Peninsula Enterprise, June 2, 1894
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Sea -- Shellfish - Oystering : Law enforcement
Capt. Hudgins, of the oyster police boat Chesapeake, according to a dispatch to Baltimore Sun, was in New York this week, "to purchase an addition to the oyster fleet of Virginia."
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Transportation -- Water - Steamboats
The steam yacht Idler arrived at Folly Creek this week.
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Moral -- Property crime
Chicken thieves have been busy at Accomac C. H. during the week.
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Mental illness
Mary Drummond, colored, was committed to jail by Magistrate Strang last Saturday. She was violently insane at the time of her commitment.
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Infrastructure -- Public : Churches
The corner stone of the new M.E. Church, South, Cape Charles, will be laid on 4th of July. Prominent speakers will deliver addresses on the occasion and the exercises will conclude with a grand display of fireworks at night. A feast prepared by the Ladies Aid Society will furnish comfort for the inner man.
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Tourists and sportsmen -- Other recreation - Baseball
The game between the Onancock and Crisfield base ball clubs at Onancock, on Tuesday afternoon, resulted in a virtual walk-over fro the former team. The Crisfield team gave a lamentably poor exhibition of ball playing, while the Onancock boys played with decided snap and ginger. Score, Onancock 55; Crisfield 15.
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DiseaseInfrastructure -- Public - Government : Quarantine, local
A white man, who came to the lower part of the county, from Baltimore, about ten days ago, was sent to the almshouse from a farm near Onley, last Saturday, for medical treatment, and the following day his illness was pronounced small pox. He was moved to the pest house as soon as the character of his disease was discovered and every precaution has been taken to prevent the spread of the disease. There are no cases of smallpox at Onancock, and the report, that the man who has the disease was sent from that place is entirely incorrect.
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Forests -- SawmillsInfrastructure -- Commercial - Commercial constructionProfessionals -- BuildersInfrastructure -- Public : ChurchesTourists and sportsmen -- Other recreation - Fraternal orders
Belle Haven
Mr. F. E. Kellam's saw mill recently located here, is now in operation.
A mammoth building will soon be erected here by the Belle Haven Furniture Co., for the use of that firm.
Another store, the largest on the Shore, will be in course of erection soon for Mr. A. P. Kellam by Mr. A. H. C. Bloxom, architect and builder.
The corner-stone of Broadway Chapel, near Exmore, was laid last Wednesday, under the auspices of Ocean Lodge 116. Brethren from Chesapeake, Northampton, Evergreen and several other lodges off the Shore participated in the exercises. Rev. J. R. Sturgis delivered an address in the afternoon. A large crowd was in attendance, despite the inclement weather, and the net proceeds satisfactory, if not as large as desired. The sum of $21.20 was contributed by the members of the craft.
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Sea -- Shellfish - Oystering : SeasideTransportation -- Railroad - FreightTransportation -- Water - FreightSea -- Finfish - Catch : DrumFields -- Crops - StrawberriesTourists and sportsmen -- Other recreation - Boat racingInfrastructure -- Commercial - Commercial construction
Chincoteague.
Chas. E. Babbit, Jr., has sold all of his interest in the oyster business in Virginia to A. F. Matthews and will move to Maryland.
The books of the P. W. & B. R. R. Co., show that thirty-three thousand barrels of oysters have been shipped from Chincoteague by rail since last fall, two thousand barrels more than last year. In addition to this from fifteen to twenty thousand bushels were sent to market by boat. The showing is a surprise to our people and cannot be accepted as an indication of dull times here. The most of them were sold at low prices.
Twenty three drum fish were caught by John Hill and E. Clark in a few hours this week -- the biggest catch of the season.
Enough strawberries were raised on our Island this year, the first year in its history, to meet the demands of our people.
Henry Timmons has sold his batteau, the winner in the big race at Ocean city last summer, for $125.
Wm. Burch has occupied the storehouse just completed for him, and being quite popular with the ladies, expects a liberal patronage.
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Forests -- Barrel factories Infrastructure -- Utilities - TelegraphFields -- Crops - Strawberries
Mappsburg.
Our station is on the up grade. A large barrel factory has been built here recently and the railroad officials have given us a telegraph wire.
Mr. Jno. Beachboard, the first telegraph officer for this station, is popular with all the shippers from this point.
