watched with a jealous eye the possibility of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad entering by an all rail route into Brooklyn and Manhattan Island, put their arresting hands upon this great scheme of development and, for the time being, legislative action prevented further progress and this great public measure is now held in suspense.

In the meantime however, the eyes of the metropolitan district has been turned to the new sun which apparently had arisen out of the Atlantic Ocean and was now shining over the infant borough of the great city and an army of promoters, developers and investors and enterprising men of all kinds, swarmed to Staten Island where the enthusiasm of the local men had already been kindled and under the combined influence of these two elements, an era of enterprise and progress started which can only be compared with the activities of Florida during the recent years.

Staten Island's Two New Bridges to New Jersey Under the pressure of public influence on both sides of the Staten Island Sound, a campaign of education and civic activity was started in favor of the building of bridges between Staten Island and New Jersey, so that the great City of New York might be connected by direct highways with that part of the metropolitan district which lies to the west of the Hudson River.

With such enterprise and determination, was the movement pushed that legislative action was secured both in New Jersey and in New York to authorize and direct the Port Authority to build two bridges, one between Perth Amboy and Tottenville and the other between Elizabeth and Howland's Hook.

These bridges are now under way and will give an uninterrupted, unbroken highway for automobiles, trucks, stages or anything which rolls on wheels or walks on feet, from Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Trenton, Atlantic City and Asbury Park to the very entrance of the Port of New York at Fort Wadsworth, overlooking the Narrows.

A Great Bridge Across The Narrows

The ambition and enthusiasm of Staten Island being once kindled and the attention of the monied men having been attracted to it, another important step is contemplated and that is by a great and beautiful bridge to carry the unbroken highway, terminating at Fort Wadsworth, across the Narrows, into Brooklyn and thence across the many bridges of the East River, into Manhattan. This means that you can leave the City Hall, New York, or the Plaza Hotel, or any other place in Manhattan and go, without delay over the East River through Brooklyn, across the Narrows through Staten Island and down to the Amboys and thence to Long Branch, Asbury Park, Atlantic City, Philadelphia, Baltimore or Washington.

The importance of this great bridge was immediately recognized by almost everybody who has the development of New York City at heart. The announcement of this plan at Washington at the recent Rivers and Harbors Congress attracted a great deal of favorable comment and now, not only the municipal administration of the City of New York is interested in the project, but so are, in a widening circle, the State of New York and the United States Government, the latter having in mind the advantages of a military highway connecting the centers of population in the metropolitan district with one another and with the country at large.

The plan also appeals to the civic pride not only of the City of New York and the State but the country at large in having right at the very gateway to the

American Continent where the commerce and traffic of the world ebbs and flows, a monumental structure which will challenge the admiration of a whole world. Of Course It Will Pay

In addition to all this, it is interesting to watch the conclusions of a financier whose first question is always "Will it pay?" The politician or the patriotic citizen at large may take whatever view he pleases as to the necessity of a structure of this kind, but the financier wants to see a balance on the right side of the ledger.

As regards this, it takes very little figuring to show conclusively that whatever the cost of this great enterprise may be, the income from tolls collected from vehicles of all kinds, whether they be pleasure automobiles, trucks, busses, trolleys or railroads, the traffic would be of such tremendous proportions as tc place the enterprise on a safe and sound financial footing.

Comeptent engineers have approved the plan as being entirely feasible from an engineer's point of view and now even the conservative men of the community such as the presidents of saving banks, both in Brooklyn and Staten Island and in Manhattan are approving of this great public measure.

Gas and Electricity

It is difficult to come down from flights of the imagination and to wake up from a dream of the future to present everyday realities, but it is interesting to notice how the "hard-headed" men of our public utilities are viewing the situation here on Staten Island. Not only has the gas company under the management of that man of irresistible force, William J. Welsh, spread its gas mains in every direction, in some cases miles ahead of the immediate demand, but the Staten Island Edison Company, with Charles S. Banghart as its moving spirit, is keeping up this march of progress by the extension of electric lighting and electric service for power for which there is an increasing demand. The same can be said of the telephone company whose commercial manager, George F. Hafstrom, has seen the telephone service grow in leaps and bounds.

The electrifying by the Staten Island Rapid Transit Railroad of all of its passenger service, owing to the far seeing eye of Staten Island's guardian angel in the Baltimore & Ohio world, Roy B. White, has been an immense stride forward.

The master mind of Murray Hulbert, then Commissioner of Docks and the irrestible force back of his brain, resulted in the building of the famous municipal piers, extending along the east shore of Staten Island, facing the entrance to the Port of New York, and forever a monument to the Hylan Administration.

These piers have been the latest word in pier construction and give the Port of New York additional port facilities which are of inestimable value in retaining the pre-eminence of the Port of New York in times to come.

While at first suffering from the depression in shipping, these piers are now being occupied more extensively from week to week forming one of the great assets not only of Staten Island but of the whole Port.

