Palisadian., 1923-09-28
"REMINISCENCES OF
PALHADE
BY CHARLES T. LOGAN

Having found that could not say a
great deal of the short but simple
annals" of Palisade in one chapter,
have agreed to extend the survey to
at least cover some things not known
to the class of citizens who have come
here within the past six or seven
years.
An Active Association
Going back to the old Tax Payers
Association, | repeat that that was
one of the most valuable organiZa-
tions the village ever had. While it
lasted, though, it was active every
inch of the way. It's activities, too,
were generally genuine and directed
to some constructive purpose. But it
ruined itself through the introduction
of factions. Nearly all of the mem
bers, about forty, l imagine, were
New Workers who had bought homes
here, and all were very much in love
with Palisade. The rock on which
the little craft split, however, was
principally connected with a lawsuit
the association undertook to bring
against the Hudson River Realty
Company. Louis Castle Freeman,
president, wrote a special article and
introduced it as resolution, in which
he arraigned the company for not
carrying out the false promises of it's
selling agents.
That Famous Siren Song
1t seems that the selling agents
formed a. little association of their
own, and had meetings at which they
made plans as to the best manner
and method of selling property to the
intending purchaser. Among other
things they thought it would Re
good idea to tell real fairy tale about
what the company proposed to do for
the good people who came to Pali-
SADIE and invested in homes and lots.
1t was this fairy tale that President
Freeman (since dead) called "a Siren
Song" in his resolution in the Tax
Payers Association. He wanted to
sue the company for damages or make
them make good on the promises Of
the agents The association duly pass
ed the resolution and the suit was al
most started when the company
denied having made any of the prom
ises the agents had handed out, say
ing that they (the agents. had acted
on their own initiative; and that
building a S50.000 clubhouse on a fifty
acre tract and giving it to Palisade;
that hedging and parking the car
tracks; that building pergolas and
elacing settees on the cliff front
which was to be a boulevard, was
never even thought of by the Hudson
River Realty Company, etc. They
denied everything, and so the associa-
tion after engaging lawyers, finally
dropped the suit. In lieu of the other
promises by the agents, the company
donated a fine lot for a Catholic
church in West Palisade, the present
site for the Union Church of Palisade,
and the large plot on which the pres
ent Palisade public school is built.
| The company also gave fine lot, SO by
14O feet in Brook Lane for a Town Hall,
together with $2,500 cash, if the citi-
zens would raise $500 for $4,000
| building. During these negotiations
w. R. Goodman had beautiful lot of
plans for the Town Hall made, but
owing to considerable feeling that
still existed, the thing finally fell
through, there being two-year limit
on the deed of gift from the company.
It Is not necessary here to dwell on
the causes of these differences that
cost the village this great need. I can
only say that it was most regrettable,
for the need of a public meeting place
or club building is as great today as
ever. Call it one of the Mistakes of
Moses" or what not, it all proves that
earnest men may often differ over the
most trivial things and fight for even
fictional principle-a principle they
believe in as real as any.
AS for the "Siren Song" of the
agents, 1t was inexcusable, and they
promised other things of equal un-
truth, one of them being an elevated
track from the Manhattan street sub
way station to the Fort Lee ferry-as
big a lie as was ever uttered, and
they knew 1t.
But these troubles all blew over
and the village still goes on. Many
who took sides in these feeling strug-
giles are now friends and nothing like
it may ever occur again.
| Ill.