Milford chronicle., 1912-06-14

rh Courtesy of Evening Journal. Dei'
mer
esh, water is generally shallow, the fore shore
ed consists largely of shifting sands, and the
rses fast land, as it is known locally, is
I tn generally several miles inland from the
5ens shore line proper.
uicl Between the "fast" land and the
Mill shore line lie great marshes averaging
The several miles in width and rarely rising
ooip much above tide level. The drainage of
ool such marshes is accomplished naturally
rhe bV bitches secured out by the water. unit
la ing into channels and finally into navigable
SC waterways maintained by the tides.
Mrs 'Man has assisted the drainage IN many
III places by digging bitches as straight a.
ri possible across the meadows to the near
Mrs est channels, thus affOrding more direct
m ] escape for the surface water and at the
Mrs same time subdividing the land into areas
q suitable for cultivation when the salt water
Mr.. can be excluded, or for harvesting the
.ert natural growth of marsh hay.
Ina ''The larger, channels are remarkably
Mrs permanent in location and possess depth
enc enough for navigation by small boats, but
Mi thev are very tOrtuous and consequently
est difficult to travel for boats of sufficient
les size to carry cargOes and the actual dis
rh tance traveTsed between two points on
ST stream is often many times the distance
dr in bee line.
ID "Although settled early in the 18th
VT. century, LLe country DOTueIluk On the
er marshes except where reached by rail
w road, has remained until recent years in
Nj a somewhat primitive condition. Blessed
III by nature with a fertile soil and a good
NJ climate, farm lands capable of yielding
it untold wealth have lain idle and unpTO-
Vi ductive because no reasonably economical
1t way was available to transport products
s. tqsiparEet.
dri, srer ,xcept for few desultory efforts to
W oyye the difficulties in some of the
s..nels, no serious work of sufficient
diGeSO4-s to affect the real situation was un-
TJs O"hken until recent years, principally
Ntentiiin the last decade; and so for nearly
elo9 abs centuries the territory under con-
elaboration has awaited the touch necessary !
ieb silliseuse it to spring into life and to yield
cling tbundance the fruits of its great re.
ebptertT,5ess short seot;on Of coast mantioned
a vat IS miles in length, has some ten
channels of commercial importance Of
these we may select one as type, in or
der to point out some interesting features /
of the engineering problems presented !
and the physical and commercial results
obtained.
'"The Murderkil River will serve as an
example. 1t has been under improve
ment longer than most OF the other
streams, but this serves to make more
4 complete the lessons n teaches. 1t lies in |
lty Int county and empties into Delaware
~ y about 25 miles above Cape HenlOpen
! 80 miles below Philadelphia.
lOriginally its navigable portion was
pt l3 miles long and extremely crook
as See fig. y, traversing marshes or mead
sil and touching "fast" land at only a
6u widely separated points The head
eD navigation is seven miles from the
nearest railroad, to which the sandy soil
makes hauling by wagon difficult and
COSTLY The excellent farming country
atlrroundinn the foUn Of Era0aripn ,
the head of navigation is therefore almost
wholly dependent on the river for trans
portatiOn to suitable markets. At the
mouth of the river is a summer resort Of
considerable local importance, known as
Bowers Beach, which is the headquarters
Of the fish and clam industry of this sec.
tiOn.
"Many years ago, efforts were made by
private parties to improve the river by
cutting canals across the marshes to avoid
some of the most difficult bends, and by S
84lg jViding a channel across the flats at the I
0uth OF the river. These efforts were i
jntinued from time to time, causing t
progressive betterment of conditions. t
Even 80 years ago a commerce estimated 1
to be worth about quarter of a million G
dollars year existed. y
in 1892 the United States Government a
assumed the duty of improving and main
tanning the channel, but funds were sup r
piled in small appropriations so that the t
improvement has been gradual and has il
only recently reached a stage which en- C
aDles a steamboat to run regularly be- il
tween Philadelphia and Frederica with q
out regard to the tides. From now on a
the full benefit Of the long years of labor
and effort should be derived, and already n
the commerce has reached a value of ri
million and a half dollars annually. n
1--WE may pass over the improvement p
OF the mouth Of the river by stating briefly a.
that it involves dredging and maintaining n
q channel across the flats. A jetty should c.
be constructed, but at present the bank Fl
Of material dredged each year serves as b
ietty until leveled by wave and tide, and d
the cost of annual redredging, being less pi
than per cent. of the estimated cost of a il
ietty, does not warrant the construction L
Of the latter under existing conditions
The improvement of the river itself con- &C
ats in removing the shoals, cutting back o.
pildarp points and, most important of all, bt
sfnaking cutoffs. eo
'Dredging the soft material oft marsh of
is easy and comparatively cheap. The be