The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1879-05-11
FIGHTING OVER SIX ACRES.
gro WEDDINGS TO HAVEDOBB'S FERRY's
\ ALLEGED NUISANCE dBATBD.


Dobb's Ferry and Irvngton. on tho Hud-
non but moro particularly the former. have
lhad n common grievance. tho main cause of
(which Is n little stream called Willsea Brook
hhat trickles from the west slope Of n spur OF
lhe Sawmill Mountains. and bubbles through
Dobb's Ferry to the river. and tho access
bory cause Is Moses II. Odcll. who leases tho
Hand on which the source Of tho brook IL. Com
plaints have boen hoard frequently that there
were many cases OF fever and ague in the viii
bages, and that persons who desired to locate
had been driven away 10y the reports Of tho
providence of malarial diseases. After n
Berries OF Investigations and examinations.
The Supreme Court has been asked To
grant q perpetual Injunction restraining
Moses r. Odoll. Richard Suydam Palmer. and
John Arnot Palmer from making n pond on
tho land Leased by Mr.. Odell. which II is alleged
is the only asccrtainable cause OF the malarial
lnisenscs prevailing In the noighborhood. and II
kOrand Jury has presented indictments against
MIR. Ode and DIR. Henry Draper and Mrs
Fanny A. L. Ravens. representing the palmcrs.
Ifor maintaining n nuisance. which is the said
Ipond. Chief among the movers In tho pro-
tceedinGs are Cyrus W. Field President Of tho
Now York Elevated Railroad Company. who has
alarge and ex pcnsiye villa in Irvngton. near the
line dividing It from Dobbs Forty. overlooking
tho Hudson; Frederick j. Stone. MIR. Fields
nephew. who has n largo stone country house
on a knoll near his uncle's house. and u. A
Lindloy. MIR. Folds son -in-law. whose house Is
on land adjoining Mr.. Stones land. The land
on which the alleged nuisance has existed be-
longs 10 Richard Suydam Palmer and John
Arnou Palmer. brothers. under fourteen years
OF age. II was n part Of tho property owned
by COrilandt Palmer. tho real estate dealer.
contractor and builder OF the Manhattan
Market in West Forty-second street. who
died about four years ago. leaving prop
erty worth almost $1,000 900. it is estimated.
The boys mother is Mrs. Fanny A. F. Ravens
The daughter Of John Arnoit Of Elmira. n. Y.
She was the widow Of Richard Palmer ono
OF Cortlandt Palmer's sons. Tho boys inter-
.ests are represented by their mother and
DIR. Henry Draper. son OF Prof. Draper whose
large observatory on the ridge at Hastings on-
Hudson can be socn from the rivor and son-in-
law Of Cortlandt Palmer. The residence built
by Cortlandt Palmer for himself in Dobb's
Ferry il now occupied by DR.. Draper The
Palmer boys live with their mother in New
York. Moses T. Odc the lessee OF tho Palmer
land is one Of the trustees OF Dobb's Ferry lie
Dives with his son in small frame house near
iNillsea Brook. The Palmer land extends from
The summit OF IA spur OF the Sawmill Mountains
70 Highland Turnpike. known rs Broadway
An the centre is a valley. through which Willsea
Brook runs to the meadows bordering the turn
pike. The brook is small and occasionally In
the dry season It Is almost dried up, and there
IS not water sufficient to I'll u six-inch pipe 1t
is inserted. except In the time of rain or freshet
Many years ago the Palmer land was drained
by - ID. Dnkln. then the owner. by a system OF
open bitches and tile drain pipes running into
Them. which rendered the land dry; but In tho
pasl three years. 1t is said. tho land has been
The FIRST Of the active proceedings against
mr.. Oiell and the Palmer boys was begun last
t1Hll. CYRUS W. Fields family and the fuuilias
of Mr.. Stone ID. 4. Lindley. James Wilde Jr.
