Covered Steel and Concrete Pier Used by Atlantic Navigation Corp. at Santiago. Length, 600 feet; depth, 75 feet. This entire Structure is Carried on Reinforced Piles. W Atlantic Navigation Corporation Improved Cuban Service Due to the Entry of This Line. HEN, in the early months of 1920, The Atlantic Fruit Company acquired the steamers Callabasas, Glendola, Glendoyle, Glyndon, Cananova and Cayo Mambi, the nucleus of the present fleet of steamers now operated by The Atlantic Navigation Corporation was formed. At that time the freight services from New York to Cuba, aside from those to Havana, left much to be desired. There was but one line operating to northside outports, and but one line operating to southside out-ports, with the single exception of Santiago, to which port two lines had established services. The sailings, barring those of one of the lines to Santiago, were more or less ir regular. The Atlantic Fruit Company was then erecting a large sugar mill at Tanamo Bay, near Antillo, and the steamers above named were utilized for the purpose of transporting the necessary structural material from the States to the site of the mill. Early in 1921, The Atlantic Fruit Company had the British steamers St. Mary and Miraflores especially built for the banana trade and, upon the completion of the mill at Tanamo, these steamers together with those already named were available for the carriage of cargo between New York and Cuba, with the result that the company established regular freight services from New York to Nuevitas, Puerto Tarafa, Manati, Antilla, Gibara, Santiago, Cienfuegos, Guantanamo, Manzanillo and Guayabal. The service from New York to Santiago and Guantanamo was weekly. That which included sailings from New York to Nuevitas, Puerto Tarafa, Antilla and Manati was fortnightly, as was another service from New York to Cienfuegos and Manzanillo. These services were continued by The Atlantic Fruit Company until April, 1923, when the business was assumed by The Atlantic Navigation Corporation. In June, 1923, arrangements were made by The Atlantic Navigation Corporation with the Empresa Naviera de Cuba whereby cargo would be handled for Baracoa via Santiago, which cargo would be delivered at Baracoa 8 or 9 days after departure from New York. Prior to this, Baracoa cargo from New York was placed aboard a steamer whose first port of call was in South America and the cargo was discharged at Baracoa on the return trip of the vessel, usually about 21 days after such cargo had been loaded into the steamer at New York. Under the guidance of D. E. Bordner, Traffic Manager, a change was made in the regular services offered by The Atlantic Navigation Corporation to include the following, all from New York: Weekly service, every Thursday, Santiago and Guantanamo, with Antilla the first port of call one week and Gibara the first port of call the second week. Fortnightly service, every second Saturday, Nuevitas, Puerto, Tarafa and Manati. to Fortnightly service, alternate Saturdays, Cienfuegos. In connection with the service to Santiago, arrangements were made with the Empresa Naviera de Cuba to handle Manzanillo cargo for transshipment at Santiago, and this arrangement has proved to be of great material benefit to the merchants in and around Manzanillo. This cargo now, in connection with the service the satisfaction of the Manzanillo merchants, is being transshipped from the steamers of the Atlantic Navigation Corporation at Santiago across a covered wharf, on the opposite side of which are the steamers of the Empresa Naviera de Cuba, from which point the Empresa Naviera de Cuba delivers the cargo direct to the wharf at Manzanillo, obviating the necessity of the former transfer in the bay at Manzanillo. This can be done on account of the small draught of the Empresa Naviera de Cuba's steamers. Aside from minimizing the possibility of loss, there is a saving of approximately 7 to 10 days, as it was formerly the practice of the so-called direct steamers to proceed from one port to another along the southside of Cuba, with Manzanillo usually the last port of call, the result of which was that cargo from New York to Manzanillo was delivered after acceptance at New York about 18 to 21 days later. Shipments handled by The Atlantic Navigation Corporation are now delivered at Manzanillo within 11 days after departure of steamer from New York. The Atlantic Navigation Corporation is prepared today to offer quick service to Gibara, Antilla, Nuevitas, Puerto Tarafa, Cienfuegos and Santiago. The Atlantic Navigation Corporation offers a service permitting delivery to Gibara in 5 days, which shortness of delivery is also offered to Antilla and Nuevitas. Delivery at Puerto Tarafa is made in 6 or 7 days after departure from New York, which is the same time consumed in the voyage from New York to Santiago. The Atlantic Navigation Corporation employs, in all Cuban services, steamers of the ventilated type used to carry bananas northward which steamers are admirably adapted to the carriage of perishable cargo southward. The fleet of steamers available for this service was augmented in November, 1923, at which time the fast steamers of the Cuyamel Fruit Company, operating from Puerto Cortez to New York, were placed at the disposal of the Atlantic Navigation Corporation for its use in carrying freights southward. In addition to the regular services enumerated, the Atlantic Navigation