DELAWARE 



1743 



DELAWARE 



Bay has greatly increased. The gold and other 

 produces now find a ready outlet to the sea, 

 and the longer freightage to Durban or Cape 

 Town is avoided. 



Since the South African War the progress 

 of British South Africa generally has been so 

 rapid that the Portuguese authorities, who con- 



trol the shipping to and from Delagoa Bay, 

 have been compelled to take steps to meet the 

 demands of traffic. The result has been bene- 

 ficial to the Transvaal, and especially so to 

 Lourenc.o Marques, or Delagoa Bay; the latter 

 term is now commonly applied to both port 

 and bay. 



ELAWARE, THE BLUE HEN STATE, 

 one of the Middle Atlantic states, formerly 

 known far and wide for its production of 

 peaches, which suggested the peach blossom 

 as the state flower. It is one of the original 

 thirteen states of the American Union. Al- 

 though almost twice as large as Rhode Island, 

 it is the second smallest state in the Union. 

 Texas would make 112 states the size of Dela- 

 ware. Within its area of 2,370 square miles 

 live 209,800 people, according to the census 

 of 1910, an average of 103 to the square mile. 

 This is one-thirteenth the population of Texas. 

 An estimate by the Census Bureau January 1, 

 1917, placed the population at 213,380. The 

 state was named after Lord de la Warr, who 

 entered the bay east of the state in 1611. 



It is said that the nickname, Blue Hen State, 

 was given to Delaware during the Revolu- 

 tionary War. A Delaware officer was heard 

 to say that no cock was game unless it came 

 from a blue hen, and thereafter Delaware sol- 

 diers were called The Blue Hen's Chickens. 



Position and Physical Features. Its north- 

 ern semi-circular boundary divides Delaware 

 from Pennsylvania. This strange boundary 

 was drawn on a twelve-mile radius from the 

 courthouse of the city of New Castle. On the 

 east are the Delaware River, Delaware Bay 

 and the Atlantic Ocean. The straight southern 

 boundary of thirty-six miles, and the ninety- 

 mile straight western boundary, meeting the 

 southern at right angles, separate Delaware 

 from Maryland. From the south, the state 

 tapers gradually to its narrowest region near 

 the north, where it is only nine miles across. 



The northern portion of Delaware is a beau- 

 tiful, fertile region of hills and dales. The 



highest elevation of the state is 327 feet, at 

 Southwood, near the northern border. Con- 

 tinuing southward, the land surface is uni- 

 formly low, level and generally sandy. In 

 the extreme south is an area of swamp land, 

 twelve miles long and six miles wide. That 

 region is covered with cypress and evergreen 

 forests and is known as Cypress Swamp. 



Through the state from north to south runs 

 a long, low divide separating the numerous 

 small streams, which flow east to Delaware Bay 

 and west to Chesapeake Bay. Most of Dela- 

 ware's streams are not navigable. Vessels go 

 as far as Wilmington up the mouth of Chris- 

 tiana Creek, and as highways to the interior 

 for smaller craft the streams Brandywine, 

 Christiania, Duck, Murderkill, Jones, Mispil- 

 lion, Indian and Nanticoke are most notable. 



The marshy shores along Delaware Bay offer 

 few good harbors, the best ones being at 

 Lewes, near the south, and at New Castle 

 and Wilmington at the north. The construc- 

 tion of the Delaware Breakwater, a remark- 

 able feat of engineering which cost over $2.000,- 

 000 and forty years of work, has insured an 

 especially safe harbor at Lewes. Many sand 

 beaches enclose shallow lagoons on the Atlantic 

 coast; none of those waters is useful, how- 

 ever, excepting Rehoboth and Indian River 

 bays, whose common outlet, the Indian River 

 Inlet, permits navigation by small vessels. 

 The Delaware and Chesapeake Canal, thirteen 

 and one-half miles long, from Delaware City 

 to Chesapeake City, Md., affords passage for 

 barges and small steamers. 



Climate. Excepting in the southern part of 

 the state, where the swamps breed fever, the 

 climate of Delaware is mild and healthful. 



