The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1906-04-30

rates along its course as is the river
traffic at Newark
Newark now ships by water to New
York for twenty cents ton, without
railway delays, demurrage or wharfage
charges. By rail the rate is fifty cents.
And this in the face of he fact that the
river and harbor improvements in the
lower Passaic are far from perfect: that
the lingering, piecemeal fashion in which
the channel has been improved has never
allowed it to reach its greaest possibili-
ties in giving water transportation TO the
city Theoretically, he Passaic now has
a depth Of twenty feet as far up as tile
Centre street bridge, of twelve feet for a
distance above the bridge, and of ten
feet as far north as the Greenwood Lake
bridge. As matter of fact, think, ven
these depths are more theoretical than
real. But inadequate as is this channel
and the whole river situation at Newark.
it's value and its possibilities are well
illustrated by the reports of the Chief
Of Engineers for the pas fifteen years:
1866, ,256966 tons; value, $25,65S,-
$50.
1902, ,037, 1862 tons; value not given.
1902, ,567 ,942 tons; value, $134,S $780,
964.
These figures were presented by the
Passaic Board of Trade to the House
Committee on Rivers and Harbors yes
terday as showing how, relatively, Pas
saic's future growth and the growth and
prosperity of the seven or eight miles of
valley intervening between Newark and
Passaic would be enhanced by a devel-
opment of the river transportation above
Newark Mr. Mason's facts and figures
as to the question are otherwise interest
ing,
Sixteen years ago the population OF
Passaic was 1900. In 1900 it was 2S,-
000 The State census last year showed
it to have $500 inhabitants The
growth of its manufactures has been
phenomenal. Atlantic City is the only
other city in the State which, in the past
FIVE years, has made such development
and growth. A good channel in the river
from Newark to Passaic means the
building up, in the not distant future, of
the entire river valley between the two
cities. where the population is now prob
ably from 10000 10000, as an almost
continuous manufacturing community.
The deepening Of the river from New
ark to Passaic is not by any means
new project In 1872 the river and har-
Dor bill provided for dredging a channel
from 80 to 300 feet wide and from six
to seven and half feet deep from the
Greenwood Lake Railroad bridge to Pas
sale. There was a channel dredged, but
it was never fully carried out. At the
present time it requires slow and careful
pilotingt B get a loaded boat of six-foot
draft up the river to Passaic at high tide.
The present project is to deepen the
channel to eight feet at low tide. There
is 5000 feet of the river that now has
the necessary width and depth; 1900
feet will require widening and 10000
feet will require deepening to complete
the eight-foot channel.
In 1899 survey was made. with
view to creating this channel. 1t was
favorably reported by the engineers, but
never got any further. Colonel J. W.
Barlow, of the corps of engineers. ap-
proved a project at that time for extend-
ing the eight-foot channel to Paterson.
The estimated cost given for dredging
and widening the river from the Green
wood Lake bridge to Passaic was $203,
25S. For channel from Newark to
Paterson the estimate was $657,305 ad-
ditional IN 1905 there was a survey
made of the lower river, with view to
increasing the depth to twenty feet from
the bay to the Greenwood Lake bridge.
This has never been done.