The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-07-18
THE MOSQUITO MUST 60.
NEW JERSEY PLANNING TO GET
RID OF HER BIG MARsHES.

VIEW JERaET TO GET
RID OF HER BIG MARSHES.
the Matter Discussed By Engineer vermeuie-
ne Recommends E,nbnnkinE the MIG y7end-
sws and Draining Them Nearly TO Low
lido Level by the Use or tide siulccs
The Jersey mosquito has been officially de-
clared n public nuisance. n " notorious pest"
and u useless insect. and he has got to get up
and get out OF the state of New Jersey. II he
don't the lie legislature Of the State wiz resort to
forceful measures. II the notorious pest"
knows when he's well OF ho'll seek q new biting
area without delay, for he's got to go. The
Legislature has decrced 1t.
OF course the Legislature OF the State of New
Jersey would not let the mosquito OF the State
OF New Jersey think itself Of enough Importance
to make it, in the words OF the statute, the sub
ject of special legislation, so the Jersey law max
ers. at the late session, got around the matter
in another way. Everybody in these parts has
heard OF the Hnckcnsack and Newark meadows.
They figure prominently in railroad wrecks
every now and again. 1t Is also we'll known that
these meadows are just plain, ordinary marshes
that serve no purpose save as a breeding ground
for mosquitoes.
The Hackcpsack meadows extend in a continu-
Gus belt about eighteen miles long and four
miles wide from Elizabeth north to Ttackensack
and E~nglewood. The Newark meadows, lying
between Elizabeth. Newark. and Newark
Bay. have an area of 1883 acres, mostly
within the city limits of Newark and
Elizabeth. The Hackcnsack meadows have
an area Of 2o,Oi5 acres. With the
exception of l,465 acres lying between Hacken-
sack and Wood Ridge, the total area of the
meadows is tide marsh. Sometimes an unusu-
ally high tide submerges the whole area, and al
all times it Is saturated with water.
The condition of these marshes and the possi-
bility OF Kidding the State OF mosquitoes by re-
claiming them were brought to the attention OF
the last session OF the Legislature. 1nH LcCis-
laturc didn't cure so mucI, about reclnim!ng the
marshes as it did about ritdire the safe ot mos
quitoes. The members felt that II 81, h "a feat could
be accomplished by legislative enactment. they
would be set down as the greatest bCnefactorp
to Jersey ever known, and their constituents
would want no one else to represent them for
years to come. d
Accordingly n law was passed. all unbeknowu
to the mosquitoes, authorizing the state gcolo-
in formulating, a plan to reclaim the marshes.
openly proclaimed that the real objece
OF the act was the humiliation OF the mosQui-
to 5. 1t was perfectly safe TO make such a state
mcnt. 1t was winter ana the mOSq uItoes were
in no shape to got back at their would-be ami.
hilltors.
Soou after the law was passed State Geologist
SuOck employed c. c. Ncrmenlc, a wCll-known
Of its most II famous prointt. Mr. Ver,neuie be-
gan studying he situation, at once. The result
i; n npps s n IS to 'hi i&S report on " of F'PI the E slSie
Geolosist, which has Just been, issued;
i hT S"Ft the S S"t IN an expense sITl'sa Of sbo Rln y. 5 Son
900. but the engineer expresses tho opinion in
his report that Newark. Hackensack and Eliza.
If" in the language OF the engineer, lit were
only to set rid of the notorious pest which in,
After calling attention to the fact that the
mosquito area contained a population of 9oo,-
population hps increased 10 per cent. every ten
years, at which rate it would have " %popula.
the ASSESSED valuation OF the poverty is
$i3o,oOo.o0o, of which S3i0,o0o, 900 is the as
meule Suggests three plans for r%cclaiming the
territory, The first is by dredging open canals
used in raising the leyel Of Intervening lands
above high water. Tho second plan is by
filing in the meadows with extrancoqs material.
mated at from Ssh to 500 per acre. The cost
O. carving out the second plan is estimated at
After suggesting both these plans the en-.
gineer finds fault with them, and sets the seal
of his approval on u third plan, or which he
The third method of treatment considered 10
the one which has been usually adopted wher-
ever reclamation has been successfully accom-
glished on q lnrEe scale. II is smbanking. or
tide sluices, or BY pumping. The ordinary tide
sluice consists simply Of a wooden gate hinged
when the water lnsiic. in the men:ow bitches. is
Slightly higher than the water without. thus al
atcly c!osing when the current SETS in The oppo-
site direction. By means OF such s!uiccs. where
the amount OF water flowing into the meadow
from tributary sirctIns is not too large, the water
in the meadow bitches is kept Town nearly 10 the
level of 10y tide, Tn surface Of the meadow
may be taken 10 be generally five feet above
l~ow:water level, so that it does not seem
probable that any very large area OF this
low tide. We must certainly look forward
to paIn1inS the Mater from the sn trs
TO ten years of shrinkagc. as the sluices will
then become ineffective: consequently. IL sluices
are built. they may be Of a temporary character,
OF timber, but so constructed A. to be tight and
substantial during their period OF service