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it The Palisades Are the Balcony of the World” William A. Mackay, Coytesville PALI SAD IAN "Finds tongues in trees, books In running brooks, Sermoiu in stones, and good m everything.” —As Tou Like It. VOL. XIX. NO. 14 PALISADE, N. J., MARCH 19, 1926 PRICE 4 CENTS PALISADE AVENUE ASSESSMENT TO BE SETTLED DT FORT LEE COUNCIL WITHOUT EXTRA LEGAL OPINION Councilman Kerwein Against Employing Extra Attorneys, Saying Cost Could Easily Be $12,000 — Informal Meeting Next Wednesday Night—Councilman Cook Forces Further Discussion on Appointment of McDer mott as Assistant to the Chief of Police. To safeguard against the possibility of enormous legal fees that would add to present exorbitant cost of the Palisade avenue improvement the Fort Lee Council on Wednesday night voted against obtaining extra legal advice as suggested at the informal hearing in the Palisade schoolhouse on Wednesday evening of last week. Councilman Kerwein said that the legal fees could easily mount to $12,000 and felt the Council was capable of straightening the matter out without the extra counsel proposed. Mayor white read the resolution adopted at the Palisade schoolhouse hearing suggesting that the council employ Judge Seufert and one other attorney to co-operate with the bor ough attorneys, Mackay & Mackay, to render an opinion as to the legality of the assessment. Councilman Wood asked if the bor ough attorney was not able to render a satisfactory opinion without the help of extra counsel, which would, of course mean extra expense. The Mayor said to employ extra counsel would be a precautionary measure in that the assessment was involved over questions of rights of way, etc. Mr. Wood said in his opinion they would have a lawsuit over the matter anyhow. Councilman Cook said that the mat ter should be settled at once without burdening the borough at large fur ther with the interest charges, which are to date in the neighborhood of $58,000. He said that the borough at torney might be able to tell about the . right of ways. At this point Councilman Kerwein j reviewed the situation, saying that ; when the first petition for a highway ! •was made in 1912 an engineer by the name of Clark prepared a map and gave an estimate of cost, which was about $75,000. At the time a man named Smith owned the property. Mr. Douglas, who then lived in Palisade, went to see Mr. Smith in New York state about the improvement, and later Mr. Douglas, the Hudson River Realty Company, and Mr. Smith mu tually agreed to \ uake the improve ment themselves. : '"he contract was given to Garfield ..my of Palisade, who after starting the road got into financial difficulties and committed suicide. The matter then was held over until a new petition was received in 1916 asking that the improvement be finished up to Main street in Fort Lee. The residents on the north end of Palisade avenue protested, and in 1919 another petition was received asking that the road be finished up to where the improvement was finally made. He said also that the part of the road Mrs. Murphy-Mulligan, at torney for the present owner, claims was taken without due process of law was opened up by the original owner mmseii. Councilman Schall said it was the desire of the people affected by the assessment that legal advice be ob tained and that they had an organiza tion of their own and were ready to take the matter into court. Mr. Kerwein said that he thought . the Fort Lee Mayor and Council are as fit as any governing body here about, had good common sense and are capable of threshing the matter out themselves, together with the as sessment commission, without the ex tra legal aid, as suggested. He said the fee for extra counsel in a case of this kind could easily be 5 per cent of the cost of the improvement, or about $12,000. Mr. Cook said that the bor ough could have saved thousands of dollars if that had been done two and a half years ago. Mayor White said the only reason he had suggested consulting other at torneys was to be sure the council were right in every respect and espe cially on the matter of having proper ly obtained the right of way. The at torney did not attach much impor tance to the claim of Mrs. Murphy Mulligan that the borough had illegal ly taken the land through which the road runs. He said that Judge Do Temus, who was the attorney at that time, had assured him the land was legally obtained and would look up his t records to make sure. He added that the question of right of' ways and damages had no bearing on the jus tice of the assessment as a whole. It was finally decided that the Mayor and Council hold an informal meeting with the assessment commis sioners on Wednesday evening next to review the assessment and prepare some definite proposition, to be made khown at the next meeting on April 7, when the final hearing on the com missioner’s report is to be held. Near the close of the meeting Coun cilman Cook asked for the