l!riillll!i:i!l ! r- 2781 B2 ^-61 fyxmW Winivmii^ pitavg THE GIFT OF ..iAiu...S.^ju^..o^...SoJCfcuv^^;5at.. i.3VS.7Q.i^- - lllSllq The date shows when this volume was take "^r ' orV ■: -.V the call Np -^A'-i-'* ~ „ « ' ■ ■ CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN VOL. V. MARCH, 1917. No. 2 What the Pennsylvania Railroad Has Done and Hopes to Do for Baltimore BEING AN ADDRESS Mr. GEORGE R. SINNICKSON, Superintendent Pennsylvania Lines Before the City Club of Baltimore February 24th, 1917 Cornell University Library HE2781.B2 S61 What Jhe _ PennsYlyan|a RaH^ 29 3 1924 030 125 854 olin he: 27BI ^ /I3(^g702^ CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN WHAT THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD HAS DONE AND HOPES TO DO FOR BALTIMORE. It gives me great pleasure to set forth the plans the Pennsylvania Eailroad has to increase and develop its facilities in Baltimore, as virell as to outline in a brief way vfhat it has done for Baltimore in the past. Gkov^th of the Atlantic Seaports From the beginning of railroading it has been proved that the greatest benefits to railroads are those lines which meet water trans- portation lines and have adequate harbors and facilities for transport- ing the freight brought down to the seaboard, to the lakes and to the large rivers, and from these ports by water to other parts of the world. There are only three large seaports touched by the Pennsylvania Eailroad; namely. New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore. The first of these, being nearest the manufacturing district of Kew England, had the most rapid growth; while the last named — Baltimore — being nearest the Pittsburgh iron district and the bituminous coal fields, which products are now exported in large quantities, is having the most rapid growth. Another factor which has brought Baltimore into prominence is the transportation through the Panama Canal, which will develop after the war. It developed at the time the Suez Canal was opened, that certain seaports along the Mediterranean which were previously little known suddenly received a tremendous impetus, and a large portion of the world's shipping. During the construction of the Panama Canal many people conjectured what would be the seaport on the Atlantic Coast to benefit to such a large extent by the new trade routes resulting from its construction. We believe that the Chesapeake Bay is the logical part of the coast to receive this increased business, for the reason that the ports of Baltimore and Norfolk, are fed by six large railroads leading from the bituminous coal fields and the steel plants of Pennsylvania and the West; namely, the Baltimore and Ohio, the Pennsylvania, the Western Maryland, the Chesapeake and Ohio, the Norfolk and Western and the Virginian; and for this reason more vessels will put into this bay for coal and other supplies than at any other point along the Atlantic seaboard. We further believe that the major portion of these other supplies and a very large portion of the coal will be furnished at Baltimore. 31 CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN Acquirement of Lines Entering Baltimore The creation of a compact business system in Baltimore by the Pennsylvania Eailroad Company grew out of trade conditions. The varied business interests of that corporation were being conducted in a disjointed manner throughout the territorial limits of the city with inadequate facilities and divided responsibilities. Almost from the incorporation of the Northern Central Eailway, in 1854, an effort had been made to reach a point on tide-water where the establishment of important wharves and warehouses for the interchange of ocean trafEe could be effected. Canton became the object of consistent and per- sistent endeavor, but nearly twenty years elapsed before it was reached. This was accomplished by the completion of the Union Railroad in 1873 by the Canton Company under a charter granted in 1866 authoriz- ing the construction of a line from a connection with the ISTorthern Central Eailway near Guilford and Mt. Royal Avenues to the water- front at Canton. This was a double-track line and was built by tunneling under the bed of Hoffman Street from Greenmount Avenue to a short distance east of Bond Street, thence by overhead bridges cross- ing Broadway and Belair Avenue, reaching the surface at Biddle Street, continuing thence to Canton and the harbor, also connecting with the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad at Bayview. This also made it possible for the Northern Central Railway to con- struct sidings, piers and elevators at Canton. Prior to the completion of the Union Railroad, the Northern Cen- tral's connection with the harbor had been by street tracks to Jackson's Wharf and City Block, over which its traffic was hauled by animal power. Simultaneously with the opening of the road to tide-water, the old line of the Northern Central Railway from Mt. Vernon via Bolton to Calvert Station, which crossed Charles Street at a grade about a quarter of a mile south of the present undergrade crossing at Union Station, and over which all the business, both passenger and freight, was moved to and from Calvert Station, was abandoned and removed, and the new line from Mt. Vernon to Calvert put into use. In 1873, the Peimsylvania Railroad assumed complete control of the Northern Central Railway, and this was the Pennsylvania's first