AND SHIP NEWS Florida, who can spare the time to do so, may enjoy a visit to the delightful old city of New Orleans by going south or coming north on a comfortable and not overcrowded Southern Pacific steamship between New York and New Orleans. Spence's Connection with Southern Pacific Begins It was in the same year that the Morgan Line was acquired by the Southern Pacific Company that Lewis J. Spence entered the service of that company. He spent the first years of his service at New York in the office of Edwin Hawley, who was then General Eastern Agent, and when Hawley later retired to direct other railroad propreties of which he had acquired financial control he was succeeded by Spence, to whom (it may be said in passing) he subsequently offered the Presidency of the Hawley railroads although he was considerably less than forty years of age. Preferring to remain in New York in the service of the company with which he had cast his lot, that offer was declined and thereafter, step by step, Spence mounted the ladder to higher responsibilities until he was called to Chicago to become Assistant Director of Traffic of the Southern Pacific and Union Pacific Lines, and subsequently succeeded J. C. Stubbs as Director of Traffic of those lines in 1911, retaining that position until the Southern Pacific-Union Pacific merger was dissolved by order of the Supreme Court of the United States in March, 1913, when he was elected Director of Traffic of the Southern Pacific System and a member of the Board of Directors-his headquarters being again located in New York. Thereafter a leading financial journal of New York declared that no business getting organization in the country could be found more efficient and successful than that of the Southern Pacific System, over which he presided. Under Spence's able direction and tactful policy South ern Pacific service became popular, new sources of traffic were tapped, new industries were fostered and new steamships were built until the system which, when separated from the Union Pacific, embraced 10,114 miles of railroad, now consist of 15,348 miles of railroad and a fleet of twenty-five ocean steamships; gross revenue, which amounted to $139,367,000 in 1912, had increased to a total of $275,904,111 in 1924, and public confidence in Southern Pacific management and enterprise had been manifested by an increase of 240 per cent in the number of the company's stockholders. But his industry and ability were not confined to traffic getting and rate making. It was he who was chosen by The Lounge and Library on a Southern Pacific Steamer has the grace and elegance of a parlor in an American Colonial mansion. AND SHIP NEWS With the splendid markets of New York and New Orleans to draw from, painstaking care in the selection and preparation of the food supplies, and the elegance of the service, it is no wonder that the Southern Pacific steamers are noted for "the pleasures of the table." the Director General to operate all Atlantic coastwise. steamship lines after they had been taken over by the Railroad Administration; it was he whom all western lines repeatedly chose to appear in their behalf before A cosy corner of saloon deck on Southern Pacific steamer Committees of the United States Senate and Hous、 of Representatives with respect to proposed legislation affecting the transportation interests; it was he who many times appeared as the principal witness on behalf of western lines at hearings of the Interstate Commerce Commission; it was his efforts that were largely instrumental in keeping the Southern Pacific System intact through his testimony before the Interstate Commerce Commission by which the assault upon the continued ownership and operation of the Central Pacific was successfully repelled; it was he who conceived, prepared and presented the views of his company before the Interstate Commerce Commission with reference to the consolidation of railroads under the provisions of the Transportation Act; and it was also upon the strength of his testimony that the Interstate Commerce Commission authorized the acquisition of the El Paso & Southwestern and San Antonio & Aransas Pass Railways; and he was chosen as Chairman of the Western Traffic Executive Committee (representing all western lines) during the three or four years period of reconstruction after the return of the transportation lines to private management. Mr. Spence's recent relinquishment of the duties of Director of Traffic to devote himself intensively to the conduct of the affairs of the steamship lines has been generally interpreted as meaning that the development AND SHIP NEWS "Morgan Line" pier at New York in 1885 and expansion of the company's steamship service-the record of which already reads like a romance-has only begun, and it is anticipated that the same dynamic en ergy and resourcefulness that contributed so largely to the previous growth and prosperity of both the rail and steamship lines when concentrated upon the latter will work the same transformation. Since his election as Executive Officer of the Southern Pacific Company in control of all departments of the Steamship Lines he has restored discipline, introduced important economies, improved the service and established a high standard of efficiency, and it is understood that a new passenger and freight steamship is being designed under his intensive personal supervision which promises to provide the most comfortable accommodations for passenger travel and to be one of the most practical, economical and efficient passenger and freight vessels in the coastwise service. Just as Carnegie, Hill, Harriman, Schwab, Ford and other men of their type have been responsible for the success of their respective enterprises, the enviable stand ing and reputation of the Southern Pacific Steamship Lines is directly traceable to the indefatigable genius of Lewis J. Spence, who has been continuously associated with them from the beginning of his service and more intimately than with any other part of the system. It was he upon whom it devolved to convince the Interstate Commerce Commission at formal hearing after the passage of the Panama Canal Act that the continued operation of these steamship lines by the Southern Pacific Company would be in the public interest and to obtain an order authorizing the continuation of the service which contained the statement of the Interstate Commerce Commission that "Rarely does a record before us