Perth Amboy evening news., 1919-07-05
R. R. Administration and others
Give Views as to Ferry
tcontlnued from page ID

The letter from the United States
Railroad Administration follows:
sAfr. Paul L. Fulton, Employment
Manager Standard Underground
Gable Company, Perth Amboy, New
Jersey.
Dear Sir:
1.-THE complaints by officers of your
company regarding the use of the fer
ryboat 'Tottenville' by the Staten Is
land Rapid Transit Railroad between
Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and Tot
tenville, New York, have, as you
| know, received a very thorough IN
ve~stigation through Mr.. George G.
Reynolds, Service Assistant in this Di-
vision, who has checked the log of the
Tottenville' for the entire time dur
ing which it was In service from Oc-
tober IA to November IA, 1918, mclu-
sive, and from May 10 to May IL,
1919, inclusive. 1t appears that TINS
boat has regularly omitted the trips
from Perth Amboy at ~5:47 p. m. and
from Tottenville at 5:57, in order not
to miss the train connection on the
trip from Perth at 6:07. 1t has often
|umitted also the 6:27 trip from Perth
lAmboy when the train connection
with the GIT trip from Tottenville
has been late. The sos trip from
Perth Amboy and the 5:17 trip from
Tottenville have also occasionally
! DeGn OuliJleQ DIS wen dS oOAhO "a
later in the evening"
"The boat is too large to be han
died conveniently in the marrow chan
mel and delays are Inevitable. 1t is
not found that the boat is in any way
unsound or otherwise unsuitable. IL
does not seem reasonable to incur the
expense of constructing a new boat of
suitable size for the brief periods in
which the "Tottenville' is in use. Ii
such a boat could be found and pur-
chased at a reasonable figure the ex-
pense might be justified but a thor
ough search las so far failed to dis
\ cover any such boat. A change in the
location of the slip in Tottenvlile
would eliminate the difficulties OF the
present operation and make 1t posi-
| BILE for the Tottenville' to maintain It's
I~schedules, but the s. i. r. T. railroad
owns no land on which to construct
such a slip.
1--WE are Informed hat a PROPOSE
ton has been made by the Perth Ann
boy and Tottenville Ferry Company,
controlled by your company, to give
land suitable for such a slip in ex-
change for the present land and slip
of the s.. T. r. T., railroad. The rail-
lroad administration has no power to
compel railroads under its control TO
dispose of any of their property. Its
relation to the property of the rail-
I IOdu l. GIN Is
tenant. 1t could not compel the s.. l.
r.. T. to make the exchange, il 1t
thought that ought to be done, and
even If we had the power we could
not in fairness insist that the Rapid
/ Transit Company take ARE lanad in
exchange for land and slip. The ex-
| change if made at all, ought to be on
something like even terms; and as to
the purchase of a new boat, that also
is In the hands of the corporation
which would have to nance the ex-
penditure, and whose consent ould
have to be obtained before the pur-
chase could be made. The railroad
administration is therefore without
power to compel action by the s. /.
r. T. railroad, eitheFsin the matter of
purchasing a new boat or procuring
other land and constructing a new
slip, and If we had the power, We do
not feel that under the circumstances
it ought to be exercised.
Very truly yours,
"EDWARD C. NILES,
Assistant to Director"
A letter on the same project from
i zane C. Fulton, Of the Board of
Trade follows:
Relative to your article on the pro-
posed new Ferry Line between Perth
| Amboy and Tottenville, i note that
i IlGIt I'll 6ONVA O. POAaeo "
| have not been brought out as clearly
as they should have been, and, also
others which are probably not known
to the general public, but which
should be seriously considered:
First:-The proposed ferry sHp
site at the foot of Main street, Totten-
Vile, while it nay appear to be a log
ical conclusion on the face of its 10
cation at the foo of the main buSl-
ness street, has many serious draw
backs chief amongst which are the
danger OF the railroad crossing and
the continuous switching back and
forth of both passenger, freight anc
express cars and engines, and, the
grading proposition, in order to make
this q safe crossing which would have
to be made in order to avoid delay OF
traffic would be not only a long wind
ed affair, as well as a very expensive
one, if indeed, it is feasible at all or
account of the Railroad terminal yard
being situated at this point.
"Second:-The fact with which the
Civic League of Tottenville nor thu
public in general are probably not &C
quainted is that during an interview
with a representative of the United
States Government Railroad Admin
istration, an offer was made to him tt
exchange ferry slip siteS-The Rail.
road Company to turn owe the pres
emit slip to the ferry Com
pany on a leasehold in sex
change for the adjoining property will
Iabout three hundred feet Fof watel
front which would enable the Railroad
Company to build a new terminal, K
suit their own wants thereby eliminat
ing the criss-crossing of the two fer
ries, which appears to be h mali
objection to the selection of h sit
at the foot of Bentley street. Thu
United States Railroad Administration
Representative promised to take VI
the matter Immediately with h prop
err authorities and report as soon a
possible.
May 1t be suggested that the Com
mittee appointed take this matter Il
hand and give it serious tconsidera
ton because while the Main street 10
cation may be the most logical SIT
from the real estate and bushes
side of view, 1t is not TIE mos prac
tical site from traffic and economi
point of view in which the travelling
public is more deeply Interested.
q. The general impression is. an
ii there may be q good deal of truth I
il. that the Baltimore and Ohio Rail
road Company do w the property 9
the foot of Main street, and. If this J
the case, 1t would naturally leave tn
Main street site out of considerable
entirely. 1t would be good policy be
fore proceeding further, for the ap
pointed joint Committee to ascertai
the actual ownership of this propert.
thus saving q lot of valuable tim