Middletown transcript., 1891-08-20
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\. Of land owners. In 1860 this bank wa
s. broken by storm and was not repaired
n consequently the road was under water 70
d long time and finally disappeared. Afte
2 about. ten years the first bridge was built
d In 1876 the great storm of that year carries
away part of the bridge which was replaced
8 In 1873 the heaviest and most destructiy
o storm ever known on the Delaware rive
Q carried away everything but the piles
9 After nearly two years had elapsed new
: bridge was built and is still standing. Ii
J, consequence of these two storms the expen
). diture Of large sums Of money was necessary
!, and great deal OF the $81, 900 mentioned
in the. Every Evening was spent in thi'
way. The Levy Court conld not control
the acts Of providence in the matter and as
the members knew that the road was neces-
sary they could not allow it to go down.
During the last term of Mr.. Shallcross
an effort was made to build q solid dirt
road over portion Of the distance it is
now in good condition and is permanent.
Mr.. Jolls, thepresent member from this
Hundred, contemplates building solid
road over another part Of the distance which
will shorten the bridge about one halt.
Every Evening stated that the bridge is
used by only four or five families. This is
plain and direct Misrepresentation. 1t is
used by fully as many persons as the "par-
allel road" mentioned, and it is the opinion
of some of the best men of the Hundred
that it should not be abandoned. As to
the following:
''Worse than that The reporter discovered
a gang of yeomen at work replacing what
seemed to be the sound oak planks with
what is known as ''bull pine'' boards.
These were of the poorest, toughest kind,
ragged and dotted with knot holes, and of
o reddish soft texture.''
| There is absolutely no truth in it. The
Sound oak planls" were taken up so that
new stringers, which support the floor,
could be put in and the 'ssound oak planks"
were then replaced. What the correspon-
dent said were ''bull pine' boards were
yellow pine planks two and quarter inches
thick. As to the knot holes the dealer who
furnished the planks, offers to pay the befud-
died correspondent five dollars each for
every one he can point out. What "a red
dish soft texture means we do not know.
The parallel road'' which the people could
Conveniently use," is five miles away, and
the average distance from the homes of the
people living south of Augustine to Port
Penn, by the parallel road, J" is six miles,
while over the bridge it is three. As to
the proposal of the correspondent to move
the bridge farther inland and there build a
stone bridge little can be said. Farther
| inland no solid bottom has ever been found
in the marsh and stone bridge would dis
appear in night; such thing is abso-
lutely impossible while New Castle County's
tax rate is less than one dollar on the hum
dred As showing the falsity of the state
ment that q great majority of the people
would like to see the road go down we ap-
pend the statements of the following we'll
known gentlemen.
Levy Court Commissioner Jolls says
that on no account should the bridge
be abandoned at this time.
d. M. Cochran said that he believ-
ed that dirt road should be built as
soon as possible, but that the road
should not be abandoned.
DIR. I. 8. Vallandigham said that no
better reason exists for the abandon
ment of the road leading from Port
Penn to Delaware City than because |
it is paralleled with another road three |
miles distant He also said that be-
cause large sum of money had been |
spent in the past is no reason for the
expenditure of SO much in the future.
He also says emphatically that the
road should not be abandoned.
! Mr.. Alex Metten said that he thinks
the road should be maintained.
Mr.. J. Thomas Budd said that the
road is necessity, that the town of
Port Penn pays good round sum in
taxes and is as much entitled to good
roads to and from the town as any
other place. That the people living
in the neighborhood Immediately
south of the bridge pay heavy taxes
and are entitled to some consideration
and that the same rule applies to all
the southern and western part of the
hundred.
Mr.. Thomas Cavender said that the
road is connecting link which is
necessary. That the Taxpayers liv-
ing near the bridge should be pro-
tected in their rights, and that he be-
lieved that as the road is now in good
condition it should be maintained.
Mr.. John s. Crouch, cashier of Citi-
zen's Bank, said that by all means
possible the road should be kept in
good condition.
Mr.. Nathaniel Williams said that
the road was not built in the first
place as he thought it should be, that
he believed bank should have been
built large enough to make a road on
top of it, but that the road should be
maintained as it is.
Mr.. G. ID. Kelley, cashier of Peo-
ple's Bank said, he believes that a
road of some kind should be main-
tanned across the Augustine marsh
for the convenience of the people of
this whole hundred.
Mr.. j. R. Hoffecker who pays a
great deal of tax for the support of
the county government said that on
no account should the road be aban-
doned. He also said that solid road
should be built as soon as possible,
that the people Of st. Georges hun
dred are entitled to as much consider
alton as any other taxpayers in the
county, that even though only few