New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-04-01
A FLOATING INQUIRY.
SENATORS VISIT ARTHUR KILL BRIDGE.
ARGUMENTS IN THE soUTHFTELD's CABIN FOR
AND AGAINST THE PRESENT PLAN


about must have wondered what .plri.
OF unrest bad taken possession o. the feryooat southhe
yesterday Gsyly decke1 with naes ana stream
wandered about Tor nearly three hours IN the lows"
bay apparently without aim or purpose To those VINO
were Initiated however there no mystery ABOUT IT,
little after a. M there might have been seen climbing
the stairway leading the downtown Track OF inc S'N'h
Avenue Elevated Twenty third ST. party OF eighVeeh
men most OF them evidently men OF marx men VINO "ouIu
attrac, attention anywhere They were Senators william
p FRYE OF Maine chairman and j. Do.ph. Of Oregon ;
J. G. Jones' OF Nevada; j. D. Cameron, Of pennsylvania
Philetus Sawyer. OF Wisconsin; shelby NJ CuiouH Vi
Illinois T. W. Palmer OF Michigan; Matt '" Ransom, OF
North Carolina George c. Vest OF Missouri ana hrthur
r. German OF Maryland members OF the senate committees
on Commerce. william c. En1icott Secretary OF war; ana
several clerks Their destination was the Arthur hh'
between Staten Island and NewJersey wheS '"oJ "oIo
10 inspect the bridge In process OF construction ny o
Baltimore and Ohio and Staten Island RAPID Ardn'i'
Railroad Companies.
On hr arrival At the Battery they taken on board
n, the soubaeld which had been placed at their disposal
by Erastus wiman and Joined by number OF others
interested In the bridge. Among them were Dehefa'
7 C. Duane Chief OF Engineers Of the Army; MI Wiman'
Congressman Lloyd Bryce, OF the Hose committee
IN Commerce: President Samuel Spencer, OF the
baltimore and Ohio; F. S. Cannon superintendent
and Charles Ackenhcl chief engineer OF the Kappa rah
Company: Mr. Bryant OF New-Oresns' attorney tut 'ho
Anchor Line OF steamers Of the Mississippi RIVER; zap
tain j. d. williams prominent Ohio River to"-Ooat man.
and y Boardusn counsel for the Rapid Transit Com
pany At the bridge tug from the PehnsyNsn's nan
road brought number OF the opponents oi .h' o.u'
among them being ex-senator william j. se"en' y, N0
Jersey + Wolcott Jackson, General Superintendent Oh
,he pennsvlvania road ex-Speaker L. Fisher superh-
tendent Of the Lehgh Valley Towing Company; s'Sue
Senator d. c. Chase. OF New-Jersey superintendent VI
the Rarltan Towing Company; J. 1. NchdruS, 49,
cb,ef engineer OF the Pennsylvania Emmett smith hyo
r.nhc engineer: w S. Bsse, Of Buffalo. couhsel 'o'
The Iebieh Valley Railroad A. G. Cheney pres'ueh"
and Captain T. w vosbuIs. and Captain william hUoker,
n, the National Board Of Steam Navigation Inc oo'it
- army Engineers also visited the bridge Upon ooa' OF
h, wn The object Of the inspection was 10 ascertain
bether the bridge being built forms an ob''fuc
tion 10 the free navigation Of the Kill Inc structure
pyot draw bridge having pivot pier In tne centre "
hs stream with clear channel each side when Ine
,hI-,vevo feet above high water marx.
bu WAS introduced by Senator Mcr ".,sO'
OF NewJersey at the opening OF the session. proN.
that IN. bridge shall changed one having span OF
40 feet on the Island side. at height OF Ay
,o, abo,e high water mark and draw OF l2b feet GEAR
IN the NewJersey side This bill Is supported oS '"e
PENNSYLVANIA and Lehigh Valley foads ana 'he LOVING
companies who navigate the XIII, ana IS o''o'S W
800 bv the Baltimore and Ohio. and rapid transit com
.ntas "a IL would compel them 10 tear down what hey
have already built also greatly increase the cost
the ches bridge on account OF the ncrea
height above highwater -,
Immediately after the arrival OF the committee a. inc
bridge three heavy lows which had been kept In waiting
.bove me bridge until their arrival were drawn through
the bridge The FIRST contained about seventeen ooaV''
ana was drawn by i've tugs the second had twenty 80
with Eve tugs and the third and the third hao hc o
and Eve tugs All passed through safely Inc oppo-
ners NJ the present bridge maintained however mat Oh
account Of obstruction Of the pier four OF nNe %
were required take the tows through whereas oeioo'
ma ot two dld the work easily. The friends OF inc
bridge claimed that the extra tugs were unnecessary NV
were only put on the purpose OF Influencing tne oo
mittee After the had passed through senator
Frye called the committee together In the caoh oi ~.
Southfeld and gave bearing 10 ooth siucs' the "
field I'm the meantime scamng slowly about the upper Day
nassup through the Narrows and cruising about at ran
dom for several hours Each side was allowed one repre-
sentative who had hreeq quarters Of an hour 70 present
his A. B. Boardman spoke hrst ID Oehaii VI ~
present bridge. said that the present. Dfluge hdu
beeu decided upon by the War Department
after careful investigation Of the whole matter as
best for the place No new evidence he Sa'o was
now introduced by Its opponents lie DENIED that any
more tugs were required TO take tow through the Nil
now than before the pier built and that record
had been kept February 90 when the pier was com
pleted, Of all tows passing through "hlcb poNou ms
statement He quoted from atdsvits Of towooat men,
bridge had not been an obstruction ou'
that the current sets true through draw openings so
that competent captain would have no difficulty IN taxing
a. big through the bridge as ought to De p.r'cu ~
the Kill He also said that other vessels which haFf
gate the Kill shilling vessels etc. have as nuch
right to the free navigation OF the XIII as the lows nave
and that was denied by the advocates OF me
Mcpherson bill that the 195oo draw on the New-JerseS
side would be a serious obstruction to them
Ex-senator Sewell for the opponents OF the present
bridge claimed that the pier great obstruction
to the navigation Of the XIII by the lows and mat IL ne
cesstated breaking them up into smaller lows lie saiu
that the average number Of boats In tow before the con-
sruction OF the pier forty while as many as seventy
six had been taken through IN single tow and that only
two tugs were required Now tho maximum NUMBER OIL
hoats I'm tow is twenty and four or five tugs dre fe-
ourad The cost Of taking coal from Perth Amooy 70
New York he claimed had been raised from nVe cents 10
twelve cents per ton He thought the tows shoua hsNo
pre- ference admitted that the opponents OF the oroee
had no new evidence except thdS tho 0"''
OF taking coal through the XIII had oeeh
increased lie said the Obstruction caused oy he
piers meant cost Of $40 100000 to the pennsylvania a
road and would necesstae the abandonment OF inc plants
OF the company at Perth Amboy and South Amooy. ne
also said that the OF insurance had been raised rom
70 per cent on account OF the obstruction In feouI
Il WAS claimed that all Of Insurance In New fofK
Harbor had been raised
Mr. Winan said that the region about perth hthooy
and South Amboy was the worst place about w-iork
harbor for the distribution OF coal and that the increased
facility OF distribution be secured by the bridge woud
cbeapen the cost coal to consumers luncheoh iu
nished by MI Wlman then served aud the Souhheld
turned toward New-York After taking the committee up
under the Brooklyn Bridge, landing was maze at tho
BATTERY at 30 D. m The committee returns to wash
ingtOn this afternoon.