Our farmers are not satisfied with the small returns for berries and peas.
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Tourists and sportsmen -- Other recreation - Baseball
Modestown
Last week the boys here defeated those from Gargatha at base-ball, and though Sullivan and Corbett were expected, quite a crowd witnessed the contest. Our boys are crowing over their victory. When they get whipped, they may recall the saying of Josh Billings: "It hurts a fellow's philosophy awfully to laugh when he's beat."
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Fields -- Crops - StrawberriesFields -- Crops - White potatoes : Diseases and pestsFields -- Crops - Sweet potatoes : Diseases and pestsSea -- Shellfish - Crabbing : BaysideSea -- Shellfish - Oystering : BaysideSea -- Shellfish - Oystering : PlantingMoral -- VagabondsMoral -- Other violent crimeInfrastructure -- Commercial - Residential construction
Parksley.
The outlook for our farmers to date is not a happy one. Their strawberries and peas were almost a failure, so far as the returns show, the potato bugs are attacking the Irish potato crop, the fleas the sweet potato sprouts, the cut worms the cabbage, the rose bug the grapes, & c.
Our watermen too are not without their troubles. The oyster last season were plentiful and fat, but very low in price, and the crabs, although quite plentiful, are hardly worth shipping.
Our oystermen seem to think that the late trouble over the planted oyster beds on Burntwood Island Bar will greatly encourage the oyster planting interests of this section.
It is reported, that Mr. Burwell Gladding is much better and expected to be able to attend court soon.
Parksley has been well patronized by tramps for the last few weeks, but now they are requested to move on.
D. F. White has improved his dwelling by the addition of new porches and painting.
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Infrastructure -- Commercial - Residential constructionInfrastructure -- Commercial - Commercial construction
Sykes.
A genuine building boom is ours. Mr. Jas. Furniss is building a large store-house, Mr. John Richardson a dwelling and Capt. John R. Marshall is improving his residence by a porch. Large dwellings will also soon be in course of erection for Capt. Geo. N. Weaver and Mr. John Ellis.
THE JERSEY CITY DELIVERY.
Transportation -- Railroad - Freightfields -- Crops - White potatoes : Pricesfields -- Crops - White potatoes : Markets
Commission Merchants Say They Cannot Dispose of Stock in That City.
The following from the New York Journal of Commerce is published for the information of our shippers, and data obtained from reliable sources and personal observation during a recent trip to New York enables us to vouch for the accuracy of the statements for the most part contained herein:
West side produce commission merchants are considerably agitated over what they believe to be a great injury to their interests, namely the action of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in transferring the market for produce from Pier 29, North River, to Jersey City. When the transfer was made on April 26 numerous were the prophecies of disaster attending the result, and now that time has elapsed to enable the commission men to form an opinion based on actual experience that are unanimous in condemning the change.
They say the buyers do not go to Jersey City in sufficient numbers to afford an outlet for the goods arriving on the Pennsylvania line, and that a large part of the goods arriving there have to be carted to New York and to be sold at a disadvantage. The market hours for produce are during the early morning, between 1 and 4 o'clock. Then buyers for the uptown retail stores and for the stores in neighboring cities and towns make their purchases and hasten back to catch the early retail trades. When the market for goods by the Pennsylvania Railroad was at Pier 29, North River, the buyers had ample time to make their purchases and to get back to their stores. Now they claim that it requires at least three hours extra under the most favorable conditions, to cross the river from the New York side, attend to their marketing, and to re-cross the to New York. When it is considered that the majority of these buyers come from up-town and from places remote from the ferry it will been seen that the extra three to four hours involved in going to market may mean a loss of early retail trade.
Buyers of produce claim that goods purchased on the Old Dominion docks can be carted from there to Harlem and put on the market before a buyer, starting from the same point, can cross to Jersey City, do his trading, and return again to the New York side. In consequence buyers purchase as much as possible of steamer-shipped goods, and do not go the Jersey City unless there is a scarcity of the variety of vegetables they are seeking. As the season advances shipments by all lines increase and commission men view the prospect with apprehension.
