626 



SCIENGK 



[N. S. Vol. XI. No. 277. 



beds superjacent to the trap are metamorphosed. 

 In no locality of the Palisade range proper does 

 the upper contact of the trap show any of the 

 characteristics of surface cooling. Well-borings 

 at Fort Lee penetrate 875 feet of trap, and the 

 total thickness probably exceeds 950 feet, much 

 erosion having taken place. Subsequent to de- 

 position of the underlying sandstones the area 

 was tilted, and the sandstone wasted away by 

 erosion of many streams, the vacant channels 

 of which are still present. The largest of these 

 stream gaps was one and a half miles wide and 

 is just north of the New Jersey state boundary. 

 The cutting of gaps throughout the dissected 

 tilted peneplane which remains was very uni- 

 form and indicates that the former land level 

 was 220 feet lower than the present. If this is 

 the case we have an instance of rivers beheaded 

 close to their mouths. In addition to the wild 

 beauty of the Palisades escarpment, the timber 

 of this tract is the most luxurious and valuable 

 of the State of New Jersey, although its area 

 is much less than that of the pine groves of the 

 south. 



Professor John C. Smock, State Geologist of 

 New jersey, followed with an account of the 

 efforts expended ' On the protection of the 

 Palisades ' from devastation by quarrymen. 

 Legislative prohibition of such destruction is 

 retarded by (1) lack of interest in the matter on 

 the part of residents of southern New Jersey, 

 (2) prospects of the future commercial value of 

 the riparian lands at the base of the cliffs for 

 purposes of shipping and manufacturing, which 

 the removal of a portion of the cliffs would 

 render available, (3) the present value to the 

 state of its quarrying interests along the water 

 front, (4) the income derived from riparian 

 grants of these lands from the state to the 

 quarrymen, which is devoted to the mainte- 

 nance of the public schools, the approximate 

 value to the State for this purpose of the lands 

 from Fort Lee to the State border being about 

 one million dollars. This clash between the 

 interests of the schools and the preservation of 

 beautiful scenery is the most serious obstacle 

 with which legislation against defacing the 

 Palisades has to contend. 



In the face of these obstacles it is evident 

 that the wholesale absorption of this territory 



for a purely sentimental object is impossible. 

 The opposition to such a scheme could only be 

 broken by years of fighting, and in the mean- 

 while the destruction of the cliffs and wooded 

 slopes would continue with ever-increasing ex- 

 tent. 



As a compromise Professor Smock proposed 

 that an interstate commission of New Jersey 

 and New York lay out a driveway along the 

 base of the Palisades, quarrying, manufacturing, 

 and shipping interests to be confined to the 

 water side of the driveway, and the cliff side to 

 be permanently preserved intact after the 

 drive is completed. Edinburgh, Quebec and 

 Sterling wei-e cited as exhibiting rocky heights 

 whose grandeur was enhanced by the fringe of 

 manufacturies at their base, such buildings 

 lending a basis to the eye by which to measure 

 the proportions of the cliffs. Cliff defacement 

 is also in progress upon the New York Palisades, 

 where are the grandest wooded slopes and 

 highest peaks. There is no need of encroach- 

 ment on the cliffs, in either State, for there are 

 many other places where as good material 

 exists in equally great quantities and can be 

 mined at practically the same expense. 



Whatever is done should be done at once, 

 or else we shall have lost a great part of the 

 scenery which we wish to preserve. Steps 

 should be taken to turn into a vast park as 

 much of the territory as it is practicable to pre- 

 serve, without destroying or coming in contact 

 with the large public and private business 

 interests that are involved. 



In discussion Mr. Kunz voiced the sentiment 

 that the opposition to legislation arose more 

 with the officials at Trenton, than with resi- 

 dents of southern New Jersey, and felt that 

 smoke and other nuisances from factory settle- 

 ments along the cliff would be seriously detri- 

 mental. Were a restricted park created the 

 value of residential property would in a few 

 years benefit the State many times over the 

 value of the I'iparian grants. Eailroad tunnels 

 might be permitted at distances of a few miles 

 apart, with commercial villages at their water- 

 front terminals. The stone from such tunnels 

 would defray the cost of quarrying. 



Dr. Levisou suggested that the removal of 

 portions of the tailus would increase the ap- 