Carried away almost bodily by the march of progress, the good conservative old Chamber of Commerce has taken on a new lease of life and has secured the services of a professional secretary, Mr. W. I. Lewis, who has inspired Staten Island's commercial circles to the extent of "putting over" a most successful (Continued on Page 24)

N the Hoboken laboratory of the Todd Shipyards Corporation new fields for the use of ordinary grades of kerosene in a new-type oil lamp have been discovered, which is already displacing other forms of illumination for marine, railroad and highway signal pur

How It Burns

The new lamp owes its efficiency to a novel form of burner in which the oil rising from the fount through the wick is vaporized without the flame being brought into contact with the wick itself. The wick is of the round, solid type, made of chemically treated cotton. The chemical treatment closes the ends of the cotton fibres, preventing absorption of oil and eliminating cracking within the fibres and consequent formation of globules of carbon at the fibre ends. This treatment also obviates the necessity for cutting or trimming the wick which is used up very slowly. The only cleaning that is required is for the attendant to rub a finger across the end of the wick when refilling the fount.

A traffic signal lamp of the new type has been burning in the Todd laboratory for about nine months without other attention than the monthly refilling and an occasion

Buoy Lamp

poses as well as in other fields where the dispensing with daily attention is an important factor. Wherever it is shown it achieves great and enduring popularity. It embodies an entirely new method of combustion, is unaffected by rain, snow, sleet or frost and is so designed as to be foolproof.

It Is Now Demonstrating Its Superiority

Although it has been on the market only a short time. the Todd lamp has been adopted extensively in the marine field for buoy, anchorage, fish net, tug and tow light signals and by several of the railroads for switch and semaphore lighting. It has demonstrated its superiority to electric and acetylene lamps and the older form of oil lamps for all of these purposes by reason of its marked economy of installation and operation, its immunity to vibration, no matter how violent and the fact that it will burn for thirty days without refilling, readjustment of the wick or cleaning of lenses.

Railroad Lamp

al brushing of the top of the wick. During this period there has been no indication of soot or smoking and the candle power has remained practically unchanged. In seven months of this test the length of the wick was reduced by only about a quarter of an inch and while nine gallons of oil were consumed during the period there

as its development has thus far been directed to the field of outdoor use, although the Todd experts hope to apply the same principal to oil heater construction, thus overcoming the objectionable features of the ordinary heaters and adding to their safety.

For railroad use a special design of switch and semaphore lamp has been developed the construction being such that the joint between cover and case cannot be choked with snow or ice or frozen tight. It is also rain, wind and sleet proof. These lamps, being built to standard R.S.A. requirements, have founts with a capacity of 36 ounces of oil, sufficient for ten days continuous use. The oil used may be any standard grade of kerosene free from water and dirt and reasonably free from sulphur and mineral impurities.

Another special type is being developed for use at the railroad crossings. This will have a strong reflector, so that it may be visible at a long distance from the crossing. Still another is being devised for fire alarm markers. The lamp has been found especially valuable as a warning signal at dangerous points on rural highways, such as curves and intersections where it is essential that maintenance costs should be kept at a low cost without reducing the assurance of safety to the travelling public.

Army Engineers Have Adopted it

The lamp has already been adopted by the Army Engineers for buoy and channel marker lights where depend. ability is the controlling factor and where it is impossible to give lamps daily attention. It has also been put into use along the line of the New York State Barge Canal for bridge and lock lights and other fixed signal purposes. It has also been found particularly suitable for marking obstructions such as dock ends, piling and mooring pylons as well as for anchorage, tug and towing lights. As to comparative costs on installation and maintenance, it has been found that they are approximately as follows for groups of 1,000 lamps:

Traffic Lamp

was no showing of carbon at the combustion surface, the only deposit being a light coating of yellow, powder substance which did not affect the candle power.

An Economical Burner

The average oil consumption of the lamp is about four ounces of standard kerosene every twenty-four hours, a rate so slow that it is actually cheaper to let the lamp burn continuously than to have it extinguished and relighted for use only during the night hours. Another important feature of the lamp is that its operation is so simple that all details can be mastered after a few minutes of instruction. There is no delicate glass chimney to be broken and the external and internal temperatures are so evenly balanced that there is no sweating of the lens surfaces.

The vaporizing device is of simple but sturdy construction, although adjusted to the thousandth part of an inch, so that it produces through control of the flow of oxygen a flame representing 100 per cent ignition or combustion. The whole lamp is of exceptionally rugged construction

A convincing testimonial to the efficiency of the Todd lamp is found in a letter received by the company from the president of one of the large railroads which has recently placed an order for a large number of the lamps, equipped with day marked rings around the lenses. The letter states that the lamps have stood up under regular service conditions and during a long spell of abnormally severe weather, giving a regular light under all conditions of jarring and weather and burning twice as long as other lamps without refilling.

The lamp has also demonstrated its superiority over other types for use in "stop and go" signals and other street traffic markers, as the markers can be shifted anywhere without disturbing the light. Another prominent feature is that the Todd lamp will not explode if struck or knocked from its pedestal.