Perth Amboy evening news., 1904-12-16
BRIDGE AS IT
is TO.OTHERS.
Newark Evening News Discusses
the Structure in a Long
Editorial. :

The Newark Evening News says:
If a man were to build a costly
house with ITO steps TO reach the front
door, none to give access to the back
door, no way to get in. none to get
out; no stairways to the second story,
no ohimneys to tbs hre PLACES; no
roeans of opening or shutting the
windows, he wonld be called a-well
an ulcomplimentary name. He might
sven be declared non compos mentis
and be placed under the care of a
guardian.
The Board Of Chosen Freehold ers
Of Middiesex County buiit n pile
bridge, at a cost of 500, 600, over the
Raritan river ut Perth Amhoy, They
furnished it with o steel draw in the
center to allow vessels to pass through,
but they provided no ice guards. and
last winter a great part of the struc-
ture was twisted into kindliug wood
and washed down the stream. Ti",l
an act of the legislature was passed
enabling the Middlesex freeholders to
issue more bonds, incur more expense.
repair the damaged structure and CON-
plete the bridge.
They did what they were thus auth
orized to do; built the bridge, made
ali approach to it on the south side of
tile river, but left the north side
standing more than twenty-five feet
above the banks OF the stream. Not
only this, they left the bridge without
ice guards, in exactly the same JON
dition it was Inst winter before the
ice drift swept the structure away.
There it stands today, uuapproach-
able, of no use to the public and an
obstruction to the river. This super
lative folly Of the Board of Freehold
ers is almost equaled by that Of the
Perth Amboy council, for the latter
body received ny deed Of gift from
Oortlandt Parker a stretch of End to
be graded and Kept as a couS enient
apr zach to the new bridge, ana after
accepting the same with its oondi-
tions, refused to make the appi zach,
claiming thatHit was the duty Ct the
Board of Freelioldrrs.
And titus these two official bodies
see-sawed, spending and wasting the
peoples money until the matter was
brought to the attention of Supreme
Court Justice Fort, who directed the
grand jury to make an investigation.
The wonder is that indictments we're
not found, but it may be that the soath-
ing presentment handed into court
will have the desired effect. This
document declares that public inter
ests were not served either in the con
ception Of the scheme to huild tho
bridge or in The execution Of it. that
the proper legal preliminaries were
not taken that the PLANS and speoi-
fioations were not safe and certain (;
that the plan of inviting bids was not
favorable; that tile specifications were
departed from after the contract was
awarded that the work was not done
und sr competent supervision, and that
it was of suoh character OF to arouse
suspicion aud objection.
This Is the work of the Middlesex
fr%eeholders, as seen by Middlesex
grand Jurors, and the Perth Amboy
council comes in.for hardly less severe
lashing for assuming a moral obliga-
tion and then refusing to be bound by
it OF to carry it out in constructing
an approach to the bridge. In build
ing a bridge before an approach as
provided for the freeholders certainly
"showed themselves much more eager
10 spend public funds than to do good
or preform their work properly"
Another piece of official folly WAS
to award cont acts for the building o
a fine road one hundred feet idea npd
then leave directly in the way an over
head Pennsvlvania railroad freight
bridge so low thai a wagon loaded
with hay cannot pass under it and
only thirteen feet in width. This is,
as the grand jury declares. a nuisance
If nil this is not as consummat folly
ms that Of building a house without
ingress or egress, what is? Is it any
wonder that Middlesex county voted
to abolish Its Board of Freeholders 4;
The next thing to be done, 1t would
seem. is to elect a new set of officials
in Perth Amboy.