The Rock Island Argus and daily union., 1922-11-27
Frederick Haskin's | etterl
"A Government Ferry Business.
Washington. D. c., Nov. 25-yn-
Gle Sam, In conducting his multifar-
e00sa1nl OnsssDsn1uoe = n Al

Il d r
Gle Sam, in conducting his multifar-
!. ious interests. has engaged in some
strange occupations, ranging all the
way from the manufacture Of glass
!, to the cross breeding OF donkeys
and zebras; hut the versatile old
gentleman astonished himself the
other day by discovering that one
of the legacies left him by the wal
administration was full-sfzed
municipal ferry line which hasn't
| the remotest connection with any
known function Of national govern
ment. The ferry line is at Nor
folk. Va. connecting that thriving
city with its jealous sister city
Portsmouth. mile away across the
Elizabeth river.
Uncle Sam now finds himself not
only operating this municipal util-
ity but doing SO at a handsome prof
it to himself. Any government en-
terprise that actually pays divi
/, dends in hard cash into the treasury
is such a rare phenomenon that the
Norfolk-Portsmouth ferry line is
in danger Of becoming congress
sional pet
The history Of how the govern
ment acquired this ferry line, with
its fleet of boats, its passenger ter
minal stations, ticket chopping ma
chimes, and all the rest, is an enter
tanning one. When the United
States declared war against Ger
many. it seemed as though every
single agency of the government
which had anything to do with war,
picked out the lower Chesapeake
Bay district as the scene of one or
more Of its most important opera.
tions.
The navy established its great
supply base there and also mine
assembling plant, and it already had
the great Portsmouth navy yard
there. The shipping board placed
some of its most important ship
building contracts at Newport News.
The supply division of the war de-
partment located its greatest ex-
port base at Norfolk. The ordi-
nance bureau established a great
supply depot there. The engineers
also located their chief export de-
pot there. The transportation serv-
ice created one of its chief ports Of
embarkation in that district. There
was an aviation field there, a bal
loon school, an artillery training
camp, and numerous other war en-
terprises.
The undirected congestion Of war
activity around the lower Chesa-
peake cost the government heavily
in money because of the disloca-
tion of the local markets for labor
and materials. But it did more, it
put sore strain upon the public
utilities in the cities of the district.
None of these utilities felt the strain
more than the ferry line leading
from Norfolk to Portsmouth. The
Portsmouth navy yard had greatly
expanded, and many Of the navy
yard workmen had to use the ferry
morning and night.
Ferry Breakdown Threatened.
The ferry line belonged jointly
and equally to the city Of Ports
mouth and the county of Norfolk.
For many years it had been the
practice to lease the ferry to the
private operating company which
bid highest for the privilege, the
leases each time running for 10
years. Before each new lease was
made the city and county would fix
up the equipment. but the lessee, to
make as much money for himself
as possible, would put just as little
money into maintenance 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 con-
tract. and the equipment was badly
run down. The rotten old hulls
barely stayed afloat, and the ma
chinery was nearly worn out. The
government demanded an improve
ment. The lessees actually went to
New York and bought two East
river ferryboats, old but in good
condition, on the agreement that
the city and county would take them
over when the lease expired. But
the government needed still more
equipment, and the lessee could not
supply it. The government there
fore stepped in, paid the lessee a
small sum in exchange for his an
ticipated final six months profit,
bought the two new ferryboats from
him, and then entered into con-
tract with the. city and county to
operate the line under the same
rental agreement.
Among the agencies of the gov
ernment ct work in the district was
the United States Housing corpora
ItiOn, which was building the Ports
mouth suburbs of Cradock ami