Corporation is a large carrier of sugar from Cuba to various points along the Atlantic seaboard. It is also engaged in transporting large shipments of potatoes from Canadian ports to Cuba. The company is being liberally patronized both by the exporters at New York and the receivers in Cuba because of the excellence of the service being given. Free Ports or Zones and Reclamation of New Jersey Meadows I Walter J. Bartnett Shows Profound Knowledge of Whole Subject and Describes Tremendous Industrial, Commercial, Maritime and Park Possibilities if Fully Availed Of. Suggested Boundaries of the Free Port That he believes a "Free Port" would be a great success in the Port of New York Mr. Bartnett makes clear in the extent of the area he would devote to it, which he describes as follows: N a twenty-page closely typewritten document, tion will doubtless receive careful consideration when abounding in quotations of those who, like himself, the subject is brought up in Congress. have examined the subject, Mr. Walter J. Bartnett draws a picture of the Port of New York with all of its manifold possibilities availed of for the facilitation of commerce, including an argument in behalf of "Free Ports" or "Free Zones". Beginning with the latter, he first discusses New York as an "air port", declaring that the day of commercial aviation is at hand, in which respect Europe has so far outdistanced us. "Within a few years," he declares, "a large area will be required for commercial aviation in the Metropolitan District. The Hackensack Meadows offer an ideal location for an air port. It is safe to say that within a few years at least 3000 acres of those meadow lands could be profitably employed for air port and aviation purposes.' Then Mr. Bartnett discusses the "Free Port" or "Free Zone" idea, presenting, in the beginning a definition of it as made by the United States Tariff Commission, as follows: Definition of a Free Port or Zone "A free port or free zone is a place, limited in extent, that differs from adjacent territory in being exempt from the customs laws as affecting goods destined for re-export; it means, simply, that, as regards customs duties, there is freedom, unless, and until, imported goods enter the domestic market. "A free zone may be defined as an isolated, inclosed, and policed area in or adjacent to a port of entry, without resident population, furnished with the necessary facilities for lading and unlading, for supplying fuel and ships' stores, for storing goods and for reshipping them, by land and water; an area within which goods may be landed, stored,mixed, blended, repacked, manufactured, and reshipped without payment of duties and without the intervention of customs officials. It is subject equally with adjacent regions to all laws relating to public health, vessel inspection, postal service, labor conditions, immigration, and, indeed, everything except customs." Mr. Bartnett also quotes Dr. Roy S. McElwee, who has studied this subject extensively, and written upon it at length, as follows: "There is no doubt as to the effectiveness of free ports in American foreign trade. The claim that they are unconstitutional is absurd, and since the war we have at least six zones already laid out and equipped that could be turned into foreigntrade zones between Saturday night and Monday morning, by placing the customs officials at the entrances to the areas of the Army Supply Bases instead of on the wharves as at present, administering the existing tariff laws and guarding, in so far as the revenue of the country is concerned, precisely as at present. During the past ten years there has not been no single valid argument presented why an enabling act should not be passed by the Congress of the United States permitting the establishment of free zones in those ports that desire to have them." Mr. Bartnett believes that the New Jersey territory "is admirably adapted for the establishment of a 'Free Port' or 'Free Zone" ", and like all advocates of them he instances the progress that Hamburg has made since it became a "Free Port". He also refers to the bill intro duced by Senator W. L. Jones, of the State of Washington, for the establishment, operation and maintenance of "Free Zones" in the United States. Mr. Bartnett expects that Congress will legislate on the subject of "Free Zones" in the near future and will enact some law authorizing their establishment. He says, "There is a conflict of opinion on the subject of the advisability of legislation authorizing manufacturing within 'Free Ports' or 'Free Zones'. The Jones Bill made no provision for manufacturing within the 'Free Zones'. The Merchants' Association of New York, which was a strong advocate of the Jones 'Free Zone" Bill is opposed to legislation authorizing manufacturing in 'Free Zones.'" This ques "The following is suggested as the boundaries of the 'Free Port' or 'Free Zone': commencing at a point at New York Bay, immediately south of the terminal of the Pennsylvania Railroad, at Greenville, running thence southerly to a point on Staten Island, near Stapleton, embracing the submerged and tide lands on New York Bay, south of the Pennsylvania Railway terminal within Jersey City and Bayonne, embracing a part of Bayonne and running along the northerly and westerly shoreline of Staten Island to a point near Greenridge, Staten Island, thence across the island to a point near Prince Bay, thence across