attorney’s opinion as to the legality of the chief of police naniing Sergeant Andrew McDermott as assistant to the chief of police. The attorney said that un der the provisions of the police or dinance the chief had a right to name any of the men as his assistant to act in his absence in the execution of or ders, and, although he had made the appointment between meetings, the action was approved by a majority vote at the following meeting. Councilmen Wood and Cook con tended that he had no right to any ti tle other than sergeant and that the chief was not absent in the sense that the ordinance implies. After a verbal set-to between the councilmen named, the mayor and the attorney the mat ter was closed and left status quo. Councilman Cook said as an after piece that the borough had gotten along for nine or ten years without an assistant to the chief and all of a sud den they got busy like they had eaten a yeast cake and appointed one, and he didn’t see any necessity for the great rush. Councilman Hoebel said that the people of West Fort Lee wanted buses on Main street and asked what could be done about it. The mayor re called that a former permit that had been granted for a route parallel ing the trolley line was turned down by the Public Utilities Commission, but that he was willing to entertain another petition. ■ Permission was granted Louis Pon si to improve "the present post office building on Main street in Fort Lee by building a brick front and adding a! second story. John Smith of Center avenue was elected by the council as constable for a term of three years. The property owners on Second street in Coytesville signified their willingness to deed over six and a half feet of property on each side of the street to the borough to give the street a total width of 33 feet from property line to property line if the borough will grade the street and lay the sidewalks, as well as replace the fences. The mayor asked the Coytes ville representatives if the people would be willing to pay for a perma nent improvement of the road itself if done at the same time the other work was-done. An estimate of the cost of the entire job will be obtained and the matter considered at a later date. A letter from Charles Mehlin urged that the east end 'of Main street be re paired, as it was a disgrace to the borough. At the written suggestion of the Board of Trade Councilman Hoebel introduced a motion authorizing the attorney to prepare the necessary pa pers to amend the peddlers’ ordinance making the fee for local peddlers $25 and for outside peddlers $50. A resolution introduced by Council man Hoebel and seconded by Council man Elkan authorized the purchase of two fire sirens for use in Palisade and Coytesville. FORMER GRANTWOOD BOY WINS $1,000 PRIZE Charles Lind Added to List of Lo cal Prize Winners—Who Will Be Next? Mr. Charles Lind of New York City, who lived in Grantwood from his ear liest boyhood, last Saturday was the winner of a cash prize of $1,000 of fered by the New York World for the solution of a puzzle. He had it all worked out to the last item by that day and with Saturday’s edition went to Madison Square Park for the final solution, where several hundred other people were on hand also for the same reason. He found the key designated under a bench leg, and no sooner was it in his possession than he was surrounded by the crowd. Then a representative of the World who was on the spot for the success ful seeker took him to the office, where he received his prize. A touch of romance is added to this story because Mr. Lind’s recently an nounced engagement to Miss Char lotte Goelz of Grantwood. who is well known among the younger set and is active in church work. The young couple are to be congrat ulated on this fine nest egg. It may be remembered that some years ago Mr. Mott of Grantwood secured his pretty home on Crescent avenue, since sold, through the $3,00(1 prize won from the Hudson Dispatch and last spring Miss Lucy of the Cliffside Park school faculty won a wonderful trip to Europe and Palestine, first class, with all expenses paid and won derful treatment, from the New York American, which she just happened to pick up. Who will be the next? The Telephone’s Birthday Nearly halt a million people in this country and Canada celebrated Wednesday. March 10, as the fiftieth anniversary of the invention of the telephone. These individuals form the army of telephone men and wo men who make it possible for the peo ple of the United States and Canada j to talk to one another over the mil lions of telephones now in service, in the two countries. Fiftieth anniversary buttons espe cially designed for the occasion were worn by these telephone people all day Wednesday to commemorate the first transmission of spoken words by wire. REGIONAL PLAN OF NEW YORK EXPLAINED Speaker Urges Appointment of Local Planning Units—Need of County Park System Stressed. Flavel Shurtleff, director of the Di vision of Public Relations