Delaware state journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1870-1883, 1883-11-01
LAUREL.
What Baltimore ssSun" COrre-
spOndent Says of a sussex Town.

What Baltimore ssSun" COrre-
spondent Says of n sussex Town.
Baltimore Sun.
LAUREL, Oct. 29.-This is a town of
about 1000 inhabitants, situated on
Broad creek, "a tributary of the Nantiooke
river, which flows into the Chesapeake
bay. The town is so miles down the
Peninsula from Wilmington and ITO
miles from Baltimore by rail. The first
settlers were the Townsend family, about
l25 years ago. They built the first house,
which pasaed away years ago, but
the second house, built by the same
family ,still stands. 1t is an old-fashioned
hip-roof dwelling of moderate size. The
Townsend family may have obtained
their lands from the Indians-the Nanti
ookes-by purchase, as a large body OF
land in this part of the State WAS set
apart for the special benefit of the Nsnti-
ookes, and formed kind Of an Indian
territory upon which the white
man was not to trespass. The
last Of the Nanticokes took
their departure from the neighborhood OF
Laurel in l74S. Says the ohronicler :
"They dug up the bones of their prin-
cipal chiefs, and carried them with them.
The bones OF the rest of their dead they
reinterred in the same vicinity, where
they were found about 80 years ago."
The soil ia sandy loan, with clay
substratum. This ia the land of the
sweet potato and the watermelon. The
peanut would flourish here. Indeed +,
such is the susceptibility Of the land to
improvement and the mildness of the
climate that it could be Wade to grow
almost anything that can be produced in
this latitude. The spring here is .wo
Sseks earlier than in Baltimore. 1t ia
peculiarly favorable to the growth OF
small fruit. was told by gentleman
who had good opportunity of knowing
that over a million quarts Of berries have
been shipped from this depot in one
season, AMI 125, 900 baskets of peaches.
Corn shipments are not more than hall
what they were before the construction
Of the Breakwater railroad Sill, with
the loss of much of the fertile Delaware
swamp section of the county, so, 00O
bushels are shipped annually. Two mil
lion, five hundred Thousand feet Of lum.
Der are shipped annually A grist mill
with all modern Improvements in maehin'
cry, nearly in the heart Of the town, on
the creek-a stream that rarely ever fails
can grind $50 bushels of wheat
and 49, bushels OF corn per day.
The same company has factory fol
making nail-keg slaves. In this factory
they have the machinery and facilities
| tor both steam aud water power. They
can turn out 10, 900 slaves per day. These
slaves are made from pine saplings mea
turing from five to II inches in diameter
Most OF the berry baskets and peach
baskets and thousands upon thousands o
crates that you see in Baltimore are mad,
| in this town. The baskets are madt
| principally from the white gum
The log is sawed into blocks
tie length wanted. These blocks
are made to revolve by steam power In {
solid framework in front of strong hori
zontsl knife, which peals off the WOOD
the thickness and width desired for the
peach or berry basket Stats. There ar,
two of these basket factories in the place
They give employment to many men
women, boys and girls. l asked MIN
ble-fpgered little miss how many berry
baskets she could make in day. Isl,
hundred" was the reply. They get II
cepts per hundred for making them.
company has been organized II
manufacture tubs and buckets. TIL,
building Is up, the machinery in, ant
they are about readyt or work.