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THE WEST ATLANTIC CITY NEWS Published Tuesday at 12 W. Washington Avenue, Pleasantville, N. J. by KENNETH W. GOLDTHWAITE, Editor and Publisher.^ BELL PHONE 43 Application made for entering as second-class mail matter at the Pleas antville Post Office. tt *150 Per Annum in Advance, postage paid anywhere in the United States. ADVERTISING RATES FURNISHED UPON APPLICATION. * All communications, whether intended for publication or not, must have name of the writer affixed; otherwise no consideration will be given them. The West Atlantic City ‘News is on sale at the following places: West Atlantic City Casino. Absecon—Ellen E. Show'ell, at the Postoffice. Atlantic City—Shore Fust Waiting Room, 8 So. Virginia Avenue. Pleasantville—P, T. Harris, 3 S. Main St.; H. W. Fenimore, 35 S. Main St.;' Ted Merrick, at Electric Station; E. P. Hambleton. 101 N. Main St.; Charles B. King, 421 N. Main St., or at the office, 12 W. Washington Ave. Somers Point—Joseph Green, Higbee Ave and Shore Road; A. B. Lingo, Shore Road and New Jersey Ave. Linwood—McCartney’s Sf THE MEADOW LOCATION The availability and advisability of the meadows as the site for railroad terminal^ is commanding more and more attention as men who have made a study of the Atlantic City situation are given the opportunity to be heard. President John R. Siracusa of the Atlantic City Real Estate Board contends that to place the new Reading terminal on the meadows would provide for the beautifi cation and growth of Atlantic City, increase ratables and relieve the taxpayers. These are strong points which the people of Atlantic City may well take into consideration. Future requirements of Atlantic City are also being taken into consideration by men who are studying the situation. John W. Misener, manager of Crane Company's Boardwalk exhibit, visions that the growth of Atlantic Citv northward, as well as westward, is something to he reckoned with, and that unless the new station is placed on the meadows north of the thoroughfare, it will interfere with the growth of the city, lie calls attention to Chicago's predicament brought about by permitting the Milwaukee railroad to block the water front. William Riddle, former mayor, declares that the Arctic avenue plan of the Reading Railroad will not he accepted by the majority of the taxpayers. The former mayor is in favor of the Airport site. In fact he endeavor ed to get Geo. N. Baer, president of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad to select the Airport for a union term inal, hut Mr. Baer's death prevented this being carried out. Mr. Riddle says it is idiotic to talk about closing or ramp ing one of the streets so the Reading can come right up to Atlantic avenue and that he is not in favor of it. It would be a backward move and impede the growth of the north shle. He is in favor of selling the Airport to the Reading. All discussion about the new sites for the railroad terminals in Atlantic City contemplates the growth of the city westward and northward. The new heart or center of the city is conceded to be at the foot of Albany avenue boulevard with approaches of new bridges' which cost $1,000,000 and are the most beautiful in South Jersey. It is clear that there will he very great expansion on the meadows. BOULEVARD VALUES. Benjamin R. Fox declares that the wonderful boule vard which passes through West Atlantic City connecting Mainland, Western, Southern and Northern points via Pleasantville with the best part of Atlantic City, has a growing value which will develop into and support the slogan “$1,000 a front foot.” M. Fox has set the future value of frontage on the Boulevard at one thousand dollars per front foot. Sales are being made today at $300 per foot, but past perform ances in this section of the country justify the impression that boulevard frontage, or main street frontage, has a value that is constantly ascending in the scale of prices. Mr. Fox modestly stated in an article in these columns a week ago that increasing use of and demands upon a thoroughfare which connects two important points are conditions which influence values. Mr. Fox refers to previous transactions in which he had a part and where „ values increased greatly. There is the notable instance of the site for the Masonic Temple which is being built near the point where the boulevard enters Atlantic City. The original price of this frontage was $100 per front foot. It has multiplied twenty times in six years and is today worth $2,000 a front foot. Many instances are cited by Mr. Fox to show that the rising tide of values is creeping to the foot of the boule vard ip Atlantic City and is also running strong at the Shore Road end in Pleasantville. This rising tide of values is not to he gainsaid. Mr. Fox, however, does not take any credit to himself for his - own personal touches and positive influence upon this tide of values. After all said and done it is the personal touch, or the handling or treatment of