Daily Republican., 1881-12-30
Extraordinary Appropriations
Needed.

LlCAN OsOVV nAleSs
Extraordinary Appropriations
Needed.
The City Council should make pro
out of the great building rush of the
year, which is nearly over The ap
preparations made at the commence.
ment of the year Were but for an orii
nary year of building, in which about
one hundred and fifty dwellings Were
erected. Nobody ever dreamed when
the estimates for the Water Depart
ment and opening and grading streets,
We're made that the year would exceed
any other SO far as it has IN the num-
Der of buildings erected and feet CT new
pipe laid. lnstsad of about one hun
d.ed and fifty or less building permits
beiug issued as usual, they reach the
enormous number of five hundred and
sixty odd. This is an unparalleled i'll
crease Of nearly seventy-tive per cent
and we doubt if there is city in the
United States within any Of the old
States that can any thing like match
it. When Col. Mclntire, Chief Engi.
nesr of the Water Works, reported in
his annual report for 1880, that 1000 feet
of new pipe had been laid in that year,
the report S locke upon with pleas
urable astonishment, as that was far
beyond the utmost limit that had ever
been reached before in one year. Mr..
Mclutire is now busiy engaged in pre-
pairing his annual report for 1882 and
he finds that the numh,r of feet laid the
present year will exceed 1900, an eX.
cess OF 10000 feet over last year, aud an
increase of nearly l43 per cent
We shink this report will astonSh our
business community and citizens in
general, and they will wake up to the
fact that Wilmington has indeed made
important progress and is on the h Oh |
tide of prosperity.
OF course the appropriations for open
ing and grading streets and for laying |
new pipe, are so nearly exhausted that
no more new work can be contracted |
for with any expectation of being paid
for out of this years appropriations and
the worst Of it is, the year is only half
spent. Should the building rush com
mence for 1882 as it did for 1881, there |
can be no reasonable prospect of City |
Council opening and grading any more
new streets and laying any more new
pipe until June or July. This tnan-
cial outlook must materially retard
and check the building spirit and Will
mington must suffer in consequence.
People do net care to build unless there
IL some assurances that streets upon
which they wish 20 build will be graded
and that water pipes will be laid. But
neither streets can be graded nor water
pipes laid without money, and that is
commodity very scarce in the City
Treasury.
There can be no more money spent
for six months to come for grading
streets over and above some work that |
IS ordered and under way now, because
there is no more in the Treasury be-
longing to the Opening Street Com nit
tee. There can be no more new water
pipes laid until June or July because
there is no money for that purpose be-
longing to the water appropriation than
will pay the ordinary weekly pay roll
for necessary repairs without laying
any more new pipe.
The worst outlook Of the case is that
there are several rows of buildings
erected or in course of erection that are
expected to be occupied by the twenty
fifth of March, but there are no water
pipes on the streets on which the build
ings are located, and there lis no pros
pect tor pipes unless an extraordinary
appropriation is made by the city. We
have at this moment in our mind two|
rows of new houses nearly completed,
In the aggregate worth some so 600
located Oh streets where there are no
water pipes, and yet those houses are
to be occupied by the 2Jth of March
Twelve OF these houses are on Rodney St.
bet Teen Lowering and Shalc Avs,
built by the Mechanics Home Associa-
ton, and eight are located on Delaware
avenue at M"dison street, built by W.
H. Cause. The question is must these
twenty houses stand unoccupied until
next July, simply for want of water .
Inc whole cost Of laying pipes would {
not amount to over $1,000 for both
places, and the amoant of water IA x
collected from the owners would not h. +
less than $500. Tn Ter the circum stances {
the City Council woul,l be Upheld bv /
public opinion in making an extraordi-
nary appropriation to hrel these cases !
anu others III like position. The wear :,
has peen an extraordinary overflow OF
prosperity never dreamed Of and the
City Council should take some mea- :,
sures to meet the overflow. i,
IHE DEMOCRATS are very nervous =
about the Southern contested electo $
cases before Congress. They are atajll
that many OF the Dem ocratic candidatcs