Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-06-17
woopsRIpoE,s MOSQUITO HATCHERY

WOoXSst SsssV
An effort is to be made to rid Woodbridge of mosqui-
toes. At least the Middlesex County Mosquito Extermina-
ton Commission, through the efforts of Mrs. E. H. Boynton,
who is a member of that body, is going to clear out Heards
brook and drain the meadows in the vicinity with the idea
of abolishing the breeding places. But unless there is CO.
operation on the part of the residents and unless the town
ship is willing to do its part in the warfare against the pest
there is no use being too optimistic as to the results.
Woodbridge can never hope to be the beautiful and
attractive place it might be as long as that meadow and
swamp is allowed to exist practically in the heart of the
village. This furnishes an ideal hatchery for millions Of
mosquitoes and is a standing disgrace to the people of that
town. Why they have been so Indifferent to this eye-sor,
year after year is hard to understand. The only possible
answer seems to be politics. If the Woodbridge people
could only put aside their bitter partisanship for a little
while, forget their petty quarrels, jealousies and personal
~prejudices, and get together with the sole object of DOING
something for Woodbridge, this swamp which now sepa-
rates Main street from Green street could be changed from
the towns greatest liability into its most valued asset.
At comparatively little expense that whole tract ex-
tending all the way from Railway avenue to Amboy avenue
could be bought by the township and converted into a de-
lghtful park. With winding paths and drives, shade trees,
%shrubbery and flowers it could be made a thing of beauty
and a joy forever. incidentally, it would go a long way to-
ward Kidding the town of mosquitoes.
Some people have lived in Woodbridge so long and
have become so accustomed to seeing this swamp as it now
exists that they take it as a matter of course. To some resi-
saepts. perhaps, it wouldn't be Woodbridge if that swamp
were not there. But to the occasional visitor and stranger
it is an abomination and a disgrace; one wonders why the
class of people that make up the majority of Woodbridge
residents stand for such a condition.
Thousands of people pass through Woodbridge every
summer in the trains bound to and from the coast resorts.
AS the train enters the place going south the view from the
car windows is charming. Grove street and Green street
with their broad, smooth pavement lined on both sides with
shade trees and pretty homes and the attractive high school
building make a most favorable impression. Then the sta
ton is passed and-presto! the scene changes. All that
Woodbridge has gained in the eyes of the stranger is lost
and more besides. 1t is the overgrown swamp right in the
heart of the town that does it. Transform this swamp into
a park and Woodbridge would at once take her place among
the prettiest suburban communities anywhere between Jer-
sey City and Long Branch.
How can the people of Woodbridge remain so short
sighted as not to realize it? Why is there not sufficient
civic pride in the town to bring about this improvement?
And now Woodbridge is going to fight mosquitoes. No
doubt some good will be accomplished. But to make this
fight a success and, at the same time, to do something
really worth while for the town, that overgrown, u~nsightly
meadow and swamp between Main and Green streets should
be abolished and a park laid out to cover the entire tract.