Peninsula Enterprise, November 22, 1883
Untitled
reprinted from Baltimore Sun, November 19.Infrastructure -- Public - Government : Maryland-Virginia boundary
The oyster police steamer Leila, Capt. C. J. R. Mitchell, will leave Baltimore this morning at 6 o'clock for Crisfield, where she will take on board the commissioners having in charge the work of marking the boundary line between Maryland and Virginia. She will then go from Crisfield to Watkins' Point, Smith's Island and Smith's Point to locate the stone's marking the line.
Untitled
Infrastructure -- Commercial - Real estateTransportation -- Road - LiveriesInfrastructure -- Commercial - HotelsInfrastructure -- Public : Schools
Accomac C. H.
Mr. Chas. B. Lilliston purchased a piece of land of Mr. Fred Waddy, of our town, last week, 8x50 feet, at $100, or at the rate of about $11,000 per acre, it being just $12.50 a front foot.
Work was begun on the new stables of Mr. L. James Gunter, in our town, to-day. The building will be a large one, and will have ample accommodations not only for horses on livery and for exchange, but for horses taken to board by the month or year.
Mr. Fred Waddy, our new hotel proprietor, is making extensive repairs on the property recently purchased by him. It is his intention to thoroughly remodel and renovate the buildings, and make the hotel unexcelled in its comforts as well as its cuisine, by any hotel on the Peninsula.
The seats provided for the pupils at the public school in our town will not accommodate more than one-fourth of them, and the consequence is; the children have to be huddled together in a manner neither decorous nor comfortable. It is the duty of somebody to give the matter their attention, and we suggest that somebody do it.
Untitled
Infrastructure -- Commercial - HotelsInfrastructure -- Public - Government : Life-saving service
Chincoteague.
Mine host Matthews, having purchased the new Atlantic Hotel, will make it more attractive and home-like than ever.
Messrs. Kearney, Miller and Jordan, of the Treasury Department, are looking after the construction of the new life-saving stations. There will be no violation of the contract.
Messrs. Robinson & Knight, of Camden, N. J., having purchased the Hurly Hotel, are turning the ranch into a first-class bakery. This will be a blessing to the ladies of Chincoteague. They can have hot rolls delivered at their door every morning.
Untitled
Architecture -- Commercial buildingsInfrastructure -- Commercial - General Stores
Mercantile Notes.
The storehouse to be erected at Pungoteague soon by Messrs. Davison & Warren, and heretofore noticed, is to be a mammoth establishment, the population of the town being considered. Its dimensions 34x72 feet, will compare favorably with many city structures used for mercantile purposes. It will be built in time to be opened by the first of next January.
The new store of Messrs. Mapp & Nottingham, at Locustville, has a business air about it which shows that they do not mean to be laggards in the race for customers. A chat with them will convince you that they are wide awake to the importance of keeping constantly on hand such things as the necessities of their trade demands and at prices which will attract customers and induce them to buy.
Our Railroad.
Transportation -- Railroad - ConstructionForests -- Forest products - Rail ties
Mr. Ulysses Schoolfield was in our town last week and reports that work will positively begin on our railroad in time to ensure its construction as far as our town by the first of next April. The object of his visit was for the purpose of purchasing ties for the road.
MARKING THE BOUNDARY.
reprinted from Baltimore Sun, November 20.Infrastructure -- Public - Government : Maryland-Virginia boundarySea -- Shellfish - Oystering : BaysideSea -- Shellfish - Oystering : Surveying
How the New Line Between Maryland and Virginia will be Designated.
The oyster police steamer, Leila, Capt. C. J. B. Mitchell, left Baltimore yesterday morning at 8 o'clock for Crisfield, where she will take on board the commissioners charged with the duty of marking the boundary line between Maryland and Virginia, as determined by the arbitrators appointed by the two States. From Crisfield she will proceed to Watkins' Point to place one of the boundary stones, and from there to Smith's Island, where two stones will be planted. From Smith's Island she will cross the bay to Smith's Point, where the fourth and last stone will be set up. Col. Wm. J. Aydelotte, of Worcester county, is the Maryland commissioner, and Mr. George H. Bagwell, of Onancock, is Virginia's representative. Lieut. F. V. Abbott, United States engineer corps, who was detailed at the request of the two States by the Secretary of War, has charge of the practical details of the work, and is assisted by Mr. Donaldson Craik. The stones used to mark the line are of undressed granite, with no inscription except the letters M. and V., indicating Maryland and Virginia, which are cut into the head of each stone with a diagonal line dividing them. M. for Maryland, lying to the northward, appears at the top, and V. for Virginia at the bottom. The commissioners have been engaged for several weeks resurveying the old Calvert-Scarborough line from a point on the Pocomoke river eastward to the sea, and expect to complete the work of placing the boundary stones by Saturday next. There will still remain the important and difficult task of defining the boundary line (which runs a very irregular course) in the Tangier and Pocomoke sounds. Exactly how this is to be done, whether by means of buoys or beacons, has not as yet been determined. It is of great importance that the line should be clearly designated, as valuable oyster rocks lie in the immediate vicinity.
The controversy between the two States as to the true boundary line dates back to 1668, when an agreement was entered into by Philip Calvert on the part of Maryland and Col. Edmund Scarborough on the part of Virginia, who adopted a line which gave to Virginia some 15,000 acres more than Maryland claimed she was entitled to. No final decision was reached until after the lapse of more than two hundred years. In 1874 the two States agreed to refer to the points in dispute to arbitration. Hon. Jeremiah S. Black, of Pennsylvania, was selected as arbitrator on the part of Maryland, and Hon. Charles W. Jenkins, of Georgia, on the part of Virginia, with Senator Beck, of Kentucky, as umpire. The interests of Maryland were represented before the commission by Hon. Wm. Pinkney White and Hon. Isaac D. Jones. In January, 1877, the arbitrators made an award, which was afterwards ratified by the Legislature of both States and by Congress. There were two reports -- a majority report signed by Judge Black and Mr. Jenkins and a minority report signed by Senator Beck. The majority report, in accordance with which the award was made, gave Maryland all the territory to the south bank of the Potomac at low-water mark, Virginia to have such use of the river beyond low-water mark as would facilitate the full enjoyment of her riparian ownership. Low-water mark on the Potomac is interpreted as meaning a line drawn from headland to headland, thus securing to Virginia all indentations, bays, creeks, inlets or affluent rivers within the line. Senator Beck dissented from the majority report on the ground that Watkin's Point as located by his colleagues was not the Watkins' Point of Lord Baltimore's charter. The point denominated Watkins' Point by the majority is the Southern extremity of Somerset county, projecting from Great Fox Island into Cedar straits. As finally determined by the arbitrators the boundary line secures to Maryland the famous oyster beds known as the Great Rock in Tangier Sound.