New Britain herald., 1930-07-29
Jesse F. Atwater, Speaking for Manufacturers Assn. of Hartford County, Says Coordination of Rail-Water Service Is Desirable.
Especial to the Herald)

Hartford. July 29-Claiming that the coordination of rail and water service was highly desirable and ef- fected great savings in time in shipm ents to and through New York city from New Britain and other Hartford county factories, Jesse F. Atwater of New Britain, manager oE transportation of the American Hardware Corp, testified before EX- aminer John H. Howell of the inter- state commerce commission in the supreme court of errors today in favor of permitting the New Haven railroad to retain it's steamship lines. Mir. Atwater spoke as the representative of the Manufactur- CTS association of Hartford county. which comprises 130 manufacturing establishments, and said that the directors of his organization had met on July 12 and had voted unanimously in favor of the reten- ton of the ship service by the rail- road.
 MT. Atwaters testimony, in part, was as follows:
 The association has received a large number of requests from prominent manufacturers of the as- scciation stating their desire that the x. Y, N. H. & H. railroad retain the ownership of the Sound Lines. This for numerous reasons.
 Independents Irresponsible
 "One important reason is that past experience has been among shippers of Connecticut that most independent lines usually are ir- responsible. The shippers in this district must have the service pro- tected and the most secure way to do this for a responsible carrier like the New Haven road to retain the boat line Service. This assures us of a uniform and staple rate and makes stealthy business conditions. The rates are filed with the inter state commerce commission and each manufacturer knows what his competitor is paying. whereas inde- pendent lines would file port to port rates and no one would know what the other fellow was paying.
 
 business of the firm by whom I am employed was forwarded to New York by the all-rail route. the de- livery station at Manhattan being Pier 39 East River. It was seldom. If ever, that our shipments were available in time to get them into our New York warehouse before 1 to 2:c0 p. m.
 Water Connections Better
 q have seen the time when the boat has left Hartford 25 minutes late. and left Saybrook one hour late, this is the point where they enter the sound, and this same boat has arrived at the pier at New York less than IS minutes behind sched- ule This can be accounted for due to the fact that the boat can speed up their service through the sound which allows them for any delays which they may experience when they enter the East river.
 The same conditions apply with the New Haven line. which route is used by shippers in Hartford and New Haven counties other than those who use the Hartford boat line. l have personally routed car load traffic by the New Haven line which has reached New York and been delivered to coastwise and Gulf steamship lines for connection with steamers sailing at noon the day following date of shipment. I have forwarded shipments on a Friday night and they have left on steamers sailing from New York Saturday noon.
 The steamer boat line piers at Ntw York are much more con- venient than the all-rail piers. At the all-rail piers the truckmen must back Up to the outside doors for the receipt of their freight, this natural 1y delays delivery. My experience has always been that at the boat line piers they are so arranged that the drayman can drive onto the pier, back directly up to the shipment he is to receive, load his truck and get off the pier in Q very few minutes. The boat lines arrange for a desig- hated location on their pier for their regular trade, this eliminates all confusion on the pier.
 Piers Better Located
 Another important feature of the boat line station at New York is due to the fact that they are located on the west side of Manhattan, paralleled by West street. one of the widest streets on Manhattan Pier r,, o1,,,o o-f Canal street another wide street, forming a main artery almost west to east across Manhattan. These wide streets lessen the possibility of delayed drayage service into the dis trict where the large jobbers and retail stores are located in lower Manhattan, and makes a far su- perior location than the East river station.
 Another important feature of the New Haven road retaining the boat line service is the assurance of prompt connection of rail-and-water service. Such service could not be expected if these boats were oper- ated by independent lines and it would be but naturally human that that New Haven road if they had to dispense with their boat lines. would encourage the business to ! move via the all-rail route, and /. there would be no dependence on ! the service from one day to another and no one would know how long any one line would remain in eX- istence. This has been the experi- { Nnce have heen told hY RridPennrt