Mr. J. H. Killough of 106 Park place gave the reporter a very clear idea of the matter from a commission merchant's standpoint. Mr. Killough said: "I do not wish to be quoted as issuing a protest against the change of delivery. I merely state facts, the result of certain changes. For example: 10,000 barrels of potatoes are sent to this market by steamers and the Pennsylvania railroad. We will say 8,000 barrels come in by the steamer lines and are landed and sold in New York. The market price of potatoes to day is $5 per barrel, and these 8,000 barrels are sold at that. But over in Jersey City there are 2,000 barrels for which there is no demand, for the buyers will not go there as long as they can get goods here. The consequence is that these goods must be carted to New York and, arriving too late for the early morning trade, are sold at 50 cents per barrel less than the same grade of goods brought landed here.
"Buyers learn of this and the next day entertain lower ideas of prices. The tendency of the produce market is always toward its lowest point, and the sale of those 2,000 barrels of potatoes landed at Jersey City at 50 cents per barrel less than the 8,000 barrels coming by steamers were sold at breaks the market. Then the depressed price is telegraphed to the shippers. They reduce shipments to this market in consequence, and send to other cities, causing the loss of a large amount of business to New York.
"Then there is a reaction. Goods become scarce here, prices advance; shippers are informed of the fact, and in comes a flood of shipments from all sources, which we are unable to take care of. Thus it is that the Jersey City delivery, however wise it may be from other points of view, tends to unsettle the produce market and to throw it out of its normal condition. New York is the greatest market in the country and if goods are not sent here, they cannot be sold to an advantage."
Finding that buyers will not go to Jersey City the receivers have adopted the plan, as far as possible, of bringing their goods to New York and of trying to sell them here either on West street or at their stores. During the morning hours West St., for blocks in front of the Old Dominion Steamship Co.'s landing is crowded with trucks loaded with produce brought from Jersey City to be sold.
Mr. J. P Cowper, of Olivet Bros., 335 Washington street, said: "The fact that we are obliged to bring goods here to be sold militates against us and also against the shippers, because of the extra cost in transferring goods across the river. We cannot dispose of goods to an advantage in a mixed up jumble of carts holding all sorts of produce as when we had them displayed in an orderly fashion, as on Pier 29. A truckman does not make this journey until his truck is loaded. This often causes delay and mixes up the goods in such a way that it is difficult to sell in lines. The extra cartage comes out of the shipper's profit on the goods."
Mr. Frank Nix, of John Nix & Co., 281 Washington street, said: "Formerly the buyers used to seek us, and in consequence we had a fairly steady market, under normal conditions, for all kinds of produce. Now we are obliged to hunt up the buyers. Receipts have not been very large so far this season, but are increasing every day, and we fear that the complications involved by the Jersey City delivery may tend to make the market more unsettled than it would otherwise be. Heretofore the largest proportion of receipts have been by steamer and were landed here, But this market is beginning to draw from sections of country where the Pennsylvania Railroad is the only line of transportation, and the effects of the change of delivery are just becoming apparent.
It is said that since the change was made receipts of produce by steamer have been increasing, and rail shipments have decreased. It is estimated that there has been a falling off in receipts of cabbage alone by the Pennsylvania railroad of 100,000 packages since the change was made. Receivers of peas by rail are said to have had especial trouble.
A large number of produce commission men were interviewed, and without exception all agreed that the Jersey City delivery was detrimental to their business.
That buyers will not go to Jersey City anyone will be convinced, who will go over to the Jersey side as we did, at the market hours for produce, from 1 to 4 o'clock in the morning. It is no exaggeration to state that the salesmen of the commission merchants outnumbered the buyers during the visit made by us 5 to 1, and that morning, we were advised, was a fair criterion by which we could judge of the business transacted in the magnificent warehouse of the Pennsylvania R. R., on the Jersey side. Some of the few buyers who were there, told us, that they came merely as lookers on, and that we were prepared to believe when told that only a few barrels had been sold in the warehouse of the Pennsylvania Railroad that morning. Returning to the New York side a singular spectacle was presented to us, viz: West street blockaded with trucks used as stands from which produce brought over from the Pennsylvania R. R. was being sold, to the damage of the farmers who had raised it from 10 cents to $1 on every barrel -- cartage 10 cents and an additional sum caused by decrease in value, usually 25 cents, oftentimes more, due to the delay in getting it on the market at a time when best customers are served. Of course no one can believe that produce sold from tucks can be sold to the same advantage as it spread out on a pier, of that produce which is sought after will not bring a better price than it will when the commission merchant has to hunt up the buyer, as stated above. It is not surprising, therefore, as stated above, that rail shipments to New York are decreasing, and our people, if wise, must, we believe, send their produce by water to New York.