entrance into Baltimore. In the early part of 1881 the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad and all its branches passed under the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and thereafter the entire volume of business to and from Washington and points south thereof was thrown over the Baltimore and Potomac Road, making the completion of a second track over the entire line an absolute necessity. This was finally accom- plished early in 1883, and the double track between Washington and Baltimore was put into operation on May 27th of that year. 32 CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN Since that time the Pennsylvania Railroad has done everything possible to meet the growing demands for handling freight to and from the port of Baltimore, w'hich has largely consisted of grain, ore, coal, lumber and manuactured products. Relation of Baltimoee to JSToeth and South In addition to this, the city of Baltimore has also been on a through line between the North and the South, both by way of Harris- burg and the West and by way of Philadelphia. Originally this traffic between Philadelphia and Washington was taken over what is now the President Street Branch, and hauled by teams along Pratt Street to Camden Station, where it connected with and was moved over the Baltimore and Ohio tracks to Washington. The Northern Central Railway, having no connection with the Baltimore and Ohio, the Balti- more and Potomac Road was built to afford a through connection to Washington and meet this demand. It opened for business between Baltimore and Washington, in 1872, using Lafayette Avenue as its temporary terminus, and in 1873, upon the completion of the B. & P. tunnel, trains were run from Washington to Calvert Station. The only further extensions of the Pennsylvania Railroad's lines in and about Baltimore, other than the development of lines already mentioned, was the building of the branch to connect with the line to Sparrow's Point. Development of Piers and Elevators Some of the developments since that time are as follows : Three large grain elevators — Canton elevators Nos. 1 and 3, and the Calvert Station elevator No. 2. Canton elevator No. 1, with a capacity of 500,000 bushels was built in 1876. Prior to that time the only elevator at Canton was Gardner's Union elevator, having a capacity of but 100^000 bushels, and this was destroyed by fire in 1883. Elevator No. 3 was built at Lower Canton and began operation in 1879 with a capacity of 600,000 bushels. This was destroyed by fire in 1890, rebuilt on its present site with a capacity of 1,000,000 bushels and put in operation in 1891. This was again burned down in 1902 and rebuilt in 1903, with the same capacity. In 1908, additional concrete tanks were built, which increased the capacity to 2,000,000 bushels. This elevator is the one which was destroyed by fire on June 13, 1916. Local grain Elevator No. 2, at Calvert Station, with a capacity of 300,000 bushels was completed in 1891 and is used for the handling and storage of oats, corn and other grains for city delivery. Previous to its construction, the delivery of local grain at Calvert Station had 33 CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN been made direct from cars -under what was termed the " Weigh-bag " system, which was slow, expensive and the; cause of general complaint by consignees. Elevator No. 2 is at present well located, and our Cal- vert terminal improvement plans contemplate a concrete addition in- creasing it capacity 100%. New Elevator No. 3, and its Advantages Since the destruction of Elevator ISTo. 3, the Company has been very active in getting up plans for a new elevator of the most modern type, to be constructed entirely of fire-proof material, with reinforced concrete throughout the work-house as well as the storage bins; to have modern driers and cleaners and an increased unloading capacity over the old elevator or any other elevator. These plans have been practically com- pleted and the material, some of which was ordered immediately after the fire — such as piling — has just recently been received and is now being creosoted. Some of the improvements contemplated for this ele- vator are that all of the grain stored in and around it will be either in the concrete bins or in the upper part of a concrete work-house about to be delivered to ships. There will be a gallery for every two rows of bins, in which there will be double belts; for unloading these bins instead of single belts as has been the custom in the past. This will double the capacity for unloading these tanks and at the same time permit the handling of two grades of grain from the same series of tanks without mixing the gram. In other words, our great difficulty has been the delay caused to ships in getting grain from the storage bins into the ships, and we feel that everything should be done to lessen the time of loading these ships. This new elevator will have a storage capacity of 500,000 bushels more than the combined capacity of Elevator No. 1 and old Elevator Ko. 3, and we will be able to unload more than twice as fast as we could with both Elevator No. 1 and the old Elevator Ko. 3. The Elevator ~No. 3 which was burned down had one drier. Ko. 1 Elevator does not have any driers. We are contemplating the instal- lation of four of the largest and most modern driers in the new ele- vator. These driers are needed at this time particularly, as