Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-12-11
ATTACKS BRIDGE
BOARDS AS TOOLS
Lawyer Declares New York and
New Jersey Commissioners
Aid McAdoO Interests.
SAYS THEY ARE PLANNING
TUNNEL WITHOUT TRACKS
Hearing Is Divided on Question
OF Bridge or Underground
Passage.

NEW YORK. Dec. 1.-THE charge
that the New York and New Jersey
state Bridge Commissions are the
tools of the McAdoo interests" and
are trying to find a way of bridging
or tunneling the Hudson river with
out competing with the Hudson tubes
was made at a hearing in City Hall
yesterday by Stephen NJ Hoye, a
lawyer of 2S6 Fifth avenue.
me commissioners have been in
Vestigating for several years various
plans of provid'r@ an interstate con-
hectlon over o" under the river.
At first they thought well of a
bridge, and learning that its cost
would be about $42, 000, 900 and that n.
tunnel might be dug for $1l ,0oO,o 900
they nave been studying the tunnel
project of late
MI Hoye's first complaint was
that no trolley car tracks had been
included in the tunnel plans.
GU wouldn't let me talk at a
packed meeting you had over in New
jersey, he said to the commission
ers' out I'm going to have my say
mere You propose To have a side
walk IN this tunnel SO that those
VINO work hard in the city all day
may have a chance to spend another
hour walking home at night. The
real reason for the absence of pro-
vision Tor trolley cars is that the Nc
Adoo tunnels will have no competi-
ton. You are the tools of the Nc
Adoo interests. You can't get away
from 1t. l have been watching YOU
for year"
a man in the audience told Mr..
hoye that his accusation was ridicu-
lous and babe him sit down.
More Expensive system.
SIT down Yourself" retorted Mr.
Hoye. He then said that the tun-
neling and shield system. which he
reared the commission meant to adopt.
was ~ per cent more expensive than
tue system of laying a tube on the
pea oil the river, sinking it section
by section.
Whom do you represent here p"
asked McDoueall Hawkes.. chairman
of the New York Commission
iiyseI as taxpayer,
and others, replied Mr.. Hoye. with
OUT saying Who the Others were.
AL the end of the session Mr.. Hove
demanded yes or no answer from the
commissioners as to whether or not
tney intended to keep out trolley cars.
| MI Hawkes. ignored him and adj
j urned the hearing.
Many men from Manhattan The
! Bronx and New Jersey gave the com
missioners their views. Some wanted
bridge, some tunnel and one pa
triot said: Let's have 'em both and
build them right away"
ReV DIR. j. w. Cowan, of Weehaw-
ken. said that three fifths of the resi-
dents of northern New Jersey across
from this city favored a bridge large
enough for freight and passenger
trains, as well as ordinary vehicles
and trolley cars
w. w. Mics, president of the North
Side Board of Trade. was for a bridge,
saying that there could be no pleas
ure traffic in tunnel and that rev.
enue could be obtained by taking toll
from automobiles.
Major S. Wood MeClave. of Jersey
City also wanted a bridge.
William w. Crahane. an engineer of
30 Church street, asked the commits
sioners If they had taken into account
the pollution of tunnel air by fumes
from automobiles
Warns of Ventilation.
He estimated that 800 automobiles
an hour would use the tunnel in rush
time and suspected that an additional
tunnel for ventilation would be needed
Chairman Hawkes. replied that the
commissioners had investigated con-
ditions in similar European tunnels
and that Mr.. Crahane was mistaken.
j. G. Tucker. representing the Erie
railroad. said that for Immediate needs
a tunnel was more practical than a
bridge. He remarked that the ferry
boats OF his company carried 775.0O0
vehicles between this city and New
Jersey in the past twelve months
Percy w. Gaddis, a real estate mar
oil Jersey City. said that rs per cent. Of
the people of Hudson county wanted
tunnel and bridge later.
w. w. Weeks, of the Bronx Board
of Trade, said that "a bridge uptown
would have speculative value, While
tunnel downtown would have a COM
mercial value"
Joseph S'tetz. of the West New York
Board of Trade, spoke for a bridge
Another New Jersey man conceded
that bridge would cost more than "A
tunnel, Just as a twenty STORY build
ing costs more than a fve-story
building"
The proposed bridge would extend
from Ninth avenue and Fifty-seventh
street. Manhattan, to the Boulevard in
Weehawken.
The New York commissioners, who
serve without pay, are: McDougall
Hawkes., Emanuel w. Bloomingdale,
George r.. Dyer, A. j. Shamburg and
Arthur j. O'kecfe.