Newspapers / The Daily Advance (Elizabeth … / Sept. 20, 1923, edition 1 / Page 4
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THE ADVANCE PKKI.K * PBELK, tyitlKtiera HIMBCr.T fICLt I?(K Member of the AModcte'l Pre**. Amvki?? Pt?m it ?>(!??.? ly lc '*? ??' il ?? leal ' *"* HHT *?? liM to Vl l?C*l Martukl-M'* IK tetorK at tt? m\ ChuNUi City. N. C.. u Mc*?d Him ??tW. Ily .Mail 1 Mitki flu atfvaac*) " w latfu (in Mnr.o) U :> . UK*. II a??tnt M ? ~ "" - ?L _ .. ?VQO . - MM Subscription lir.tps Ity Carrier ? VMM IN I MM (la U?IM?) lit ??rail (in i?? ??*? UN. II a?? ItM Twm. It ?>? fet Mall ClOTft* THURSDAY, SEPT. 20, 192S A Comedy of Err??r? The Advance observed with some interest and with a meas ure of exasperation, but with more amusement than either, under the headline, "Snnking Gut Road Finished at Last," the following item in last Friday's News and Observer: The final ehapter in the construc tlon of the floating road over Stink ing Out Swamp, regarded by high way engineers as one of the modt remarkable pieces of work yet ac complished, was written yesterday when George K. McNutt, construct tion engineer on the Job. turned in hit report of costs and was officially Checked off tfce Job. Actual work *?? completed July 20. .1 Contrary to widespread reports that have circulated throughout the eastern end of the State, the total coat of construction under State su pervision falls under rather than runs over the figures submitted by contractors who bid on the Job when It was first offered in 1922. Tin- State nets a saving of $2?>,23o.?5 on the Job. ?? The unit price bid submitted by the lowest bidder when the project waa-offrted for construction amount ed to 9H5.019.28, The road was completed at a cost of $118,814,S9. according to the Anal report submit ted by Mr. McNutt yesterday. The figures include the cost of operating a ferry which was used as a detour during the period of construction. The road is 2.74 miles long, con i nectlng Elizabeth City and Camden courthouse, and is built acrosH a ?Wamp that has no bottom, insofar aa engineers have been able to de termine. The concrete surface, eight Inches thick and re-lnforced with 90 pounds of steel to tin- Mjuure yard la laid over timber corduroy covered lrith dirt hauled in l>oatH U0 miles. Twice a day the tide which comes UP the Pasquotank river covers the I road, but after a year of service it | has given no indication of sinking , The engineering department believes that the experiment is now safe, and I that the road will serve traffic indef IlliUfj. It has withstood the traffic Of heavy trucks during the construc tion period, which, it Is believed, vai heavier than any immediate bur den the road will be called upon to The only news to this sec tton, of course, in the foregoing clipping was the presumably aathoritative statement of the road's cost?the first such state ment that The Advance has ob served in print. What "widespread reports" were referred to in the second paragraph of the clipping. The Advance has 110 idea. There was, to be sure, a general under standing that, owing to the de lay in completion of the project and to the necessity of main taining a ferry boat detour for more than six months, the cost of the project would exceed first estimates when it had been hoped to complste by January a road on which construction did not actually cease until the last of the following June. But The Advance never heard anybody suggest that it was going to cost the State more to build the road than the job. could have been done for had it been let to con tract. It is true that there was a lone report published in this newspaper, as paving opera tions were completed, that "the estimated cost of the project runs up to nearly $140,000.00" i ?a report based 011 figures of $188 ,866.18 given in a then re cent issue of the State lli?h way Bulletin as "estimated These ft wires were accept ed nt their fnce value by The "Advance, this newspaper at the itime having lost Biinht of the ex act figures of the low bid on the ?project rejected I >v District Highway Commissioner Hart, H0n the ground of licin^ too hit<h. However, this lone report was speedily corrected