The Sunday morning news. [volume] (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1886-1891, 1891-06-07
SNAKE HILL AS IT IS.
Not Half a Bad Place if One
Views It Without
Prejudice.
ROSE WHTEWASHED LANDMARKS.
The WaYfaring Man, Though In
toxicated, Need Not Err in
Birdsall Avenue.

Snake Hill means either lunacy, pau
perism or crime with the average Hud-
son county man. Tue name Is most often
spoken with feeling Of mingled pity
and disgust II brings before the mind
picture of criminals and victims of
| misfortune. People who feel this way
about Snake Hill should visit it as did
yesterday. A delightful drive over the
macadamizsd road from the city brought
me to Penhorn Creek. Here / stopped
and gazed at the bright sparkling wa ter.
and mentally calculated the nu mber of
cuss words Sscaucus' dairy farmers had
uttered because Of the q uantity of salt it
contains.
The problems became too extensive.
and gladly forsook it to continue the
pleasant drive. In fifteen min ures was
at the entrance to Sna ke Hill. The
/ massive gate slowly opened between two
| great stone posts. aud l passed In. I'm
| mcdiately to my right observed long
| low brick building. II was built beside
| the Delaware. Lackawanna and Western
! Railroad. A side track was SO near it
| it that freight cars passed the building
| with but few inches of space 10 spare.
This building Is the county storehouse.
/ Ardy Manning is the superintendent of
it, aud has been for years He showed
me the interior IL was filled with
think Of Hardware, ice, meat, ye9e-
tables. croekery, ETC., etc. From this
storehouse the institutions on the Hill re-
ceive their supplies.
THE NAMELEss AVENUE.
Leaving the building / again entered
the wagon and proceeded up q beautiful
| avenue berdered with shade trees, and
whitewashed stones.
When Jailer Blrdsall was member of
the Board of Freeholders, and was not
employed in securing votes from other
Freeholders to make him jaiIer, he de-
voted much time to this avenue He be-
came SO infatuated with i5 that he con-
Guided that 1t should have name. He
went through long list of names to find
an appropriate one. burhe could find nly
named IL Birdsall avenue and was
happy.
Two days after he ceased to be Free
holder his late associates ordered that the
name should be dropped. They failed co
give it another and today like scores of
poor little waits at the almshouse IL Is
nameless.
When Freeholder Birdsall placed the
white washed stones along the borders of
the drive, the ire of ex-Dlrector George
Schinzel was reused and In meeting he
asked to nave them removed, because
they looked ike granite posts for drunk
en- FreeholderS and keepers The stones
have not been removed. They give great
satisfaction.
The avenue leads 60 the panitentlary.
This brick structure nas been described
SO often that IL is familiar to even "PIug"
Null rane and Syl. Norriott.
THE SINKING SOIL.
The broad and beautiful Lawn in front
of the building reaches to the deep and
treacherous Hackensaek. IL Is all made
i s,r4 nFsd otrtre on oh cfxr
Inches. This makes II easy to calculate
how long IL would take an empty pint
flask, dropped there by q Freeholder, to
come to the surface in China. Warden
Grimes told me that every year he had to
raise the ground inst that half foot in
order To counieract the depressing in
fuences of the place. The lawn is artis-
ticalIy laid ont in flower beds which are
skilIfully kept and are beautiful
Adjoining the lawn Is the Warden's
garden. This contains forced strawber-
ries lettuce, radishes and other luxuries
beside fruit trees. With excellent judg-
ment the FreeholderE generally dine with
the Warden. Back from the lawn the
Hill rises almost perpepdicuiarly. Here
the quarries are located and trap rock is
mined and conveyed to the steam stone
crusher nearby to be ground up for the
county roads.
After leaving the penitentiary ascend
ed long flight OF steps and reached the
summit Oh the alll. mere before me SLOOd
the four-story almsnouse, and on the
lawn of twenty-five acres in front of 1t
were frolickIng hundred children. They
played ball, leap frog, rolled In the grass,
aud quarreled like other children, and in
vain / searched for n single face with a
sad expression. Poor things they may
deserve pity, but they did not look as II
they wanted il. They We're happy and
joyou $.
From the almshouse one gets delight
full view OF Newark, the Orange Noun
tains and the little hamlets that dot them
-Carlstadt and Secaucus-and far away
in the north the spires of sleepy old Hack
| eusack are visible. To the East may be
seen the entire west bank of Jersey City
Heights, extending from the Bergenline
to the Kill Won kull.
Nowhere In the world perhaps is such
! another place as Snake Hin. A solid mass
Of stone obfong in form boldly thrustiug
itself from The centre Of miles of swamp
which surround 1t. Nowhere else in
these meadows NAV be found o rock or a
pebble. Snake Hill Is wart on the
sunKen range OF rocks That form the Pal
isades on the Hudson and pass beneath
the Hackensack meadows and the Kill
Won kull to the hills on Staten Island.
ORDER AND CLEANLINESS.
The grounds are well Kept about the
Aims House and its annex, the Old Mems
Pavilion. Warden RYAN took me through
the Aims House yesterday Order aud
cleanliness were observed everywhere,
Warden Stewart, went through the dilap-
dated paviilous with me- Here the only
thing that could be found that was good
WAS the absolute cleanliness of the build
ing; otherwise it shows every evidence of
decay
Warden Stewart has caused the old
| men under him who desire TO work to
build blacksmith's shop. Yesterday
! found there two Old smitners happy as
lords Engaged in making tools to be use d
In the shop. These men will repair the
iron bedsteds, and do other work tina {
heretofore has been done by hired help.
| The grounds about the pavilions are
} well kept, and flowers are plentiful.
Nearly IN the middle Of the east side of
Snake Hill the asylum stands. IL is an
over crowded two story building, which
will soon be replaced by q new structnre.
DR.. King Is the Superintendent. The
grounds here are not SO well cared for as
at the other Institutions, but the inmates
are The doctor is a great favorite with
/ 4 49, t..T~