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“BUILD READING TERMINAL AT AIRPORT” SAYS RIDDLE FROM THE WORLD’S PLAYGROUND IT’S JUST A STEP TO HOME The West Atlantic City News PUBLISHED IN THE INTEREST OF WEST ATLANTIC CITY FROM THE WORLD’S PLAYGROUND IT’S JUST A STEP TO HOME Vol. I. No. 4. THE WEST ATLANTIC CITY NEWS, WEST ATLANTIC CITY, N. J., TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1927 PRICE THREE CENTS $500,000 Bond Guarantees Improvements! Riddle Would Build Station At the Airport Former Mayor Declares He Is Not in Favor of Closing or Ramping Baltic Ave. SAYS PLAN WAS NEARLY CARRIED OUT BEFORE It Is Nearer Center of City and Provides Direct Outlet By Means of Boulevards to Atlantic Avenue A suggestion lor locating the pro posed Reading terminal at the Air port or along the beach thorough fare has been made by former May or William Riddle, who declares that the Arctic avenue plan of the railroad company will never be ac cepted by a majority of the taxpay ers. Mr. Riddle favors the Airport site more than the beach thorough fare as it is nearer the center of the city and provides a direct out let by means of proposed boule vards along the site of the present Pennsylvania tracks to Atlantic av enue. "I proposed the Airport several years ago lor a union terminal, and honestly believe that it would have been carried out if the late George F. Baer, then president of the Phil adelphia and Reading railroad had not dropped dead,” says the former mayor. "It is idiotic, to say the least, to hear all this talk about closing or ramping one of our streets so the «, Reading can come right up to At lantic avenue. I am not in favor of it, and never will be.” An Ably Developed'Plan. Referring to the John R. Sira cusa plan for building a terminal on the west bank of the thorough fare, Mr. Riddle says it has been very ably worked out and would prove far more beneficial to the general public than the Arctic and Missouri and Arkansas avenues site. * When asked if ho thought it would be wise for the city to offer the railroad company part of the Airport grounds for the station in return for its concession in build ing there, the former mayor replied in the negative. "If they want the Airport, let them pay for it. They are a big business corporation looking for J. W. Misener Says City Will Double In 20 Years Not to Place Terminals on the Meadows Will Interfere With Growth of the World’s Playground By JOHN W. MISENER, ■ Manager Crane Co. . 2101 Boardwalk. j Believing it to be the duty of ev- j ery public-minded citizen to voice his -opinion on the moat important matter pertaining to the recent oi - ler of the Reading railroad com pany to furnish Atlantic City with a long-debated subject: “a now ter minal,” I am addressing you in tlic hopes that a fuller consideration of this important subject from even conceivable angle will lead to a better understanding of the sub ject by the community at large; a large percentage of whom depend w ' upon and formulate their opinions largely upon what they read in the local press, and also expedite the matter of a decision which appar ently seems imperative. Some two or three years since, when this matter was brought up at a public meeting (at which both railroads submitted blueprints and propositions at that time) although a new comer to the city, I was firmly convinced there was only one location for both railroad ter minals, and that was the meadow > lands. My conclusions are drawn from a wldp experience of having lived and visited many cities in the Uni ted States. A mental survey of these show that railroads should not be allowed to bisect or throttle the important streets of any city, but should be located on the cut skirts to permit of expansion, ami I fail to understand how anyone, unless they have not traveled to any extent, can fail to see the ne cessity of expansion in connection with our city. I recall many instances where great trouble and regret have been experienced in different cities by the granting of franchises in the early development of a municipality which have vitally damaged future developments. The most notice able incident of this was the giving away by an early administration in Chicago of the entire waterfront paralleling Michigan avenue, for a distance of approximately three miles, to the Milwaukee railway. In 1900, during a period of 10 pears 4n which I was a resident of Chi cago*, from 1890 to 1900, Chicago had developed to a point where the encroachment of the Milwaukee railway on the lake front became a permanent menace. The Chicago Tribune, the leading paper, during all this period scarcely had an is sue, a portion of which was not de voted to the condemnation of the Milwaukee railroad termed and pic tured, in caricatures, as the “All Hog” railroad. y Even after they built a very ex pensive depot, at the southerly end of Michigan avenue, their surface trains, with