Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1906-03-02

A naw island is In process Of forma-
tion 10 the Delaware River, which is
likely 90 add to the complication be-
tween the States Of Delaware and New
jersey, growing out OF the boundary
dispute. The island is being con-
structed at the instance Of the United
States government, primarily 70 divert
the channel, 40 as 10 xeep it in better
condition, and, eecondariiy, 90 provide
dumping place for material dredRed
from the river.
The island, when the present work
is completed. will be about three miles
lcng, pointed at each end and half
mile wide at its widest part. The up
per end 10 opposite Port Penn, on the
Delaware River, and the mouth Of
Alloway Ureek, on the New Jersey
side, and IL extends southward, parallel
with the New Jersey coast. Between
the island and the Jersey shore there
is aD open How of water, the depth of
which ranges from IA to "A feet. The
distance from the Jersey shore is about
three quarters OF a mile and from the
Delaware shore about two miles and
half.
IL appears 10 be entirely within the
Iwelve-Mile Circle from New Castle,
the upper end being nine miles and
the lower end ~ miles from New
Castle.
Tho area on which the island is
being constructed was formerly a shoal,
with a depth Of water ranging from
five to nine feet, and, because of its
location, being at bend in the river,
was very annoying to shipping. IL is
said TO have been an impossibillty 10
keep 1t dTedgsd out, as tho channel
would cause IL to fill very rapidly, and
that is why the government decided
TO mike the island there. The Elan
Is 20 bulkheAd and I'LL in back of the
bulkhead. Much of the bulkheHdinR
has been done, and the filling is likely
TO be done very soon. II 10 part Of
protest adopted several years ago.
The special report OF the board Of
engineers on the 30-foot channel
project In .he Delaware River, which
was submitted to Congress September
5th, 1899, contained the following;
The board recommends the lorna
tion Of an island by includ-
ing the area between Baker Shoal and
Stony Point Shoal, and filling the in
terror with dredRed material. Such
an island would furnish a place OF
deposit for about 81, 700, coo cubic
yards of material, and would exert an
important influence in maintaining the
channel. %
This suggestion was favorably acted
upon, and the report of Gen A. Mac
ken2ie, chiei Of engineers of the War
Department, for the year 1905, contains
the following on this subject:
''At Baker ShOal the work Of bulk
head construction has resulted in the
completion of 30,627 linear feet of
structure. 4"
Judging from these figures, the place
10 about ready TO take care Of some of
the dredging from the river, and it ia
likely that II will be filled during the
next few years by the contractors en-
gagged by the government to dredgs the
river.
Just what use will be made Of the
island ~ not known. IL may be used
by the government as a buoy station
/ or Tor some other purpose, but at all
events 10 will come within the juris-
| diction OF one OF both Of the Statss,
and II the Twelve-Mile Circle right is
upheld, the island will become part Of
Delaware.
In making the leland, the State of
] New Jersey has not been robbed, the
shore line being the same as it was
before the work was started, and Jersey
would have no claim to 10 on that
/ ground
Should the islard not be used by the
government it would make an excel
lent place for farming, as the material
with which Il will be filled will be
well adapted TO that purpose and there
will be constant irrigation.
The question Of jurisdiction would
come up first, in all probability, when
it came to making an assessment for
taxes. The jersey assessors would
probably try to claim that it was within
their jurisdiction on account OF it's
proximity 10 that State, while the
Delaware assessors would, IN all prob.
ability, dispute this right, on the
ground that 10 is within the Twelve
Mile Circle. A question would also
arise when residents Of the leland de-