The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1890-07-22
NEVARK'S new WATER.
Work Constantly Progresses
but Results Are as Yet
Chiefly on Paper.
special to be Jersev oity Neio,.

Special to the Jersey City NetCs.
OAK RIDGE, N. j., July 81, 1Ss0.-The
picnic party of Newark officials that ar
rived here last Wednesday morning had
the affectionate attendance of the water
works engineers and contractors, and
managed to acquire more or less misin-
formation in a rather jolly tour through
the district. 1t is a source Of ev~er-increas-
ing amazement to see how little people
know about he work and b oW seldom
they learn much more after such an in
spection. The party on Wednesd ay was
n exception to the rule, If one is to judge
by the very startling absence of knoWl-
edge shown in the contribution s to the
daily newspapers since the trip articles
which nave provoked high glee among
folks here who have been fortunate
enough to see them.
STILL IN PAPER.
The truth is that most of the Work is
etill on paper. The engineers have been
very busy. of course; blu the contractors
have not. They have plenty of time Tor
their part of the work, so do not hurry.
The construction of the reservoirs at this
place, Clinton Falls and Charlottes burg
will be finished even at the present slow
rate of progress before the pipe line from
Charlottesburg to Newark can be con-
structed. h engineers are chiefly oc-
cupied with this part OF the WORK at pres
emf, and the purchase of real estate for
the line is understood to be proceeding
quietly but expeditiously.
The Oak Ridge reservoir work has thus
far consisted of preliminaries only.
Thus, the roads around the reservoir
have been completed excepting one
bridge. They have been well built, for
country roads, the drive will be a
pleasant one when the reservoir is filed.
Part of these roads were made to take
the place of an old road which was across
the reservoir site, but most of the con-
struction was merely to give access to
the reservoir banks. The second branch
OF preliminary work was the blasting of
q. passage through the soft rock into
which the river could be turned while the
dam was being conducted. This is about
finished. The third branch was clearing
away some of the shrubbery. A few men
have lone a little of this clearing work,
but they have scarcely made an impress
done on the dam yet, and the engineers
are not yet certain how far down they
will have to go for the foundation, as the
~test-borings nave been found incorrect.
CLINTON FALLS RESERVOIR.
The.work at Clinton Falls reservoir be-
gan only a few days g and consists
only of road-making and cutting brush.
Very little has been accomplished and
sixty OF seventy Italians and Hungarians
are making slow progress with it. Many
acres of woods are to be cleared. The
site of this reservoir is a dreary plain,
with hills dividing 1t into long arms.
One can see nearlysthe whole OF the Oak
Ridge reservoir at q glance, but the CHn-
ton reservoir is out up into tong.reaching
arms. The place will be very pretty
w~hen:theassater is 10, and inst below tne
dam there Is q glen in which are the
falls, making a romantic spot. The water
is clear, but it is not as pure at this spot
as it should be, owing to the vegetable
decay and the pollution from the swamps
and woodland above. The Thorough
this evil, and this part Of the work, both
1t Clinton and Oak Ridge, needs thor
ough inspection,
The Hanks pond brook, which is the
natural outlet OF the Clinton reservoir,
joins the Peq9gnn9ck just back Of
through a DISTRICT where it might be pol
luted from farms very easily, and 1t has
been suggested chat hesChhton reservoir
outlet should've direct to the Oak Ridge
reservoir, andthus escape these dangers.
Such a change would require the con-
structicn Of q canal about one-eighth OF a
mile to q brook which flows into the re-
quannock just above the Oak Ridge res
ervoir. The contractors have done moth
ing toward protecting the stream from
Oak Ridge to Charlottesburg from pollu-
ton, and should be required to buy the
land on the margin of the river for the
entire distance. They should also be re-
quired to remove the oil pipe line, which
would flood the Newark source of supply
if it broke-as it has several times in the
past.
HOW THE WORK IS DONE.
The actual work on the reservoirs Is
done entirely by men under Frank Hox-
sey, the Paterson contractor, who is a
sort of chief executive for ex Senator
Carrot A.. Hobart. The chief engineer is
from Massachusetts, and none Of the
managers seem to have any direct con-
nection with the Lehfgh Company. The
force employed consists of Italians, with
some Hungarians. A big italian from
Paterson, who is only known as "Joe,"I IS
the boss. He contracts to furnish the
necessary men. and is also paid by the
company as a boss. He increases his
profits still more by running u store
where the men get their supplies. They
live on bread, maccaroni, cheese and
beer. Beer they consume i'll quantities
that would astonish Mayor Haynes him
aelf.
The natives" that is, the residents Of
Oak Ridge and vicinity, have been disap-
pointed by the mannerin which the work
has been conducted. They assumed that
a good deal Of carting would be needed
that they should AVE the preference.
chased, but when the work was begun
the company refused to pay the regular
price. The farmers nave been losing
money on the work they lave done, but,
having purchased the tools, they are in
a box, being unable to sell without q loss
and yet finding no profit in doing the
work. They think the company is taking
advantage OF their position, and should
at least pay the regular contractors
rarioaG for r. artfyar q