New-York tribune., 1900-08-19
EVICTING A RIVER.
HOW THE PASSAIC HAS BEEN TURNED
OUT OF ITS BED FOR A
PUMPING STATION

Because Jersey City. Paterson, Passaic Lake
View and other places have many thousand
thirsty inhabitants the Passac River has been
driven out of the channel which it has occupied
for centuries. Massive red stone buildings-the
pumping station of the East Jersey Water Com
pany-occupy the old bed of the stream, and
long Golfer dam, strongly built OF Clipped rock,
keeps the water away. OF course when capital
decided to change the course of the river a new
bed had to be made for the stream and in it
the Passaic is running a sluggish Indifferent
race toward the That is, part of it is run
ming, for many millions of gallons are daily
enticed into the quiet, grassy banked canal
which feeds the great pumps. After being thor
oughly cleaned this water is picked up by high
pressure pumps and sent coursing through dark
underground pipes to the thirsty cities
When settlers first pushed back from the
coast to carve homes for themselves in the for
ests which covered the rocky hills of New-Jer-
sey the Passac a noble stream It's flow
vastly larger than at the present time.
obstructed, except for the natural rocks which
added to the colorng by the foamy whiteneSs
which they caused Little Falls was one of the
most beautiful spots the Passaic, and for
years and years it roared to it's hearts content
Then came a silkmaker who stole its power by
dsfiguring the crest of the falls with dam
up and, when a favorable opportunity pre-
sented itself, overfiowed into the meadows
Great the wrath of the farmers when this
had been repeated several years in succession
and they hurried off to Trenton with long
protest The petition resulted in a Government
crew blowing off the top of the falls and level
ling it down. until it had scarcely more dignity
than ordinary rapids This act of vandalism
docking at it from the falls point of view) was
sufficient to break its heart 1t roared no more
rather moaned like a hundred wild beasts in
distress
The falls were stin moaning in 1897 when Jer-
sey capitalists looking for a pumping site de-
cided to locate at this point the Passaic. The
falls kept moaning. and the big school of
black bass which kept house in the shady pools
just below were sorry. The bass had turn
next. The river covered the most available site
for the new water system, therefore the river
had to be moved. Crews of men came with their
horses, scrapers and rock carts They split up a
part of the hill and carried the splinters down
into the stream. They piled rock until the
river was than divided. Then they shut
off the water from above, and several acres of
riverbed were reclaimed. The bass wondered
as their pools became deeper and darted down
stream like little flashes of black lightning when
the first charge of powder told them that the
new bed for the river about to be blasted
cut.
The men with money sent more laborers to
Little Falls, and opened a great sore in the
grassy hillside just below. They called it a
quarry, and took out heavy blocks of brown
and red stone, moved them up into the old
river bed and piled them into massive build
ings of fantastic shape. Then they brought
tons of heavy machinery great pumps and
boilers and engines to them with. When
this work done they blasted a canal from