Perth Amboy evening news., 1921-05-18
THE PROCESSION GOES BY

Ara still Perth Amboy with her matchleSs
hsrbor stands on the sidelines and watches the
procession go by. One by one the progressive
youn;c;nalities that have any claim to a water
front at all, are taking advantage Of their
onnortunity and are spending money for devel-
ppment.
q Trenton has been building municipal piers
y nd advocating a twelve-foot channel up the
re)elaware river for q long time. newark Is
u! pending millions of dollars making a great
~ criminal on the meadows. She is spending
one million dollars alone in deepening the chan
mel in Newark bay.
few days ago we were told of the proposed
1nxfbor plan at wilmington. Delaware. located
up . narrow creek several miles from the Della
ware river, the mouth of the creek being many
miles inland from the Atlantic ocean.
Now II 10 Camden that is announcing 10 the
werld her facilities for ocean shipping. Cam
den Municipal Pier No. H. is the proud title
oven 10 the structure now being completed at
>ta1 foot Of Spruce street. that city. This pier
u 12S feet wide and 40 feet long 1t VIII
~ covered by a huge steel shed, the roof being
aevepty.dvs feet from the deck of the pier ana
there win be six thirty-foot sliding doors on
each sd Of the pier.
HAairoaA tracks have been laid along the
south side OF the pier and within the next
two weeks work will begin on the four-story
concrete warehouse in the rear of the pier. IL
n Camden's Arst bid for ocean freight ana
marks the beginning of the port OF Camden
saws the Camden Courier. in boasting of the
structure.
Tn the meantime, Perth Amboy does nothing
with her matchless waterfront. With a peau-
tiful harbor and an approach from the ocean
that cannot be equalled nywhe along the
Atlantic coast, the city remains asleep "hlie
other places not nearly SO advantageaously SIT
uated forge ahead.
It II significant Of the inactivity and lack OF
civic interest here. that in an article on New
erdasssy, to be published In a magazine caiieo
of pee,-,sntic Coast Merchant" Perth Amboy
s,bl Even mentioned. In referring TO the
mali cal features OF the state Newark Eilz-
-. Treuton and Princeton are named, but
perth Amboy, more important than any OF
them as far as colonial government was con-
cerned. ID ignored.
Referring to the shipping facilities, the article
~eads an follows: I'm wealth of seaports OF
Nrst Importance New Jersey is unrivaled. Six
of these ports, Jersey City. Hoboken, Newark,
Elizabeth, Burlington (sic) and Camden, can
supply dockage for the great Trans-Atlantic
,i,,ers while several other can
the average ocean-goins cargo carrier"
There is not a mention of the port of Perth
Amboy anywhere in the article. We ourselves
ARE largely to blame for this. We do not take
a our own port seriously SO how can we expect
others to do SO? We are all too content to go
along in our humdrum way. making all the
4. money we can out of the city. but absolutely
4 refusing to put anything back into 1t in an enort
h to make it bigger, greater and a more at
( ~tractive place to live in.
I What Perth Amboy needs as much as any
thing is some big, public-spirited citizens who
II are able to rise above the petty quarrels and
4 jealousies that now block every attempt to &C
somplish anything worth while. We are all toe
ready to and fault and criticize. but refuse to get
behind the city in a big way and do something