The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-01-02

= 4SSAL IL AN ft4t6 WHICH, ~
picturesque mendacity is only surpassed
by some of those which the World" has
printed on the same subject. The article
is signed "W. E. S." which presumably
stands for William Edgar Sackett, a gen.
tleman who has not lived in this city for
twelve years. and who has not done any
newspaper work here in seven.
Mr.. Sackett writes an attractive style
and his efforts have all the spiciness which
might be expected from a writer who does
not hesitate to call a spade a spade
whether it is a spade or not. A long ac-
quaintance with Mr.. Sackett's newspaper
work leads US to the judgment that he
does not deliberately start out to falsify.
He would rather tell the truth than hes,
If he could. Blu he has a cast of MIND
which naturally disposes him to believe
evil of anyone and everyone, and he is
~credulous to the point of gullibility when
anything evil is in the air.
Thus It happens that, with a agu no
ton that he is doing his duty to his en-
ployers and the public. he is capable of
appear over his initials in this mornings
Herald" Let us analzye some of his say
ings. Here is one gratuitous fling, which
reads smartly. which tickles the palate OF
lovers of the new journalism. and which
yet conveys as -blackguardly a libel as was
eyer levelled against a community
Those who know Jersey City. studded
all over with drinking places, would never
have suspected hat the quality of the
water she is to mix with her liquors would
ever interest her SO enormously as it has,
To stamp this piece of malignity as 1t
deserves. 1t Is only necessary to say that
Mr.. Sackett, in private conversation, has
often and often declared that If a vote
had been taken in Hudson County under
the provisions of the .Griggs Liquor law
of 1889, the county would lave gone dry.
That there are too many saloons in this
city may be the truth, but that intemper-
anee or subserviency to the liquor interest
are characteristic of our people is a vile
and wanton SANDER.
Then Mr.. Sackett tackles the water
The principal source of their discomfort
has been. not the fact that the Passaic
River water is not fitted for the human
stomach-for they never knew how awful
1t is till the water philanthropists began
&c analyze and microscope it for their in
formation.
If they did not know it. they should
have been deprived of three senses-sight.
taste and smell.
TIL awful charges that are made against
At may be all too true, and they may be
only mildly true. Some well informed clt-
zens declare that the water FOLK AVE peen
dndulging in caricature rather than in por-
fraiture.
Perhaps it was caricature, too, when the
discovery was made last ummer that
there were 1,sOO vacant houses in the city.
The sHeraId has not Eesitated in times
past to point out that the specimens were
ali prepared and doetored, and that even
the city water officials resorted to de-
the eye and the palate that would have
made the purest of water seem noisome
and unwholesome
The Herald so far as Mr.. sackett's
part of it is concerned, has not hesitated
to print ~unending f~alsehoods about Jer-
sey City, ali of which are deeply resented
by residents and taxpayers of the muni-
cipality. But the detestable lie printed
above has always been regarded as
ridiculous rather han injurious. because
ii represents an impossibility almost as
wild as a plan to turn the Passaic into
cocktails for the celebration
Of New Years day, or to eliminate the
salt from the water In Newark Bay as
a source of supply for the city
But Mr.. Sackett is not content with
Stirring up all the foulness which he and
Others Of his kind nave poured into our
water question for years and years. He
must also have a fling at the Hudson
Boulevard, which is an old favorite of
his. He says
The County Boulevard is a sample Of
the public work the Hudson county con-
tractors turn out.
yes. and it does them honor. 1t is he
finest work of its kin in the United
states.
II has cost doub1e the original estimate
more than double-and there is only a
In be full of holes in less than five
years. for h outlay.
The increased cost represents greater
extent n better work.
AS for the thin veneer: There is from
end to end of the road a solid bed of
stone eighteen inches thick, and rolled
into a mass which could only be dis
turbed by dynamite. Considering h a
ii the two years 1t has been finished
nothing has been done In the way Of
repairs or maintenance, its surface is in
admirable condition, as the wheelmen,
not only Of New Jersey, but of New
York win testify. Rain will score any
road that can be made. The roads Of
Central and Prospect Parks are sufficient
10 prove this. The Hudson Boulevard
being very hiIly, is liable to more wash
4nr fhan ordinary in many places. Yet,
even Or this water scoring there is very
uftIe upon the Hudson Boulevard, and
-- $1,000 n ,nfxed road