The daily gazette., 1879-10-03
FIFTH EDITION.
On the River Front.

WHAT CHRIsTIANA AVENUE LOOKS
LIKE NEAR THE RIVER BANK.
To take = glance At Christiana Ave.
nue., down near the river bank, In its
present condition, It requires a large
stretch Of the Imagination to sec therein
the prospective "road TO the river" /"
t,eming with the vehicles of pleasure
seekers and the heavily laden teams of
busIu ess men and manufacturers.
There Is no disgusting the fact that to
make this road to the river, and put IL
In good condition, will require the ex-
penditure Of large amount of money.
AT present the road 10 In fair condition
as far As the high land known as GAL
rich's bluff, and with little work could
be made 0t for all kinds of travel. But
from the bluff to the river front, a dis
tance Of fully q quarter OF . mile, the
road has 10 be made entirely, as 1t was
formerly . low piece Of ground, fire.
quently covered with water by the rais-
ing tides.
II was for the purpose Of building up
this road that the bitches were dug on
each side, that on the south by the
American Dredging Company, and on
the north by Dennis Buleer Of this city.
The former Is q feet wide and the lat
ter ID. The dirt excavated from these
ditcbes was thrown upon the roadway
between them, and raised 1t to such a
height that only at one occasion-dlir-
it overfiowed by water.
b.n al L., ~,
road, however, Is the poor character of
some of the dirt with which II was built
This dirt, which was taken from
the ditches,is composed mainly of decom-
posed vegetable matter which, when ex-
posed TO the sun becomes dry and rotten,
crumbles into fine dust, and blows
away. On this account more filling up
Is required, and the dirt for this purpose
Is being tax en- from the high land In
front OF Mr.. Lucas Alrichs house, at the
western end Of the bitches.
Street Commissioner Lynch now has
four or five men and one cart engaged in
performing this work. 1t Is doubtful
however, If much of this dirt from the
highland can be spared, as In the opinion
Of some the ground Is none too high al
this point. This fact will render the
completion OF the road 4 matter of much
expense, rs In all probability the greater
! amount OF the dirt required will have tt
be fauled from different parts of the city
| q distance of from two To three miles.
And even should the road be compile
ted and made good to the river front, an
other serious item Of expense will have
to be met before II Is Of any praclica
| use.
This item Is tho building OF wharf
The river bank at this point sets we'll in
and 1t would Irequire At least five hun
dred feet Of wharf to make the road OF
any use az medium of connection with
| the river traffic. II has been proposed
| that the expenses could be lessened BY
constructing a pier In deep water, AMI
connecting IL with the road by stou
bridge, as Is the case at Ponnsgrove and
other places, but even this plan woult
prove expensivelto those doing the work
This article Is merely intended Il
show some of the difficulties that stant
In the way Of building road to thu
Delaware by way Of Christiana avenue
a. many people are of the opinion tha
the road IL so nearly completed that tn
expenditure of few hundred dollar
will place it In a suitable condition 70
all kinds of travel. This idea Is entirel,
erroneous, and those interested in til
road should drive over occasionally, an,
see for themselves the extensive char {
| ter of the work now in hand.
At the river front Street Commission
or Lynch has three men at work repair
ing the bank, from the large ditch 80
feet north, as this portion OF the bank
owned by the city. The work Is bein
well done, and when completed wi
leave a good stout bank, where ragge
and Insult cient pile Of mud before es
l iafah