Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-11-29

folk to portsmouth. Inc Eotto
mouth ANY yard had greatly ex,
banded, and many of the navy yaro
workmen had to use the ferry morn
ing and night.
Ferry Breakdown Threatened
The ferry line belonged jointly
and equally to the city of Portsmouth
and the county of Norfolk. For many
years it had been the practice to
lease the ferry to the private operat-
ing company which bid highest for
the privilege, the leasee each time
running for ten years. Before eacn
new lease was made the city ano
county would fix up the equipment,
but the lessee, to make as mucn
money for himself as possible, would
put just as little money into main
tenance and upkeep as he had to IN
order to keep the boats running.
In 1918 the ferry threatened to
break down under the load. 1t was
within six months of the time Of the
expiration of the lessee's contract,
and the equipment was badly u
down. The rotten old bulls barely
stayed afoat, and the machinery was
nearly worn out. The government
demanded an improvement. The
lessees actually went to New York
and bought two East River ferry
boats, old but in good condition,
on the agreement that the city Inc
county would take them over when
the lease expired. But the govern
ment needed still more equipment,
and the lessee could not supply it.
The government therefore stepped
in, paid the ~leassee a small sum in
exchange for his anticipated final
six months profit, bought the two
new ~ferryboats from him, and then
entered into a contract with the city
and county to operate the line un-
der the same rental agreement.
Among the agencies of the gov
eminent al work in the district was
the United States Housing Corpora
ton, which was building the Ports
mouth suburbs of Cradock and Trux
ton to house navy yard workers,
This agency was organized as a cor
| poration and was therefore we'll fit
ted to be the operating agency for
the ferry line. The Housing Cor
| poration took over the property on
a lease and then proceeded to spend
$1,1O0, 900 in rehabilitating the line.
| 1t junked about half the old equip
| ment and rebuilt the rest, and theu
purchased two more ferryboats i'll
| New York, and when it was through
spending money 1t had practically a
new establishment. The old prop
erty had been appraised at $3.50 I.
| 900. The new RAJ worth more than
a million.
When it leased the ferries the
| Housing Corporation put in two
Young men to run them-Charles u.
/ Freund, who had been an assistant
| TO the president of the Housing Cor
poration, and w. M. Cooper, the au-
\ ditor in charge of the housing OPP
Grafton at Truxton. Freund went
in as manager and Cooper as his
assistant and Office manager.
A Two-Man Proposition
When the hurry of war was past.
4 these two operators settled down to
their Jobs with great interest to see
if thew couldn't make the only gov
ernment-owned municipal ferry liue
in the United States a proposition
hat would not be ashamed to hold
up its head in the company of other
public utilities privately owned and
operated. They fired most of an
over sized office force and keeping
only three or four clerks, made the
enterprise practically a two-man
proposition, doing most of the over
head work themselves. They in
augurated numerous economies I'M
heard of by the Norfolk ferryboat
crews before the advent of the gov
eminent. For one thing, they slight
ly cut down the speed of the boats.
| and in the course of a year saved
hundreds of tons of coal. They
adopted the plan of competitive bid
ding for orders for all supplies
Neither of them had often seen
ferryboat before they took charge
but now New York ferry operators
visit them and go back home with
their heads full of ideas. =.
They made the line pay a small
profit from the start, but this profit
has grown. In 1921 1t was $4,000
this year, with no increase in gross
revenue but simply by the applica'
ton of economy, they raised tn
about $4,000 set aside for the de
paper profit either. It is the surplus
left after all charges are paid, In
Guiding $4,000 a year rent to tn
local public owners, including ais
$4,000 interest on the government
investment, and finally includini
abotu $4,000 set aside for h d.
probation fund. The last privat
I operators were glad to take 1890
In lieu Of stx months profit and tina