grain always contains a certain proportion of moisture, which must be taken out for two reasons : firstly, because it affects the grade of the grain, which under the new United States standards depends largely upon the percentage of moisture in it; and, secondly, because all gram must be tairly dry before it is stored for any length of time, in order to prevent heating and deterioration. The cleaners are also to be of the most modern type, and these will be ot material advantage to the grain growers in the State of Maryland 34 CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN The grain coining from the West has for the most part been put through elevators and cleaned before it is placed in cars for transporta- tion, while the grain from the farms of Maryland and that brought to Baltimore in the Bay boats has not been cleaned. One of the greatest delays in the handling of grain has been its removal from cars. In the new elevator additional room is made for standing cars over the grain boots or pits, into which it is unloaded for transfer to the elevator proper. In addition to this, modern ear dump- ers are proposed for this elevator, with which we can reduce the time consumed in unloading the grain from 30 or 40 minutes per car to 6 minutes per car. This machine is built in a large pit underneath the tracks and the top of the machine has a track on the same grade as the other unloading tracks running into the house. The ear is rolled on this piece of track, which is then disconnected by means of wedges operated by a lever, permitting the car to be revolved sidewise until it has attained an angle of 45 degrees, and while being so revolved a heavy hydralic press is forced up against the boards that line the opening just inside the car door proper, which can be opened before the car is placed on the dumper. This hydraulic press shoves the boards inward and upward, permitting the grain to run out and relieving the pressure from the inside. After all the grain possible has run out of the door in this manner, one end of the machine, which is built on a center like a large see-saw, is then elevated so that the car stands at an angle of about 40 degrees along its center line; next, this end is depressed and the other end elevated until all the grain has run out. Then the car is brought to a level, revolved sidewise to return it to its normal position, and then pushed forward by the next ear taking its place on the unloader. This whole operation, it is asserted, can be done theoretically in three minutes, but we believe the practical operation will require about five or six minutes. Another improvement is the providing of colored lights to indi- cate which belts are running with grain in them, so as to avoid the unfortunate mistake of dumping two different grades of grain on the same belt, which has caused a great deal of loss and damage in the past and has been difficult to avoid without some indicating system such as the one mentioned. The entire elevator will be electrically operated and there will be no fire in or about it except that used for making steam for the driers, and this will be) in a house outside of and entirely separate from the elevator proper. This electrical operation will be a great advantage in shutting ofE the machinery in case of any failure of the motors or belts. There will also be a vacuum system for keeping down the dust m cleaning the elevator. 35 CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN A suitable marine leg for unloading Bay boats will be erected on one side of the present storage tanks. This will be of material advan- tage to the shippers of the State of Maryland, who send their grain to us to be cleaned, dried and shipped. The delivery from this elevator to boats will be by means of spouts both from the work-house and from a long belt gallery running out on a pier, similar to that of the Western Maryland Eailway at Port Covington and the present Pennsylvania Eailroad elevator at Girard Point, Philadelphia, which is considered the most modern and im- proved method. Coal Pier, Canton At Canton we have had for many years a large coal pier for unload- ing coal to vessels and lighters. In order to meet anticipated demands, the Pennsylvania Eailroad has spent $1,000,000 for a new reinforced concrete pier, carried on creosoted piles, running out from Clinton Street a distance of 930 feet to the Port Warden's line, with a width of 66 feet, provided with four ship-loaders and an electrically operated railroad for carrying this coal from the dumper, located in-shore at the head of a large yard, with an additional yard ahead of it for classifying this coal, which will run from this yard by gravity to the switching track leading to the car dumper. Prom there it will be pulled up by means of an electrically operated barney to the dumper, where the car is clamped and bodily turned over into a hopper, which discharges automatically into cars operated by a cable, which in turn dump into other hoppers going into the ship loaders. These ship-loaders move on a track outside of the pier, so that they can be put in position to unload into any hatch. The mechanical unloading device has a capacity of 6,000 tons of coal per hour to be unloaded and placed in vessels and is today one of the largest unloading machines on the Atlantic seaboard. It is built along the lines of those in use along the Great Lakes, which have been most successful. By