VENTNOR NEWS
Established 1907
(Somers Point Record)
Official Newspaper of Ventnor City
Published Every Wednesday by
AMUSEMENT PUBLISHING CO.
Charles Scheukr, Editor
Atlantic City Office:
606-508-610-512 N. Tennessee Ave.
(Atlantic City. N. J.)
Telephones—Marine 1890-91
Ventnor—6210 Ventnor Ave.
(Ventnor City, N. J.) •
Telephone—Neptune 1090
Subscription Price...—.—$1.50 Per Year
Payable in Advance
Single Copies--Three Cents
On sale at stands of the Union News
Company in the Eastern District.
“Entered os eecond-elase matter July
27, 1907, at the Poet Office at Atlantic
City, New Jersey, under the Act of Con
gress of March 2, 1879. *
This publication is free and inde
pendent, It is not controlled by trus^
creed, advertiser, political1 party, million
aire or anybody or anything except its
own conscience.
The Ventnor News has the largest
circulation of any weekly newspaper pub
lished in New Jersey.
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 8. 1924
THE TRANSFORMATION
OF BRIGANTINE
A 'mile across the restless
waters of the Inlet, almost
exactly similar in size, topog
raphy and beach expanse to
the waste of sand dunes upon
which has been wrought the
magic, latter day transforma
tion of Atlantic City, lies
Brigantine. Within plain view
of the world’s greatest haven
of rest and recreation, yet com
pletely isolated from Absecon
Island save by small boats un
der favorable tidal conditions,
this strip of land, seven miles
long and four thousand acres in
size, has since the early ’90’s
been as completely cut off from
the outside world as if it been
thrown up by some convulsion
of nature iii mid-Atlantic.
Not always, it is true, had
it been the terra incognita of
the South Jersey coast. Pioneers
in shore development saw its
latent possibilities thirty-five
years ago, and backed by
powerful influences, an effort
was made to establish on
Brigantine a resort that was
designed to rival, possibly to
surpass, peerless Atlantic City.
Trains of the Reading Railway
system threaded their way
across* a trestle from the main
land, a trolley traction system
was installed and a hotel of
pretentious proportions was
erected.
[There jcame Matt Quay and
Boies Penrose, powerful figures
in the politics of their day, to
plan the strategy of their cam
paigns, and in their train
flocked satellites by the hun
dred. Cottages were erected
and for a time it appeared that
the dream of the promoters of
* a prosperous, resplendent
Brigantine might come true.
But these hopes were short
lived. The boom died out
more speedily than it came into
being, leaving in its wake only
a handful of Federal co'ast
guards and their families.
Again have the tireless forces
of expansion and development
invaded the shores of Brigan
tine, but not in the haphazard,
sporadic manner which charac
tterizte'd the Colonization scheme
of Quay and his associates in
1893. There is more than influ
ence, more than wealth, more
than a quest for gain behind this
latest enterprise, now well on its
way to fruition. Big men of
big minds desirous of per
petuating their names in a
manner well worth while, are
the impelling force behind the
great project which has as its
aim the utilization of Brigan
tine’s great natural advantages
as a place of seaside residence,
and a triumph beyond the
fondest hopes of even these
veteran captains of business
and finance has already
crowned their efforts.
Only a narrow span of water,
the width of a drawbridge, now
separates Brigantine from be
ing a part and parcel of Atlan
tic City; deprives it of this
gr6at resort’s unexcelled trans
portation facilities; prevents it
from participation in the hopes
and aspirations, the joys and
pleasures, the responsibilities
and rewards of the miracle that
Atlantic City has become.
The ocean tributary that
made of Brigantine an alien
land has been bridged. The
preliminary work of laying out
streets and avenues and in
stalling public utilities is now
well under way. The sale of
building lots on what was a
Darren waste oi Sana ana
meadows, with a total valua-:
tion of $184,000, only a year
ago, has now reached the
stupendous aggregate of $2,
098,985. Brigantine has ar
rived!