present an array of witnesses whose testimony so uniformly endorses the character of the service as does this record," and again it was he who a few years later obtained a supplemental order from the Interstate Commerce Commission authorizing an extension of the service of these steamship lines to additional north Atlantic and Gulf ports. Trained in business-getting, rate-making and the intricacies of traffic under men of such ability and reputation as Edwin Hawley and J. C. Stubbs, and intimately associated in recent years with the late J. Kruttschnitt, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Southern Pacific Company, who was recognized as one of the ablest operating officers in the transportation world, Mr. Spence is unusually well equipped for the work that he has undertaken. Boy Scout Ship Model Maker David Mitchell, 12-year-old ship model builder, of Boy Scout Troop 3, Caldwell, N. J., whose model of the Anne Neilson a Glocester racing schooner, won second prize at the recent American Marine Exposition, was honored by Governor-elect A. Harry Moore, Rear Admiral Charles Plunkett, commandant of the Brooklyn Navy Yard and national officials of the Boy Scouts, before starting on a trip to Florida, as a guest of the American Marine Association and the Clyde Line on Dec. 19. Troops of picked scouts acted as escorts of honor to Scout Mitchell, at Caldwell, Jersey City, Brooklyn and Manhattan and a large group received him at Miami Tuesday, when the Clyde Steamship Robert E. Lee arrived there. His model was inspected by Admiral Plunkett, exhibited on the steamer during the entire voyage and later in one of the big hotel lobbies at Miami, during his week's sojourn in that city. By HENRY CLARKE DAVIS, President Staten Island Real Estate Board, Inc. HE Port of New York Authority," a public corporation created by compact between the States of New York and New Jersey, with the consent of the Congress of the United States, "is, to my mind, one of the most stupendous achievements of modern times To it has been delegated scope and power, by the two states that would make a Czar gasp with envy and as tonishment. The destiny of the port of the two States reposes in its hands. That this regal power has been wisely placed, is evinced by this commission's performances alread, achieved, and by its well laid plans now under advise ment and construction. Staten Island's New Bridges The States of New York and New Jersey have good eason for rejoicing because this great commission has Henry C. Davis, Presidcnt organized and perfected plans to construct two bridges, connecting the two states; one from Perth Amboy to Staten Island at a cost of $12,000,000; the other from Elizabeth to Staten Island, at a cost of $6,000,000. When these two bridges shall have been comple ed and functioning, it will not be long before the ge eral p blic will be convinced of their inestimable value, not o ly to the two states at issue, but to the entire country at large. This great Port District is the key to the American continent and its interlocking territory. Staten Island, or the Borough of Richmond, is one of the five boroughs comprising Greater New York, six miles distance from South Ferry, Manhattan, and can only be reached now by ferry from Manhattan, Brooklyn, or New Jersey; hence its need of intercommunication by tunnels under, or by bridges over, the water. Staten Island's Progress The year, just closing, shows that Richmond enjoyed, in a remarkable degree, that meed of prosperity and expansion which enveloped the entire country. Reports show a rapid and healthful growth from Florida on the south to Maine on the north, and from the Atlantic on the east to the Pacific on the west. Borough President, the Hon. John A. Lynch gave a very comprehensive resumé of the year's activities, in a report published December 23, in which he s ated that repaving streets, completed in 1925, cost nearly $420,000; also contracts let, but work not completed, $400,000 more. Regulating and grading contracts, work done in 1925, work done in 1925, cost $1,100,000; 141⁄2 miles of sewcost $35,000. Regulating, grading and paving contrac s. ers, at a cost of $608,000 were construc.ed in 1925. During the year, the B. & O. Railroad comple.ed the electrification of the passenger service of the Staten Island Rapid Transit system on both the north and south shores. The Hylan Boulevard, 100 feet wide, was completed from Rosebank to Tottenville, at a cost exceeding $1,000000. Over 1100 acres for additional parks, have been confirmed and approved by the Board of Estimate. With all these improvements coming to Staten Is'and, in 1925, is it any wonder that great activity pervaded the real estate field, particularly in the sale and 1e sale of acreage plots? Many of these plots were sold and re-sold five or six times, from which sales large profits were made without a single loss. 1926 Will Surpass 1925 The year 1926 will prove a greater and more profitable season, as will all future seasons for many years to come. For when one considers acreage, at from $2,000 to $3,000 per acre, only 6 miles and a 20 minute ride from Manhattan, Brooklyn or New Jersey, as compared with $2,000, to $5,000 per lot of 20x100 feet, at points in the other Boroughs of corresponding distance, no wonder that real estate investors of vision and wisdom swarm to our borough for sure investment and profit. The Borough Building Department reports to December 1, 3,000 new buildings at a cost of over $12,000,000, for the year 1925. Richmond, like all the United States, is not experi encing a "boom" nor a chimerical or ephemeral prosperity, but a real, lasting, healthful grow.h ad expansion, emerging from provincialism into a dignified and active city. Richmond is a beautiful and healthful borough in which to live, with its majestic hills affording enchanting views and with its verdent valleys and babbling brocks. Its boulevards, from St. George to Tottenville, afford comfortable drives through stretches of woodland scenery unsurpassed in this section of the country. No forecast of the future of Staten Is and is complete without reference to its wonderful waterfront. At the very entrance to the port stands Staten Island, from which freight from the interior can converge upon it from every point; and from Staten Island freight can radiate to every section of the port. The east shore of Staten Island, along the Narrows, has a natural deph of (Continued on Page 30) |