The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-01-24
COMPANY'S RIGHTS
A True Statement of the
Nineteenth Street Cross
ing Fight
COMMISSIONERS ACTED OPENLY.
To Have Decided Against the Com
pany Would Have Caused Ex-
pensive Litigation.
COMMISSIONERS ACTED OPENLY

A review of the actions of the Street and
| Water Commissioners in connection with
the crossing of Jersey avenue by the Della
ware, L~ackawanna & Western Railroad
Company tends to show that they have in
this one instance been judged harshly and
too hastily. The condemnation to which
they nave been subjected has been carried to
such an extent that more than one fair
minded person has championed their cause.
Despite reports to the contrary, the Com
missioners did not deceive the demonstration
at the meeting of the board on Friday last,
| at which the resolution relating to the
crossing was passed over Mayor Wanser's
veto. The Commissioners did not rid them
| selves of the demonstrators and then pass
the resolution, as has been reported, but did
it in the regular order OF business provided
by the rules governing the actions of the
board. If Italians were at work laying the
tracks before the resolution was passed it
was without the knowledge of the accused
| officials, and to this they are willing to tes-
tify under oath.
The reason they passed the resolution over
the Mayors veto was because they knew by
| advice from counsel that remonstranccs ten
| miles long could not prevent the company
from doing as it did. They knew that the
| land upon which the tracks are to be laid
| belonged to the company, it having been &C
quired under right of way proceedings, dat
ing back to the time the company used the
Erie Railroad Company's tunnel. The
counsel for the demonstrators had prepared
| papers in certiorari proceedings, and would
have carried the case into the courts had he
not learned this most vital point.
Al EXPLANATION.
Perhaps no better explanation of the diff
Guilty can be found than this. The company
| found a handsome freight business springing
up around some of its old branch lines.
To encourage and secure that
business the company proceeded
to increase it's c~onveniences
In the first place the poultry shed was estab-
lished near the proposed crossing, and, al
| though very few people are aware of its ex-
istence, a good, big business is done there
daily and large shipments of poultry are re-
ceived there. The company had two sets of
tracks near the poultry shed, but the nearest
one was twenty feet from it. In order to
switch poultry cars Immediately alongside
! the shed it was decided to take up the two
sets of tracks and move the most northerly
set over about twenty feet. The other set
was to be moved also. Having arranged
how its tracks should go, the company had
the engineer of the road estimate the cost of
grading and paving the Jersey avenue cross
| Ing anu 6TSCUI1E &dU6S. 1uC COIlpduJ ui1
100 feet to work in, and ii the old tracks
were not set over, the engineer reported,
that the chains on the proposed drop gates
| would be constantly out of order.
1t was upon the recommendation of the
engineer relative to the gates that it was de-
| cided to shift the tracks. The work was
begun and suddenly Captain Kelly stepped
in and interfered.
To obviate any clash with the city au-
| thorities, the company forwarded the fol-
lowing petition TO the Street and Water
Board:
CoMPANY'S PETITION.
Your petitioner, the representative of the
Delaware Lackawanna aud Western Railroad,
represents that thev intend to improve the road
bed at and near this Jersey avenue crossing.
| and for that reason wers, u few days ago, TAX
ing up and relaying their tracks at that point.
These tracks have been laid at that point and
this road has crossed the same for thirty years,
While We were performing the work above al
luie1 to, We were interfered with aud pre-
| vented from going on with 0 ir work by the DO
lice aud at the present time there is q
| poitce officer stationed there TO prevent us
FROM worxing. l know OF 40 law We are vio-
lating. nor eau | understand the motivs that
| prompts this interference. Hal We thought it
necessary to obtain your permission We would
have asked for the sans. We do not desire to
have recourse to law, but in every way avoid i1
We are informed that the police are acting
under the Instructions that we are acting with
out Your permission aud contrary to law. VS.
respectfully ask that il such be necessary that
| you will grant permission to make the rapairs
aud improvements sug sestsd. aud that the po-
lice be requested not ia Interfere Win or modest
us while performing our work.
ANDREW J. REAsoNER,
Superintendent Morris and Essex Division.
PASSED IN THE A
Solely with a view to expediting matters
the board passed a resolution granting the
| desired permission, but not until there had
been a hot discussion as to whether the city
had any business whatever to interfere. A
lawyer informed them that if the old tracks
were to be relaid the city could not, under
| any circumstances, stop them and that a
resolution was not necessary. However, to
make a sure thing surer, the resolution was
passed. 1t was vetoed by Mayor Wanser,
| who argued for a trestle and made a point
| about grade crossings. There were one or
two reasons which I'M be made public
beside those mentioned, which led to the
| veto of the resolution. Under the laws
governing the Street and Water Boards ac-
| lions Mayor Wanser's veto had to be acted
upon one way or another at last Fri
days session. To delay action was
to sustain the Mayor. All parties
| concerned were summoned to appear before
the board to discuss the Objectionable cross
ing. The regular order of business was sus-
pended in Difference to the gentlemen desir-
ing the be heard for and against it. When
| the arguments had been concluded, the whole
matter was referred to the COmlnlbGoe on
Streets. The persons particularly interested
retired at this time, knowing full well that
action had to be taken one way or the other
at that very meeting. When the report of
the committee was called for, under the head
of miscellaneous business, the veto was taken
from the table and not sustained.
The report that the gentlemen who remon-
strated did not know such a course was to be
pursued, is denied by Mr.. A. j. Corcoran,
one of the principle agitators to defeat it if
possible. He remarked at the meeting that
he knew they the Commissioners would
knock out the Mayors veto.
STOPPED
To not have passed the resolution over the
veto, and to have had the police stop the
company from proceeding, would have in
volved the city in an expensive litigation.
The upshot of this would be that the COM
pany would win easily by showing its title to
the right of way of 100 feet, secured some
years ago, and upon which the present OBJ
iectionable tracks were relaid and shifted
over to meet the demands of a business
which will build up in a short time the up
slightly and disease breeding mud holes in
the vicinity.
The counsel for the DIRECTORS will not GER
tiorari the proceedings of the board, now
that he has learned the true facts of the
case.
CLERKS WANT EARLY CLOSING.
The Jersey City Clerks Early Closing As
ISOLATION met last evening in Humboldt
Hall. Representatives of the A. o.. f.. were