The bold, daring spirits be
hind this marvelous achieve
ment paid at the outset of
their enterprise the price of
all such efforts. Their plans
were ridiculed in some quarters,
viewed as impossible, visionary
in others. Brigantine would
ever be a liability, never an
asset, said these wise ones. But
they reckoned without the
calibre o*f those sterling, pub
lic spirited citizens who com
prise the personnel of the
Island Development Company
—these "miracle men” of the
South Jersey coast.
None knew better than they
that the day is not far distant
when Absecon Island, and par
uiumuy micuiut win
be compelled to seek an outlet
for a new residential district
which will not only vie with
lower Chelsea and Ventnor,
but may in time outclass them.
Once the great project of
utilizing Brigantine for this
purpose had been formed, its
promoters laid all their cards
face upwards on the table,
and the response from hun
dreds of investors here and
elsewhere proved beyond the
shadow of a doubt not only
that their plans were feasible
but that the promoters en
joyed the utmost confidence of
a small army of purchasers.
That the men behind the de
velopment of Brigantine are
worthy of the trust reposed
in them is clearly shown by
the record. Every promise has j
been kept; evtery pledge ful-|
filled. -
The high ethical standards
maintained throughout by the
Island Development Company
stamps the movement in which
the corporation is engaged as
an investment of the safest
type, rather than a land
speculation. Prospective pur
chasers speedily became con
vinced of this, once they had
investigated the merits of the
proposal offered them, and
then came pouring in the golden
flood that has now reached ap
proximately the $3,000,000
mark.
Chief among the active
figures in this amazingly suc
cessful venture has been
Howard G. Harris, president
of the Island Development
Company. To his foresight
and vision in large measure
has been due the steady, pro
gressive march of events that
has resulted in lifting Brigan
tine out of the ocean mists and
establishing it as the site of a
future seaside resort, worthy
of classification with world
famed Atlantic City.
Associated with him, as of
ficers of the company, are
John M. Murtland, vice-presi
dent; Wilbur Zimmerman,
treasurer; V. S. Fisher, assis
tant treasurer; Harold I. Eaton,
secretary, and Franz T. Voel
ker, assistant secretary. In
cluded in jthe board of directors,
in addition to the officers
named, are Congressman Isaac
Bacharach, former Judge Jos.
Thompson, Henry E. Stevens,
William F. Shaw, William Rich
man and William H. Carroll.
Behind all these prominent
citizens lies a record of achieve
ment that assured the success of
their great work in putting
Brigantine across.
BEAUTIFY OUR CITY
Florence, Italy, is not among
the largest cities of the world,
but it is one of the most
famous. No traveler feels that
a tour abroad is complete with
out including a visi* to this
famous old seat of art.
From the days of Lorenzo de
Medici who died almost five
centuries ago, Florence has
been the home of great artists
whose greatest concern was to
beautify their city in every
pu&biuie way.
To be sure, we cannot make
a Florence of every small city.
But we can work toward that
goal. Beautiful drives, beauti
ful parkways, beautiful public
buildings all have a value that
cannot be computed in dollars
and cents.
We, here in Ventnor can
rightfully claim that we have
a beautiful city. But is it as
beautiful as we can make it?
Stop and think of this, and
your answer will be “No.”
The easiest and best thing
We can do is to plant more
trees. A street lined with
stately elms is a thing of beauty
that travelers from far and
wide talk about. An ordinary
street can be transformed into
a beautiful drive if the curbs
atfe graced with shade trees.
Furthermore, the value of ad
joining property is automatic
ally raised through anything
that beautifies the street and
makes it more desirable.
Of course, there is also the
matter of more beautiful pub
lic buildings, more artistic bus
iness structures and more at
tractive parks. But these
things must come more slowly.
The thing for us to do right
now is to give nature a chance
to make Ventnor the most
beautiful city in the State of
New Jersey.
IT PAYS TO VOTE
What is your share in the
expenses of our government?
Statisticians say that the per
capita tax in this country for
the upkeep of Federal, State
and local governments is about
$77. That means that every
family of five pays directly
and indirectly about $885 to
keep the business of the nation
going on.
