The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1896-02-19
KENT NO. z.
Board Of Trade Asks a Fill
tration Expert to Make
a Report.
PATERsoN's MAGNANIMITY
Thirteenth Street Associations
Course INDICATED in the
0'Brien Scandal.

The members of the Board Of Trade
last night were comfortably disposing
themselves in their rooms over the Second
National Bank for a long chat about water,
when a loud knock was heard at the door.
Come in. one of the members shouted.
| The door opened and big burly brawny,
jaggy 'longshoreman 1oomed in the door
way
Take in lodgers?'' he asked.
Mo- said Mr.. John j. Voorhees,.
mo 16dgings?'' he asked again. after
shifting a big ''chaw'' from one cheek to
the other.
No." replied Mr. Voorhees,. gravely.
Cant get anything to eat here?' the
visitor vensured.
No" was the reply.
'sAnd you don't take in no boarders?"
No. sir: we DON'T replied Mr., Voor-
hees.
Gee, thought you did. Saw a sign out
there which says. Board of Trade .
The door closed. the would-be boarder
disappeared, the members laughed. and
gave their attention to Mr.. Joseph A..
Dear. Who has fallen love with fltra-
ton. and had plan to propose
It was this:-That the Board of Trade
should engage Mr.. Allen Hazens. of the
Jersey City, make an investigation, and
give an estimate as to the cost of a filter
ing plant at Belleville to clean the foul
Passaic and give Jersey City drinking
| water That expert. Mr.. Dear said,
would only charge $500 for giving the in
formation and if the Board would con-
tribute $3.50, why his paper would add the
other half. OF course this was all for
| the good Of the city. 1t was such an inn
portant matter that he, Mr. Dear, thought
the public should be in possession OF
| figures about filtration to make an intelli-
gent choice between it and other methods
proposed to give Jersey City better
water
Mr.. c. G. Jewell, with an eye to econo-
my. thought it would be better for the
/ city to investigate filtration at its own
/ expense; but to this Mr.. James P. Hall
| demurred. because the city had no money
| for such purpose.
And besides'' chimed in Mr. j. T.
/ voorhees,, "the Board of Street and Water
Commissioners are prejudiced against fl
! tration''
| Mr.. Samuel c. Mount threw wet blan-
ket on Mr.. Dears scheme by saying that
| it would be cheaper and better to direct
| the efforts Of the Board towards a new
water supply
Then Mr.. Henry ". Condict followed
suit with the damaging assertion that even
| If Mr. Dear's figures as to the cost of fill
tration, $40 to $12 per million gallons, were
low. still there would be the cost of
pumping, and new pump would be
necessary.
Mr.. Dear,s motion to engage Mr.. Hazens
was carried. but not unanimously.
/ A tall. gray-haired gentleman with a
rosy face, was then introduced by Presi-
| dent A. J. Corcoran as Professor Barry
| of Paterson. who proposed to speak of
/ river pollution and means to prevent it.
| He unfolded large mass of paper and
Ancient Mariners regret about the
scarcity of drinking water although
there was plenty around him. Shakes
1 peare, too, was lugged in as an author
| ity on drinking water, and by degrees
| the professor came down to modern times,
/ Paterson and the Passaic
As for Paterson, he said she had
| awakened from her sleep because her
sense of smell had been outraged and her
| odors from the river into which she
| pours 100000 gallons of sewage per
/ day. No wonder the river was bad and
| the Paterson people kicked Now for
| the remedy
Professor Barry sent everyone to sleep
while he read long British Act Of Par.
sewage o pPse me only ana he
magnanimously assured the Board that
| while there was no law to prevent Pat
water, yet she would gladly join with
Jersey City, Newark and other places to
remove the contents of her sewers to
! the ocean and further If necessary.
He finished by reading draft Of a
bill to be presented to the Legislature,
which he said had been prepared by him
sale Valley it is known as the Williams
bill. The bill which passed the Senate
! a. few days ago devotes $4,000 to pay
ing the expenses of three commissioners,
who shall be appointed by the Governor,
/ and they shall inspect and make a re-
i port as to the best means to dispose OF
/ and to use the salt water for flushing
| the sewers and for use by the fire en-
/ gines.. The city needs two supplies He
wound up by asking for the appointment
1 of a committee to cooperate with Pat
1 erson and other cities to pass his little
Mr.. II. y. Condfct criticised the bill as
/ suspicious. He smelt rat about that bill
4 and the rat was the East Jersey Water
/ Company Did it not t. come o. from Garret
4 should oppose it.
/ MI; Dear said he didn't care rap
| it. 1t appeared to him to be good thing
and he would push it along;
Professor Barry repudiated the connec-
| tion with the East Jersey people and
mentioned among those who drafted it
| the never-to-be-f forgotten distinguished
I expert Kent, whose humorous report on
| the water contracts gave so much amuse-
ment to the public last year.
1 DR. Isaac N. Quimby jumped on the
! the opposite. Professor Barrys bill. he
| said was bad because it was local and
narrow. To take the inspection of the
1 river outtof the hands of reputable people
/ Of the State Board of Health and give it
| to three politicians was asinine. The bill
| was dangerous he said. and then proceed
| ed to laud his own bill which Meeps the
| power in the hands of the Board of
/ Health
4 Notwi Outstanding the worthy doctors
| eloquence the motion to appoint the COM
/ mittee to cooperate with the Paterson
| people passed and President Corcoran
/ appointed Messrs. Joseph A. Dear, John
| J. Voorhees, and Samuel c. Mount on
i such committee.
! President Corcoran, after having relin-
4 Quished the chair to Mr.. Dear, presented
| these resolutions respecting the scandal
4 in the appointment of Inspector O'Brien
1 were carried and Messrs. Dear, Banks
/ and r. P Hall endorsed warmly the atti-
/ tude of the distinguished citizens in their
! attempt to carry successfully through
! the Improvement in the face of difficul-
| ties. The resolutions we're
1 Whereas. "A number of reputable and
! public spirited citizens, known as the Thir-
having labored for term. of over three
4 years and having expended considerable
money to secure the opening OF their
4 street to the Fill: and
Whereas. The said association having
4 projected the scheme Of Improvement 10
injured that political influence should de-
4 zpE3Ne them of the Eight OF having conn