Evening journal., 1913-08-26
WILL COMBINE
DUPONT SHOPS
NEAR THE CITY
Machine Department Of Sew
eral Plants TO Be Merged
On Brandywine
COMPANY OFFERS TO
HELP BUILD SEWER

its machine shops for making pow
der making machinery which are now
located at Carney's Point, N. j., Has
kell. n j.. and Repauno, N. j., and
combining them with the Brandywine
shops into one big plant was brought
out at tho meeting Of the board Of di-
rectors Of sthe Street and Sewer De-
partment this morning. The Brandy
wine shops now employ about rs men
and If the other shops should be trans
ferreG to this city the number Of EN-
ployes would be increased to about
150. with prospects of that number e.
ing made much larger in a few years
The plan has been considered for
about two years by officials of the
company and II was finally decided to
consolidate the shops in this city as
an aid to Wilmington more than for
its advantages to the DUPONT Com
pany, it was explained today.
The only obstacle TO the plan is the
sewer facilities along the Brandywine.
To consolidate the machine shops would
increase greatly the volume of sewage
from the shops. The present facilities
for handling the matter are inadequate,
and new arrangements would have TO be
made. Either the company would have
to build a new disposal plant or would
have to connect with the sewer at the
Bancroft mills To build another dis
posal plant will represent great outlay
of money bv the company. -nd the sew
age would have to 20 into the Brandy
wine and mingle with the drinking
water Of the city unless n new sewer
SHOT, be built 10 carry it elsewhere
Wiz the matter itself is not injurious,
it provides feeding matter for other bac-
terra. and it is not considered the best
sanitary policy to allow this matter to
20 into the Brnndywne.
To build a sewer from the shops to
the Bancroft mills is the plan suggested
by the DUPONT Company as being much
better than building a new disposal
plant and running the chances OF in
juring the city's drinking water The
sewer would connect with the present
city sewer at Bancroft mills
II the city will build the sewer the
dupont Company will agree to contri-
butte about Ss 600 to its costs. Direc-
tors Of the Street and Sewer Depart
mcnt said this morning that the sewer
would cost about Sle,500 when COM
pleted.
Irenee dupont assistant TO the gen
eral manager of the DUPONT Powder
Company, appeared at the meeting Of
the board this morning and made the
proposition to the board to pay $4,000
toward the cost of the sewer,
AS the shops would be Of benefit to
Wilmington, the company thought
that the city might be interested
enough in the proposition to pay part
OF the cost of laying the sewer. He
said that If the directors did not
favor the plan the shops might be
brought here anyway and a disposal
plant erected, but that the company
was not very favorable to this idea.
His proposition is more fully set
Dur in the following letter:
Wilmington, Del, Aug. 20, 1913.
Board OF Directors. Street and
Sewer Department. Wilmington,
Del
Gentlemen: The DUPONT Com
pany are contemplating ma
terial extension in their Brandy
wine Machine Shop, which will
increase the number of employees
to a considerable extent and rem
der inadequate the cesspool which
takes the drainage at present It
is proposed to establish a sewage
disposal plant TO take care of the
drainage and this will cost sew
eral thousand dollars. 1t would
seem. however, that a more rs-
tional solution of the problem
would be a sewer extending from
the Bancroft Mills, the present
upper terminus of the sewer, up
the valley of the Brandywine,
largely through park land to Ris-
ing Sun Road, a distance of about
four thousand feet, an extension
of this from Rising Sun Road
10 Breck's Lane, without the city
limits. OF about one thousand
feet and further extension of
smaller size from Brecks Lane to
the Brandywine Machine Shops of
about 1900 feet. I am advised
that the sewer from Bancrofts
10 Rising Sun Road should prop
erly be made about two feet in
diameter and it would seem
equally wise to make the extern
sion from Rising Sun Road to
Breck's Lane OF the same size.
Above that point we may expect
in the future a much less volume
of drainage, so that probably an
eight-inch sewer would suffice for
many years to come.
Mr.. Taylor has given me his
opinion that the cost of twenty
four inch sewer would probably
be about $3.50 a foot; the eight
inch sewer would probably be
laid for about S1.50 a foot, as the
pipe would be much less ex-
pensive. The cost of the project
would then be-
1000 feet ahutting on city
lands for which no as
sessment could be levied
on adjacent property $4,000
1000 feet between Rising
Sun Road and Breck's
Lane ......... ........S o,oOO
1900 feet from Breck's
Lane to the Brandy
wAAs Machine Shop, say 1000
Total ........ ...... $l9,5OO
I am authorized by the du-
FONT Powder Company to offer
you $4,000 toward the construc-
tion Of such a sewer which is in
tended to include an assessment
which should be made against the
abutting property owners. AS
there are a number of phases of
this problem OF great Importance
to the city of Wilmington, which
can hardly be clearly outlined in
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