means of the telescope ship-loaders, all the coal is placed down into the ships without blowing a large amount of dust through the upper decks, as was the case when using the old- style dumpers, where the coal slid into the boats from an elevation somewhat above the decks. We have already turned over empty cars with this machine and by March 1st will have made a complete test. We hope to have this coal pier in full operation by the middle of March. New Impost Piee^ Canton The old coal pier will be removed in the near future and we now have plans prepared for an additional import pier, which will be 935 feet long by 120 feet wide, running out to the Port Warden's line, with 36 CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN a reinforced concrete deck and a steel warehouse 925 feet long by 110 feet wide. Along each side of this pier will be a dock 200 feet wide with a water depth of 37 feet. The estimated cost of this pier is $991,550. ISTew Export Pibr^ Canton We have also prepared plans for a similar pier adjacent to the new import pier, for additional export business. This will be the same in every way as the import pier and will involve the expenditure of an equal sum of money. In other words, we have contemplated plans for two piers, which will cost practically $2,000,000. Peoposbd Additional Tunnels As stated before, Baltimore is in the direct line between the agri- cultural districts of the South and the manufacturing districts of the North, requiring a large amount of freight traffic to pass through this city, in addition to which it is in the line of the large passenger travel between the principal cities of the Bast and the capitol of our nation, which is bound to increase as the country grows. For military reasons, this line should also be capable of handling a large number of trains without detention. Added to all this are the connections which will soon be completed through New York and over Hell Gate Bridge, so that there will soon be passing through the Baltimore tunnels trains which will start in Maine and terminate in Florida and cars which will start in Boston and run to New Orleans. All this through traffic is at present handled through the Union Kailroad tunnel and the Baltimore and Potomac tunnel, and, although they are at present capable of taking care of both the freight and the passenger traffic, the Pennsylvania Eailroad has always felt that it should be in advance of requirements. With this idea in view, we have placed before the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore plans for doubling the trackage in these two tunnels. The Pennsylvana Kail- road system has been looked upon as the main thoroughfare for traffic and we today have four tracks or more between Pittsburgh and Phila- delphia and between Philadelphia and New York. It is along these lines that we desire to have four tracks between Philadelphia and Wash- ington to meet the growing demands of traffic between the capitol of our country and the large manufacturing area served by the Pennsyl- vania that we are contemplating this scheme, and, although it may not for a long time pay for the money invested to have a four-track line from Washington to Philadelphia, our company still wishes to do every- thing possible to create such a line, the most important step of which is the building of four tracks through the city of Baltimore. 37 CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN In order to avoid the objectionable features of an engine house in Baltimore City, the engine houses at Mt. Vernon and at Guilforu Avenue near Mt. Eoyal Avenue were moved to Orangeville several years ago. This has greatly benefited the city, but it has increased the number of movements through the Union Eailroad tunnel, which has also been added to by the enormous increase of passenger and freight traffic between Baltimore and Sparrow's Point, all of which also has to go through this tunnel. The removal of the engine houses to Orange- ville was done at the request of the people of Baltimore and at a great expense to the railroad company, not only for the erection of a new engine house but on account of having to pay for the movement and the fuel necessary in taking the engines out to Orangeville, three and a half miles from where they were required to couple to their trains. In addi- tion to all this the Company has substituted anthracite coal at great expense for bituminous coal on its yard engines in the city to abate the smoke nuisance. We are now placing before the city a request to assist us in doubling our trackage through these tunnels in order to facilitate the movements in and through the Baltimore territory and at the same time carry out one step in the contemplated four-track line from Philadelphia to "Washington to meet the public requirements. At the present time we have bridges built for four tracks across Back Eiver and four tracks into Baltimore as far as Biddle Street. Union Railroad Tunnel The contemplated expansion of the Union Eailroad tunnel in- volves two additional separate or twin tunnels, parallel to and south of the present Union Eailroad tunnel. The eastward portals of these two twin tunnels will be at Bond Street where the eastward portal of the present tunnel now is. Private property from this point west- ward will be purchased from Bond Street to Greenmount Avenue, and the four tracks along Hoffman Street from Greenmount Avenue ta Ensor Street