Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-03-09
Panama Canal Alone
Exceeds Hog Island
Continued From Pare One


Snd transmission houses are as substan
tlal as can be built.
It has been designed with the lates
and most expensive improvements. Be
meath ground 1t has the equipment o
an up to- date American city outfitteC
to the needs of a population of 200. .00t
people.
Hog Island has its own great reser
voirs, water systems and filtration
plant. 1t is underlaid with a network
Of miles of sewers and supplied with {
modern sewage. disposal plant. It |,
honeycombed with one of the most per
feet systems of conduits for electrical
transmission in this country.
Its compressed air system is the thirt
largest In the world.
Millions Of dollars were expended ir
temporary constructions and buildings
but | am writing Of permanent improve
mcnts that should last for a century.
Eighty Miles of Cables
Beneath its soil are eighty miles ot
underground electric cables. In the per
manent buildings which ! have men
toned are installed $50 miles of wire
for electric lights. The electrical out
fit alone has capacity for city of q
quarter of million inhabitants and
600. This is not guesswork computa :
ton. The figures | give were sworn to
on the witness stand before competent
judges.
The shipways and piers have q foun :
dation of third Of million driven
piles. When the shipways are aban =
doned they can be utilized as ways for
vast hydroplsne station or they can
be transformed into warehouses of steel
and concrete with millions of feet OF
storage space.
When the island is finally disposed OF
by the government there will be millions
worth of wrecking material from the
temporary buildings and from surplus
supplies remaining.
There are great modern piers which
can be utilized Immediately and each
pier can accommodate four big modern
ships.
When President Brush, in January
Of last year, told all about Hog Island
to the Senate committee on commerce
in Washington, be spoke volumn.
Among other things he said was this:
II have no hesitancy in stating to
you as a positive fact that there does
not exist az any commercial port in
the United States any better equipped
storage yards and storage houses or
rier for commercial purposes. In fact,
| make the statement without hesi-
fancy that at no other commercial
piers in the United States does there
exist today 30 per cent of the modern
appliances for the handling of cargo
md the quick dispatch Of vessels with
economy and speed that is at this min
ute available aud in actual operation
at Hog Island, with all details so thor
oughly and painstakingly thought out
end provided for.
"Nicr President Howard Coonley, OF
the United States Shipping Board Emer
Cenry Fleet Corporation. has made a
statement that he believed PHILADELPHIA
ought to spend 500 900 900 for a ter
minal Now, If they bought this ter
minal for just exactly what it cost the
government t-$66. 900 .000-which would
be long way from the 500, 900 900. /"
Worth More Than Cost
Senator Ransdall-"Do you mean to
say it is worth anything like 800,
coo 900 as a commercial terminal?"
Mr., Brush-'I believe Hog Island is
worth moro at this moment than the
United States has invested in it, as u
terminal
Senator Ransdell-"As a commercial
terminal for the city of Philadelphia ?''
Mr.. BruSh-"Yes; l believe that Hog
Island is the one war venture that has
taken place during this war where every
single penny that was spent by the
Government can be recovered"
IL the syndicate which has been con
sidering the purchase of the island com =
pletcs its plans, it contemplates the
of wharf extending along
the entire front of the present ways.
This will be for the accommodation of
coastwise and transatlantic shipping.
Behind these it will erect warehouses,
rs may be needed, utilizing the pile
driven foundations for the purpose.
The price that the government will
ask for the prize is problematic. Gov
ernor Sproul has expressed his disup-
proyal of a proposal to summon the
Legislature in extra session TO consider
ways and means for the purchase by
Philadelphia or the state of the island
plant.
If, as has been asserted, the Governor
intends calling an extra session TO make
laws for the introduction of universal
suffrage, why not let the wise men also
make arrangement to permit Philadel- =
phia to buy Hog Island and build belt
line railroad that isn't joke?
Time TO DO Something
Mayor Moore has held conferences
with leading citizens to discuss some
action in the Hog Island premises
Councilman Gaffney, former chairman
of Councils finance committee, has
poured verbal vitriolics into the dis
cussion. Up to the present everything
pertaining to the project, like Ma
hOmet's Cottin, is suspended in midaip
It's time everybody got down %
earth and brass tacks. Z
If Philadelphia is not going to buy
the island by means of a legaized bond
issue, then its civic bodies should bestir
themselves to see that 1t gets into the
hands of those who will utilize it to the
City's advantage. There should be nc
dog in the manger attitude.
Plans for the improvement of th,
port and for great public improvements
raise at every turn the question o.
funds. After all. that is the paramount
issue. Such questions are beyond tn,
scope of these articles. They concern
the city's finances and laws, both o.
which are complex propositions to b,
handled by experts.
Whatever the fate Of Hog IslanC
through its sale by the government, thu
truth persists that 1t will always be al
asset TO the city. No matter who hold!
title, IL Is a permanent fixture. IN this
sense it must be considered in cbnnec
ton with any scheme or schemes for {
greater Philadelphia.