The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1916-03-04
BAY LINES ARE FOR SALE
Committee From Nj. And NJ. Pleads
For Bay Boats, But Gets no Hope
From Pennsylvania Railroad Of
fiCialS,

| What little ray of hope for a con
tinuance of the Bay service of the
baltimore, Chesapeake and Atlantic
and the Maryland, Delaware and Vir
ginia Railways, between Baltimore
and Eastern Shore points that ha:
been nursed by Baltimore bushes.
men and the farmers OF the Eastern
IShore has practically been snuffeC
out. A delegation representing the
Merchants and Manufacturers Asso
Iciation went to Philadelphia yester
day to plead for a continuance of the
|service, but w. H. Myers, a vice
president of the Pennsylvania Rail
road and president of the Bay lines
while not saying so directly, init
mated that the railroad would moi
be disposed to continue the opera
ton of the ships after March 81. On
that day, the order of the Interstate
Commerce Commission, divorcing the
Bay lines from the Pennsylvania
Railroad, of which they are subsidi-
aries, goes into effect. The only
boats not affected by this order are
the Claiborne and Love Point boats,
which are considered ferries.
The purpose of the visit of the Bal
timoreans was to ask the Pennsyl-
vania to request of the Interstate
! Commerce Commission a rehearing
on the order and continuance of
] the service. President Myers eX-
planned that the railroad was not dis
posed to take the initiative in the
matter, and that the boats, wharves
and good will were for sale. He also
told the delegation that Baltimore
could take the initiative in the mat
ter, if they so desired. He was asked
then that if the business men of Bal
timore city did obtain an extension
Of the time, would the Pennsylva-
mia Railroad be under any obliga-
ton to continue the boat service. No
direct reply was made to this ques-
ton, but it was indicated that the
railroad would not be disposed to
continue the operation of the two
lines.
So, as the meter now stands, there
is very little probability of the boats
running after March 81.
The attitude of Mr.. Myers bears
out the reports that have been cur
rent in Baltimore city since the an
nouncement of the ruling of the In
terstate Commerce Commission di-
vorcing the Bay lines from the rail-
road. This report that has been go
ing the rounds Is to the effect that
the Pennsylvania Railroad has not
been anxious to continue the Bay
schedule owing to the fact that the
lines have been run at a loss. The
ruling of the commission, it was de-
clared, was acceptable to the rail-
road, which had been awaiting an op-
portunity of disposing of its inter-
ests here.
The principal sufferers from the
divorcing of the Bay lines from the
Pennsylvania will be the small truck
farmers on the Eastern Shore of
Maryland and Virginia, who for
years have been shipping their pro-
duce to Baltimore. The Bay rates
were far lower than the rail rates,
and other than this the service was
quicker. In order to get their pro-
duce to Baltimore by rail it is neces-
sary for the farmer to ship by the
way of Wilmington, Del, which is
and costly.
Of course there remain the Clai-
borne and Love Point boats, but
these touch only at certain points of
the Eastern Shore and do not give
service such as has been given by the
many bay boats that touch at prac-
tically every wharf in the Eastern
Shore of the Bay and the tributaries.
Although the order affects only the
Eastern Shore routes, it was init
mated in the annual report of the
Railroad, issued sew
eral days ago, that the lines run
ming to Western Shore points may re-
ceive like treatment and be dispos-
od nf