The sun., 1918-09-14
THE STATEN ISLAND FERRY.
A Constant User Denies That the
Boats Arc Uuciean.


To THE EorroR OF THE suN-str: As
a great number Of readers Of The Sun
ar, residents Of Staten Island It occurs
to the writer that you will be willing to
give enough space in your valuable sheet
TO correct the impression which might
be created by recent communications to
your paper that the city Of New York Is
operating a feet Of cattle boats between
Richmond Borough and Manhattan Such
La not the case.
1t may not bs smiss to say that the
city in October. 1905. took over the
Staten Island ferry and built and put
into commission q feet Of FIVE large, COM
modious ferryboats, named after the nve
boroughs.
The writer-and his suN-have ira
yelled daily for the past ten years or
more to and from the city on these boats
and has yet TO IND them In dirty con-
dition. On. the other hand. It Is a fact
easily determined by the vision that the
boats are kept spic and span. that me
windows are washed regularly and ire
uuently, and that the deckhands Keep
the floors and woodwork clean. 1t must
be borne In mind. however. that the
lower decks OF these boats are OF neces-
sity partially given over to teams ano
automobiles, and that that class OF rafilc
is very heavy. especially during the sum-
mer months. The fact that horses are
carried on practically every trip OF these
boats obviously prevents the gangways
OF tho lower decks being kept as clean
| and as free from unwelcome smells as
would be possible were these boats used
| for the transportation Of passengers only
The operation OF the boats and the
control Of their crews are under the super
vision of Lawrence Hanlon, superinteno'
ent Of ferries, who by reason OF AT
experience of thirty years in the FERRY
! business, coupled with the ability aho
desire to keep the ferry service up 10
high standard, is particularly well Verseo
| In his line Of work. A visit TO th'
plant will disclose him on the JOB every
day during the year. This statement car
be confirmed at any time.
Readers OF THE SUN, think, all rec
that you are always willing to print
boost as well as q Knock. ana Ioi
that reason, and because / think in jus
tice to the city ferry administration anC
those captains, engineers. oilers and deck
hands who are daily doing their OIL
to give us good service, want to say
! word further as to delays.
Those Of US who get and have beer
getting for a long while past the bench
Of a very delightful water trip through
one Of the finest, II not the finest. har
hot n
traffic on the ferry Is always heavy par
ticularly during these war times "he'
SO much material is Of necessity trans
ported to ard from Staten Island VII
these boats. The heavy loading OF hoTs
drawn vehicles due to the volume o
wartime shipyard traffic. &C., frequent!
delays a boat for the reason that Whei
a boat enters a slip the steep incline du
TO tide conditions. makes 1t necessar
10 put into operation an electric wlnch
the cable being attached to the vemc!
that is unable to get without assistanc
from the boat to the dock. THIS IRE
quently delays the departure OF boat
and the writer, as we'll as many othe
users of the ferry, has frequently see
at both South Ferry and ST. Georg
| NenlCIes DSlIe VI avn -'O''' N
the manner indicated.
Necessary running repairs are made
, the ferry shops at the st. George ter
minal. AS most people are aware II ma
been and Is difficult to get boat int
A dry dock. where the condition of boa
necessitates dry docking. due to the fae
that the shipyards are all crowded wit
Government work which naturally ma
and should have the preference. Fo
this reason it has not been possible 10
the ferry administration TO dry dock tn
boats as often as would be possible duh
ing normal times.
The ferry carries successfully aoot
20 900. 900 passengers and up TO aOo'oV
vehicles annually, which would appear
demonstrate its efficiency
Perhaps II New Yorker" will TAX
the fine trip any saturday or sunda
|, from now on, or any other day Tor tina
, matter. when the perspiration is NJ
streaming down his chest. as he states
was on that hot night, he will md Mn
self in a better frame OF mind 10 sn)o
! what is acknowledged to BE really d.
, ,,Rhtful sail down the bay.
, Let me say in conclusion that n
locomotive coal dust complained OF ca
, be avoided by taking any OF the man
trolley cars at the st. George ternin'
, for a trip around Staten Island.
, FRANK A. KErEs
has u