with the ex TIMELY TOPICS A fr^r, our pl?nU tor Wlnt?r ?nd l?t by ?upplylng Flower Po<w. and TaborHU. P. W. MELICK CO. planation that the highway bul letin's figures were based on contractors' bids and not on es timates of the cost of actus1.! roust ruction; and with a further statement that the actual cost of the project would not go any where near $140.0<>o. Where the News and Observer got its figures of $145,019.28 as the lowest bid on the project The Advance does not know. We do know that figures published as I the lowest bid at the time bids !were rejected was $135,990.85; and we know again that Com missioner Hart in a signed statement to this newspaper published in the issue of May 30, 1922, said that the lowest .bid in round numbers was -"something like $138,000.00." ! However, The Advance pre sumes the new figures to be re i vised and correct, the only mat ter as to figures to which The .Advance takes exception being [the implication that there were "widespread reports" in this section that the cost of the road j would exceed $145,000. The glaring and in some cases ^ludicrous inaccuracies made in ithe remaining paragraphs of the clipping are apt illustra tions of the persistence of error' once started on its course. Ben ;Dixon McNeill spent a day look ing over the road as it was nearing completion last spring and in the next issue of the News and Observer appeared a very vivid and entertaining ac-; count of the obstacles overcome in building this road. But Mr. I McNeill's story was more vivid and interesting than exact,! and, where Mr. McNeill lacked in definiteness, whoever., wrote the headlines for the article as it appeared in print made up for the lack by a ready imagin-| ation. Now, apparently, every] time there is occasion to refer to this particular road, the writer who handles the story turns to the headlines of Mr. j (McNeill's auticje for inspira tion. For instance, the marsh over which this road passes is de scribed as having "no bottom in jso far as engineers have been able to determine." Jt is a mat ter of record, The Advance be lieves, that engineers who sur veyed the route preliminary to the building of the road by the^ [Camden Ferry Company found bottom at a depth of 15 or 18 feet below the surface on each side of Glovers Cut, while be lyond 200 feet from the cut the depth of muck varied between limits of five and 10 feet. That' may lie bottomless so far as au tomobile traffic is concerned, I but to say that it is bottomless j"so far as engineers have been Sable to find" is going it a bit i thick. The Advance knows of its own knowledge and observa tion that, when the 40-foot pil ing was driven down at Glovers |Cut, admittedly the deepest sec tion of the <iuagmire, prepara i 'tory to the construction of the present bridge over that chan nel, beneath the muck was found a foundation so hard that the butt of every piling driven down was splintered before it could be driven to the required depth. ? As to the "dirt hauled 20 miles in boats," of course it could?nr5t be expected that the upstater should know that dirt could be hauled 2(1 miles in barges probably more economi cally than it could be hauled the length of the road ih trucks. Again News and Observer desk men who write glibly of this road, after a hasty glance over the McNeill story head lines, imply that the State laid the corduroy for the entire 2.74 miles of road, when as a matter of fact less than 2,800 feet of corduroy was laid by McNutt. There was one stretch of 1,400 feet where he used corduroy to raise a sunken portion of the road above the tide, and there were other shorter stretches ag gregating in all less than 1,400 feet that were so raised. But the only crosslogging under the major portion of the road was .that put down when the-road 'was originally built nearly 20 years ago by the Camden Ferry Company. AIcNutt did, how ever, raise the roadbed by' about 14 inches throughout its length with dirt," unloaded for the most part at the center of operations at Glovers Cut wharf from barges, and it was this new dirt, subjected immediately! after it was put down to thft heavy traffic of State constru ??