Milford chronicle., 1926-12-10
PORT IS PLANNING
GREATER EFFICIENCY
Enlargement Of Delawrre Break
water Chief Improvement Un-
der Consideration.

of Ph1lauelpnld pOSSSSSSS Il,
greatest harbOrs of refuge III th'
world and is now furthering plans
through Federal aid, to increase th'
benefits of that harbor.
The harbOr of refuge for the saIe'
tv of vessels is located at the moutI
of delaware Bay, and is accessible tC
ALI craft in distress. The haroor Il
nrotected by the huge stone walls
known all over the world as the Del
aware Breakwater. 1t has an ancnoI-
age area of about five hundred ano
fiftv-two acres, with minimum low
water depth of thirty feet, and an
additional area of two hundred ana
thirtv-seven acres with a minimum
low water depth of twenty-four 1eet'
The Delaware Breakwater took
four and a half years to build; II
has a length of 804O feet, ana 1'4lo'-
276 tons of stone were deposlteu
there.
The first definite action in the plan
+o extend the Breakwater shoreWard
and making other improvements to
the harbor of refuge was taken IN
ApriI of this year by Colonel f. Z.
Boggs, United States Army, engineer
in charge who sent a questiOnalre TO
shining men, tow boat owners, pl-
lots and others familiar with the re-
ouirements of the haven at the
Breakwater.
Congress Asks Information
The QUESTIONABLE. covering fifteen
points, was issued as a result OF
House of Representatives resolution
requesting the Board of Engineers
for Rivers and Harbors of the Army
to obtain and review reports on the
delaware Breakwater and harbor OF
refuge, Delaware Bay. The survey
and report will cover the outer
breakwater and the shore extending
as far as the wharves at Lewes.
The chief of engineers recommend
ed filling in between the ice piers
northwest of the existing outer
breakwater, extending that Dreak-
water 5000 feet shoreward and dreo-
ging shoal areas in the harbor OF
refuge south of the outer breakWa-
ter. Dredging a channel to the whar-
YES at Lewes was also recommend
ed.
Mariners over the world are
agreed that the Delaware is one OF
the best buOyed and lighted streams.
The initial step of making possible
the safe and expeditions navigation
of the Delaware River and Bay were
taken by the Board of Wardens for
the Port of Philadelphia in 1866, ten
years before the Revolution, when
an Act of Assembly vested in this
Board administrative authority over
the Port. The Board was given add |
ed authority in 1878, together with
the control of the Light house which |
the colony had previously erected at
Cape Henlopen to mark the en-
trance to the Delaware.
Route Is Well Marked
The lighthouse at Cape May marks
the opposite entrance, the two capes /
fanking the entrance to the lower
bay, the width at that point being /
about ten miles. The bay Widens to !
nearly twenty-three miles at Maur-
ice River Cove, several miles above
the capes. At Bombay Hook the dis
tance between the Delaware and
New Jersey shores is about four
miles. From the capes the channel
courses are excellently marked by
powerful lighthouses and buoys /
along the edges of the limits of deep
water, and from the entrance of the
artificial channel to the city of
buoys and by sets of shore range !
lights located on the center lines of
the various reaches of the channel
and forming a continuous guide ,
from the beginning to the end.
Nearly three score lights are pass
ed between the capes and Philadel- !
phia, while the day marks are all !
that could be desired even by
strangers entering the port.
In connection with safeguarding
of the port no lighthouse had greater /
historic interest than the one at !
Cape Henlopen, three miles south of
Lewes. This tumbled into the sea
April 13, this year. A northeast gale
the longtime enemy Of the "Old
Man of the Atlantic" as the light
house was known-encOmpassed the
destruction of the pre-RevOlution
structure, with the aid of an unusu-
ally high tide. The lighthouse was
the second oldest along the Atlantic
Coast, having been built in 1865,
few years after the construction of
the light at Cape Henry.
HenlOpen Light Very Old
A tradition has it that light was
there as early as 1925, although just
what kind of beacon it was is not ]
related. The history of Henlopen (
goes back to the time of Henry de
Vries' landing there with his ill
fated expedition in 1851 and as early
as 1895 there is official record of {
two ship reporters being stationed
there from dawn to dusk to report t
the arrival Of any French men-of- I
war.
Mention is made in the civil rec
ord of 100 of the alleged wrong-do- 1
ing of Diggerie Tenny and some of
his companions of that section in
buying some of the ill-gotten goods
of one Captain Kidd, whose piratical ]
craft was lowering off Henlopen.
Years later the Penns gave two I
acres of their proprietary
lands as a site for the light. For its !
every vessel entering
OF leaving the Port of Philadelphia i
was required to pay tax of six
pence on each ton of cargo. Custody
Of the light was entrusted to the
Board of Wardens of the port, who !
continued to maintain it until 1889 !
when it was turned over to the new s
Federal Government. 1t continued to J
shine until the day it tumbled into !
the sea.
Z