of the Re gional Plan of New York, addressed the members of the Real Estate Board of the Palisades and their guests at a luncheon-meeting at. the Park Inn in Hudson Heights on Wednesday at noon. FLAVEL SHURTLEFF Mr. Shurtleff was introduced by Ar thur Rooney, president of the Board, and opened his talk with a brief sum mary of just what the Regional plan is. He explained that the, idea of city planning was originated in Chicago by a group of business men. The thought was brought to New York City by the late Charles Norton, who obtained the aid of the Russel Sage Foundation in financing the work. Their purpose in a few words is to prepare a tentative plan for the future development of territory around Man hattan Island within a radius of about thirty-five miles so that Manhattan may be relieved of the tremendous pressure of its ever increasing popu lation and industrial activity. There are five divisions—the engi neering, the legal, the social survey, the industrial and economic and the public relations division. Each is do ing its particular part of the work in laying out a plan that will meet the needs of the metropolitan area for about fifty years. New highways, railroad extensions, public parks, parkways, playgrounds, school sites, industrial sites and scores of other important things are a part of the general plan. They are mak ing a special effort to get more of Manhattan’s industries to locate in suburban industrial districts, mainly the vicinity of Bayonne, in order to widen the main industrial area from about twelve square miles to thirty square miles. Mr. Shurtleff made an earnest plea for the establishment of local plan ning commissions in each municipal ity to aid in the great work. He stressed with special emphasis the importance of a county park system and its practical value to not only real estate men, but every one. He expressed his approval of the princi ple of zoning and concluded with the remark that zoning was not dead in New Jersey, as the people were the final court of appeal, and if the state courts said it was not constitutional the people could with their vote make it constitutional. Mayor Marini of Cliffside Park made a few remarks following Mr. Shurtleff’s address and pledged his support to do all that it. is possible to do locally to follow ont the speaker's suggestions. C. Rambo of Coytesville Dies After Long Illness Carl Rambo, 61, a native of Coytes ville, died March 1 at the Engle wood Hospital after a protracted ill ness. Mr. Rambo was taken to the home of his sister, Mrs. Frank Red man of Hammet avenue, and services were held on. Thursday at the Dutch Reformed church. Dr. Kelder offi ciated. He was buried among his friends in the little Coytesville Ceme tery, which is how officially a part of the borough of Englewood Cliffs. Mr. Rambo is survived by his daughter, Mrs. J. Hammond; his twt> brothers, William and Christian Ram bo, and by ljis sisters, Mrs. Frank Redman and Miss Rambo. NEW MEMBERS ON GUFF'S SCHOOL BOARD Mrs. Bronte and Mr. Moeser Take Seats—A Word About the New Officials. At the reorganization meeting of i the Hoard of Education held Tuesday j evening President Edward Wood, Vice President Aloys Florchinger and Dis trict Clerk H. S. Enger were unani mously elected to office. Mr. Wood thanked retiring member Frank W. Wakeham for his splendid service and co-operation during the past six years, and in reply Mr. Wakeham made a few remarks anent the courteous treatment he had received and the pleasure he had experienced by acting on the board. After being welcomed by the president the two new mem bers spoke briefly. All the teachers were present and were asked to make reports if they had any. Miss Grace Watts told of her visit to certain schools in Hacken sack and Englewood and stated that she had derived a great deal of bene fit therefrom. In a short address the president told of the work that would come before the board during the com ing year, mentioning specifically the fixing of the playground, the repair of the old school building and the painting of the new. word here about the two new members would not be amiss. Mrs. Ethel Bronte comes of old Revolution- ] ary stock. Her great-grandfather, Major General John Paterson, was on Washington’s staff, was a member of the First and Second Continental Con gresses, commander at West Point after the war and later United States senator. Her grandfather was a mayor of Rochester and New York state sen ator. She, however, was born in Iowa, attended and later taught in the pub lic schools of that state. After her marriage she and Mr. Bronte came to New York, and at her studio in Carne gie Hall she taught singing. Since coming to Englewood Cliffs she has devoted a great deal of her time to writing gcenarois, four of which have j been shown on Broadway. Mrs. Bronte has always taken an active in terest in the affairs of the borough and brings to her new task a well trained mind. Mr. Jeremiah Moeser, on the other