The Cairo bulletin., 1912-03-27
Retail Merchants Planning Means
Of Entering City from In.
accessible Section
WOULD BOOST CITY
Plan Expected to Cause Many Farm.
ers to Trade Here Instead
Of at Paducah

Inc cairo Retail Merchants ASSO-
citation have started work toward
getting a Free Ferry Service both on
the Kentucky side with boat to
operate on the Ohio river between
this city and East Cairo, and on the
Missouri SIDE with a boat to operate
in the Mississippi river between this
city and the Greenfield landing. Mr..
John B. Greaney, President of the
Cairo Retail Merchants Association,
and several other representative
business men have been~at work on
this proposition for quite while,
and they hope to have plan worked
out before many months whereby the
Free Ferry Service will be an as
sured fact.A
1--WE have been going into details
some, and the proposition is not as
impossible as it may seem, at first
glance" declares Mr.. Greaney, "and
it would mean more for Cairo from
an upbuilding standpoint than. a
new industry coming here, every
month ii were in operation" BY
this | mean a Free Ferry Service
would put more money into circula-
tion every month in this City than
the average industry's payroll for a
year.
Cairo being situated as she Is
has many natural advantages over
other cities much larger, however,
we are overlooking the most import
ant point, accessibility
Let us stop to consider for a mo-
ment, with the !, exception of the
Sycamore street entrance (the
Mound City Road, theaonly way of
getting into this city is by crossing
either the Ohio or Mississippi rivers,
and it stands to reason that unless n
city can be reached advantageously
it will lose quite bit OF patronage
that belongs to it.
ITO cite a concrete example, we
know it to be fact that people liv-
ing within a five mile radius on the
Kentucky side of the river are driv-
ing to Paducah to do their shopping,
and to sell their products, and Padu-
cab is distance of fifty miles by
road, They do this simply to avoid
the annoyance of possibly not max
ing ferry connection and also to
save the ferry charges s
1t is an undisputed fact that the
growth of a city depends largely on
it's being able to make good as a
trading center for the territory sur
rounding it, and the larger the city,
the more territory 1t should draw
from for its patronage. In other
words we should have all of the trade
within a radius of twenty-five miles
between this city and Paducah, and
quite bit of the trade gwithin a
radius of fifteen miles OF so beyond
that radius. By the same token We
should draw trade from a radius Of
twenty-five to fifty miles south on
the Kentucky side, and at least from
that same radius on the Missouri
side.
That this can be done was shown
by the receipts from the Greenfield
Ferry last year, and it stands to rea-
son that with a Free Ferry Service,
with boats going all of the time,
Cairo would enjoy a prosperity she
has never seen before. Outside
money would be spent herey that
would otherwise 60 to some other
place, and this same money would
in turn be spent on new buildings
and improvements of various kinds
There is no doubt this Ferry Service
would be great thing for this city
"We do not know Just yet how
this can best be worked out, how
ever, 1t will undoubtedly have to be
handled in the way OF an ordinance
before the City Council, and it will
have to be arranged $50 that those
that derive the most direct benefits
would have to stand for the larger
share of the expense. however, the
Whole city will be benefited, and
there should be no complaint on this
score. The matter at the present
time ~ IA the hands Of . committee
I have appointed, and they Will REL