coal burning engines, constituted a most serious blot on what would have been otherwise a ^ (Continued on Page 2-A) WEST ATLANTIC CITY AND THE MEADOWS The Hoove is a map of the Fox Development, West Atlantic City, look ing eastward and northward upon the meadows. On the right is beautiful Lakes Bay. The West Atlantic City-Albany Avenue Bou levard extends upward through the center of the map into the cen ter of Atlantic City. rl he meadows flank the boulevard on the north and it is these meadows which are now regarded as the best site for the proposed new railroad terminals lor the World’s Play Ground. business and selling service;" he says. He also says lie does not believe the city commission will offer an ordinance accepting the plan of the Reading as too many taxpayers, large and small, are against the plan. “I've lived in Atlantic City a good many years, have taken a hand in shaping some or its public policies, and have seen the city grow. In view of this, it is my judgment that the proposal to build a station at Arctic and Missouri avenue, with the tracks coming over Haltie ave nue, would not only be a decidedly backward move, but may seriously impede the growth of the North side.” SEA DERBY PLANNED FOR ATLANTIC CITY Swim Around Absecon Is land for Amateurs Be ing Considered Resort aquatic clubs are out to put Atlantic Citp on the map as a center of water sports as a means of emphasizing the natural advan tages of the city. Plans are being formulated by the Hygeia Swimming Club, oldest of the shore water organizations for a sea derby around Absecon Island for amateurs, and definite announcement within a few weeks is looked for. The island is only seven miles long, but the swimmers would en counter conditions as hazardous as those in crossing the English Channel or from Catalina to the mainland, because of the sweep of the tides off Longport and in t.he Inlet district. It is estimated that the trip would require at least twenty hours. ; Other proponents are in favor of a swim confined entirely to the ! ocean and in full view from the Boardwalk, which would- provide a natural gallery for spectators. The trip around tho bell buoy anchored five miles off the upper beach directly out from Heinz Pier is | suggested as the best course. The l buoy marks the entrance to the Inlet channel, and because of the tide conditions and lay of the sand bars would make the swimmers (Continued on Page 2-A) Locations Like Albany Blvd Make Business M. E. Cuskaden Convinced Himself Before He Built 25, 000 Sq. Ft. of Floor Space VALUES' QUADRUPLE IN FOUR YEARS Albany Boulevard Geographi cal Center and Coming Bus iness Center of Absecon Is land—How Traffic Affects Buyers. By MILLARD E. CUSCADEN President, Ace Motor Co., 406 North Albany ave., Atlantic City, N. J. It lias been of great interest to j me to study the volume of traffic j because of its influence upon property values and business j development. We all know that “the busy side of the street” and “the busy corner” has a value greater than the less frequented side. This is a “supply and demand” fundemental which has been fixed since the beginning of stores and merchandising. The idea of the “busy side of the street” is carried into “busy streets.” It began with the flow of pedestrian traffic which passes a certain place at given hours of the j day or evening and is today a fundemental of both pedestrian and automobile traffic, because the automobile traffic has been added to pedestrian traffic in a multiplied form. There is very little comparison today between the vehicular traffic of thirty years ago and the motor Traffic which now comes to a given point. A businessman today is not limited to the trade which lies in the residential section immediately adjacent to his store. With the aid of the motor, both for the movement of freight and Tor the shopping visits of the consumer, a merchant may expand his trading area to any extent that his vision, business ability and salesmanship will carry. While everything depends upon the merchant to ‘'sell his customer” or to make a sale, once the cus tomer has reached his place of business, the facility and ease with which a buyer can get to a merchant’s place of business determines whether the buyer will go to John’s place in Atlantic City or lo Charley’s place In Philadel phia to make his purchase of the day. So, it becomes a question of the kind and condition of the high way. Whether the highway Is a main artery or a lane, or a cross street, is another fundemental In assist ing the consumer to determine Just where he will do his buying. The main artery has no competitor among highways for the prompt movement of traffic. The main artery which leads into Albany Boulevard, the new center of Atlantic City, is one of the great, arteries of the great motor routes of the east today. I have studied and counted the number of motors which use the main arteries