arrive in the electric
I train shed in Camden the conditions
are changed. We run an eighth OF a
mile to catch our boat. We crowd
one another to get aboard, jam each
other in the rush hours as We stand
/ in transit and push each other off at
! the wharf in the mad rush that al
4 ways seizes crowd in trying to force
/ it's way through a passage that is only
! half adequate to its accommodation.
That there is risk in it all goes with
out saying and the fact that there has
been no appalling disaster does not
make the danger any less, nor does it
make the timid ones less nervous about
undertaking the trip. The risk is mag
lniied on days such as we have been
having when the side-wheelers could
/ scarcely beat their passage through
! the ice, and it is intensified on fOggy
days and nights when every vessel
is enclosed in its envelope of fog and
/ the pilots cannot see their way. A
serious accident to the ferry in mid
stream at such times would mean an
appalling disaster.
Under Water Way the Remedy.
Employers often complain that de-
| lays greatly interfere with the lis
cipline of their establishments and
the effectiveness of their necessary
routine. All of this time lost is valu-
! able durng the business hours of the
! day and should be saved. An under
water way would save it. 1t is time
we should rise up and urge with all
our ability the Importance OF facili-
ties for safeguarding life and econo-
MIXING time that would mean so much
to the great mass of our people.
L ssBut this is not all These two
cities severed by the river are one
wealth, business and commercial cen
! ter Their interests are largely one.
They have large and growing popu-
i lation and with it an increasingly inn
! portant commercial position. The
1sthirty-five foot channel, which we
have heard so much about, is coming.
! The deeper channel will mean much
to these two cities, both as regards
wealth and population. More steam
ship lines, larger steamships, larger
tonnage to and from these ports. The
Government is getting ready to look
/ after the increased immigration by
our new station now in process of
i erection. This entire section should
/ be ready to take advantage OF the
/ new conditions that are imminent.
Not Philadelphia alone, not Cam
1 den and Philadelphia alone will profit
by them if we all are alive to the
4 situation, but West and South Jersey
from Burlington to Salem, from Cam
den to the resorts along the coast
between Atlantic City and Cape May
will have their business pulses stir
red by those new things that will
come to pass. But the best trans
portation facilities are of first i'm
portance in these matters. Safe, con-
.venient rapid transit is the key to
4 much of the prosperity that should
visit our section and the proposed
1 tunnel under the river is the begin
ming of these better things.
1 New Jerseys Great Interest.
j New Jersey has a great interest
i in this. She has land for building
sites, broad fertile acres for market
gardening to feed the larger popul-
alton, acres that have only begun
to yield the return that will be possi-
BILE under the cultivation of scientific
ttillage that is being introduced; beau
i tiful little cities, villages, and hamlets,
4 suburban to this larger center fol
residential purposes. New Jersey is
rich in these And all thase advan-
4 tages will be better realized by the
kind of facilities for travel that we
ought to have across the river.
'"The large city will remain the CEN
4 ter of large business and should do So
i but swift ingress and egress are es-
sential to it and to us If we are to
4 make the most of our opportunities