If you invested a like amount
in a business here in Ventnor,
you would take an active in
terest in how this money is
spent. Yet almost fifty per
cent of the eligible voters in
this country and right here in
ru.ia.nuc uouniy ianeu uunng
recent elections to vote—to
express an opinion on how af
fairs of their own government
should be run.
. A national organization of
business executives has pre
pared a statement to the pub
lic which reads about like this:
“The stockholders of America
will hold a meeting on Novem
ber 4 to- vote on matters of
vital importance. Attend this
meeting and register your opin
i6n.”
The apathy of the general
public today toward our
government is a serious menace
to the future democracy. There
is not much danger that the
majority of people will be
wrong. This nation has pro
gressed during the last hun
dred years at a rate unparal
leled in the history of the world,
and the governmental policies
which have made this progress
possible have all been decided
by the masses of American
voters. But there is grave
danger when the majority of
people are not sufficiently in
terested to vote. When the
people show that they don’t
care, then politicians are apt
to feel that they are not
responsible to those they serve
for what they do.
Remember, this government
of ours is a great business. You
have to pay out good, hard
earned dollars to keep it func
tioning. It is only the part of
common sense to vote and have
your say about how your money
is spent.
rilE REWARD OF MERIT
Elsewhere in this edition of
the Ventnor News will be found
a special section detailing in
story and pictures the
magnificent new home of the
Eldredge Express and Ware
house Company in Chelsea.
No finer example of the amaz
ing progress made by Atlantic
City during the past decade
could be furnished than this
truly wonderful structure.
It was erected by a firm
closely identified with the
growth and prosperity of the
resort during the past half
century, and stands not only
as a monument to the enter
prise of the owners, but also
as tangible proof of the ap
preciation and patronage be
stowed by resort citizens on men
who conduct their business,
whatever it may be, along
honorable, upright, public
spirited lines. The success
achieved by the Eldredge Com
pany has been well deserved.
THE BUSINESS BOOM
“Business will boom just as
much as ever as soon as the
uncertainty of this Presidential
election is past,” we hear on
every hand, but we cannot
agree. The trouble with
business goes much deeper than
this.
And it will not be righted
until the farmer is more pros
perous—until the prices of the
things he buys come down to
a level somewhere near that of
the prices he receives for the
produce he sells.
Or, in other words, conditions
cannot be right until industry
and life in big cities come
down to the level that agricul
ture and business in small
towns have been forced to ac
cept—or until the farmer’s
greatly depreciated dollar will
again buy one hundred cents’
worth of machinery or clothing.
“And what is the trouble—
why does this unbalanced
economic condition continue
to prevail?” one is prone to
ask. The answer is not simple,
but there are two factors which
in our opinion have a great
effect.
One is high taxes—the other
is high rents. High taxes
against industry or business
of any kind are passed along
to the consumer. The big
man who pays big taxes merely
acts as a tax collector for the
government. He adds his taxes
to the costs of doing business,
and with a good margin of in
crease passes them along in the
price of the product he manu
factures. The ultimate con
sumer—the salaried worker,
the small business man, and
the farmer pay them in the end.
j High rents, the other im
portant factor, influence bus
iness conditions in much the
same way. The average family
in the city cannot get a decent
home without paying at least
$100 a month in rent. The
little grocer who supplies this
family with a living also pays
an enormous rent for his store.
And who pays these high
rents in the end? Not the
worker, although he seems at
times to be badly squeezed.
Rents create a much bigger
problem than most politicians
and business dopesters are wil
ling to admit. In hundreds of
different ways they throw a
burden on agriculture—all in
direct, of course, but none the
less real.
The reason rents remain on
their old war-time basis in our
big cities is a long story in it
self. It involves a story of
artificially defeating what we
fegard as fundamental econom
ic laws.
Ever Since the Time
of Columbus
there has been a steady advancement
of living standards throughout the
world—made possible by the products
of the manufacturing industry, which
is an important contribution to our
material prosperity.
TheVentnor City
National Bank
ATLANTIC AVE._AT SURREY PLACE
VentnorAtlantic City.N. J.
MEMBER FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
A National Bank with a Savings Department