The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-02-11

If the present application of the
New Haven company to permit the
boat lines to remain intact with the
railroad, said by off1eiaIs here to have
already been made to the Interstate
Commerce commission. is granted, the
company is prepared toszgtend at once
Ns docking facilities along the barbor
me as far as the Henry street sir,
Work has already begun upon tbe
oIo Naugatuck dock and its extension
Wnlcn VIII make those structures one
Union street u
Nestor E. Wedge, freight agent Of
the steamship line, freeIy sf5rnit+el7
the fact that the dock was overcrovzd
eo with freight today. Together witt,
Special Agent Robert Teller bo+1-
were engaged in seeing that no frioe,Ilt 80
truckmen. IL 'i''s
It is true that we have an exces,
OF freight here" said Mr. Wedge. srb17t
~ IS not Just that we are criticized for
.lIe 1act- We are, in fact the saw
~ iours OF Brldgeport and mean this
IN the strict application of the vvbrl7z
LoF the steamship line is today saving
nrrns with contracts which othervise
would be on their knees to the f7ol5
ers of contracts because of the for
Ie1ts they would have to paw
/ ",
on this boat (pointing to sheet iron
etc.), carrying cargoes that are NOT
str1cfIy boat cargoes- We are doing
/ TINS at the special request of factorfa-
III bridgeport who are caught by the
embargo and would forfeit thousands
upon thousands of dollars because
! they could not otherwise get the small
quantities of material they need to
complete their work
In New York city the embargo
upon western freight shipments stiII
applies. These carload lots cannot
move over the railroads. Our com
pany has heretofore accepted shin
| mentss across the city of New Yorl, bI,
truck without question as to previous
destination of the goods. We are
bringing it here and throwing it upon
the docks as a favor to manufacturers.
crowded beyond anything ever record
| ed in this city ourselves.
Blame is then put upon us for
freight congestion, which is partly due
! to truckers and factories after we
have got goods here that in themselves
are of little intrinsic value, yet mean
thousands Of dollars to Bridgeporters
in the embargo emergency.
''See those wheels there said Mr..
Wedge, pointing to a pile of cast iron.
'@TFlOse came in day before yesterday
The truckman was notified yesterday
! morning of their arrival. The factory
wants CnoIn, JDuC because we have a
line of cars that cannot be taken from
the doorways until loaded the truck
man refuses, with our help, to take
them through the doorway of a car
and put them on his truck. That is
the thanks we get for aiding the man
ufac cturer.''
Special Agent Teller later disclosed
the fact that the old Naugatuck dock
was being placed in shape to receive
steamers and from other Official
sources it was learned that the Inter
state Commerce commission had been
asked to permit the boat lines in CON
junction with the New York, New Ea-
ven & Hartford railroad to be con-
tinued that Bridgeport might be the
big terminal for trans-shipme of
transcontinental goods. to and from
New York. ''Our aim is to make this
point the terminal of the Naugatuck
valley as it once was" said another
official whose name he did not wish
| disclosed It has again been found
that emergency nnAres boat lines to
New York an absolute necessity to
New England and Bridgeport is the
only city along the coast available for
that purpose. I believe Bridgeport
will be one of the greatest freight ex-
changes and terminals of the country
before a decade has passed. I pre-
dict that within a year the entire wa
terfront will be lined with freight
docks of the New Haven road as far as
the Locomobile plant"