The Jersey City news., 1892-06-04
THE VILE PASSA|C,
What a News" Reporter
Saw in a Voyage of
Inspection Up
Stream.
NEWER0 ANN FA1TODTFC
SEWERS AND FACTORIES.
Unspeakably Hideous Filth Poured
Into Our Drinking Water
Mt. Pleasant Cemetery.
MR.. LEAKE ON THE SITUATION.


and years take root aud send forth shoots
which extend in all directions. What
seems to be one of the most fertile of
places for this evil to thrive in is the Pas
sale river. If that stream is not a dis
ease breeding one then its appearance
bellies it and the fat pocketbooks of ply
sicians along its course have become
plethoric from other reasons.
made careful inspection of the Pas
sale River yesterday. So much has been
SAID against this disease breeding river
that l naturally thought l would find
but little new matter in my iuvestiga-
tions. l was disagreeabiy disappointed,
for l found filth, poison and disease and
death existing in horrible quantities that
had been brought to light by other dis
closures.
A BAD BEGINNING.
| began my work at the Centre street
bridge. Newark which is two miles and
one-half below the intake which supplies
this city. At this point great quantities
of closet refuse constantly fioated down
the stream, for the tide was half ebb and
running strong. The matter came from
the centre street sewer. which poured
filthy stream into the river through a
four foot pipe. Mingling with this sew
age in pleasant harmony was a large
quantity of white flake like substance
and oil, which came from the Newark
Gas Works short distance beyond. AL
though this point is two miles and one
half below the Jersey City intake, yet re-
fuse matter when the tide Is flood drifts
peacefully up the stream to the intake
and darts into it, to be carried from there
to the lips of old and young who people
this city.
After leaving Centre street the sewer
at each end of Bridge street attracts at
tention. One drains Harrison and the
other section of Newark. and the rivalry
between the two to see which can pro-
duce the f1lthiest pollution is strong and
active one. But just one block further
on the Elm street sewer turns into the
river its constantly flowing stream of
refuse to. il possible, further discolor the
black, oily and bad smelling water in the
river, which, from the solids floating in
it, is thick and unnatural looking. Two
blocks above Elm street vast quantities
of black water came from a private tan
ming sewer, and one block further on
Clay street bridge was reached. Here the
immense twin sewers that drain thou
sands of houses in Newark deposit this
flood. From the mouths of these six feet
pipes lying side by side great volumes of
sewage rushed into the Passaic. When l
saw these and realized that they ran on
forever, never stopping, constantly and
continually casting poison into the stream
that supplies us in Jersey City with water
to drink / shuddered. How much Of this
matter drifts into the intake when the
tide is flood God only knows. but the
quantity must be great, judging from eX-
periments that have been made by prac-
tical men and chemists during the past
five years.
WORSE AND WORSE.
A few rods further up stream the river
separates the two great thread mills OF
the Clarks. Sewers from these factories
were emptying black and i'll smelling
semi-liquid matter into the river when l
passed by to look at the Fourth avenue
sewer This is one mile and Il half from
the Jersey City intake. Here the water
was to all appearance as bad as it was q
mile below. 1t had black, thick APP
pearance, with Shiny substance coating
it like thin veil on top. Patches of oil
drifted down the stream and reflected
the rays of the sun in yarigated hues, and
company. Small particles of solids that
had separated from each other were so
thick, that had no other substance stained
the water. they would have made it all
most Opaque. Only one mile and half
from the inlakei Every Hood tide con-
veying quantities of this poisoned water
into the pipes that feed the mouths of the
thousands in this city. Horrible, disgust
ing, revolving.
A block or so further on and the vile
mouth of the sewer of the Marshall
Thread Works, which also drains a Dor-
tion of Kearny, was inspected. 1t was as
distasteful TO the eye and nose as the
others had been. Diagonally across the
river black and offensive smelling drip
pings from the Standard Oil pipes ran
briskly into the river, and the odor from
the river as we passed the place was nor
rible. 1t was not relieved any by the ap-
proach to the sewer of the Kearny Linol-
cum Works on the east side OF the river.
A GRAVEYARD HORROR.
Just above this spot on the Newark
shore is he beautiful Mt. Pleasant Gem
etery with frontage of one-fourth of a
mile on the river. H. is very old and IS
thoroughly populated by the departed
that it is a veritable city of the dead. In
it the ravages of typhoid, typhus and
scarlet fevers are daily recorded, and the
records OF deaths from other contagious
diseases is we'll Kept. This beautiful rest
ing place for the dead extends back sew
erul blocks and gradually slopes to the
river, making drainage unnecessary ior
the laws of nature, convey all surface
and spring water in the cemetery 10 the
river.
Just how much of these buried corpses
each individual in this city daily aosorbs
in his Passaic water, is an unknown
ouautity that may never be ascertained,
nor can any one say how much OF the
germs of the buried contagious diseases
or how mucn OF Tue cOulHiHiHuleu habeA
caused by decaying bodies In this bury
ing ground he has consumed, but that
each person who drinks Passaic water
swallows some Of the liquid that has
trCkled through the thousands OF dead
bodies and the disease infected ground is
beyond question. In the opinion OF many
EXPERTS this cemetery, draining It's con-
tagion into the water we drink, is
an element of danger to health greater
Than tnat of all the sewers l nave inen-
toned.
THE OLD SOLDIERS TOO.
Nearly opposite this Is the sewer tnat
drains the Soldiers Home and further On
is the Gully road surface drain. by an
agreement made years ago between this
citv and Newark this drainage was never
to he used for anything except surface
water. Since Newark has obtained It's
new supply from the forest and mountain
streams, Woodside, a portion OF Newark
has already tapped this Gully road drain
npe. and, beyond doubt. IN a very short
time the drain will be d closed sewer IL
is from this point to Bellevllle, a mile
distlnt. that Newark contemplates Dulla-
ing new system of sewers for the reHei
nf that thickly populated territory.
Passing on up the stream | observed
Aicock Brothers chemical works drained