a property which really estab lishes a value. Mr. Fox is building a wonderful city of homes right along the sides of the boulevard. He is doing the job so well that he is creating a demand for homes in West Atlantic City, or “the Fox Tract.” The homes in demand are homes of the better class. These make for values. From a shore waste he has created a pearl of price. He has made the land lying along the boulevard valuable, independent of any foreign or outside influences. These influences themselves establish and in crease values. We believe in giving credit to Mr. Fox for his own handling of the situation. Others had the same oppor tunity that he had. But where others sat back, Mr. Fox went ahead and did something. From the big pro gramme laid out and from the appearance of actual operations in progress, Mr. Fox is going to continue to do something. As Mr. Fox does things, values increase. Mr. Fox may say “$1,000 a front foot” is the slogan today, but we would not be surprised to find the public had more than doubled it six years from today. FIGHTING FOR ROADS ) as planned by the State higli Cape May County is about]way commission, the only shore- locality that is j Atlantic County is so much pleased with the twelve-year j displeased that State Senator programme for road building | Richards is bending all of his energies to having changes made and threatens to carry his fight to the floor 'of the State Senate. Ocean county is especially displeased because it is with out any first class cross State road whatever and has been living on promises for years that one would soon be fur nished. In a communication sent to the State Highway Com mission, William C. Fischer, of Toms River, discusses the plan as drawn by Major Slodn, State engineer. He says that Ocean county has two-fifths of the beach front of the State and back of it the Barnegat Bay with its many miles of navigable waters. There are forty miles of beach fropt that is fast building up and first class roads are the one great need to cause an influx of cottag ers. Fischer points out that be tween Belmar on the north and Atlantic City on the south there is, not one good road crossing the State, The cost of building is not great owing to the level country, a cross State road from Cam den and Ocean county would traverse. OPENING THE BOTTLE NECK. (Philadelphia Record) The end of (he rainbow, wilh its attendant pot of gold, lias certainly descended upon Soul hern Now Jer sey, judging by Hie announcement that tile highway commission of that State is to expend $3,500.000 on (lie road system of the legion. Relief from congestion at the oft quoted "neck of tho bottle" at Westville, where three main arter ies of traffic converge, is the prin cipal object in view. It is perhaps the most important item of the t ro gram not only to residents of New Jersey, but also to Pennsylvania motorists who inundate the coun try on summer Sundays. With increasing volume each year traffic over the week-ends has set heavily shoreward,and, although a great proportion of it Hows over the White Horse pike directly to Atlantic City, there is another great division which runs south ward through Camden, Gloucester and Westville, There the routes diverge. There is Route 17 to Pennsgrove, Wilmington and the South, lately taken over as a State highway; there is the Woodbudy Rridgelon pike, leading to Cape May and other Southern points; and there is the Delsea Drive, the so-called back way to the seashore, which is in excellent condition for the most part and attracting thous ands of cars. All goes well on (he outbound trip; but when Sunday dusk begins to fall the cars return ing to the city pile up in long dou ble lines reaching for miles back on three roads, all waiting to cross Dig Timber Creek bridge at West ville. Hence the bottle-neck appli cation. Tali stories of tho length of lime required to get from We ci vil le to Philadelphia are current all summer, one of the best con-' cerning the motorist who turned into the King’s Highway rather than wait in line for hours, and made his way to Trenton. From [here he is said to have journeyed down on the other side of the Del aware and reached home before his neighbors who stayed pat in (ho bottle-neck at Westville. Remedial measures, to cost $820, 000, which promise relief from this traillc tangle, include a second bridge over the Dig Timber Creek, and two miles of new roadway be tween Brooklawn and Westville, eliminating two dangerous grade crossings. Agitation in favor of these measures has been on foot for some time in Camden and Gloucester counties, and the new highway on the west of the railroad has been endorsed by various coun ty authorities. The present hope ful results have not been attained suddenly and unexpectedly, but are the result of long and faithful plug ging on the part of far-sighted peo ple who carefully surveyed the sit uation and pondered over Its solu tion. A hearing on the Westville traffic-snarl problem was held by the Commission last autumn, hut