hand, was born in the city of New York,, is the son of-a retteran of the Civil War and the product of the schools of New York, a Knight of Co lumbus and a member of all the local organizations. His sister is a teacher, and his daughter, Miriam, will be a graduate of Montclair Normal School in June. John Moeser, the older son, is studying law. Bike Mrs. Bronte, he has been naturally interested in edu cational matters and promises to be a noteworthy addition to the board. Civil Service Examination For Postmastership in Hudson Heights Soon , An examination lor postmaster at .Hudson Heights, Hudson county, New Jersey (civil service) will be held in the near future. Those wishing ap plication blanks may call at the Hud son Heights postoffice. The date of the examination will be announced shortly by the Government office at Washington. Two Arrested Two arrests on charges of drunk enness and disorderly conduct were reported at Cliff side Park police headquarters, Saturday. Bernard Ziv itsky, 38 years old, of 280 River road, Edgewater, was arrested on complaint of Patrolman Jacobs and released under bail of $25 for a hearing before Recorder Preston, Wednesday night. Frank Matnerick, 25 year old, of 182 Cliff street, Cliffside, was arrested on the same charge by Patrolman Jacobs and released under bail of $25. He will also be given a hearing Wed nesday night. The men were carous ing around and causing a general dis turbance in the neighborhood. PRESTON ELECTED EXALTED RULER OF CLIFFSIDE PARK ELKS Got a Unanimous Vote With Al most 100 Per Cent Present —Other Officers Elected. Recorder Joseph A. Preston of Cliff side Park was signally honored by his fellow townsmen last week by his election as as Exalted Ruler of the ClifTside Park Lodge of Elks. The attendance at the election meeting was almost 100 per cent, and he re ceived a unanimous vote. Mr. Preston is a line fellow and very popular. That he will make an A-l Exalted Ruler is beyond question, and it is an honor justly earned by loyal support of the local unit. He is at present manager of the Cliffside Park Title Guaranty and Trust Company, with offices located at Columbia avenue and trolley line, Orantwood, and also holds the position of recorder of the Cliffside Park po lice court. Prior to his being admitted to the bar he was engaged as a high school instructor in the Cliffside Park schools. During the World War he saw active service overseas, and upon his discharge from service studied law. Other officers elected were: Ahrend Nagel, esteemed leading knight; Jo seph Boyhan, esteemed loyal knight; Harry Dyer, esteemed lecturing knight; Joseph L. White, secretary; P. W. Jacoby, treasurer; Gustave Pe terson, tvler; trustees, for five years, Dr. E. C. Hellstern; for four years, Paul Stetka, and for three years, Otto Mampe. A social hour was enjoyed by all following the election, during which time the newly elected officers were congratulated by their brother Elks. Early Morning Fire in Grantwood on Lawton Ave. A short circuit is believed to have caused the fire which destroyed the roof and gutted the third floor of the residence of Andreas Kallinikos, at 74 Lawton avenue, Grantwood, Tues day morning last week. The prompt work of the Grantwood and Cliffside fire departments saved the remaining two floors from destruction. Mr. Kal linikos and his family were away from home at the time the flames swept their home. The loss is placed at $3,000. BRIDGE ADVISORY COMMITTEE APPROVES PLAN AS SUBMITTED An Art Exhibit In Palisade School April 8th and 9th Arrangements are making to hold an art' exhibit at the Phlisade Public School during Easter week, the dates selected being Thursday evening, April 8, and Friday afternoon, April 9. There are no school exercises on these two days. The exhibit will be by Mr. and Mrs. H. Willard Ortlip of Fort Lee, both artists of wide reputation and who- gave a recent and successful exhibit of their work at Leonia, which many Palisadians attended. There will be several portraits of Palisadians at the exhibit here of well known residents. Mr. Ortlip is an artist of national fame. He has just finished a wonderful oil painting of General Washington on the Pali sades, a spirited rendition of the Rev olutionary period, which will-be re produced in all of its brilliancy of color and conception as a cover to the Literary Digest. It was painted for a Fort Lee resident. Mrs. Ortlip also is a painter of rare skill, her specialty being still life. Some of her paintings of flowers are of the highest excel lent^. Yonkers Ferry Open The- Yonkers ferry, running from Yonkers. N. Y., to Alpine, N. J., will reopen on March 20 for the 1926 sea son. Service will commence each day at 6 a. m. and continue until midnight. There are two large boats In the service, running on a frequent headway. Reports were approved last week by the New York and New Jersey Hudson River Bridge Advisory Committee for the bridge to span the Hudson be tween l'78th street and Fort