Year: 1866

| Wilmington is 81 miles below Richmond, Is
below the Horse Shoe Bend, and generally
below the point of ice blockade, is it unrea-
sonable to expect, in view of continued
increase in the Anthracite trade, that viii
mington will become in few years a ship
ping port of some Importance, both for
Anthracite and Bituminous GOALS?


1t is argued by some that the tendency Of
trade is to concentrate the coal shipping
about the large cities; by others that State
and City pride will prevent the Goals OF
Pennsylvania from being shipped at any
point except Philadelphia.


Why should this be soG Wilmington is
emphatically tributary of Philadelphia,
and the growth of Wilmington is the growth
of Philadelphia


We may learn much upon this point by
looking at the history of the coal shipping
trade of Elizabeth Port in New Jersey. The
Delaware, Lackawana and Western Railroad
is an undoubted New York improvement,
and managed emphatically in the New York
interest, and yet its shipping point is Eliza
beth Port in the State of New Jersey, which
has grown up in few years to be port of
sufficient importance TO ship nearly l 800 900
tons of coal per annum


Undoubtedly the shipment of coal to sup
ply the wants of the Delaware Bay trade
must be done at once by Wilmington, and
only refusal of the Reading and Pennsyl-
vania Railroade tn uro roto with t1,o W.;
mington and Reading, will prevent it in
short time from becoming port whence
large ocean shipments OF both Anthracite
and Bituminous coal will be made. That it
will be the interest of both these great roads
to pro rata with us, can readily be shown.


That it will be the interest of the Reading
to pro rata in order to extend its Anthracite
trade over a new district, will be seen by the
following statement of distances and points
to which the Anthracite coal will be distri
buted from the line of the Wilmington and
Reading Railroad


BY comparison of distances from Potts
vile, by way of the Reading Railroad and
Philadelphia, (the present route of supply,
and by way of the Wilmington and Reading
Railroad, it may be shown that our Road
must furnish Anthracite coal to all consumers
on the different roads it will intersect, both
| eastward and westward, as follows On the
whole extent of the East Brandywine Rail
road, from Waynesboro 10 Downingtown,
and thence eastward on the Chester Valley
Railroad to a distance of 12 miles before
being met by the supply coming westw ard
from Norristown on the Pennsylvania Gem
trail Railroad from point 90 miles east of
Downingtown to 23 miles west of Coates
vile, or 5s miles, By means of short
branch connecting with West Chester and
the Media Road, we must furnish coal to
West Chester, and as far east as to within 0
miles of Philadelphia, or 90 miles.


On the Baltimore Central Railroad the
range will be from its eastern end, westward
to within 3 miles of Port Deposit in fact
making Port Deposit almost as good ship
ping point for the coal of schuylkin County,
as for that OF the Susquehana region. On
the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore
Railroad, coal will be carried eastward to
Chester, and westward distance of 2S miles
before it can be met by the supply coming
from the Susquehanna.


Let us recapitulate the distances over
which the Wilmington and Reading will
distribute coal


| a..