no definite decision was given out until this past week. The neces sity of doing something and doing it at once to end the menace of the bottle neck has finally become ap parent to the Commission, and their action is the fortunate result. Al though Southern Jersey rejoices that relief is in sight, there remains the melancholy fact that nothing can be done at once, and that the two-hour wait at Westville may not be written off the slate until at least one more summer has passed. INCREASING SAFETY ON RAILROADS By JOHN J. ESCH Chairman of Interstate Commerce Commission. (The number of serious train accidents in the past six months raises the question what can be done toward lessening the hazards of travel. That Congress, as well as the railroads, recognizes its respon sibility in the matter is made clear by the Chairman of the commission charged with the administration of railroad safety acts.) There are two elements in rail road train accidents—the human and the inanimate. That the Con gress recognizes its responsibility in the matter is clear when it is remembered that the Interstate Commerce Commission is charged with the administration or en forcement of nine separate acts having for their purpose the pro motion of safety, of employes and travelers on railroads. Of all these acts, it is probable that that pertaining to train con trol has the strongest anneal to the popular mind. -fTtnerally speaking, auomatic train control may be described as the link which electro-pneumatically, or otherwise automatically, checks the human equation charged with seeing and interpreting the in dications of w'ayside signals and through the agency of the air brakes manually con tooling (the movements of trains in accordance therewith. Ill the past, five years two orders concerning with tho installation of automatic train-control devices have been issued under the authority of the Commission. As a result, fifty-eight installations have been completed out of the 80 installat ions now called for by these orders, with 4,653 locomotives and 6,691 miles fully equipped and in service. The Commission did not under take to say what train-stop or train-control devices should be in stalled under these orders but, in stead, adopted specifications and requirements to which all instal lations made under those orders must conform, leaving the carrier in each case free to consider the various systems and make its own ■selection in the light of operating md financial conditions. The record of accidents investi gated by the Commission’s forces ror the year ended June 30, 1926, shows 104 collisions and derail ments, in which 192 persons were killed and 1, 611 injured. Of twenty* nine of these accidents, involving 15 deaths and the injury of 594 persons, the finding of our Bureau uf Safety was that. “Ilad an ade quate black-sygnal system been in use on this line, this accident prob ably would not have occured; an adequate automatic train-stop or train-control device would have pre vented it;” of 15 accidents resulted in the death of 40 persons and the injury of 246. Sixty accidents, with 107 deaths and 771 personal injuries, were found not to have been prevent able by block signals, train-stop or train-control. The number of preventable acci dents as above indicated, the num ber of persons killed, and . the number injured in such preventable accidents, represents 42.3, 44.3 and 53.1 per cent, respectively, of the total number of accidents investi gated, persons killed, and persons injured. Constant effort to eliminate, so far as possible, such preventable accidents, with their loss of life, their injury to persons and their heavy destruction of property, is of the greatest importance and this work is being prosecuted with vigor. Your Questions Answered: Any personal info’rmation desired by readers, on the subject present ed in The Advancing World, can bo had, without charge, by writing to the Cosmos Information Service, 70 Fifth Avenue, New York. With SURF FISHING LEGISLATION. Surf fishermen are greatly alarm ed over the prospects for the pas sage of a bill, pending in the Legis lature, to abolish the three-mile limit for fishing boats. A powerful lobby is said to be backing the bill and the sporting and fishing orga nizations have combined to fight the measure. For years there have been com plaints that the boats catching fish for fertilizer frequently have been destroying so many thousand tons of food fish every year ti/at the time is near when the sportsman will not find many fish along the New Jersey coast. The present law prohibits the fishing boats operating nearer than three miles from shore, but the visitors to resorts all along the coast are familiar with the pres ence of the fish-laden boats so near the surf that the voices of the men on them are clearly heard. While these fishing boats drag great nets so near the shore"there are not many food fish that escape them, although it is the claim of the boaf fishermen that they scoop into their nets and that all food