The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-06-07
Mr.. John Baeot Points Out
What May Be Done With
the Snake Hill Trap Rock.
FACTS AND FIGURES
Paving and Opening Up of Streets,
Morgan Street Dock and South
Cove Down Town.
GreenvilIe, West Bergen and the Ele-
vator Section Make Known
Their Wants.

Their Wants.
John NJ. bones, President of the Board of
Finance, in an article in The JERSEY CITY
NEWS, on Monday, Nav rs last, being one OF
a series by prominent citizens on the future
of the city, set forth excellent ideas for the
Improvement of that valuable territory of
the city lying between the Hill and the
Hackensack The necessity for a sewerage
system has been repeatedly talked of by the
citizens, and earnestly advocated by the
members of the West Side Improvement
Association. President Adams and his col
leagues, at no late date, will appear before
the members of the Street and Water
Board and urge that body to give some con
sideration to their needs in the matter Of
improvements. They will be courteously
received, and every consideration given to
their demands, for the present body is one
that is bent on improving the city-so much
can be done-and making it the equal of any
in the East.
But to return to Mr.. Jones' suggestion as
to the placing in good condition Of the roads
there by cooperation on the part of the
Board of Freeholders.
MOST INTERESTING ARTICLE.
Mr. John Bacot of the law firm of Record
& Bacot, one of the most learned men in the
city. has written an interesting and nstruc-
tive article on the cost to the county for
placiug in first-class condition the streets
suggested by Mr.. Jones. Mr.. Bacot writes
Hudson County has advantages for
building fine Macalam and Telford stone
reads shat are possessed by no other county
ia this State, and probably Dy no other
county in any other OF the United States.
Briefly stated they are as follows:-
the County Farm at Snake Hill contains
large quarry of trap rock, with enough
stone to pave every road in the county. Trap.
rock is universally acknowledged to be the
best material for making Macadam and
Teiford roads, also for stone block pave
ment its crushing strength being about
twenty thousand pounds per cubic inch,
while the softer rocks, limestone granite,
etc. have a crushing strength of only about
fifteen thousand pounds per cubic inch. At
the county quarry there is a stoue crushing
plant with a daily capacity for producing
about one hundred cubic yards of crushed
rock. The material thus made costs the
county almost nothing. the plant being run
by convict labor the only expenses being for
cOdl, repairs, all SE2lHeSr, COSUlHS III all
about fifteen cents per cubic yard on board
of the scow at the prison wharf
COST OF DELIVERY.
'sThe formation of Hudson county, sur
Sounded on three sides by deep water, en-
ables delivery to be made by water to all
points, and since water is the cheapest
method of transportation, the cost of deliv-
ering cubic yard Of stone by scow to any
wharf on the water front of Hudson County
would only average about thirty-five cents
The cost of unloading is twenty cents. and
toe average drayage fifty cents, making a
total cost to the county authorities as above
Crushing, 10 cents, freightage, 35 cents,
unloading, 20 cents and drayage. 80 cents
of S1.20 per cubic yard delivered on the road
to be improved.
''Each cubic yard will make six square
yards of depth of six inches, therefore the
cost to the county for material placed on
road will be one-sixth of S1.20 or 20 cents
per square yard.
1.-The cost of labor in making a square
yard OF six inch macadam road, at the con-
tract rate of seventy-f1ve cents per square
yard would be about twenty five cents, al
loving one-third for labor and two-thirds for
material. Adding the cost OF material de-
hvered as above, twenty cents, and labor
cost, twenty five cents, we have total cost
of forty-five cents per square yard of COM
pieted six inch macadam road.
tIf the State authorities under the law
IOf GGiD PURPOSE, dDprOFSu mdFcu o. IOJS,
section 4, which provides ''that one-third of
the cost of ali roads constructed in this State
under this act shall be paid for out of the
State Treasury, should pay one-third of the
cost including the value of the stone the
county would then get twenty-five cents per
square yard from the State fund, which
would reduce the cost of forty-fye cents
above shown to twenty cents. On the basis
of the State paying only one-third OF the
actual net Gust to the county, the State con-
tlibution would then be only fifteen cents
making the cost to the county OF square
yard Of macadam pavement only thirty
cents This is what can be done without any
question, under the present laws, and with
the facilities at the disposal and under the
control of the Freeholders namely, the max
ing of roads for about one-third Of the cost
of building similar roads by contract where
the county does not furnish the stone from
its own quarry
PRISON LABOR.
ssIf the prison labor in the County jail,
NEXT to the Court House, should be used for
building the roads, and there is no good
reason why it should not be done, then the
cost to the county for completed square
ward of pavement would only be 30 cents,
and deducting from this the State contribu-
ton of one-third, there remains net outlay
by the county of only 20 cents per square
yard of completed macadam road, or aDouU
one-quarter the usual contract pTlce Az tne
prices PAID by most places Wibnln u IauiuS ~
fifty miles of New York, this price would be
about one-fifth the usual price paid for SINH
lar pavement. Staten Island paid an aver
age of $4,000 mile for its fine macadam
roads Under the plan outlined above,
Hudson County would only pay about SS,o0o
a mile for similar roads.
1.-The law cited above authorizes the Free
holders to adopt any road within the county
as county road, and then they may pro
ceed to improve the same according TO bne
method prescribed by the act, and one-third
of the cost thereof is paid by the State,
$4,000 being provided annually therefor
the county making the most road improve
1ner,t getting a proportion Of said sum ac-
cording to the number of miles of road
built.
Like Mr. Bacot, many other prominent
taxpayers Of the city are deeply interested
in seeing the city improved. its streets prop
eriy 81. paved, sewerage system bettered and
thoroughfares opened up. The interest is
not confined to any one section. With