New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-07-05
Has Brought Thousands of
Persons in Zone in
Daily Contact.
SECTIONAL LINES
RAPIDLY PASSING
Coss;art interchange of Ideas
AM. III, Creation Of New
j'pblic Spirit.
Bv WILLIAM S. VAN CLIEF.


..cs.a.,. S.a.ea Island Chamber Of
cs4,a,e:,e. Prepared for the new
.el,.. ,or mat organization.
-, e..a.rsnment Of the Municipal!
TX T.. ). George, with the converg-
90. &C e., .ie transportation lines at
Z. ro.Et, has had greater enect
70. uu-r:id;ng o. Staten Island than
- o.1e. factor. II has brought about
los. Gs l. Intercourse between the
lens OF all parts Of the island ana
~- been productive OF constant IN.
..rchspGe OF IDEAS and the creation OF
lew public spirit. The community,
e been wonderfully benefited and
'elGed together as homogeneous
borough BY the obliterstion OF Old
y.llaec lines, and the limitations OF
scctiona,ism are rapidly disappearing.
A virile. aggressive, outrcaching COM
muni:v. as result, ia in the MAKING
Experience has shown that where an
active public spirit ia wanting the de-
mands Of individuals for improvements
arc only slowly met. It is usually
after wears Of experience that COM
munity realizes what a valuable asset
an active commercial spirit is. staten
island has awakened TO this fact. rms
is especially apparent to those VINO
may have been elsewhere for Few
wears and who. or their return. are
amazed at the progress in almost every
direction.
The st. George Ferry terminal and
its imposing approaches, the new c!vic
centre comprising the Borough Hall
and the courthouse NOW building. the
Carnegie Library and other public
i "
challenge admiration. First impress
SONS arc important in forming the
opinion OF strangers visiting COM
muni;y for the first time. and the great
s.. George improvements have the cf-
feet OF producing favorable first I'M
preston"
Historically interesting 70 remember
is the fact that somewhat TO the west
OF the present 81. George freight and
passenger terminals there is exposed
at low tide what remains Of a ferry
landing. the construction Of which was
attempted by Commodore Vanderbilt
when he first desired 70 establish reg
ular steam ferry between Staten Island
and New York. but which he vas
Obliged to abandon at that particular
point owing 10 the strong currents
time when steam navigation vas still
in its experimental stages.
II may be interesting 20 contemplate
the amount Of ferry traffic in those
DAYS in c0musrison with the present
traffic Of 100000 passengers and
325.OoO vehicles carried on the new mu-
nicipal ferry between the Battery and
ST. George every year. II the old COM
modore, optimist though he was, could
be told that in 1918 a ferry between
Elizabeth and Hollands Hook carried
500 900 passengers, that ferry between
Bergen Point and Port Richmond car
ried 900 passengers and that ferry
between Amboy and Tottenville carried
9I3 900 passengers and that annually
there were carried 1000 600 passengers
on the steam roads and 10000 pas
sengers on the trolley lines in this bor-
ough, even Cornelius Vanderbilt would
have reached the conclusion that his
native iaand had something 20 be proud
OF in the way of Accomplishments.
Significant as these facts are 10 those
who have watched the progress of
Staten Island, the tremendous increase .
in the water borne traffic on the Kill .
Van Kull and the Staten Island Sound
is another source Of surprise, when It
is taken into consideration that the .
federal records last year showed that .
so 900. 900 tons of freight, at a value Of
SOL ) 200 900, was carried through this
important part Of New York Harbor. +
Recognizing these facts. the govern
mcnt is now increasing the depth Of the I
ravigsble channel to twenty-five feet at /
mean low water. and will ultimately in :
crease this depth to thirty feet at mean /
low water, with proportionate widen /
ing Of the channel.
Improvements like these are simply |
the forerunners of an era of develop !
ment Of the sections which they ben /
eft. Thus We have seen year by year
an increasing industrial development /
which benefits not only the Borough OF /
Richmond itself, but the whole Port Of
New York, Of which the Borough Of |
with its large waterfronts,
is an important part.
When we observe ships from all parts
of the world, including the Far East |
and South America. landing their car
goes on the great docks and warehouses |
at Tompkinsville, ever increasing in
number, we commence to realize to
what position Staten Island has been
and that the words Of Eras-
tus Wiman that Staten Island is the
place where the tonnage Of world
meets the products of continent have
tome true. The pre-eminence of Stat
In Islands port advantages cannot long