fish are returned to the water. In an investigation some years ago it was testified that the rood fish as well as the menhaden are turned into fertilizer. your inquiry merely mention the name of this newspaper and en close a stamped addressed envelope for the reply. (Copyright, 1927r Cosmos News paper Syndicate Inc.) , BARNEGAT LIGHT HOUSE. The present legislature will be asked for an appropriation of $45, 000 to restore the old stone pile left by the Federal Government in front of Barnegat lighthouse, to which stone pile a jetty will be ex tended. The jetty that lias been built has already extended some 226 feet, and the sand has made out to the end of the jetty, showing a gain’ of 160 feet at that place out nito the sea, and several acres of land running to the south from the jetty. The cut that was still making at Sixth street, when this jetty began, is now stopped. —--<$•*> WANT SUNDAY REST. When a bill was recently intro duced in the Legislature providing for a more or less wide open Sun day it was predicted the shore coun ties would favor it because of pay ing business on Sunday during the summer months. The reverse has proved true. Ail the shore coun ties are voicing opposition of the bill. This opposition in many in stances is based on the ground that one day in seven is needed by shore workers for rest. BOARDWALK PROJECT. Materials Men'and Architects Plan Headquarters in Atlantic City. Manufacturers and national ad vertisers of building materials and ■equipment at the invitation of the National Building Institute -will at ened a conference on the Steel Pier, Atlantic City, February 12. I'he purpose of the conference Is o discuss and approve plans for a nanufacturers’ permanent publicity ixhibit and architects' club head! tuarters on the Boardwalk. The ■stablishment of a headquarters, tccupying 20,000 square feet of space, fronting the Boardwalk on Steel Pier, is planned. A preliml-’ tary conference was held at the resort on January 22, when tenta tive plans were outlined and en lnrsed. These plans are to be sub mitted at the next meeting. WHAT ROADS CAN D(5 '***■ (Philadelphia Ledger) A few years ago New Jersey's ^Vhite Horse Pike was looked upon with wonder. After a year or two use, that great highway had to be widened to accomodate increas ng traffic. Now the orders have been issued to proced with another link of the'Black Horse Pike which will soon rival the other as a fine road to the shore. This work wiTl be done in Woodbury and Glouces ter areas. Approximately $3„r)00,000 Is available for new work on South Jersey highways. It seems only yesterday that the regions along the White Horse Pike were given over almost exclusive* ly to farming. So extensive has community development been along that highway that it is possible even now to see a time when it will run through almost unbroken residential areas from the Delaware Iiiver to the sea. - -4^ COURT MUST PAY BILL. X The Cape May County Freehold ers have been ordered by the court to pay a detective agency $2644 for evidence secured against bootleg gers in some of the resorts on the coast. An attempt was made to hold up the bill, but as it had the endorsement of the judge and pub lic prosecutor it must be paid un der the law. —The Atlantic City hotel colony is making arrangements for a big invasion of visitors for Lincoln's Birthday! As it comes on Satur day, it affords an opportunity for a double week-end holiday period, and reports from the hotels show a substantial reservation list. No Tinkering! No Time Lost! Do you ever remember seeing an electric truck broken down at the roadside? No, probably not. It rarely happens. Electric trucks have approximately a thousand fewer parts to wear out and give out. .They're built with unsurpassed strength, yet are oper ated with less strain and without any of the jerky, grinding stops and starts that wrack other types of truck. Owners say of their electrics — “in daily operation for 15 years”... .“not once out for repairs last year”... .“niy repair bill is almost a negligible item in cost of upkeep,” etc. „ If you want a truck that’s out on the street doing business instead of jacked up in the garage every few months, call Pleasantville 351 for further infor mation. ATLANTIC CITY ELECTRIC CO. 15 E. WEST JERSEY AVENUE 1 Phone 351 Pleasantville, N. J. SERVICE IS THE BASIS of making1 lasting friend ships. And it’s new friends this Bank wants to make every day, and keep them by rendering every possible financial service within its power. THE SCORES OF HAP pily satisfied patrons we have attests to our will ingness to serve them on every financial problem—, Investments, Savings, Es tate Administration, Loan and so on. May We Serve You? Come in and get Acquainted ! OFFICERS President .John P. Ryon VIce-Pres.Chas S. Adams Vice Pres.Alvin P. RIsley Cashier .Geo. II. Adams Asst. Cashier .Osborne Ware DIRECTORS John F. Ryon Charles S. Adam* Geo. B. Jeffers Geo. W. Leech Lewis B. Ryon Alvin P. Rlaley THE First National Bank OF PLEASANT V'lLLE, N. J.