Raritan Bay to Keyport, thence northwesterly to South Amboy, thence to Perth Amboy, and thence northerly from Perth Amboy to Elizabeth, embracing the industrial section of New Jersey from Keyport north, fronting on Raritan Bay and Arthur Kill, from Elizabeth, running northerly to the Passaic River, embracing the Newark Meadows and Port Newark, following the Passaic River northerly to a point near Kingsland, thence northerly, embracing the Hackensack Meadows to a point south of Hackensack and thence easterly to the right of way of the Northern Railroad of New Jersey and thence southerly along the easterly boundry of the line of the meadows of Jersey City to a point near Bayonne, and thence to the point of commencement." Mr. Bartnett says, "There should be excluded from the limits of the 'Free Port' or 'Free Zone' the territory used, or that will be utilized for residential purposes, aviation fields, parks, railroad terminals and other uses not germane to a 'Free Port' or 'Free Zone'. These reservations will materially reduce the area of the territory within the 'Free Port' or 'Free Zone' and the expense of maintenance.' Needless to say, this would be what might be described as "a whopping big free port or zone", and one wonders if Mr. Bartnett has accurately computed the police force the Federal Government would be called upon to maintain to guard such an extended and really tremendous area? Jamaica Bay for Free Port Mr. Bartnett reminds us that the Jamaica Bay territory has been suggested by many for a "Free Port". On this subject he says: "It will probably be to the great advantage of the Port of New York to establish a 'Free Port' or 'Free Zone' at Jamaica Bay. No attempt will be made here to sketch the boundaries of such a 'Free Port' or 'Free Zone'. It is sufficient to say that it should include an area in proximity to Jamaica Bay that would be devoted strictly to commercial and industrial uses. The area should not include any territory that will be used for residential purposes." Mr. Bartnett presents many pages of his article fascinatingly describing the aquatic or marine parks he would establish within the Port of New York, which lack of space forbids, at this time, our following him into. Reclamation of New Jersey Meadows We now present the study of the reclamation of the Hackensack and the Newark Meadows by Mr. Bartnett, and the various uses the reclaimed area could be put to for the welfare of the present and increasing population of what is called the Metropolitan District of the City of New York. The subject is so full of wonderful possibilities, that a day dream of them from the practical and utilitarian (Continued on Page 30) AND SHIP NEWS "AMERICAN EXPORT LINES" New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore to French Mediterranean and West Coast Italy Sailings 15th and 30th of Each Month New York and Philadelphia to North African Ports Sailings 20th of Each Month Other Mediterranean or Adriatic ports will be combined in this service as cargo offers. New York to Greek, Black Sea Ports and Constantinople New York and Philadelphia to Malta, AMERICAN EXPORT LINES THE EXPORT STEAMSHIP CORPORATION AND SHIP NEWS Free Ports or Zones and Reclamation of New Jersey Meadows (Continued from Page 28) point of view of a civil engineer but adds to the fascination. Of course, as he says, this reclamation has been advocated for fifty years-probably longer than that. But, the little that has been done has been entirely of a piecemeal character, without any regard to the solution of the problem as a whole. He refers to the effective and most useful work of the New Jersey Mosquito Commission, in draining the marshes, the deepening of the channel in Newark Bay, the Passaic and Hackensack rivers, but, says he: "The fact remains that the progress that is being made, while notable, is such that another fifty years or more must elapse before the meadows are reclaimed and this eye-sore to the State of New Jersey is removed." He quotes Mr. C. C. Vermule, "a prominent engineer”, who thirty years ago reported on the drainage of the Hackensack and Newark tide meadows. The Newark meadows have an area of approximately 7,289 acres, and the Hackensack meadows have a total area of about 20,000 acres, several thousand acres of which are improved or in the process of improvement, but, he truly says: "This is the hour of large projects. Why not the hour when the people of the State of New Jersey resolve to accomplish the reclamation of these meadows and their conversion into an asset of value, not only to the State of New Jersey but to the nation at large?" With the millions and billions of dollars available in this country for safe investment, and the minds of our bankers fastened upon the alluring prospects for making vast profits in loaning this money to the peoples of foreign countries for them to invest in enterprises that would bring their products into rivalry with those of the United States, who would think of investing money in a comprehensive project to reclaim 20,000 or 30,000 acres of land within the very heart of the greatest port in the world—the richest area of land, of its size, in the world? If Mr. Bartnett will move this area of illimitable possibilities to the heart of Germany, or of France, or, peradverture, Russia, then he might find the money in this country, in abundance, for its reclamation and development, but it is too near us