Evening journal., 1893-02-13
CHERRY ISLAND CLAIMS.
It's Bridge Has Withstood the
Awful Ice Gorges.
SOME EXTENSIVE IMPROVEMENTS

To Cherry Island Flats Including the
Deepening and Widening OF the Chan
nel-Foreign and Local People Negoti-
ating for wharf Properties and Manu-
featuring sites-About Recent Letter.
The United States Engineer in charge
Of the Philadelphia District, which In
cludes the Delaware river and its tribu-
taries, will have during the coming sea
son the direction Of a number Of minor
river and farbr improvement projects
which have bearing on the commerce
Of Wilmington.
The deepening and widening Of the
channel through Cherry Island fats is
the most extensive. These shoals are
lust above the mouth of the Christiana.
The channel TO be improved was deep
ened about "a feet at low water over a
width OF 470 feet and for a distance Of
about A. 500 yards, the work being COM
pleted In 1884. Since that time it has
shoaled considerably. The work to be
done is to deepen this channel to 90 feet
at low water, and increase the width to
500 feet.
The contract for the work was awarded
last September to the American Dredging
Company, at 7-10 cents a cubic yard A
total Of about 1856, ,0u0 cubic yards was to
be removed. About half of that quantity
was taken out up to the close Of the last
season. Work will be resumed In the
spring and finished before next winter.
Ice Gone, the Bridge still There.
The Cherry Island Marsh Company Is
proud of the fact that its new bridge, at
| Fourth street, has withstood all the
vagaries Of the ice and, like the Star
| Spangled Banner, still stands. and Is
doing more public good every day. Di-
rector G. w. Talley, who is also con-
nected with the Delaware Construction
Company, said this morning:
Sometime about Jan. the 25th 1898
noticed letter in your paper which was
written in a semi.funny mood, about ice
cakes on Eleventh street bridge holding
a meeting and organizing for the pur-
pose of moving down stream In a body
and sweeping Fourth street bridge with
them. The writer made gness that the
movement Of these cnkes In an organized
body would be successful in carrying
away said bridge. They moved. pushed
on by good flow of water, but the
bridge is still there, but where are the
ice cakes and the guesser3
81 tell you Fourth street bridge is
there TO stay. The ice, cold and un-
sympathetic as it is. had more considera-
tion for the efforts Of tax payers, who AT
their own expense and cost, built q
bridge and presented II to the county,
, than the (cake) that wrote that letter.
5 wharf Fronts and Factory Sites.
a Since the Cherry Island bridge wal
Z opened for traffic there have been nego
, tiations daily between the individuali
. owning the land principally the Messrs
. Talley, Isaac s. Elliott and the Nationa
= Dredging Company, and syndicates rep
= resenting both local and foreign capital
= Il Is said upon good authority that al
\ ready negotiations are pending for whar
fronts, Wilmington business men beini
: the seekers.
Not FightIBg But Defending.
These land owners are not fighting bu
defending their rights. They want
bridge there for the benefit Of the entir
a city as we'll as themselves and for Uh
a development Of the land directly In from
= OF the city Of Wilmington They at
a still defending proceedings against theI
u in the Court of Chancery One theor
n Of their opponents, that the Dridg
|. would not last more than a year-ha
n already been blasted because the struc
!. ture remains intact after resisting one {
n the most terrific ice gorges ever know
1s The Cherry Island people intend to show
h lust in this way, that they mean bus
4 ness and that what they say will be don
may be set down as fact.
After All Others Failed.
st Although three charters had bee
8, granted to companies to build this bridI
Il. not one ever did anything, and nothiI
s, would have been done had not the Cher
as Island people been recognized by Legi
ct lature enactment. The act authorize
es the building OF this bridge provide
I. that the directors should be a col
lie mission, and now each director votes a
or cording to his acreage in the land. III
company is progressive one and II 1
Of its claims stand as nobly as its brid
has, Il will soon own q new Wilmingts
he on the other side Of the Brandywine.