entering Atlantic City because I have a business located on the Albany Boulevard, BENJAMIN R. FOX Benjamin R. Fox, the developer of West Atlantic City, who has just completed a bond issue through the New Amsterdam Casualty Co. of New York, and the Equitable Trust Co., of Baltimore, under which the improvements, including filling, streets, curbs, sidewalks, water -mains, gas mains and lighting standards are guaranteed. Investors are hereby assured of the complete development. Many Fortunes Are Lost In ‘Not Buying’ Real Estate It Is Too Late to Wait Until Every Shovelful of Excavation Is Worth Its Weight in Gold Where to buy and when has al ways been the most perplexing pro blem of the real estate investor. The average purchaser is inclined to follow the crowd. He proceeds as the holiday shopper proceeds and because I desired to enlarge the building and plant devoted to this business. I wanted to know be cause of the money involved whether Albany Bulevard is hold ing up in volume* of traffic with any and all competitors. From a point of vantage at night I counted the lights of passing motors on the Albany Boulevard and the Absecon Boulevard. You know, the Absecon Boulevard was opened only a short time ago and it was thought it would greatly cut down the volume of traffic on the Albany Boulevard. My count showed that the volume of traffic on the two boulevards is just, about the same; or, you may call it a Sifty-fifty division or motor traffic. But what delighted trie most of all was the growth in volume of business at my establishment which resulted from the relief af forded by the opening of the Absecon Boulevard. Motorists come into Atlantic City from the Harding Highway and all southern points. Atlantic county and Mainland points with ever in creasing population and constantly growing business activities, de posit their many buyers and con sumers into the main artery of the Albany Boulevard in greater and greater numbers. I located on the Albany Boule (Continued oil Page 2-A) who succumbs to the brilliant dis TJlay of goods arrd is urged to buy because everybody else buys. The dormant, undeveloped, neg lected district has no lure for the average investor. The possibility lor improvement in such sections seems strongly remote to him. The method of tile awakening and change of a district is always ■ the same. After the operator’s in terest centers on a section there are a few groping efforts, a few oc casional transactions by pioneering builders, followed upon by rumors, then comes a ilareup and then the boom. Then, and only then, the private purchaser’s sensitivity for profit is sharpened. He has waited until every shovel of dirt excavated is practically worth its weight in gold. After another chapter has been written in the city’s history, when he sees the twenty-story glory of an apartment do luxe towering where before a few bashful three story brownstone fronts led a de caying existence, then comes his melancholy reflection: “Gad! I | could have had this corner not so \ long ago for a mere song!” Hesitation Is Costly. This hesitation is comprehensive, but it is costly, lie has not come to the realization that in real es tate more money is lost in “not buying” than in “buying.” He sees every clay that the operator, the speculator, does not wait until the chance slips out of his reach. He thinks that the operator has a pat ent right on cleverness, Far from it! The operator’s success and at the same time his most valuable I (Continued on Page 2-A> FRANKFORT COURT, W EST ATLANTIC CITY Types of Homes and quality of construction which has brought wide attention to the developments completed and the increasing popularity of the Fox-bullt properties. * Benjamin R. Fox Completes Bond Indenture of $500,000 Which Insures the Completion of Filling, Streets, Sidewalks, Curbs, Wa ter Mains, Gas Mains, Lighting Stand ards and Improvements Which Will As sure Investors in West Atlantic City Property That All Service Lines Inciden- I tal to a Community of Fine Homes Will Be Provided. One of the largest settlements that ever passed through a title * company in South Jersey has been completed through the South Jer- 4 sey Title and Finance Co., in the interest of the Benjamin R. Fox de- -| velopments in West Atlantic City. Settlement was made in Baltimore Monday and final papers were passed by the title company in Atlantic City Wednesday. 