Daily Republican., 1880-08-14
CITY FATHERS AFLOAT

VA n - AA6A&S AAA A~NS
rhe Trip Of City Council ON the
Robt. II. Klrklsnd - InBpectIng
tho work OF fDredginE.
Those netater Of City Council who
could get away from their employment
ss early in the evening as 80 O'Clock,
met at the foot of King street yesterday
and boarded the steam tug .Robt. R..
Kirkland. This was done in pursuance
Of an invitation extended to Council by
q. B. Cotton, Esq.,, President Of the
National Dredging Company, through
Col. Rnoch Moore, Jr., Harbor Master,
to visit the banks Of Christiana creek,
where the mud machines are busily
engaged in reclaiming the marsh.
Nearly all the members of Council
availed themselves Of the opportunity,
together with the Mayor, City officers
few private citizens and the Council
reporters. At the wharf they were
taken charge Of by Col. Moore, who
during the trip performed the part of
host in manner which made every
one feel at home.
The Kirkland left the wharf at 4.30
O'Clock, sharp, and steamed directly
down the creek, stopping at Fourth
street wharf to take on q few addition
al passengers. In very little while
the party, was landed at the main sta
ton Of the Dredging Company on the
south bank OF the Christiana creek. II
was the first time many Of the Council
men had seen the work at any thing
but a distance, and general surprise at
its magnitude was expressed. Running
up and down the creek for many yards
they Noticed long, broad strip ol
flled-in-land, the surface Of which
was on q level with the tor
Of the creek bank. This was the
work done for the Christiana River i'm.
provement Company. What attracted
most attention, however, was the large
tract Of land which the Company Ia
filing up on their own account. This
comprises 20 acres, and was conveyed
to the National Dredging Company by
the Christiana River Improvement
Company in payment for the filling in
Of the strip Of land lying adjacent te
the creek.
The work is now about two thirds
completed. When it is finished ths
owners will have q very valuable prop
srty, indeed. The filling in raised
from the bottom Of the creek by i'm
\ mense iron dreding tongs or scoops, Il
dumped into small cars and these ar
run ont over tramwsy to where, by
little dummy engine,it is desired to de
posit the, mud. 1t can be done very
rapidly and the cars can remove thu
mud as fast as the machine can raise i
from the bottom Of the creek. On'
thing little peculiar is the fact tha
the mud spreads ont great distance
on each side Of the tract until q spact
Of several acres is covered on each side
Of the tramway.
"This is a big CHANGE" remarked
Councilman Townsend. 81 can re
member the day, fifteen or twent.
years ago, when l used to shove q skif
through here after reed birds. Now l
ia q piece Of solid ground eight or tel
feet above the level Of the creek" Mr
Cotton explained the working OF tn
machines to the visitors and kindly fur
nished them much interesting informa
tion, with regard 10 the work and 1T
benefits.
During the stay at the station Harbol
Master Moore called the attention Of a
number Of leading members of Council
TO the fact that some day the channel
| was likely to be seriously injured by
the work being done, and he pointed
this out that they might understand
| the state Of affairs and act intelligently
| If complaint should be brought before
City Council. The constant raising Of
mud from the bed of the stream was
keeping the substance at the bottom
constantly disturbed. 1t was, Of course
impossible to prevent this sediment
from washing ont into the current d
the stream where II settled in the chan
mel and was gradually forming shoales'
Col. Moore admitted that no great in
Ijury had been done TO the stream as
yet, but that complaints Of trouble in
ascending the creek were more numer-
ous than formerly and he felt 1t hii
duty to call the attention Of Council to
The faot. He was confident, however
that the National Dredging Company
would be perfectly willing to undo any
damage which might result to the stream
from their work in this respect.
After spending about half an hour
sight seeing, the Kirkland's hawser
was threwn Of and they dropped down
the Creek 10 the mouth and ran up the
Delaware TO the foot Of Vandevsr Ave
nue., that the members Of Council IAight
have an idea Of where that street
would strike the river If IL was continu.
ed. The point was also indicated
where the National Dredging Company
propose TO build q wharf front for them
selves. The Company have purchased
strip Of land running from the city
limits to the Delaware 100 feet wide,
together with . strip 1900 feet long
fronting on the river. On this ground
the Company propose to deposit the
mud dredged from the Christians Flats
for which they have lately received a
large contract, asssstated in the RRPUs-
LtcAN. It is expected that enough mud
will be taken from the Christiana fats
to All mp q wharf-front on the river and
complete the proposed street back to
the city. This street will come out at
the Delaware about 400 yards above
the mouth Of the creek. and runs In .
course similar TO that which would be
taken by . continuation Of Seventh
street. From the looks Of things IL was
remarked, the National Dredging Com
pany will have river front much
sooner than the City Of Wilmington.
Work on the fats will commence on
Monday.
The TING next ran down the river,