Daily Republican., 1881-11-18
Fiadling over tho Building "1
Eleventh Street Bridge.

burning, and the Building Commlttee
and Edge Moor Iron Company seem to
be having glorious jamboree together,
while the Eleventh Street bridge is
building-while men are losing their
lives falling through the Railroad bridge
across the Brandy wine-while women
risk drowning and crippling by cross
ing the ferry in little skitfs propelled
nv "child labor'-while the business
of some of the largest manufacturing
establishments are losing hundreds of
dollars per week-while teams mire
and stick in the mud in Nandever Ave-
nue.. in fact while whole community
suffer in pocket and limb, the tiddling
goes on, and no extra effort seems to
be put forth to hurry up the contract
for building the bridge. Our mod
srn Neros look complaisantly and
calmly on the dozen and half OF
men at work, and then they look in the
faces of complaining public with an
imperious air as if asking, what are
YOU going to do about it? We are
told that the bridge will soon be fin
ished, by Christmas anyhow. The
slow rate at which the stone piers are
rising out of the water disproves this,
and rather indicates that the spring
tides will ebb and flow before the bridge
will be ready for use. But it seems the
sub-contractors care not how long the
work is delayed. They are Philadel-
phians, and what care they whether the
bridge is finished in two months or two
years? They have no interest in the
city except to do their work when they
are ready, draw the money and spend
it in Philadelphia. Wilmington has
no bridge builders, has she no pile
drivers, no masons? Plenty of them,
but they must all stand aside for Phila-
delphia contractors. The Edge Moor
Iron Company is more to blame than
the Levy Court is. The first bid let the
contract in bulk to Wilmington firm,
which was all right, provided proposals
had been asked and the contract
awarded to the lowest responsible bid
der, throwing the odds in favor Of a
Wilmington bidder. A cause for com
plant against the Building Committee
of the Levy Court, is that the contract
was awarded to the Edge Moor Iron
Company, at their own price, to build
according tc their own plans, drawn by
their own architect, and with no stipu-
lations as to the time when the bridge
was to be completed.
Such arbitrary action of course shu'
off all competition, and such distin-
guished bridge builders as Philip
Ouigey, William II. Miller, NJ. Nc
Nelly and other Wilmingtonians who
might be named, have the privilege of
standing aside as if they were ire
sponsible men, none of them ever being
asked to make bid for the contract.
These gentlemen have a right to feel
aggrieved. Had either of them re-
ceiyed the contract, the iron work could
as easily have been sublet to the Edge
Moor Iron Company as the whole con,
tract could have been given to that
company, and they in turn sublet all
but the iron work to COatesville and
Philadelphia workmen. The cause for
complaint against the Edge Moor Iron
Company is for subletting the pile
driving and stone work to parties out
side the city and State without giving
Wilmington mechanics a chance to
make a bid and giving these outside
parties, who have no interest in Will
mington, the same loose privilege they
received from the Levy Court commit
tee-of finishing the work in their own
time. However, "there is no use cry
ing over spilled milk" The great
thing now demanded, Is for the Edge
Moor Iron Company to hurry up those
stone workers, to get those piers com
pleted. Thousands of suffering men,
women and children appeal to the com
pany to hurry up the work before more
are killed, drowned or MANNED. We
are informed that the company has the
iron work all completed ready to set on
the piers as soon as they are ready.
We are glad to hear that. In the mean
time it would look more promising for
q speedy completion of the work if the
Bridge Committee of 1.-THE Levy Court
had men and carts at work filling up
the approaches to either end OF the
bridge. This work, we understand, is
separate from the contract and could be
done at any time, and the sooner 1t Is
done the more solid would the embank.
ments become. 1t will be another out
rage on a long-suffering and patient
people, if after the bridge is completed,
several weeks will intervene before the
approaches are filled up. In conclu-
sion we call upon the Levy Court to
hurry up its Bridge Committee, upon
the committee to hurry up the Edge
Moor Iron Company, upon the said
company to hurry up Mr.. Doane, their
Coatesville sub-contrsctor, and upon
Mr.. Doane to hurry up his Philadelphia
subcontractors.