Lee, N. J. The approved plans call for a bridge of the suspension type with a central span 3,500 feet long, or twice the length of the Philadelphia-Camden bridge, which is the longest suspen sion bridge now in existence. The bottom of the bridge, according to the report, will be 200 feet above the riv er, and the towers will be 650 feet high. Tests with steel have convinced William H. Burr, professor of engi neering at Columbia University and consulting engineer for the project, that the strain will not be too great for safety. Now that the New Jersey legisla ture has passed the bill appropriating $5,000,000, the next big fight is to get New York to do likewise. The chief obstacle in New York is not the actual appropriating^ of $5, 000,000, but the obstacle of appeasing the people of Washington Heights, who fear the bridge will ruin Wash ington Heights Park. The report filed shows that much attention has been given to this fea ture, and sets forth that “the bridge may be so designed as to form an ob ject of grace and beauty as well as utility, and to blend harmoniously with the grandeur of its natural setting.” New Jersey members of the advi sory committee are: C. V. R. Bogert, Mrs. Everett Car- j ter, William Conklin, John G. Edsall,! Earnest J. Heppenheimer, Mrs. Mable S. Lord, B. Duncan McClave, Mrs. Dwight W. Morrow, Dan Fellows Platt, Ernest A. Sibley, Mrs. E. E. Vann and James Wilson. PETITION ASKS THAT APPOINTMENT OF ERNEST SIBLEY BE RESCINDED AND A COMPETITION BE HELD Petition Presented by Councilman Harry Elkan Who Says Other Architects Should Have a Chance; Appoint ment Defended by Board, John Sharp and Judge James D. Moore; Borough Engineers Panned in Indirect Way. The presenting of a petition by Councilman Harry Elkan asking for the rescinding of the appointment of Ernest Sibley of Palisade as the architect for the new Fort Lee High School caused a sensation at the special meeting of the Board of Edu cation held in the Whiteman street school last evening. The petition contained nearly a hundred names, most of the signers being from the Palisade section. The meeting started out tamely enough with the Board members discussing in an informal way with Mr. Sibley the school needs. A large and expectant audience waited for the bomb shell they knew was to come in the form of the petition. The Petition was presented by Councilman Elkan of the Palisade section. It asked that the action appointing Mr. Sibley at the previous meeting be rescinded in that it deprived other architects from competing and suggested that a more economi cal school could be gotten as a result of competition. The text ot the petition was read by Cl&rk Abbott only after a verbal discussion as to whether the same was in order. The Boards voted in favor of hearing the petition and any discussion on the In the course of the discussion be tween Mr. Elkan and the Board mem bers Mr. Elkan said that no architect but Mr. Sibley was given a chance and it was explained by President Cook that the Board had appointed Mr. Sibley because of his experi ence, his high standing in the profes sion and the former co-operation he had given the Board when the mat ter was up before the people on three previous occasions. Mrs. Hal T. Beans read a paper she had prepared on the subject. She made it plain that as far as she wras concerned personalities did not enter into the discussion and it was on a basis of principle that she questioned the School Board’s action. She said there were two main things to con-1 sider, one, whether or not a competi-1 tion is desirable; two, whether or not j the Board was in a position to appiont j an architect when the action was i taken. She contended that It was up to the Board to tell the architect just what their needs were and not go to him for that information, and as far as she knew- no plan or study of the situation had been made. She brought up the matter of the present site and suggested with the coming of the bridge the present site might in a few months not be desirable for school purposes and could be sold at a profit to obtain a more desirable and less expensive site. She quoted from the rules of the American Insti tute of Architects where it outlines the proper procedure for a competi tion in case it can not he avoided. Mr. Schaeffer of West Palisade asked why the architect was appoint ed at the previous meeting and Mr. Cook said it wras because the matter would not be delayed and they could have the benefit of his advice. Later in the meeting the Board permitted the minutes of the previous meeting to be read at Mr. Schaeffer's request. Trustee Oetel said the matter of a new High School had been discussed for fifteen years. Trustee Cassi ex TWO MEN INJURED WHEN AUTOS CRASH Palisade Pharmacist and Father in-Law Receive Slight Injuries —Were Riding in Dr. , Limenfeld’s Car. Two men were injured and two oth ers narrowly escaped injury when an automobile owned and driven by Dr. S. Limenfeld ot Palisade and