236 



DELAWARE. 



fund, Dec. 31, 1892, $44,274.82 ; receipts during 

 the year, $176,859.04: total, $221,133.86; dis- 

 bursements, $212,923.42; balance belonging to 

 the school fund, $8,210.44. 



Railroad and Canal Finances. The Dela- 

 ware Railroad report made in January showed a 

 gain over the previous year, owing to the in- 

 crease of the fruit crop. The gross earnings 

 were $1.389,219.83, an increase of $236,569.78; 

 and the expenses $863,480.55, an increase of only 

 $20,288.18. The net earnings were $525,739.28, 

 and the surplus was $312,794.68. 



The report of the Chesapeake and Delaware 

 Canal Company, made in June, showed the gross 

 receipts to be $157,208, and the cost of mainte- 

 nance, together with interest on temporary loans, 

 $45,878; balance, $111,330; less interest on 

 4-per-cent. mortgage loan, $104,118; $7,212 sur- 

 plus placed in contingent fund. The receipts 

 for the first ten months of the fiscal year showed 

 a decided increase over the preceding year, but 

 there was a considerable falling off in the last 

 two months as a result of the storms and of the 

 great coal strike. For the whole year, however, 

 the receipts were slightly larger than in the pre- 

 ceding twelve months. 



Farms and Homes. In regard to the owner- 

 ship of farms and homes, and the liens upon 

 them, the Commissioner of Labor gives the fol- 

 lowing statistics for the State: Of the farm fami- 

 lies, 49-42 per cent, hire and 50-58 per cent, own 

 the farms cultivated by them ; 29-4 per cent, of 

 the farm-owning families own subject to incum- 

 brance, and 70'6 per cent, own free of incum- 

 brance. 



On the owned farms there are liens amounting 

 to $2,995,263, which is 44'04 per cent, on their 

 value, and this debt bears interest at the aver- 

 age rate of 5*7 per cent., making the average 

 annual interest charge $122 to each family. 

 Each owned and incumbered farm, on the aver- 

 age, is worth $4,875, and is subject to a debt of 

 $2,147. 



The corresponding facts for homes are that 

 66-71 per cent, of the home families hire, and 

 33-29 per cent, own their homes; that of the 

 home-owning families 61*31 per cent, own free 

 of incumbrance, and 38*69 per cent, with in- 

 cumbrance. In 100 home families, on the aver- 

 age, 67 hire their homes, 13 own with incum- 

 brance, and 20 without incumbrance. The debt 

 on owned homes aggregates $5,299,877, or 45-17 

 per cent, of their value, and bears interest at the 

 average rate of 5*65 per cent., so that the annual 

 interest to each home averages $92. An average 

 debt of $1,633 incumbers each home which has 

 the average value of $3,616. 



There is one city in the State Wilmington in 

 the class of those having a population of 8,000 

 to 100,000, and in this city 69-8 per cent, of the 

 home families hire, and 30 2 per cent, own their 

 homes ; and of the home-owning families 49*48 

 per cent, own with incumbrance, and 50'52 per 

 cent, own free of incumbrance. 



Water Ways. The River and Harbor Appro- 

 priation bill carried an appropriation of $25,000 

 for Wilmington harbor and Christiana river, to 

 continue the deepening to 15 feet as far as the 

 pulp works; it includes an order for a survey for 

 a depth of 21 feet at the mouth of the river, and 

 a preliminary survey as far as Newport, 10 miles. 



This is a project of great importance to Wil- 

 mington. One of the largest shipbuilding plants 

 in this country is at Wilmington, and, although 

 it has built numerous coast, sound, and river 

 steamers of great and some of them unequaled 

 speed, this company has been prevented from 

 competing in war- vessel construction for the 

 grave reason that there is not sufficient depth of 

 water in Christiana river to float cruisers after 

 completion. 



Other appropriations recommended in the bill 

 were: For the Delaware Breakwater, $50,000; 

 for continuing the improvement of Appoquini- 

 mink river, $3,000; for continuing the improve- 

 ment of Mispillion river, $6,000; for Murderkill 

 river, $6,500 ; for improving the inland water way 

 from Chincoteague Bay, Virginia, to Delaware 

 Bay, at or near Lewes, Del., to be used from Dela- 

 ware Bay to Indian river, $15,000 ; for continu- 

 ing the improvement of Broad Creek river, 

 $5,000, of which so much as may be necessary 

 shall be used for removal of the bar that extends 

 from the railroad bridge toward the mouth of 

 Nanticoke river. 



The report of the chief engineer of the army 

 says, after discussing the improvements in Dela- 

 ware river above : 



During the past year no expenditures have been in- 

 curred on the ice harbor at the head of Delaware Bay, 

 it being the opinion of the army engineers that the 

 appropriations can be applied with better results to 

 the improvement of the channel until the main ship 

 channel shall have been placed in proper condition. 

 There is an available appropriation of over $16,000 

 unexpended for Delaware ice harbor. In regard to 

 Delaware Breakwater, the engineers say the increase 

 in the dimensions of vessels since the present harbor 

 was designed, in 1822, and the shoaling that has en- 

 sued behind the breakwater, render the harbor in its 

 present condition inadequate to the requirements of 

 commerce. Upon the completion of the present work 

 of closing the gap additional anchorage area will be 

 added to the harbors, and it is probable that the shoal- 

 ing will cease and the anchorage be deepened. Un- 

 der favorable conditions this work can be completed 

 in a single season. 



The project to unite Delaware and Chesapeake 

 Bays by a ship canal, and thus supply the most 

 important link in an internal water route from 

 Florida to Long Island Sound, has gone so far as 

 the appointment, in October, of an expert board 

 of commissioners to select the line for the canal. 

 Provision was made for such appointment in the 

 last river and harbor bill. 



Education. The entire amount of the school 

 fund in 1894 was $115,442.04. and after deduct- 

 ing amounts paid for beneficiaries in institutions 

 outside the State, including the deaf and dumb, 

 the blind and feeble-minded children, and also 

 amounts paid for free text-books, appropriation 

 to teachers' institutes, etc., the sum of $99,- 

 177.85 was left to be apportioned among the 

 counties. Single districts average about $220. 

 Free text-books for 1894 cost $8,064.42, against 

 $11,138.12 in 1893, and $22,985.18 in 1892, mak- 

 ing a total of $42,187.72 during the three years 

 the law has been in existence. 



The report of Delaware College, at Newark, 

 made in March, included the following statis- 

 tics : 







The present number of students is 80, divided 

 follows: Classical, 7; Latin, scientific, 30; modt 



._.. as 

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