D By A. E. COOTE, Vice President, Cross & Brown Company UE to recent development along the New York waterfront, the dreams of the Port of New York Authority have been realized, and the hearts of New Jersey manufacturers have been gladdened by the knowledge that the Jersey shore of the Hudson River has become one of the most desirable industrial localities in New York Harbor. From the Fort Lee Ferry Terminal at Edgewater, continuing south through Weehawken to the great Hoboken Docks and Castle Point, near which Alexander Hamilton met his tragic end, the Jersey shore of the Hudson is bristling with activity. The area available for manufacturing plants has long since been taken up with industrial developments, and the eight railroads that serve New Jersey are constantly increasing their facilities to meet the demands of expanding industries, for New Jersey has come into its own New Jersey Has Become a Great Port Factor Too long has the average New Yorker looked askance at anything that isn't New York. He has thought of New Jersey as something alien and has taken little interest in what transpired across the Hudson, forgetting that political boundaries cut little figure in he great game of commerce. He also forgot that the broad deep waters of New York Harborthrough which the Hudson enters the ocean-serve New Jersey as well as the Empire City of the Western World. Of course those of us who had faith in New Jersey knew that an adjustment would have to be made sooner or later, and we are only surprised that such an adjustment was so long in coming. Commerce in lower New York City has long been in a most congested state, owing to the existence of a most uneconomic condition, in which the ships lie on one side of the harbor, while the railroads are on the Jersey side. New York Harbor is the world's greatest point of transshipment of freight between rail and water carriers, and this separation of the railroad and steamship terminals by water necessitates an extensive use of lighterage which is both wasteful and expensive. Let us consider for a moment the steps which must be taken in order to deliver to a manufacturer in New York City freight or raw materials coming from an inland point. The train bearing the desired freight arrives at the Jersey shore terminal of one of the great trans-contintal railroads. The cars are detached, placed on car floats and towed across the river at night or in the very early morning. The freight is then unloaded and placed on the piers to await the arrival of the consignee. If the material is not claimed promptly it is placed in storage and additional charges made. The streets are filled with motor trucks waiting around for full loads, and the ever increasing turmoil hampers the prompt disposal of freight. This re-handling of freight and the employment of lighters and car floats frequently causes a shortage of empty cars on Manhattan Island, in Brooklyn, and on the Jersey side of the Harbor and slows up subsequent shipments. This condition is truly deplorable, and it is to remedy these troubles that New York must encourage large industries to locate on the Jersey shore or some outlying section, where lack of space will not hinder the movement of industrial commodities. Why the Jersey Shorefront is Important So it came about that the Jersey side of the Hudson River has developed, for the New Jersey shore is directly at the focus of established lines of trade and transportation. Here are the tidewater terminals of the great transcontinental railroads, and here the manufacturer is offered many advantages denied to his neighbor across the river. On the New Jersey side already exist great docks, and others must soon be constructed, where modern freight and passenger steamships may be brought direcently alongside of railroad cars to load and unload. On this side of the Hudson provisions may also be made for the direct loading of coal and bunker coal into ships, thus eliminating the necessity for loading by lighter. On the West Shore there are ample facilities for warehousing, and the justly famous New Jer sey highways offer themselves for the rapid distribution of products by motor truck. Two problems which faced the New Jersey manufacturer no longer exist. One of these was the prob lem of moving trucks from New Jersey to New York, and the other was the lack of an agreement on rates among the railroads. Vehicular Tunnel Will Solve Trucking Problem With the opening of the vehicular tunnel under the Hudson during the present year, the trucking problem will be solved. This tunnel is adequately supplemented by ample ferry service, both from Fort Lee to 125th Street and from Weehawken to 42nd Street. There is also much agitation in favor of reopening the old ferry which formerly ran between West New York and 23d Street. Jersey shore industries between Edgewater and Bayonne need no longer worry about trucking facilities. Port Authority's Belt Line No. 13 The second obstacle to Jersey shore developmentthe lack of a definite rate agreement among the railroads has been eliminated by the formation of Belt Line No. 13. This has been the cause of much rejoicing on the part of the New Jersey manufacturer. Since Belt Line No. 13 has been much