Perth Amboy evening news., 1906-11-26
TO SAVE HOOK
MOUN j N

%"
Unless pressure from some unseen
sourso is brought to bear upon the
Hook Mountain quarrymen, the In
t%erstate Palisades Park Commission
Will be compelled to so to the courts
in condemnation proceedings to ac-
quire possession Of the Hook Noun
tain lands for the purpose of stopping
the DETACHMENT of the mountain and
extending the Interstate Park reser
walton from Piermant northward 10
Stony Point. The price of $4,000
600 for the quarry properties, which
was ~renectly named to the commits
sion by the quarry owners, is pro
hibitive and proceedings for the ac-
quirement, of these lands is, for the
present at least, at a s~tandstill. The
quarrymen evidently rely upon the
naming of an excessive price to pre-
vent the purchase of their lands for
some time to come. because within
the last ten days one of the largest
rock companies on Hook Mountain
has purchased and installed an addi-
tional stone crusher on its plant.
Since the passage of the Vain
wright bill last spring, authorizing
the Interstate Palisades Park Com
mission TO acquire the lands neces-
sary for the park between Piermont
and Stony Point, including Hooi
oMuntain, the Quarries on Hook
Mountain have been working double
the number of drills and men that
they formerly worked, and the enor-
nous quantity of detached rock which
has accumulated since last May has
necessitated the installation of eY-
ira crushers. 1t is more than ever
apparent that the quarrymen pro
pose fighting the effort to Dust them
as long as they can, and are blasting
away all the rock possible before they
are finally stopped. Although the
completion of the plans for the Pal
isade Park are greatly delayed by
this opposition of the quarrymen, the
latter are really making their last
stand, BECAUSE the agitation in ia
tyor of the Hook oMuntain Park pro-
sect and the outcry following the re-
cent incorporation of the Storm King
Stone Company, have convinced the
quarrymen that it will be all but i'm
possible for them to secure a foot
ing anywhere else on the river front
where there is scenery to be pre-
served OF land marks to be saved
from destruction.
Assurance is given by representa-
tives of land On both sides OF
The river. in and below the Highlands
that any further effort of the quarry
men to open quarries on the river
front will be opposed to the last. The
public has taken seriously the lesson
learned from the destruction of In
dian Head and other parts of the Pal
isades, and the quarrymen who have
committed acts of vandalism at these
points are now looked upon by many
persons almost in the light of public
enemies.
In the meantime the Palisades
! Park Commission is taking every steI
possible TO hasten action by The courts
to stop blasting on Hook Mountain
and the engineers of the commission
are pushing their plans for the park
highway as rapidly as possible to oc-
eupation. An investigation by the
engineers with Il view to ascertaining
the localities from which crushed
rock can be secured for the building
of the proposed park highway, from
Fort Lee to Stony Point, confirms tn,
statement made by State Engineel
Van Alstyne last spring, that thers
are great deposits of trap rock OIL
the west face of Hook Mountain OH
of sight of the river nor than suffi
cient for the building of the parl
highway and large enough to supply
the, state with crushed rock for sew
eral hundred miles of state roads now
building.
The members of the Interstate Pal
isadess Park Commission, however
say that their inability to acquire
the Hook Mountain lands at once viii
not affect the use of those portions Of
the proposed park territory already
set aside for the S of summer
campers. The entire area designed
for the use of campers will not be
opened for, several years hence, buI
a considerable portion of it will bt
available next summer, and the ter
ritory will be increased year by veal
as the plans of the commission are
carried out. For a time at least the
work OF carrying out all the plans o
the commission will be necessaril,
slow, but once work on the park high
way has been begun, and the commits
sion has been able to acquire posses
sion of an appreciable amoun of tn,
land included in the extension of tn
park north of Piermont, work vii
progress more rapidly. 1t will be tn
endeaVor OF the commission to hay
the park ready for a formal dedica
ton tire years hence. Such oppos.
tion as the commission meets wit
from the Hook oMuntain quarry owl
ers will delay the commissions oil
ject indefinitely, unless a prompt az
ton can be secured in the courts.