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Transportation -- Railroad - Freightfields -- Crops - White potatoes : Marketsfields -- Crops - White potatoes : Prices
The Pennsylvania R. R. Co claims that the removal of their delivery point to Jersey City is in the interest of trade. The commission merchants say that it is in the interest of the railroad and submit the following through the Producers Price-Current as the reasons for conclusion:
As to the reason for the change, it is easy to see why the Jersey City delivery will be greatly favorable to the Penna. R. R., assuming that the amount of traffic is not materially curtailed thereby. The change will not only save them the heavy cost of transportation across the Hudson River of thousands of cars laden with fruit and vegetables, but will give to their existing ferry lines the profitable business of transporting tens of thousands of trucks from New York empty, and back to New York loaded. We have not sufficiently accurate data at hand to estimate reliably the cost of this transportation of trucks to and from New York, but when it is considered that during the height of the season arrivals of more than 100 car-loads in a day are common by this route alone, some idea may be obtained of the enormous revenue which would be derived from ferrying the stock across the river in driblets.
The removal is of course in the interests of the Pennsylvania R. R. Co., and for the additional reason, it is stated, that it has much property in Jersey City which would be greatly enhanced in the value if the Jersey City delivery can be made a success. So far it has not been, but it is claimed it will be, we are advised, when potatoes are sent to market because too bulky to be moved easily. If such is the case, should we not do all in our power to prevent to consummation of an iniquity at our expense?
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Transportation -- Water - SteamboatsTransportation -- Railroad - Freight
The farmers of the Eastern Shore cannot but look forward with great solicitude to the prospect presented by the Jersey City delivery, is the statements contained in other columns of this paper are correct, and must, if possible, seek to relieve themselves of the burdens which the Pennsylvania R. R. Co. would place upon them. If, heretofore, they have considered the charges enormous for delivering their produce in the New York Market, this year, they must think them iniquitous beyond anything they had ever dreamed of. If, heretofore, it was a hardship for them to pay 40 cents on every barrel of produce sent to market, what must be their indignation now, when not only ten cents, in the way of cartage, is added to every barrel, but a much greater loss is imposed upon them by the means of delivering and the methods of handling the same -- and can they but ask themselves, if the Pennsylvania Railroad increases their burdens this year and they submit to it, what assurance have they that they will not continue to increase. The railroad companies through which their produce have been sent to market in the past certainly have done nothing to inspire them with confidence to expect anything better from them in the future, and our farmers must seek other means of sending their produce to market, unless they would belong to the Pennsylvania R. R. Co., and are prepared to submit to any burdens, however iniquitous, they would impose upon them. The remedy for the evil complained of cannot of course be expected through the railroad officials -- their cry is more, more, all the time -- and will ever be as long we do nothing to make ourselves independent of them. The remedy, however, can be found in the water facilities for sending our produce to market which nature has so abundantly provided us with, if reasonable diligence is exercised by us in availing ourselves of them, and that without an outlay of a dollar by us. Concert of action and a faithful performance of promises is all that is necessary for us to secure water transportation and to retain it, and we make the statement advisedly, as at the time of writing, we have a communication on our table stating "that certain steamship people who are acquainted with the Eastern Shore and the cost of steam transportation are ready to run a steamer, two trips a week, out of Machipongo Inlet to New York, landing at a North River pier at the rate of 35 cents per barrel," if proper pledges are given to them by the shippers to furnish an average of 5000 barrels of sweet and Irish potatoes, each in season for each week's shipment -- and if steam transportation can be secured for the belt of country from Machipongo to Nassawadox, there is no reason why it could not be for other sections of the Eastern Shore. Will the people in the section referred to be true to themselves and avail themselves of the opportunity to rid themselves of the burdens, which the Pennsylvania R. R. Co. would impose upon them? Will other sections of the Eastern Shore follow their example? We certainly counsel action, looking to water transportation as best for our people, and we voice the sentiments of the commission merchants of New York, that it is best for shippers "to have all consignments delivered in New York as far as it is a possibility."