will be constructed in an open cut to permit the instal- lation of interlocking switches between these points, which cannot be properly located west of Greenmount Avenue on account of the curva- ture. The length of this proposed open cut will be 1350 feet, and the length of the covered portion of the proposed tunnel will be 2050 feet, or a total length of 3400 feet, which is practically the same as that of the total length of the present tunnel. B. & P. Tunnel Along these same lines, two additional tracks between North Avenue and Pulton Junction will have to be built in tunnels. It is 38 CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN planned to build two additional twin tunnels parallel to and north of the present Baltimore and Potomac tunnel, these additional twin tun- nels to have their east portals just east of the high-level tracks near Mt. Eoyal reservoir, will go under the railroad company's property and the park property north of North Avenue and just south of the Mt. Eoyal reservoir. They will cross beneath North Avenue and continue under private property into Laurens Street, running below Laurens Street as far as Fremont Avenue, where they will again go under private property from there on to the portal of the present tunnel just west of Gilmor Street. These tunnels are to be of the same construction as the proposed Union Eailroad tunnels; namely, two arch tunnels side by side, of concrete construction with a concrete invert similar to the track construction in the New York tunnels. The total length of each of the proposed Baltimore and Potomac twin tunnels will be 7200 feet, and the grades in these tunnels will be 1.14% as compared with the grade of 1.324% in the present tunnel. The estimated cost of the proposed Union Eailroad tunnel is $3,000,000 and of the proposed Baltimore and Potomac tunnels is $4,000,000, or $7,000,000 for both pairs of tunnels. This expenditure will not create any increased business for the railroad nor will it effect anv saving. Other Schemes for Getting Through Baltimore A few years ago, the Pennsylvania Eailroad, finding its line through Baltimore would be inadequate for the growing demands of the through business required by the country as a whole, took up the question of building a line around the city similar to those built at Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Philadelphia. This was seriously objected to by the people of Baltimore, who feared that they would lose service and that Baltimore would lose the benefit of having the through trains stop here, and by the county people, who feared that their property would be damaged. Therefore, a bill was passed through the legislature pre- venting this arrangement and the railroad is now placing before the city a proposition which is practically demanded by the public outside the city and is for the benefit of the nation more than for the city itself. However, if Baltimore still wishes to remain on the main artery of travel between the North and South, it is imperative that they do something to assist us to construct an adequate line in the manner pro- posed, in order to take care of the future development of the country. There were several other schemes which have been taken up to provide for the movement of through business around Baltimore, such as the tunnel under the harbor, but this was found impracticable owing to the great depth of the soft material through which such a tunnel 39 CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN would have to run, and after many surveys and estimates, the considera- tion of all lines previously located and the operating conditions in and around Baltimore, the proposed line has been adopted as the best to meet the public demands of staying within Baltimore and ydt meeting the demands of the public outside of Baltimore on travel from the North and South. JJIlimination of Grade Crossings, Fulton Junction t(f Frederick Road In addition to these tunnel schemes, the railroad has also presented an additional plan to eliminate all grade crossings which now exist, on the through line in the city of Baltimore, with the exception of the crossing at Loney's Lane, the eastern boundary of the city, for the elimination of which we have plans prepared. At present we have a grade crossing at Lafayette Avenue, which we hope to put overhead. The next crossing is at Calverton Eoad, which the city now contemplates closing, and our plans call for two undergrade crossings to take the place of this — one at Warwick Avenue and one at Garrison Lane. At present we also have a grade crossing at Cemetery Eoad, which is now being removed and put under grade, and which will connect in a much better manner the proposed extension of Baltimore Street with the drives north of the railroad and along Gwynns Palls. Our plans also contemplate changing the old, wooden- truss, narrow bridge at Ellamont, or Tenth Street, now known as Stafford's Lane, by an overhead bridge of the proper width but of concrete and steel construction. Frederick Eoad bridge will be raised and rebuilt with concrete and steel, to cross four tracks. It will therefore be apparent that we are eliminating four grade crossings and opening one additional street with an undergrade cross- ing, all of which is done for the purpose of making a safer city and a safer railroad. The scheme which eliminates these grade crossings and changes these tracks will cost about $1,500,000, of