in the public eye of late, a brief explanation of this new aid to commerce may not be out of place. The New Jersey waterfront and the industries centered on it are served by no less than eight railroads, each with its own dock terminal, and connected with each other by a series of tracks, which, taken together, constitute a miniature continuous trunk line from Edgewater to Bayonne, a distance of about sixteen miles. It is this tiny trunk line that is now officially known as Belt Line No. 13 of the Port of New York Authority. One of the first duties of the Port of New York Authority was to bring about a better understanding between the railroads, the shippers, and the communities by the unification of this stretch of road into a single entity under one management, to the eliminaion of differences in transportation rates. With the assistance of the municipalities, the owners of the great industrial plants along the line, and a general "get together" of all the various interests (Continued on Page 28) Bergen County Business Men Organized to Raise Fund to Advertise Bergen County, New Jersey In order to take immediate advantage of the multiplied benefits to be derived by every phase of business activity in Bergen County, with the completion of the great Hudson span, the business men of this entire community are combining their efforts through a well thought out, dignifield plan, to tell the world just what our county is. This is certainly timely and should be heartily endorsed by every business interest in the county from North Arlington to the Ramapo Mountains. Bergen County lies directly in the path of the tremendous growth and de W velopment that will be made possible by the western end of the great Hudson Bridge resting on the beautiful Palisades at Fort Lee. To tell the world the many advantages of Bergen County as to suburban home building or business life and development will find its reflex influence and benefit in every corner of our county. Communities far remote from Bergen County north, south and west are exploiting their particular corner of the State and telling the world why their towns and villages (Continued on Page 20) Sane View of Barge Canal By an Operator of It A Waterway of Immense Value and Wonderful 'HEN the New York State Barge Canal is referred to, it is either as a joke, a failure or a club over the head of the railroads. Is it not time that the true facts are presented and the canal permitted to take its proper place in the transportation system of the State and country? In the first place, the canal is not a club over the railroads and never should be so considered, but an asset which should be, but is not, today admitted. In following the route of the Erie Canal, we find that not only are the principal cities of the State located on its route but that its banks are lined with manufacturing industry. It is clearly evident that this is due to cheap transportation of raw material which gives the industries of New York State the opportunity to compete with the markets of the world. When the Erie Canal was transporting the raw materials and making possible this great industrial development, the railroads were taking from these same industries the finished products, transporting them not only to points paralling the canal but to all parts of the country. In addition to the finished products the railroads were also called upon to bring in raw materials which were not applicable to water movement, as well as coal and other commodities; therefore, in those days they were working side by side in developing the State and Port of New York. Instead of carrying on this development with a spirit of co-operation, however, it was done with open antagonism and, unfortunately, in a way, this same antagonistic spirit lives today. Canal Increases Commerce The new Barge Canal is carrying on, in the larger way, the work of the old Erie Canal, and as an illustration of this I wish to cite a few of the commodities which moved through the Port of New York last year that would have moved through other ports were it not for the canal. Statistics show that 177,000 tons of sulphur moved in 1925 via the Barge Canal and except for the cheaper transportation by water this would have moved through Baltimore on a differential rail rate as against New York; 50,000 tons of phosphate rock would have moved direct from Florida by rail or through Baltimore on the same differential; the canal moved 34,000,000 bushels of grain to New York, an increase of 11,000,000 bushels over 1924, and the rail movement to New York decreased two million bushels. This clearly indicates that the canal does not rob the railroads of tonnage as the canal increase was in excess of the rail decrease, which proves that the canal developed that tonnage as against Montreal or other Atlantic ports. Business was also diverted from the port of Boston to New York by the canal development and some of this tonnage was transferred to the railroads at Buffalo for western delivery. While I could name many other commodities, space is limited and the four pointed out are sufficient to show that the canal is a factor in port development as well as a feeder, perhaps, in a small way at present, to