The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1908-02-01

I w llh diiDRi wall III ~ PH}
have no place TO accommodate the in-
crease in commerce that would naturally
come TO your port. Suitable space Tor
shops and factories contiguous to your
railroads IL also limited. and to make room
for the natural growth CT your city other
sites must be provided or the business VIII
20 elsewhere. The high land to the north
and west Is given over to residences, and
the proper location for additional shops
and factories is ON the low land near the
water front.
''When this Investigation was commenced
il was our aim to work out a plan 10
reclaim this marsh for agriculture or mar
ket gardening, but the conditions are such
that we think a portion of the land can
be more prohtahly used for commercial
purposes. We therefore that
so much of the marsh as is necessary LOT
the future needs of your city be acquired
and developed for commerce, and the re-
mainder be dyked and drained to improve
it's sanitary condition and make 1t lit for
agriculture or factory sites as Is most
beneficial to it's owners. These two parts
of the Improvement should be worked out
In such a way as to bring the entire marsh
into a good state of sanitation at once.
Without reference to the purpose for which
this land can be used, the most important
| point mt present is that it be brought into
n good healthful condition without delay.
To accomplish lilIS tue tlllIC urea GA-
cent that norton to be eXcavated for a
shin canal should be dyked and drained,
or else filed above high water, a few
acres have been filled by the owners, but
the process is slow and expensive and IL
| will require many years to abate the in
tolerable nuisance that now exists and
reclaim the marsh in this manner. BY
building earth embankments to keep ont
the high tide and putting In some slulces
to remove internal drainage, this land can
be speedily reclaimed and made habitable
at a comparatively small expense. Dykes
can be built with a dredge, and by making
a large cross section twelve or fifteen
feet on top. with bank slopes two and one
half to one, no special preparation of the
base need be made. The weight of the
dredged material will displace the muck
and settle down to solid bottom, forming
an embanhment that can be used as a
roadbed.
'.That portion of the meadow south of
the strip set apart for the ship canal is
being reclaimed by filing, and will, no
doubt, all be brought up to the level of
high water in this amer. 1t was also
suggested to me by your chief engineer
that a portion of it might be required for
sewage publication, and | have sug-
gested no plan for improving 1t. If, how
ever, 1t is deemed advisable 10 do so you
can by means of a dredge cut a channel
along the south edge OF your ship canal
and deposit the dirt so as to form an en-
bankment on the south side, and by carry
ing this around to Bound Creek and down
the creek to the New Jersey Central Rail-
way this portion of the meadow could be
dyked and drained as suggested for other
parts.
because Of its peculiar location it is
evident that a great portion, if not all, OF
this marsh land will within the next few
years be used for commercial aud manu-
featuring purposes. Although the work OF
this office has to do With agricultural prob
lens. we may with propriety, because of
tile local conditions We find here. offer
some suggestions as to the development
for commerce. With = view of shaping
the plan OF Improvement IN such a way as
10 bring the entire marsh into a good
state of sanitation at once, and to so ar
range that the two parts of the work can
be developed without conflict, we offer the
tClloNiIs suggestions:
The plans here suggested for improving
a portion of this meadow for commercial
purposes contemplate the dredging of a
thirtY-foot channel in the bay from Kill
Won Null to a point opposite the mouth or
the Peddie street sewer, and the building
OF Il ship canal, with suitable docks and
wharves for handling freight, in the most
economical manner from this point across
the meadow to the high land. The first
part OF this work will probably be done by
the Federal government in improving the
rivers and harbors under a succession of
contracts, and may not be fully completed
Tor a score of years, yet it is a pre-
requisite to the completion of the second
part of the work as outlined in these plans.
The depth of water procured in the outer
channel is the limitation Of the effective
work that may be done by your city on the
SNIP canal, While there is hut twelve or
fifteen feet of water in the bay you will
derive no benefit from a sreas er depth in
the canal.
TN planning this work it has been the
aim to arrange 1t in such Il way that you
could begin on the bay and make the first
cut on the proposed canal and use the ma
terial eNcavated TO form a levee to keep
out the tide. and at the same time serve
as the beginning Of your system of
WburNes. AS soon as the first cut has
reached high ground, neal Wheelcr's Point,
a railroad can be laid on the embankment,
ana vessels Of as deep draught as the
water In the bay will accommodate can
come in aud receive and discharge cargo
at any point along this line of work. The
canal can be enlarged and the adjacent
land filled, as you have available fluids,
so as to have at all times the full benefit
OF the maximum depth OF water in the
channel across the bay. BY this plan you
VIII derive an income from the dock PRIV.
ileges that you can lease or sell as soon
as the first cut is made. This will in
crease from year to year as your business
grows, and long before the plans here sug-
Sested are fully completed the receipts for
wharfage will more than pay the interest
on your Investment and You will have a
surplus to be used In the further Develop
meut of your plan.
ECONOMY in handling cargo depends
largely ON the facilities provided. The
cheapest form of dock is Il platform where
the cargo of a vessel may be deposited
without reference TO the distribution or
use that is 10 be made Of it. This suf-
fees so far as the owner of the vessel is
concerned, but does not meet tho require
ments of a cousignee, as it entails an addi-
tional expense for r%ebandling. This form
Of wharf is made the more valuable by
having in close proximity ample ware
houses or sheds in which cargo may be
stored at a reasonable cost, at the pleas
ure of the owner. This is very necessary
with such commodities as grain. cotton,
Of the market often makes ii desirable to
hold rather than ship at a specified time,
"A higher type Of development is one
in which the pier or wharf is connected
by a system of tracks with the various
ruiz line railroads, 80 that the cargo
av be placed directly in cars and re-
shipped to destination. Any system of
docks that makes the rehandling OF cargo