Perth Amboy evening news. [volume] (Perth Amboy, N.J.) 1903-1959, 1906-02-14
Some Hot Words
Flung at Each
Other.
ICE YESTERDAY.
Fact That All Streams Are Closed
By Ice Sometimes Was
Brought Out By Mr..
POWnaN.


hot clashes took place between the
men interested in the Amboy bridge,
at the hearing before Col. w. r. Liv-
ermore, and his assistant, Mr.. Cor
ham, in room Ms, Army building, this
morning. The hearing began few
minutes after II o'clock and final ad-
iournment was taken at / o'clock.
The decision of the war department
was reserved.
AS soon as the session was called
Col. Livermore had two clerks read
all the testimony and correspond
ence which had anything to do with
the structure since it was started.
This took much time and the clerks
had to relieve each other reading.
Letters were then read from sew
eral concerns which could not have
representatives. present and then Col.
Livermore called upon Charles A.
Bloomfield TO speak Mr.. Bloomfield
said that as all the proceedings had
Just been read he had little more to
add excepting that yesterday, at 3
O'Clock, he had, in company with Mr..
Gridley, of the Chesebrough Vaseline
Works, stood on that company's dock
and for half a mile up the river
could be seen ice so thick boat could
not get through.
Captain Henry H. Hoyer, Of Brook
lyn, who is commander of vessel
which travels the Raritan frequently,
said the ice obstructed navigation
and that he could not get up the
river this week.
John Ford, manager of the Raritan
Towing company, said his boats had
been greatly delayed by the ice.
Director Pownall, of the Board OF
Freeholders, was the next speaker.
He said the whole matter seemed to
him to be an injustice. He referred
to Mr.. Bloomlield's statement about
the ice at 3 o'clock yesterday and
stated that an hour after Mr.. Bloom
field had been there a tugboat with
a tow had gone up the river and had
proven that the stream was not
blocked
He said that ice would stop naviga-
tion even without a bridge. He point
ed out that some people seem to think
the river had never been closed to
navigation before the bridge had been
built. This was wrong. He did not
think the bridge made much differ
ence. lie referred to the fact that the
lwo previous winters had been very
severe ones and that they should not
4 ND q
by asking that the war department al
low two more years in which to COM
plete the structure and have it fur
ther tested.
Before sitting down, NJ. Pownall /
said there was no money available to |
change the draw and that it would be |
1907 or 1905 before bill could be !
passed by the legislature. He said the
war department had approved the
present plans and to make the pro
posed alterations would cost as much
as a new structure.
E. w. Barnes, president of the
Chamber of Commerce, of Perth AM
boy, spoke in favor of the completion
of the bridge. He was followed by
Alan II. Strong, attorney for the
Board of Freeholders. Mr.. Strong
threw some hot shot at Mr.. Bloom |
field and practically accused him of /
making all the trouble. He reviewed |
the history of the structure. He re-
ferred to the various hearings |
brought about by Mr.. Bloomfield and
stated that the cost had fallen upon
the county, when it should have been
on Mr.. Bloomfield. He asked in all
this change in the bridge and cost to
the taxpayers was to be made simply
to crafty the desires of Mr.. Bloom
field.
Here, Mr.. Bloomfield interrupted
and shouted, MOI
Mr.. Bloomfield is the whole trou-
ble." continued Mr.. Strong. is he
not doing it for the sake OF notori-
ety."
Mr.. Strong ended by asking for two
years to give the bridge a thorough
test.
Col. Ilivermore then asked if any
who were not interested one way or
the other had anything to say. Mr.
Sanford, of the firm of Sanford &
Harris. the builder of the bridge,
spoke. He said the ice blocked the
4,aritan river, but it blocked all riv-
ers He declared that he had been
able to get a boat through the ice
here since the bridge had been built,
when he could not get boat through
the Hackensacll river, where there
were no bridges.
Borough Attorney Pearse, of /
south Amboy, appeared for that bor-
ouah he favored the bridge beins 1