our railroads, and through co-operation many thousands of tons of new business could be developed to the profit of all interests. If a list of canal shippers of today was published, one would be forced to pause and wonder at its significance. for you would find that with but few exceptions it would be made up of the names of the largest and nationally known corporations. If such interests use this waterway there is a reason and, is not the reason reduced manufacturing costs, and does not cheaper manufacturing costs mean ability to compete and expansion of the industry to the benefit directly or indirectly of all? A steady growth of the canal tonnage since 1919 has been made in spite of almost unsurmountable obstacles but regardless of these obstacles there has not been a year in which it has not moved forward from four per cent to fifty per cent over the preceding year and we, who are interested, wonder what would have been accomplished if this waterway had united support such as is given Canadian waterways by their Government, port commissions, banks, railroads, shippers and, in fact, the entire population of their country. I believe that one or (Continued on Page 30) Former American Shipmaster Now A Miami (Florida) Multimillionaire While Rapidly Amassing a Large Fortune Victor Hope Donates $1,050,000 to Miami University of Which He is a Regent Succeeds in Real Estate Acreage, A Branch He Inaugurated in Florida-Was Personal Real Estate Broker for Late William J. Bryan -A Factor in Greater Miami, Just Forty Years Old and a Seething Mass of Electrical Energy, Full of Optimism, Cheerfulness, Courage, Confidence, Ambition, and Honesty. A Maine Ex-Seafarer Who Has the World By the Tail A By THE EDITOR FTER twenty-one years as a seafarer, Captain Victor Hope, who just forty years ago was born at Randolph, Kennebec County, on the shores of the Kennebec River, Maine, quit the sea in 1922 and the following year made his home at Coral Gables, Florida. During his career afloat he lived in and visited fifty-five countries located on the six continents of the globe, lived more than sixteen years in foreign countries and on ships traversing the seven seas, more than ten years of which he spent south of the equator. He knows nineteen of the twenty Latin American republics, also Australia, New Zealand, Madagascar, South Africa, the South Sea Islands, and the East Indies, as a result of which he is familiar with the ports and countries of Asia, Europe, Africa, North and South America, and Australia. Victor Hope made his way aboard ships in the beginning through the hawespipe-this in 1901and, before finally quitting the sea, for a few years commanded American steamships, during the World War having been an officer in the United States Naval Reserve Forces, serving overseas. Becomes a Landsman and Realtor In January, 1923, together with Mrs. Hope, the captain went to Florida, settling in Miami and Coral Gables -that is to say, he established himself in the real estate business in Miami and made his home in Coral Gables, that most famous suburb of the most talked about city Captain VICTOR HOPE, Former American Shipmaster, now Miami Multimillionaire Realtor Beginning at the age of fifteen this young New Englander spent the next five years before the mast in square-rigged deepwater windjammers, before trying his hand at steam. Needless to say, acquiring experience upon the sea and familiarity with ships, their up-keep and navigation, as well as a knowledge of commerce and the ports of the world, his life has been rich in adventure and romance. He believes in and is an ardent advocate of American seamen for American ships, a subject on which he wrote considerably for the Marine Journal in 1920 and 1921, was the originator of the American Seaman's Association, and with the late Nellie Bly helped to organize that body. in the world of recent years. Captain Hope did not take a fortune into Florida, but he has found one there, a fortune now growing by leaps and bounds, as a result of that same boundless optimism, courage, unusual foresight and initiative, a part of his Yankee heritage. Captain Hope landed in Miami with forty-one dollars, which was all the money he had in the world, but those qualities mentioned in the subheading introductory to this article. formed by far the larger part of his business equip ment. Starts and Wins Through The immense acreage activity he inaugurated all over Florida in 1923 became the foundation of Captain Hope's fortune, he having been the first exclusively acreage broker in the State, which helps demonstrate his originality and tenacity of purpose. He packs 210 pounds avoirdupois in his five feet ten inches of stature, every particle of which is alive-vibrantly alive. A few striking epigrams he coined have been his guide and reliance, as, for example: "If one cannot surmount obstacles, then go through them or around themé" "Don't give up!" "Don't take yourself too seriously!" "Keeping moving!" "Don't let the other fellow slow you up!" "Some men accomplish more because they attempt more!" "Don't let people who mean nothing to you take up your time!" "Crack a joke now and then when talking business-it helps!" "Smile!" "Think" "Work!" |