which several hundred thousand dollars are practically chargeable to the elimination of these grade crossings, from which the company will derive no benefit except the elimination of the danger risk, a slight improvement of the grade, and the saving of the wages of a few crossing watchmen. Calveet Station Impeovembnts The last of these schemes is the improvements in the Calvert Sta- tion territory, which is the logical terminus in Baltimore for the handling of the general freight business. This station is not large enough to take care of the city's growing demands, and the schemes laid out are to give better team tracks and sheds where the freight 40 CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN may be handled more quickly. It contemplates the extension of the freight station as far as Bath Street. Centre Street will be closed for the reason that vehicles and pedestrians can get from Calvert Street to the territory served by Centre Street with its existing connection with High Street just as easily and more quickly by using Bath Street, where there will be no railroad tracks to cross except the string team track at North Street. Monument Street is to be closed east of Calvert Street for the reason that it has a heavy grade west of Calvert Street and comparatively little hauling is done over it. Madison Street, however, vrill be carried over the tracks of the railroad company, and although two streets will be eliminated by this scheme, the hauling on Madison and Bath Streets, the latter of which is to be widened, will be so much improved by not having any track crossings at grade, except at Bath and North Streets where the single string team track will have to be crossed, that the public will be greatly benefited in this respect as well as in having improved freight facilities. The plans for the Calvert Station improvements will increase the capacity of the carload delivery tracks in this area from 106 cars at present to 240 cars; and the car storage capacity from 64 to 135 cars. The freight warehouse area will be increased from 120,800 square feet ■to 185,925 square feet, while the number of cars that can be placed at the freight houses will be increased from 81 to 221, or nearly 200%. The scheme also provides for a milk platform separate and distinct from the passenger sheds. The present station will be removed and the passenger tracks arranged for on a double-deck system over the pro- posed milk delivery tracks. These passenger tracks will be on practi- cally the same level as the street at Center and Calvert Streets but will be 13 feet above the elevation of Calvert Street at Bath. "We have already purchased considerable property for these con- templated improvements and anticipate a further expenditure of $3,300,000, which will result in not only a great advantage to our company in increasing the amount of freight which we will be able to receive and which we hope to receive, but will also benefit the citizens of Baltimore by providiag better facilities for the prompt and efficient delivery and receipt of freight to and from Baltimore. Othee Future Impeovements In addition to all these improvements already outlined, we are now making an expenditure of nearly $1,000,000 to increase the size of our present Baltimore and Potomac tunnel and put in a concrete invert. This work has already been completed along one track and the work along the other track will be started as soon as the Inaugural movement is over. This improvement will give us a more roomy and 41 CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN airy tunnel and, when Frederick Eoad bridge is raised as already re- ferred to, will permit cars of larger dimensions to be brought into Baltimore, thus eliminating the expense of transferring freight to smaller cars. Additional facilities are also contemplated at City Block at an expenditure of $200,000, for which an ordinance has already been passed. We hope to start these improvements in a short time. We also are constructing at Jackson's Wharf a new freight ware- house and tracks, at an estimated cost of $86,000, and are making many other minor changes so as to meet the rapidly increasing needs of Baltimore. In conclusion I might add that the Pennsylvania Eailroad com- pleted improvements in Baltimore during 1914, 1915 and 1916 costing $1,690,460; and has work under way at the present time involving an expenditure of $966,600; and has improvements contemplated for the future at an estimated cost of $20,651,720; or a total of $23,308,780. It has been a great pleasure to us to be able to outline our plans so freely before the men representing the business interests of Baltimore and we hope that you gentlemen will assist us in securing permission from the city for the improvements which we feel will be of so much benefit to them as well as to our company. We have placed before you, as well as before the Mayor and the members of the City Council, every- thing we desire and everything we contemplate. We have used the best of our engineering talent to accomplish the desired ends in the best possible manner, keeping in mind an essential business fact, which is that we must make our expenditures within the limits of our means, as it is necessary that we remember our obligations that the money expended should be productive of a proper return, and should give to Baltimore service and facilities adequate to meet her demands. 42 Syracvise, N. Y.