-' tion trueks under conditions of a wet winter, which gave Ben Dixon McNeill his exaggerated idea of the condition of the road' before the State took it over. "Twice a day the tide which comes up the river covers the road" would make a horse laugh. The only thing that the man who put headlines on Mc-j Neill's story knew about the, ebb and flow of tides was what1 he had read about ocean tides in j his high school geography and j in his English poets. He there-! fore presumed that if there were tides on the Pasquotank they came up the river twice daily. McNeill sent along a pic-1 ture of a truck caught on the road by the tide and stalled, j>nd so the headliner jumped to, the conclusion that when the tide came up the river it sub-! merged the whole road. As a ? matter of fact, as The Advance1 has vainly and ineffectually sought again and again to tell the News and Observer, the only tides of this section are wind tides, which are high with Con tinued high winds from thei Southeast and low with contin ued high winds from the oppo site direction, while, when there are no high winds, the tide is normal; tide being used to de note the level of the water, which fluctuates with the force and direction of the wind in stead of with sea tides or with rainfall. ? High tides are not, therefore, a matter of daily occurrence, but are as infrequent as a high southeast wind. When they come they last as long as the 'wind stays up, and begin to re cede as soon as it goes down. But never, in the highest tide ever known to prevail here, has the river road been submerged for its entire length, or even for one per cent of its length, since the day it was built. The only sections submerged while con struction was going on were the sections the level of which Mc ;Nutt sought to raise by cross logging. McNutt undertook to 'raise those sunken sections ?above the tide and thought he had done so. But this road, un der loaded truck traffic, sunk in jcertain spots after it was grad jed and continued to settle in; these depressions after it was' | paved. Consequently, today | these two or three spots are sub merged practically all the time, the depth and area of the water I varying with the tide. But the variation is not one that occurs twice daily and the-length ,f| road bed submerged is seldom more than 200 feet in any spot.! i'he Advance does recall one oc-j casion since the road was paved,) however, when the water on the paving was deep enough to stall Jow-swung motor cars. Before! the road was paved such acci-J dents were of more frequent oc-j currence, and, while the road I was under construction, the] "tide" was high enough on cer-f tain days to stall even the State trucks crossing the sunken por tion of the highway. The idea, however, that the road had to be built between tides that submerged it twice daily is erroneous to the point of ab-f surdity. Finally, the News and Ob server has renamed to its own! liking that portion of the Pas-' qUotank river swamp which; this road crosses. "Stinking Gut Swamp" is a' swamp The Advance never heald of anywhere except in the1 News and Observer. Glovers! Cut, which bisects the peninsu-J la in Camden opposite Elizabeth! City formed by an oxbow bend! of the Pasquotank river, it is J true, was for a time, while an, oyster canning factory flour-j ished on Machelhe's Island,! known as Stinking Gut. But to name a whole swamp?a swamp I as old as the Pasquotank river itself, after an artificial channel cut, according to tradition, not more than two generations ago, strikes us as rather unusual. If the News and Observer prefers Stinking Gut to Glovers Cut, ev en though no basis of fact for the former name now exists and though Glovers Cut is the name used on all maps in this section, the News and Observer has the, right to its preference in thej matter. But to try to name a EraffiTE TAKK NO ( MANCIMt CATTH Kll gar's 1 p. m. Huh (or Norfolk. Ar rive there 3:45 p. m. Makes nil out going connections. Edgar William*. Sept. 1 H-2 4pd. ? i ! WANTED-YOl'XO MAX TO CMCitK I In men's department of one of the . largest stores In the city. State age, qualifications and salary expected. No one need apply who does not be- , llove he will make a good live-wire! salesman. Address P. O. Box 343.. Sep.18,1 9,20-np ? | FOR RENT ? IPSTAIIU4 APT. on West Main street, rurnlahed or unfurnished. Call 167-J, Mra. A. K. Kramer. Sept. 18-24-np KIMJAR'S IUS I.KAVKH UNION Station Norfolk, 8 o'clock mornings for K. City. Arrives hero 10:80. Fsrs asms as trsln. Edgsr Wll , llatni. 