The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1899-07-13
New York Mans Plan to
Reclaim the Hacken-
sack Marshes.
WOULD WIDEN The RIVER
Dyking and Draining Will
Not Effect the Desired
Result.

st,,a,aa a. nroh,am - raalo5no;ng the
| Nawa, II and uaorans aolr maadows and
his set fortb his views 4 ) long article
as7drassaa 80 ..c,,naa7 cam Dc arst
assor,has IL s,asdoms showing thai
,bav svtana from uaararsacr q staten
Island ana sror, rarssv C,tv r. Newark
Tba, oa,tag, o. aoo o.ras ana orc the
cantra ~ ! yast c-annu,,itv that increases
az nor,,lat,on an ner conn averv ter. wears
rans;aord, =, M var,na,,ls,s n,an If dvk-
mo tba maadows ana draining ar the
u,ster bv el,,ioas ~ n,,nnns Mr. canarn
save.
IL ar4bor estimates tba+ II would cost
abo,,+ : r,i,l,;on and 3 r,,a rtar dollars "a
carrv o,,t Tba svstam af dvltes however.
womb need Constant renairs due 10 the
| damag pos ~ ro,,skrats ana addlers or sol
| dler crabs and settling hanks IT would
e n dsnsa,. ~ braaEi,g down ana a.
mitting the sea INTO fhe whole area
whenever tbAra was ona ~ those extra-
ordinary b,gb HIDES mai hannen once in
: while Tbsra vo,,1d 10 tha danger az
thsir heinz s,,bmargad Nv the GOODS Of
the Passaic and Haekensack rivers. There
would be the danger If the water perco-
latinr tbrou, IN the dykes from under
neath in certain places There would be
the cost of ma in~tenance which Mr.. Yer
menle estimates At 81 III per acre every
wear. This does not include interest on
| the original outlay. And the land when
reclaimed would never Be available for
the hest purposes of residence of cultiya-
tion. peonle who can work or live else
where will not live at or below sea level.
especially when the ground is constantly
sinking. as the meadows are found to do
when drained. These objections to rns
draining and embankment scheme seem
to be grave. and TO make it worth while
to consider long and seriously ii a better
cannot be found.
Mr.. Capran argues that the meadows
should be raised. and then develops his
plan of ACCOMPLISHING this. He saws
The scheme that I propose is simply to
widen the Hackensack River until it be-
comes an inland gulf, and practically an
extension of Newark Bay. and to spread
the dug-out material over the rest Of the
marsh deep enough to raise the bog into
dry land.
Leaving out the Polify district. which
is fresh meadow, and allowing for the
area already filled in by railroads, ETC.,
there would remain to be reclaimed about
5000. To I'll This UP three feet deep 1t
would be necessary to max such a gulf
extend over 5000 acres and 10 dredge it
out to a depth or twelve feet. BY dredg-
ing deeper. of COURSE as much material
could be obtained from a less area and
more land acquired. This filling would
cost about SsH an acre. IN some cases
more. according to circumstances. But
when it was done 1t would be done. There
would be no after expense for mainten-
ance and repairs and no risk. The per-
manence Of filing is shown by the roads
If all kinds that cross the marsh. raised
but two or three feet above the surface.
When once the whole scheme was deter
mined on II might be proceeded with as
fast or slow al circumstances might per-
mit: IT might be carried ON In only one or
in several places at once, it might be
stoned for awhile and taken up later.
and there need be no deterioration
through neglect in the value of the work
done The land acquired would be high
and dry. out of the reach of tides. would
ba lass q ffectexl nv the s~hrinkage of the
marsh than under other schemes. and
eo,ld be raised at any future time and to
INV avtant III materials ACQUIRED by
areao,ne Th,,s instead Of 5000 acres Of
1,hat = s,eitba,, ,and nor water ana has
none If the value of either. we should
have d. COO acres Of valuable and probably
fartila land aua a beautiful estuary of
K ma acres which would cool and sweeten
the climate Of this low lying valley and
delight the eve of everyone who saw it.
Beauty at once again a matter of dollars