The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1898-12-13

At the last meeting of the Board {
e Freeholders, Mr.. Higgins, of Bordentowl
made request that, on its face, was yer
y innocent 1t was that a committee be az
4 pointed to inspect culvert between Boz
I dentown and Fieldsboro, with power
rebuild or enlarge it. Mr.. Sharp, of Mans
field happened to notice the 'gentlema
u in the wood pile" however and as a re
: suit of his inquiries the fact develope
4 that the bridge was all right for ordinar
: travel, but the proposed extension wa
asked for in order to accommodate tn
t corporation. Further inquiry showed tina
s the trolley road was located on bridge
t without the consent of the county.
l AS result of these discoveries a com
mittee was appointed to investigate tn
matter, and if it found that the tracks o
the trolley company were in unlawful oc
e cupation of any bridges, legal steps wer
5 to be taken to effect their removal.
Following the action that has so Ion,
: prevailed, the Director appointed on tn
E committee the Freeholders living in tn
townships adjacent to that in which tn
, bridges in question are located. This ma,
be good custom in ordinary cases. but i
was not in good taste in the present in
stance. This will apply particularly tt
MIR. Durell, whose willingness to gran
every request of the trolley company, re
CARELESS of the interests of the county
was very apparent In fact Mr.. Durel
seemed very proud of his trolley collar
He announced openly that he twas fol
trolleys every time, and the papers coulC
print that" He should come to the mex
meeting of the Board in trolley uniform
The committee had meeting after APP
pointment and for some reason adjourned
to Monday of last week. At that time
the interview with the trolley people was
stormy and prolonged, and another ad
journment followed.
Wednesday was the date for the third
meeting. With the idea that the action
was public matter, representatives OF
the Mount Holly newspapers went to Dor.
dentown to get an account of the pro-
ceedings. This was not pleasing to the
trolley people, who Stunned the shedding
of light on their transactions. The COM
mittee held private meeting for a few
moments. and while thus in session, Isaac
E. Antrim, who poses as lawyer for the
Monmouth Company, rushed in and pro
tested against the public" being admit
ted. A short war of words followed, and
Isaac was told to get out. He did so.
| A few minutes later the "public" was
invited to come in. Those present, in ad
dition to the committee, were ex-senator
Perkins, j. Holmes Longstreet, Mr.. Mas
| sey, private secretary to Col. Morrell, So
licitor Chambers and the newspaper men.
Mr. Higgins, Freebooter from Borden
town, was chairman. He asked if there
was any proposition to be offered The
trolley people said they had made a prop
osit1on, which was that they make extern
sion to the Fieldsboro bridge at their ex-
pense, and bear half the expense of re-
pairs to it and the other bridges they had
already crossed.
One of the papers that was presented at
a previous meeting was missing This
led to discussion as to just what propo-
sitions were before the committee.
Lawyer Antrim then stated that the
trolley company, without waving any
| rights it now has in bridges, but to com
promise with the county, was willing to
bear half the expense of repairs and pay
| for extension.
Mr.. Tallman wanted this proposition in
writing, but the trolley people ignored his
suggestion, Mr.. Antrim contending that
some definite action should be taken be-
fore anything was put in writing.
A motion was made that the verbal
proposition be accepted.
that the committee could not guarantee
anything but could merely recommend
the proposition to the Board
Mr.. Antrim reminded the committee
that the waiver of rights on the Fields
boro bridge would only be acceded in case
this recommendation be accepted.
Mr.. Sharp objected to any considera-
ton of the question of waiver. The com
mittee had no power to release the trolley
company from responsibility in its action
in crossing three bridges without permits
sion, nor could it give permission to go
over others. He was willing to take the re-
Communications to the Board at special
meeting, but he would not guarantee the
result
Mr. Tallman thought if there was to be
an extra meeting the expense should be
borne by the trolley company.
Mr.. Antrim asked if the committee
would guarantee that the Board would
adopt the proposition if the company paid
for the meeting.
Mr.. Durell answered this query and
said the committee would do all in its
power to make it all right.
Mr.. Higgins was in favor of letting the
entire matter rest until the regular meet
ing in February, suggestion that struck
y,
Senator at once replied that 1--WE will do
| that"
Mr.. Sharp however, was not prepared
to accede to this idea The committee had
already exceeded it's authority and its
power. 1t was appointed with instruc-
tions to discover if the trolley company
had gone beyond its limit in taking pos
session of bridges, and if it so found legal
steps were to be taken to dislodge them.
This meeting was merely an act of cour-
tesy to the trolley people with the idea of
reaching an amicable settlement. He ar
gued that the trolley company had al
ready acknowledged that they had done
wrong in taking possession of the bridges,
and they had expressed an intention of
applying to the Board in February for
permission to cross others that they would
have occasion to cross later. Why not
make that application at the special meet
ing
This proposition, like all others that
came from the committee did not suit the
trolley representatives and they turned it
down.
At this refusal Mr.. Tallman made the
remark that there was nothing to do but
go ahead and make the trolley get off the
bridge.
Mr. Durell, who had been resting back
of the stove, came forward with the in
formation that eff you wait for the Free
holders to give you the right to build the
trolley you will never get it.
Mr.. Higgins again suggested that the
matter might readily rest until the Febru-
airy meeting, and Mr.. Perkins gave dis
sertation on the vast benefit that the troll
ley was to mankind in general and the
great good it was doing.
To this Mr.. Sharp replied that it was
none of the committees affairs whether
the trolley was carrying passengers for
money or for fun, or whether it was an
advantage or a detriment to the commu-
nifty. The business given it to discharge
was to discover whether bridges were
being used in an illegal manner This
fact had been established to his satisfac-
ton. 1t was all nonsense for the trolley
people to say that they had right to do
as they had done. If that was the fact
why had they in a former petition asked
permission to cross these very bridges,
and why did they now offer to include
them in petition that is to be presented
| later
To this Mr. Massey replied that they
had been told by certain members to go
ahead and it would be all right. In order,
however, to avoid any trouble, they would
make application to cover the points in
controversy.
Mr. Antrim supplemented this state
ment with the remark that they would
not admit that they were using any
bridges in any but a legal manner. To a
question why they were willing to pay
part of the expense of keeping these