Smyrna times., 1889-07-31
A Very Queer Story.
AN ALLEGED ATTEMPT TO ANNOY THE
BALTIMORE AND DELAWARE BAY
RAILROAD.

The Philadelphia EUening 1ctcgrdph,
of Friday contains the following very
strange statement pertaining to tins
locality:
"The Baltimore and Delaware Bay
railroad. which was recently purchas-
ed by Philadelphians, and was opened
last Tuesday from ChestertOWn, Md,
TO Bombay Hook, is having a rugged
and trying path to prosperity; Inc
road has been lying idle for twelve or
thirteen years. 1t IS a single track
thirty-fve miles long. About three
weeks ago it was revived and restored
and trains were run from ChestertOwn
to CLAYTON, Del. LabOrers were put
to work on the remaining portion OF
the road, which was rapidly restored
and traffic opened to Woodland Beach
at Bombay Hook. From this point
passengers and freight are transferred
by boat across the bay to Bayside on
the Jersey shore.
''Since the successful operation of
the renovated railroad began, eVll-de-
signing persons, it is said, actuated by
malice, have repeatedly placed logs,
poles and other distractions on the
track to delay trains. At one place, it
is said, a section of the track was torn
up. The mischief is attributed to a
man in Clayton, Del, who tried to get
possession of the road but failed. He
has sympathizers at Smyrna, who also
took a hand in the malicious work.
Detectives have been sent to the scene
to get on the track of the perpetrators.
SUPERINTENDENT f. B. Stacy tele-
graphed that the report that an engine
drawing a Sunday school excursion
from Clayton jumped the track within
ten feet of a twenty-foOt bridge last
Tuesday was false. He said that poles
had been laid across the track, and they
were removed so quietly by the rail
road men that no one knew what the
cause of the delay was. It is charged
that the enemies of the road, who are
trying to cripple its operation, have
| paid 3 cents bushel more for grain to
have ic shipped around from Baltimore
by water rather than give the traffic to
! the road.
The above is so entirely new that we
COPY it for its absudity. Nothing Of
the kind, such as an adverse feeling
against the road or an attempt to iniure
! it has never reached the TIMES Office.
! There was an accident that caused a
! delay of some two hours on Tuesday
night in conveying the Sunday school
back to Clayton. but it was entirely ac-
cidental, as all connected with the
movement of the train know. At a
road crossing the filling in Of boards
had not been cut low enough, the COW
catcher striking the plank with sufi-
cient force to derail the engine, in
which condition it ran some distance
up the track. The delay was getting
the engine back on the track. 1t was
little unfortunate that this should
have happened on the first trip, but il
is all that has come to this office.
In further speaking of the road anC
the late Col. Fred Gerker the writer
says:
Under his management the Della
ware end Of the road, from Clayton tC
Bombay Hook, was abandoned, anC
the rails and cross. ties were taken NJ
and used to repair the Maryland por
ton of the line Traffic from NIchol
son to Clayton has been c0ntinuou!
and was profitable to the manager. Ii
the year of the big peach crop, 1886
Colonel Gerker's income from this roaC
approximated $4,000, and last year i
delivered six hundred carloads O
peaches to the Delaware railroad a
Massey's station
"The project Of a through line be
tween the North and the South ha
been revived since the expiration of tn
Gerker lease and the abandoned por
ton of the road has been restored. Tn
piers on the Delaware bay, on botI
sides, are being restored and the 81,
miles of unfinished road from Nichol
son to Colchester is in course of com
pletiOn."