The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1911-08-01
New School Rni1dinp.


Mount Holly must have new schoo
building. That settles that part of tn,
subject. 1t has been known for Ions
time that the new building must come
but there has been lack of interest In tht
matter and now the people are In the posi-
ton of being compelled to act.
| The subject of site is the most perplex.
ing part of the proposition. After ex-
aiming several plots of ground two were
selected for a choice One was the old
academy building on Mount Holly avenue,
the other the vacant railroad lot on High
street. After carefully considering the
advantages and disadvantages of the two
plots 1t was decided to try for the railroad
lot. The price of the lot was supposed to
be well known as the railroad company
had been holding the place at $4,000 for
some time. A. A. Anderson was sent to
Camden to talk with the real estate agent
of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company.
with power to get an option on the lot at
the price named.
Mr.. Anderson went to Camden and msde
an offer of less than 5000 He frankly
told the agent what the lot was wanted
for. and that official said he would take
the matter up at once. He telephoned to
somebody at the main Office and as result
of the conversation told Mr.. Anderson that
In view of the property being wanted for
public purpose, he would submit an Of
fer of IS. 600 for the lot
This offer was put In writing In the fol-
lowing letter:
- Camden. June "a, 1911
Mr.. A. A. Anderson,
Mount Holly. N. ].
Dear Sir:-As per our conversation this
morning, relative to the old station
lot on Main street, Mount Holly, N. j.,
for which the Railroad Company Is asking
", 600, beg to say that while / have no
authority to lower this figure will agree
to submit an offer of 50, 900 and request
that the matter be given the earliest posi-
Bile consideration. My only reason for
agreeing to this Is the fact that the Com
pany might consider favorably the matter
of reducing the price to So. 900 on account
OF the property being wanted for public
school purposes. II, therefore, you will
write me, making an offer of 5000, the
matter will be promptly submitted to the
Board for consideration.
Very truly yours,
0. V. BIGHAM, Agent.
Acting upon this letter the Board of
Education wrote to Mr.. Bigham in the
spirit of his suggestion, and In return re-
ceived the following:
Camden, July 6, 1911.
J. G. Kingdom. District Clerk,
Mount Holly. N. j.
Dear Sir:-Referring to your recent let.
ter In which you recite resolution passed
by the Board of Education of Northamp-
ton Township relative to the proposed pur-
chase from the railroad company of a lot
In Mount Holly as site for public
school; beg to say that have ascertained
since the receipt of this communication
that this property Is not owned by the
pennsylvania Railroad Company. but by
the Camden and Burlington County Rail-
road Company, whose works and property
are leased to the United New Jersey Rail-
road and Canal Company, and in turn
leased by that Company to the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad Company. Therefore, be-
fore decision could be reached relative
to the sale OF this property it would be
necessary to submit this proposition to the
board of directors of each of these three
companies, beginning with the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad, and as the board of d.
rectors of the Pennsylvania Railroad Com.
pany has adjourned for the summer 1t Is
quite unlikely that any action could be
taken by that board before, say, the mid
die of September next. In addition to
this the real estate agent Of the Pennsyl
Yania Railroad Company advises that he
would not recommend the acceptance of
the sum of $4,000 for this property, nor its
sale for use as school site. For your In
formation wish to state that 1t was abso-
lutely necessary for the Board of Educa
ton to make the proposition to me as the
representative of the Railroad Company
before the matter could be submitted to
the real estate agent, and, of course, /
had no means Of knowing, prior to receipt
OF advice from him, what action he would
take in the matter.
Very truly yours,
o. V. BIaHAM. Agent.
The two letters will stand careful peru
sal and comparison. In the first MIR. Big
ham suggested that an offer of So, 900 be
made and that the matter be given the
earliest possible consideration. Whether
that was because the board of directors
was about to adjourn for the summer" is
not known. In that letter Mr.. Bigham
also says that the only reason he would
suggest the price of 81, 900 was because of
the lot being wanted for school purposes.
And 1t was understood by A. A. Auder-
son, who was In the Camden Office while
Mr.. Bigham was In telephone communities
tion with Broad street station, that the
latter was acting with some sort of au-
thority or assurance in the matter. as be
stated the circumstances to the party at
the other end of the line. While the agent
Is In charge of the real estate department
of the P. R. r. on this division, 1t seemed
to take an offer from the school authorities
to inform him that the Pennsylvania Rail-
road Company does not own the lot
In the second letter 1t will be noticed
that, while the P. r. r. does not own the
lot. the proposition to sell must go to that
company first for consideration. The
second letter is simply squirming out, as
1t says the consent of the companies must
be secured. that such an end cannst be
reached until the middle of September.
that the lot will not be sold for S., 900, and
that 1t will not be sold for school purposes
AS the latter Is the only thing for which
the school authorities was considering the
property that settled it. In the latter
part of his letter Mr.. Bigham shows that
it was absolutely necessary for him to
have an offer, but he fails to state that the
offer was made mainly on his suggestion
in the first letter.
The whole thing was blocked because of
opposition by some persons living In the
neighborhood who could not bear to think
of a school house being erected in their
midst. To have other neighborhoods put
up with such an institution was all right,
but they could never stand for it. The
influences that got to work and the pres
sure they brought to bear had more to do
with the rejection of the offer than the
adjournment Of the board of directors for
the summer or any other consideration.
A statement by our esteemed neighbor,
the Mirror, needs slight correction. 1t was:
Z "a letter was then sent to the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad Company asking the price
and requesting an option on the lot, to
which reply was received early last week
that the property Is not for sale for the pur-
nose proDosed -