8ept. 18-24 pd. , W ANTKD ? TOUNCJ MAIlltfTCV) man. 21 or over; must have good education and beat of reference; good chance to become manager of a good basin***. Apply "O," care of The Advance. 8ep.l7,18-np WANTED?lAMTOH KOU FlItMT M. E Church. Apply until fl^pt. 20. Mr*. W. J. Woodley, L. .R. Foreman. J. P. Kramer. Sep.l3-20-np KOIl HAI.K?*A08 HKAP AI.HK marle Cottage, 24 rooms furnished, ? 3,000; pavlllan, 91.260; S room cot tage partly furnished, ?500. C?ah. Dr. C. W. Sawyer. Elltabeth City, N. C- 8ep.12.J8np fill HAI.R AT A RAiUiAlX?8KV en room bungalow, leas than on* yaar old, Bath, hot and fold wat er, yrlvate aeworage, earape, *uni-: mer kitchen, lot 50 by 130 ft. Will, sell at a bargain; nloo obe lot on water front 50 by 250 ft. Soe N. H. j Kvant at Auto & Ga? Knulne Works.) city. S^p.l 5-21-pd rm FOB HAI.F?OXF. TON FORD | truck; also garage (or rent. Apply I at 105 W. Cypren atreet after 6 o'clock p. m. Sep. 17-22-pd FOR 8AI.K?XEW ?'ROI? AHRIZZI and Rouen Herd Rye, Fulttum and Runt Proof Oata, Dwarf iCanpx Rap?. Our price* are exceptionally low. Why pay more when we sell for leaa. Aydlett A Owena. Sep.14 20 np FORD R At'Kit R)H HAI.K ? IV good condition; new tlrea. Price $100. Apply to SIS Hunter atreet. 8ep.l7-J?pd. 'three-mile section of the Pas Iquotank river swamp after the abandoned name of an artificial channel cut through a part of the swamp strikes us as going a ! bit far. And then for the head liner to come along finally and foist the name on the road as iwell as the swamp is adding in sult to injury. I PEN DERIS YELLOW FfiSONT STORES j I D. P. COFFEE, 1 lb. Sealed Pkg 33c t A Shopping Bag free tcilh each pound tchile J they last. v D. P. Coffee is absolutely the highest grade coffee -j produced. Paying higher prices is throwing your ? money away. ? Y POTATOES, SWEET OK IRISH, Faiicv Stock. \\ LI 3c ji; TOMATOES, Large Can, new pack, Can 12^/>c | , . . PEACHES, EVAPORATED, Fancy Stock, t Ponnd : 121/2C & ROAST BEEF, 6 lb. <jin, Govt. Issue -19c X CORNED BEEF HASH, Kingan's, 2 lb. can 15c | LARD COMPOUND, Cut from original tub, Pound .-. 13c X FLOUR t 12-lb. 21-lb. 18-11). 98-lb. | Wonder Self Rising 45c 88c S1.63 S3.25 Palace Patent 47c 90c 81.70 S3.25 -j QUAKER HOMINY GRITS, Pkg 10c QUAKER'S or MOTHER'S OATS, Pkg ....10c CREAM OF WHEAT, Pkg. .. .21c D. P. MILK, Evaporated, Tall Cans 10c D. P. Milk is a new member of the D. P. Family. From the market of the U. S. we have selected the highest quality of milk obtainable. D. P. SOAP, Bar 5c j; v JELLO, ALL FLAVORS, Pkg. - 10c ;j: PRINCINE BAKING POWDER ;!; V-j-lb. Can 14c 1-lb. Can 26c X ;i; SUNBR1TE CLEANSER IZT. lc i % X PILLSBURY'S PANCAKE FLOUR, Pkg 12i/.c X :|: D. P. PANCAKE SYRUP 19c X BBSESEBBBBSSB5BBBB????????? I NEW TIN SHOP ? We are equipped lo handle all general tin s*:op [?1 business, including roofing and all.oilier kinds of f51 metal work. ? We are making a specialty of rebuilding stoves. ? W e also call for and deliver ibeni polished and in B first class sbape. ? Call us for anything in the sheet metal work line pj and we assure you of utmost satisfaction. I PIPKIN & REID jgj Formerly with E. J. Cohoon & Co. Plione 748 ISBEBBBI <k~x~x~x^~x~xkk-xk^~x^-?^^^~xkkkkk~x~x-x^"X"X"X"X? ?. * ? 1 Fresh Groceries At Loire's/ Price* We /lore FRESH CELERY SNAP PEAS CABBAGE BANANAS ? CORN APPLES IRISH AND PEACHES SWEET POTATOES CRAPES SN \P BEANS, ORANGES t GREENS LEMONS { J. W. Shannonhouse & Son f | Road Street. I'lione 1R7. i "GOOD TO EAT" ANYTHING YOii WANT Celery, Pent, (abltagr, Irith Potatoes. Lettuce, Beans, Street I'otatoe*, Meat* of nil kinds, Peachet and Oranget. lirnpe fruit, Hananatt, Applet. Call Phone* 697 or 698 R. L. GARRETT
The Daily Advance (Elizabeth City, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Sept. 20, 1923, edition 1
4
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