n H. Tyers. Jasper Stymus; and others living
near the Palmer land had been III with fever
md aguo and other malarial diseases Mt times
Tor more than two years The attending ply
the poisonous eNhalntions from the damp
Palmer land. An eNaminaton OF the alleged
Der. 1876. Mr. Odcli Ind built a dam across
&illsea Brook near Dir. S,ymuss h )use. and
doSded in the winter. The water G was frozen MSIe
md Mr. Odell cut the ice and sold IL in
tho village mostly TO beer brewers and deal
Drs. In the following May tho water was let
OF. and the dam was not closed until the next
September. The examination, 1t IS assorted;
showed that Mr.. stone. his mother-in-lAw. and
his employees had become dangerously i'll with
Intermittent fever and malnrial diseases soon
after the water on the Palmer land had been let
OF. The time OF the appearance Of the diseases
an the other residents near the Palmer land
was also traced. and It was ascertained, It is
eases until after tho dam wus opened and
the, waier let of in the spring OF 1877
and 1873. The examination was not ended
until after Mr.. Field. Mr. Stone. and others in
terestcd in having the alleged nuisance abatcd,
engineers 70 examine the pond. the land over
uowet by the water, and Wilsea Brook. They
and examined tho land through which il
flows. They al agreed IN declaring that the
drainage which flowed into tho ponds and
streams leading to the pond on the Palmer land
polluted tho water and rendered 1t unhealthy
and that tho organic matters deposited on the
Grnssy md spongy bed OF the pond would. on
the draining OF Of the water in the spring. give
riseto poisonous eXhalations dangerous TO the
persons living IN It's vicinity. The direct effect
nj tho flooding Of the marsh land. one physician
SAID. Is to inhltrate lts surface with decompos-
ang animal and vegetable mntter which remains
tnnOXiOus rs long as the surface Of the marsh
"a covered with water. but when the water Is re-
moved and the innltrated soil exposed TO the
direct rays of the sun at an atmOs pheric tenn
peraturc above sixty degrees. septic and maa-
rial poison is developed. DIR. Loomis said that
he believed that the diseases OF septic and
malnrlal type that have prevailed in the neigh
borhoo1 OF the Palmer land are due TO the flood
clans thought also that typhoid fever diphtheria
md crysipelas would be caused thereby. DR..
Pooey had eight cases OF diphtheria near the
Tho attention of the Board of Health Of
pOhb's Ferry was called 10 the pond D. q.
Bradley. President OF the Board. examined IT,
ana reported that il was II nuisance and the
Board, ~ Joint session with tho Boards Of
mousiv resolved and declared that ali ponds
periodically flooded were nuisances and should
be abated and removed. The Dobbs Ferry
Board at Health declared that the pond on the
Palmer land WAS nuisance. and directed Mr..
Ode and tho owners to remove the pond. Cy-
rus W. Field as President of tho Board Of
Health OF lrvngton, also declared that the pond
was a nuisance. and that II WINS the sole ascer-
tainable cause Of tho fever End aRue and mna-
RIA diseases that he and his family have had
since the pond was made
The reports Of tho Boardi Of Health. the civil
eng 'neers. and the physicians that were circu-
lated, caused u stir in Dobb's Ferry and the adj
jaccnt villages. that was maintained until n
recent lection, when the alleged nuisance was
prominent subject Of discussion. MIR. Field
and his friends assorted that Loan Brothers
slaughter house and hog pen caused some Of
the pollution Of the brook. they being on its
ban s. and as Mr.. Loan and DR.. Draper were
on the ticket headed by DR.. j. q. Amber. n New
York dentist. for President OF the village the
ticket was soon called the slaughter house
ticket" The Amber ticket WAS elected although
1t was Inserted ut tho polls that there were sixty
cases OF fever and aguc in the village. But it
Inns since been said that the villagers elected
the ticket in order TO defeat the intention Of Mr..
Field ID, o. Bradley, and some OF their asso-
oiates 10 run the village" Tho alleged nut
sance was then in tho courts In civil and crimi-
nal actions.
Frederick j. Stone Mr.. Fields excitable
young nephew lawyer ADM to tho bar
recently. has been the most demonstratiye in
the proceedings. and he appears ~ plaintiff
and attorney in person in the civil suit in
which, on the Goth Of January last. Judge Dyk-