Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 07.djvu/611

* FERRY. 000 FERRY. boats are generally used for ferrying foot pas- sengers, but when horses and carriages have to be taken across, a flat-bottomed barge may be Used, propelled by oars or carrying sails ; or drawn by a rope, either by manual labor or the force of the current, as noted below. Such boats are suf- ficient, for light trafflCj but where the traffic is heavy, or the crossing broad, steam ferryboats are used. Flying Bridge is the name sometimes given to a kind of ferryboat which is moved across a river by the action of the combined forces of the stream, and the resistan f a long rope or chain made fast to a fixed buoy in the middle of the river. The boat thus attached is made to take an oblique position by means of the rudder; the stream then, acting against the side, tends to move it in a direction at right angles to its length, while the rope exerts a force in the direc- tion toward the buoy. The course of the boat and the action of the two forces are analogous to the path of a rising kite and to the forces of which this path is the resultant. The holder of the kite corresponds to the buoy, the wind to the tidal stream, and the tail to the rudder. Steam Ferryboats, until quite recently, were propelled by a paddle-wheel at each side, driven by a walking-beam engine. There was but one deck, placed a few feet above the water. This is still the most common type, but many of the boats built since 1890, particularly for service at New York City, are driven by means of screw propellers, and have two decks. The change gives more spacious cabins on the lower decks, makes a commodious and well-lighted saloon with an outer promenade possible on the second deck, increases the speed and mobility of the boats, and lessens the troubles caused by ice. The first of these double-screw ferryboats at New York was the Bergen, running between New York and Hoboken. It was put in use in 1889. A later boat of the same general type. and. on account of the long ferry, a particularly large one, is the Berkeley, built for the Southern Pacific Railway Company, to run between San Francisco and Oak- land, Cal. This boat was put in service in 1898. It is a double-screw steel boat, driven by triple- expansion steam-engines. It is provided with bulkheads as a safeguard against accident. The boat has a length of 289 feet over all, a beam of 64 feet over all. She draws ei.^lit and one-half feet of water at extreme load, and has a regis- tered gross tonnage of 1945 tons. She has a total seating capacity of 1709 passengers. Under or- dinary conditions she makes her regular run of four and one-half miles in 17% minutes, or at a rate of about fifteen miles an hour. An illus- trated description of the boat is given in Engi- neering News (New York) for December 29, 1898. Ferry-Houses are provided at each end of important ferries. They contain ticket offices and waiting-rooms, and often a great variety and number of accessories, like news and flower stands, and restaurants. To accommodate the landing-places to the rise and fall of the tides, or other variations in the water-level, bridges are provided, with the shore end made fast and the water end free to rise and fall with the water. The boats run into slips, formed of fenders, or piles covered with planking. Car-Transfer Boats are used in place of bridges to convey trains of ears across streams or other bodies of water. In many instances, as in the case Vol. VII— 36. of the vast numbers of cars transferred at New York City, the trains are broken up into short sections, and run upon flatboats. These, when loaded, are towed by tugboats. In this manner the waters adjoining New York, Boboken, and Jersey City are made to serve the same purpose as hundreds of acres of switching yards, while at the same time the cars a >v briny 1 1 .i i i erred from one railway to another. Instead of mere flat- boats, moved by tugs, some transfer-boats are self-contained. Probably the longest transfer route of this sort is that across Lake Michigan, from Frankfort. Mich., to Kewaunee, Wis., a dis- tance of 63 miles. It was put in operation in 1892 by the Toledo. Ann Arbor and Northern Michigan Railway Company. Bach l»>at carries 24 cars, placed on four parallel tracks, and is driven by three screw propellers. The boats are designed to break their way through ice. Special bridges are used to transfer the cars from the land to the boats. A lengthy illustrated descrip- tion of these boats, and the lake terminals as well, is given in Engineering News of June 15, 1893. A car ferry 28 miles in length, across Lake Baikal, on the line of the Trans-Siberian Kail- way, was opened in 1900. The boats have broken through ice 39 inches thick. In law a ferry is a grant from the sovereign power of a State, and is classed among incor- porated hereditaments. The owner of this fran- chise has, as an incident thereto, the right not only to pass over the water, but to use the high- way on either side for the conduct of his busi- ness. Indeed, a ferry is the continuation of the highway from one side of the water over which it passes to the other, although subject to the public right of navigation in such water. Any one who unlawfully invades the valid ferry fran- chise of another is liable in damages to the lat- ter, and may be enjoined by the proper court from further interference. Such conduct may amount to a crime at common law or under mod- ern statutes. Correlative to these legal rights of the ferry-owner are certain well-defined legal duties. Having received a public franchise, he is bound to serve the public faithfully and im- partially. He must have suitable boats, docks, and accommodations; he must employ proper ser- vants and agents, and his tolls must be reason- able. If he fails in the performance of any of these duties, he may be liable to a private action for damages, to a criminal prosecution, or to the forfeiture of his franchise. His liability for the safety of passengers and of freight is that of a common carrier (q.v.). See Glen, Law Relating to Highways, Bridges, and Tramways (2d ed., London, 1897) ; Pratt, Lair of High units. Main Roads, and Bridges (14th ed.. London. 1897); Washburn. Treatist on tht Vmerican Laws of Real Property (Oth ed.. Boston, 1902). FERRY, fa-re, Jules Francois Camille (1832-93). A French statesman. He was born at Saint-Die. in the Department of Vosges, April 5, 1832. Admitted to the bar in Paris in 1851, he became connected with the Gazette des Trihanaux, joining the group of young lawyers who opposed the Empire. He was among the famous thirteen condemned to imprison- ment in 1864. In 1865 he became a writer on the Temps, where his brilliant political articles attracted much attention. In 1869 he was elected to the Corps Legislatif. taking his seat among the members of the Left. He voted against the decla-