Evening journal., 1897-03-02
TUESDAY. mARoa 2. 1897
THE MAJORS HUMILIATION.


is with pleasure that we note the ad-
ministration of the rebuke for the
major has been proceeding in such a
high-handed manner against the inter-
ests Of Delaware that only a radical
step by someone higher in authority
could stop him in his course Of impair
ing and possibly destroying the useful
ness OF certain Delaware waterways.
But for the energy displayed by Senator
Gray in putting a stop to his work
there is no telling to what lengths he
would have gone.
1t was the Evening Journal which
first called the attention OF the public
to the specifications in the Cherry Is
land flats and Schooner Ledge shoal
contracts which provided that the mud
and other material dredged from those
two places should be dumped in the
Delaware river between Pea Patch Is
land and Delaware City. Up to that
time the people of Delaware City and
all others who were interested in the
depth of water in the western channel
were ignorant of the sinister intentions
of the man who was determined to dig
holes and build shoals at the expense
Of the riparian rights of the people OF
the State OF Delaware Our publication
of the matter led to the calling Of town
meetings in Delaware City, at which
the major was denounced and a COM
mittee was appointed to put stop to
the work contemplated. This commit
tee waited upon Senator Gray and
urged him to exert his influence
to prevent the channel from being
made a dumping ground for the waste
matter taken up by the dredges and de-
posted in the scows. He was a willing
champion, and set to work to save the
channel and canal. For a time ne was
unsuccessful, and the major went on in
his mad course, but his day Of retriDu-
ton and humiliation was near at hand
and now he stands before the commu-
nity as a man whose judgment is pub
iicly impeached- by his superior officer.
One day in the latter part Of last week
the secretary Of war served notice upon
Mayor Warwick, of Philadelphia, that
dumping of the Schooner Ledge and
Cherry Island flats material at Pea
Patch Island must stop. His order was
Imperative, and there was no getting
around it. II was upon the recommen-
dation Of Major Raymond that the Pea
Patch dumping ground was prescribed
by the secretary of war more than a
year ago. That official did not know
that the major was deceivng him as to
the effect of this dumping on the busi-
ness interests of Delaware. 1t is all
very we'll for the major to try to get
out of the matter gracefully but II IS
Impossible for him to do so. But for
the loud protestations OF Delawareans
and the exercise Of the influence of Sen
ator Gray, the work of filing up the
western channel would still be going on
for The benefit of Philadelphia harbor
Major Raymond advances the propo-
sition that the dumping Of millions OF
cubic yards Of material at Pea Patch
island would not reduce the depth OF
water II this be true, then what is the
use Of dredging at all? He might as
well leave the stuff at Cherry Island
flats and Schooner Ledge shoal. II il
would not lessen the depth of water be-
tween Fort Delaware and Delawar,
City It certainly would not anywhere
else. But such statements from linn arr
mere rot. He knows the trouble as wei
as anyone. When he built the jetty a
Firms Point, at a cost of many thou
sands Of dollars, he expected it to in
crease the depth of water in the east
ern channel. Instead of doing that,
Increased the depth of water in tn
western channel by at least a foot. Hi
experiment being a failure he must d.
something to make it at least a partia
success, and he proposed to fill up tn
western channel sufficiently to force
greater volume of water through tn
eastern channel and thereby make
do what the jetty would not do H
cared nothing for the interests of Dela
ware. He merely wished to show th
world that he could make a channel,
not in one way, then in another
But he failed to take into his calcl
lations the spirit of the people Of Deli
ware, VINO are in the habit of defendin
their interests against all comers. H
did not take into account the infuen'
Of Senator Gray with the departmel
under whose orders he works an
whose trust he was betraying. lie roC
into consideration but two things. On
was that he wanted to make his Finn
Point jetty success by building
shoal in the western channel, and Il
other was that he owed the people
Delaware a grudge for their interfe
ence in the matter Of the constructi'
of the low-water dixie at Liston's PoiI
AS we said before, we are glad
know that he has at last found som
one who will tell him what he mu
and what he must not do He has be
experimenting with the Delaware riv
and bay for so long that io conside