Perth Amboy evening news., 1907-01-05
OF
MOUNTAIN

A good deal OF unWlitten htstOAS
| will become public at the trial of the
suit brought by Miss Arnold, of Ossin-
ing. to restrain quarrymen at Hook
mountain from further blasting. The
case will be tried before Justice
Keogh at a special term of the SUI
preme court at White Plains in q
couple of weeks. An investigation
made recently at Hook mountain dis
closed to observers the evidences Of
what would have been one of the
biggest blasts ever made in this
country, had not the secret agents OF
1.-THE government peremptorily stopped
proceedings. All that remains of the
projected blast today is a huge tun-
] mel about halfway up the river face
of Hook mountain large enough for
a man to stand in, and extending
many yards into the depth of the
rock. f M Nh
Some five years ago the quarries
had first attacked Hook mountain,
after having been driven from the
Palisades at Indian Head, anticipat-
ing that at some time public senti-
I ulc0 WOulu ultimately uiAfC bhOAA
from their newly acquired holdings,
the quarrymen quietly planned to
Accomplish with one gigantic blast
the removal of enough trap rock from
the top and river front of Hook
mountain to lat them for several
1 years. It was calculated by engi-
PEERS that several thousands tons
of trap rock could be broken loose
| and sent to the foot of the mountain
with a ton or w of dynamite. The
fact that this blast which, If set off,
would practically destroy Hook noun
tain, would also probably knock
down the walls of half the ouses in
Ossining, received no consideration
from the quarrymen, and the work
of excavating a tunnel into the heart
of Hook mountain was begun. The
year. The tunnel was practically
completed. A few weeks would have
! seer the top of Hook mountain lit
orally blown into atoms but for in
reference by the federal government.
The secret agents of the government
got wind of the project and made a
quiet investigation. From the evil
dence found, namely, the depth and
size of the tunnel, itw- as estimated
that serious damage would result
from the blast to residences of the
district for miles around, and that, in
all probability, enough rock would
be blown from Hook mountain into
n the river to partly fill tube channel
and endanger navigation. A peremp-
tory order to discontinue work was
served by the government officials
Upon the ~quarryment and the plan
was abandoned.
All of the quarries on Hook noun
tain have now doubled their drilling
and blasting forces, most of them
J have doubled the capacity of their
crushing machines, and it is esti-
mated after a careful survey of the
mountain that the damage done in
/ the last seven months to the river
front is greater than has ever been
accomplished in any preceding full
year. The pending suit Of the inter
state Palisades park Commission to
acquire the mountain lands by cor
domination proceedings in the courts,
and the suit of Miss Arnold at Os-
shining to stop blasting permanently.
have served only to increase the ac-
tivity of the quarrymen who are pro-
ceeding without any regard to public
opinion or the provisions made for
the protection of Hook mountain by
the legislature last year by the pass
1 49, 4F Al. Ivat-v,s~kt To-.
A considerable amount of new evil
dence relating to the actual manner
in which the work on Hook mountain
is done and the extent through West;
chester county to which the effects
of the blasting on Hook mountain are
felt. has been gathered by the attor-
ney for Miss Arnold and will be pre-
sented at the trial of the suit. 1t
Is promised that some sensational
evidence regarding the absolute dis
regard of the quarry operators to
humanl life and safety will be given,
and that the official records of Rock
land county will be resorted to to
prove the latter point. Stories are
told by persons living near the quar-
TIES duu SiipiOJSo Va oOHuc VI tlS
auarries. showing that the loss Of
life due to careless blasting has been
not only great of itself, but that facts
have been kept from the public
through the efforts of the quarry
owners which, if known when the
events happened. would have brought
upon them serious consequences. All
the facts thus far obtained tend to
prove c~onclusively the contention of
the plaintiff in the suit that the blast
ing on Hook mountain is not only a
nuisance but is a positive menace to
persons living within a radius of
several miles of the quarries.
ANOTHER MERRICK STORY.
Mr.. Leonard Merrick has shown
another side Of his versatile literary
: 10 sa L