1 The settlement comprises a bond indenture for West Atlantic City , ;| improvements. A check for $500,000 was passed. This is to guarantee 48 improvements in Section Three, Fox Developments, West Atlantic City. The bond is issued by the New Amsterdam Casualty Co., of New York, and assures all investors in home sites in Section Three that the improvements of the property will be completed as represented. The improvements consist of filling in home sites, grading, new streets, including Bay Drive, curbs, sidewalks, water mains, gas mains, j and lighting standards, which represent "improved property.” All this work is now in progress and the contracts will be com- s pleted under the bond. - :3s The Equitable Trust Co., of Baltimore, is trustee of the sinking fund and improvements are now covered by the bond just issued and means that investments in West Atlantic City Development are sound and safe, with Improvements guaranteed. A. M. RUFFU JR. NAMED ATLANTIC CITY MAYOR Director of Finance Suc ceeds Late E. L. Bader— Shifts Made in Depts. At a reorganization meeting of the four City Commissioners of At JanUeCit^, ^Anthony M. Ruffu, Jr., who has been director of Finance, was chosen Mayor to fill the un expired term of the late Edward L. Bader. At the same time the Com missioners appointed Joseph Pax son, a Fourth Ward magistrate, to the post of City Commissioner, and assigned him to the Department of Finance, to take Mr. Ruffffu’s place. The Police Department, which had been under the supervision of Mayor Bader, was turned back to Director of Public £fcifety William Cuthbert. The Board of Tax As sessors, which has always been un der the control of the Director of Finance, was placed under the di rection of the new Mayor. Mayor Kuffu has long been prom inent as a real estate man, being head of the Ruffu corporation. Ho has on several occasions been dec orated by the Italian government and by the Pope. OPPORTUNITY FOR SALESMEN “Wo can place some more sales men,” says S. H. Lindsay, director of sales of the Benjamin It. Fox developments. “We want the kind ot salesmen who must make big money. “Before connecting with this j organization, we would like to hav0 a man investigate all other propositions that are being offered to the public today. After a man docs this I feel certain that he will apply with us. "The name of our firm Is Benja min It. Fox. Our property Is situated on Albany Boulevard, West Atlantic City, which is the main artery into Atlantic City. “This is a proposition where we do not have to taalk only of the future. We can talk of the wonder fuL things WO have already ac complished. We can show land that we are proud of. We can show beautiful homes that are on the property at the present time and people living In them. “If any man is interested in the selling garni), this is his oppor tunity. Our firm is right, the property is right and our terms are the best ever offered to the public. As sales director of the dt velopment I understand the co operation that salesmen nee's to make money, and I am always at a salesman's strvice. "Applications from men who wish to join this force will be received by Mr. Moyer at 1102 Atlantic ave., Atlantic City, and Mr. Lindsay, Boom 704, Northeast corner 13th and Chestnut streets, Philadelphia, Pa.” u — J Advance Toward Albany Blvd Samuel Comly Makes Big Pur chase In Chelsea And Tells Why APARTMENT HOUSES AND BUSINESS Samuel Comly, former owner of the Lenox apartments, at Iowa and Atlantic avenues, has purchased the northeast corner of Sovereign and Pacific avenues, in the Chelsea district, not far from Albany Boule vard. This is one" of the largest sales made in the Chelsea section In many months. The property was sold for Louis Wyld, of Philadel phia, and consisted of a 15-room brick and frame house on a lot 50 feet by 100 feet. "While the location is ideal for an apartment house,"says Mr. Com ly, “1 have made no definite plans as yet. “In my opinion real estate on Ab sccon island will continue to ad vance, and the Bection between California and Albany avenues will develop Into a business locality. Even now most of the cottages are small hotels, and before long the Chelsea restrictions must give way to the demand for commercial pur (Continued on Page 2-A) -- EASY TO SELL WEST ATLANTIC CITY, By "AL” CUMMINGS. I prefer to sell West Atlantic City because I think it is the best thing to sell. First of all, in order to sell any thing, you must have something that the people want. You must have something that you are not afraid to show your customer, and you must have something better than your competitor has to oiler. The people want seashore prop erty. This is proven by the recent rapid growth in the population of Atlantic City; also by the steady rise in real estate values. We are enthusiastic about West Atlantic City. We will be glad to take anyone there at any time and show them not what we are going to do, but what we have done and are doing. In offering West Atlantic City, I feel that I have the best to offer. Located on a beautiful body of wa ter, with the main highway leading into Atlantic City right through its center, and the most beautiful homes in South Jersey built and be ing built upon it. I prefer to sell West Atlantic City because I am sure of its sta bility. It is not a flash in the pan, but a steady growth, backed by Atlantic City’s pioneer and fore most developer, Mr. Benjamin B. Fox.