a ma chine driven by William Fehring of Coytesville collided at Main street and Lin wood avenue, Fort Lee, Sun day night. The injured are: Irving M. Rosen blum, pharmacist, of Palisade, who received a scalp wound, contusion of the left hand; Max Herbst, his father in-law, also of Palisade, who is suffer ing from a scalp wound. Both injured persons were passengers in Dr. Li menfeld’s machine. Their wounds were dressed by Dr. William L. James of Edgewater, and later they went to their homes. Dr. Limenfeld with his two passen gers was driving east on Main street when the Fehring automobile entered on Main street from Linwood avenue. As the two machines met the glass in both windshields flew in all directions, and several of the pieces cut Mr. Rosenblum and his father-in-law. Both cars were badly damaged in the accident, the Limenfeld car re ceiving the brunt of the damages. It was later towed to Michaelson’s ga rage in Grantwood. A passing automobilist picked up the two wounded men and rushed them to Dr. James’ office. The inter ested parties went to the police sta tion and reported the accident to As sistant Chief Andrew McDermott. Mr. Fehring is a brother-in-law to Dr. E. C. Hellstern. plained that he had at first voted no on the appointment because he didn’t know it was to come up at that meet ing. but there was never any doubt in his mind as to who he was going to vote for. Dr. Hal T. Beans said the proce dure of the Board was similar to a man going in the manufacturing busi ness and asking the architect of his factory what he should manufacture. He claimed that men with informa tion about educational systems should be consulted and not the architect. He said that the voters of the borough had elected a man with this informa tion, Dr. Rautenstrauch, and in that a vacancy existed on the Board they might out of courtesy have asked him to sit with them though his term doesn’t begin until April. President Cook said in reply that Dr. Rauten strauch could have come to the meet ing if he had wanted to and given his opinions. Trustee New asked if there would have been any objections if Hacker' and Hacker had been appointed. Dr. Beans replied that he was not con cerned with personalities and charged that the Board was willfully ignorant on educational matters. This brought forth retorts from several members and Trustee Cassi said he thought the Board might be capable of handling the matter. “Well,” Dr. Beans came back, “you don't show it tonight." The excessive cost of Palisade ave nue was linked up with the discus sion by several of the speakers by way of explanation of why they were starting this agitation now, having been informed by thp borough officials that the time to have registered com plaints was when the road was being built. Trustee New capitalized this and said that McClave and McClave, the borough engineers, were appoint ed and despite the Palisade avenue job were appointed over again each year without a word of protest from the people who are now complaining about the assessment. Dr. Beans said that they wouldn’t be appointed again if he could help it. Later in the meeting Judge James Moore of Fort Lee stated that Councilman El kan who spoke in behalf of a com petition on the proposed school was a member of the local Council and voted for the appointment of not only McClave and McClave as engi neers the first of the year but for Mackay and Mackay as attorneys. John Sharp of Palisade in defense of the Board said that they were in their right in acting when they did and saw no necessity of postponing action until any certain party took his or her seat on the Board. He said, too, the matter of an intelligent school plan was mostly a matter of common sense. Judge James Moore of Fort Lee made a stirring speech in defense of Mr. Sibley and the Board’s action in appointing him. The Judge's pres ence at the meeting aroused some curiosity as to what side of the fence he was on because of his opposition to the Sibley plan for a high school in Fort Lee some three years ago. Many were surprised when he de clared himself in favor of Mr. Sibley. He said when he sought advice on any professional subject he did not ask for competition but got the best man he could get and that was ex actly what the Board had done. It was at this point that he cited the Palisade avenue costs, saying in addi tion to the original cost the borough had been bled for over $50,000 in in terest charges on top of a bum job, yet Councilman Elkan had voted for the re-appointment of the same engineers. He told of Mr. Sibley’s wide expe rience, his high standing and told of the fight in Hackensack over the ap pointment of an architect. The Board was divided between Mr. Sib ley and a local architect, Mr. Bogert. Mr. Sibley got the appointment and recently Mr. Bogert told him (Mr. Moore! that they had done the right thing in appointing Mr. Sibley. Mr. Moore said that Mr. Sibley had been paid a wonderful tribute by the Continued on page 4