now, we fear, for its importance and transcendent value properly to impress us. Mr. Bartnett thinks the Board of Commerce and Navigation of New Jersey should be put to work, with plenty of engineers, to bring forth a comprehensive plan for the reclamation and development of these salt meadows; and, when that is done, the aid of the Federal Government should be invoked. He even thinks special legislation might be secured in New Jersey to establish a Reclamation Commission, to reclaim the land and make assessments upon its owners. He doubts that the owners of this property ever could be persuaded, voluntarily, to unite for its reclamation according to a general and comprehensive plan, and thinks that if nothing is done, the improvements will proceed, piecemeal and haphazard, as so far they have proceeded. Such reclamation was the subject of a report by the State Geologist of New Jersey in 1897, which is quoted at some length. He thinks the waterways should all be so improved that they would harmoniously fit in with the general development, and suggests the possibility of the substitution of tunnels for bridges over existing streams where the traffic is dense and increasing. He says: "After a careful survey is made it may be decided that the best method of reclaiming the meadows will be by the purchase of approximately 15,000 acres of these lands by the State. There are several thousand acres of meadow lands now held by companies that intend to develop the same. Some of these companies would without doubt be willing to co-operate with the State in any general plan of development and reclamation. Some would doubtless be willing to contribute to the expense of reclamation by reason of the benefits which they would sustain. The acquisition by the State of 15,000 acres, or thereabouts, of land, now held under individual ownership by people who have no plan for reclaiming or developing the same, would enable the State to reclaim the meadows under a comprehensive plan of development. If necessary, the power of eminent domain could b exercised by the State and the lands condemned. With the ownership of the lands vested in the State, the State could then, through its Board of Engineers, reclaim the same, creating such basins, waterways, canals, etc., as the Board of Engineers may deem proper. Bonds could be issued for the improvement, and the bonds be retired from time to time through the sale of the reclaimed property. "The reclamation by the State of 15,000 acres, or thereabout, of meadow lands, would be to create a domain of tremendous value. It is safe to say that 15,000 acres of meadow lands could be acquired today at an average cost of less than $1,000 per acre, perhaps not to exceed one-half that amount, or from $7,500,000 to $15,000,000. When reclaimed, the average value of the reclaimed lands, after deducting the lands taken for waterways, would doubtless exceed $5,000 per acre. This would give a total value of $75,000,000 for the lands reclaimed by the State. It is safe to say that the value created, after deducting the expenses of reclamation, would enable the State to reimburse itself for all expenditures made, including interest." The Port of New York Authority, Mr. Bartnett thinks, might in some way aid in the matter, as it could, he believes, use to advantage some of the reclaimed lands for railway and terminal purposes. Fifteen thousand acres approximate in area that of Manhattan Island. It might not be made quite as valuable as the area of Manhattan-but who is to say not?— but we think $75,000,000 an excessively small value for it, properly reclaimed, and available for development purposes. Mr. Bartnett goes on in detail and discusses what he conceives to be some of the obvious lines along which the reclamation and development would work out, but, as this is merely an introduction of our readers to the project as a whole, we feel forced to leave its consideration at this juncture. The purpose of the paper prepared by Mr. Bartnett is to secure the cooperation and aid of the New Jersey Waterways and Highways Improvement Association, of which A. Harry Moore, Governor-elect of New Jersey, is Chairman, with the object of securing legislation at the coming session of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey empowering the Board of Commerce and Navigation of New Jersey to make a study and report on the subject of the general reclamation of the Hackensack and Newark meadows and the improvement of the waterways of New Jersey and to report its conclusions. at the following session of the Legislature. This follows the precedent adopted whereby the Joint Port Commission was created which resulted in the creation of the Port of New York Authority. A similar precedent is also to be found in the creation of the North Jersey Transit Commission, which Commission was created to report on the transit conditions and to report its conclusions to the Legislature. A movement to reclaim the Newark and Hackensack Meadows and to improve the waterways of the Hackensack and Passaic Rivers and Newark Bay is worthy of the careful consideration of the Legislature of New Jersey. We trust that the New Jersey Waterways and Highways Improvement Association will succeed in its efforts and that the Legislature will empower the Board of Commerce and Navigation of New Jersey to make a study of this subject and report its findings to the Legislature at a later session. |