The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1913-07-11
A CHAIN or FAME.
The Barrier Washington Erected
Across the Hudson.
ARNOLD REMOVED ONE LINK.
Still the Monster Cable, In Spite OF tho
Traitors Act. Served It's Purpose and
Blocked the Progress Of the British
Ships Up the River.

Blocked the Progress Of the British
Ships Up the River.
Somewhere ln the bed OF the Hudson
river Just oil of West Point lies buried
the hrger part or great iron chain.
one of several ordered by General
Washington during the Revolution to
be constructed to prevent the enemy
from ascending certain rivers TO ac-
complish strategh points Of vantage.
The British were making strenuous
efforts TO get hold OF the Hudson In
order 10 keep free communication with
Canada by the additional channels OF
the St Lawrence and Lake Champlain.
and so IL was determined 10 obstruct
the Hudson by great chain crossing
from Fort Montgomery 30 Anthony's
Nose.
But this was a failure. Phe chain
parted within week after II had been
stretched. and. although subsequently
raised and again placed, II was de
stroyed by the British
Finally Washington decided to forge
another and obstruct the river between
West Point and Constitution island, for
here there was an abrupt change OF
course, and Il heavy tide reduced the
speed OF any ship encountering H. Be
sides, the channel was 300 feet narrow
or at this crossing
The forging n n chain such as was
contemplated was then no small under
taking. Requests were secretly sent
60 various iron companies, and among
the bids the most favorable came from
the Sterling Iron works, situated In
one OF the most beautiful regions OF
the east, now within tho fashionable
domains OF Tuxedo Park.
It was originally organized 10y Lord
Sterling In 1851. a well known officer
in tive Revolutionary army. and con
taum In operation for more than
hundred years meanwhile passing into
the possession " Abel Noble. who
married niece Of Potter Townsend
aud who now In association with the
latter inerrnsed the capacity OF the
works which eventually canie into the
entire possession of Peter Townsend,
a natriot and filled with the spirit Of
tho time.
He finally obtnined few Welsh min
ars from Pennsylvania for the heavy
handling In the fTging and number
of men from Connecticut with their
OK teams to do the hauling, and when
the chain was ready It was drawn
al a m
through forests that had to be Pur-
posely cut In many places and SO on
10 New Windsor. the nearest river
point, and towed To West Point.
It was a strenuous undertaking from
the very start Each link weighed 800
pounds, was two feet In length and
two and quarter inches square, and
each 100 feet was secured by swivel,
a twisting link. and at every thousand
feet there was clevis The whole
OF this weighed lS5 tons When 1t
was stretched across from West Point
10 Constitution island il was buoyed
up by large sixteen foot logs, and
these were In turn held in place by
the anchors
The British made no specific attack
on this then invincible obstacle, for Ii
must be remembered that In those
days there was no dynamite nor tor
pedoes, and none of the enemy's prows
would have pushed their way through
such barrier
Although the British did not succeed
I'm passing the big hudson river chain,
the American traitor Arnold gave II
hiss particular attention and removed
link OF II under the pretcnse OF hav
ing IL repaired for weakness ut near.
by smithy. lie wrote TO Major Andre
that il would not be replaced until the
forts were surrendered 10 the British
But somehow the chain stood for its
purpose, and Sir Henry Clinton did
not attempt 10 relieve BurgOyne
Parts of this celebrated chain are TO
! be sce2 among various historical GU
| rios OF prominent societies number
| of years ago Mayor Hewitt OF New
| York, then the owner of n mine near
the Sterling properties, became inter
estcd i'm finding ont the whereabouts of
| the remaining portions OF the chain A
| large part Of IL lies at the bottom OF
the river, about thirty tons were I'm
various possessions. and nj West Point
there are thirteen links. and n staple
placed near the spot where the chair
was anchored and plate tells of the
date and place of forging. Boston
Herald.