Birmingham age-herald., 1894-12-06
THE FIRST SESSION New Mayor and Board of
 Aldermen Meets FOR BUSINESS AT CITY HALL Hon. David J. Fox Reads His Last Message = Mayor
 VanHoose's Address.
FOR BUSINESS AT CITY HALL

Birmingham had a change of adminis- trations last night, and this morning 1t is Mayor James A. VanHoose and Ex-Mayor David J. Fox. The transfer was made in the presence Of all the citizens who could crowd themselves into the council cham Der, and quite a number were unable to get inside the doors.
 The board was called to order promptly at :3O by Mayor Fox, and on roll call the following members answered to their names: Mayor Fox and Aldermen Ward, Duncan, Thomas, Robertson, Schillenger, Jefferis, West, Smith, McCartin, Jones, Meade, Parker, Moore, Mcknight, Lowery. | Alderman Wilson of the First ward was | absent.
 | The officers and committees submitted | their reports, and a number of petitions were read and referred to proper commit | tees
 MT. McCartin moved the appointment | of a committee to canvass the returns of | Tuesdays election and report same to the | board. The motion prevailed and the mayor appointed on the committee Aldermen Me- | Cartin, Smith, Lowery and McKnight. | The committee retired to the m yor's office and in a few minutes returned and reported the following members elects | Mayor-James A. VanHoose received 2300 | votes.
 AIdermen-First ward, John F. Harring ton, 2934 Second ward, samuel Ullman, 2S86; Third ward, c. F. Enslen, 2025; Fourth ward, George F. Jackson, 2O47; Fifth ward, w. H. Kettig, 1882; Sixth ward, J. Ml Gillespy, 1885; Seventh ward, | Jones, 1880.
 | The report was adopted and the mayor and aldermen- elect, except MT. Sims, who was absent from the city, signed the oath | of office.
 Mayor Fox then submitted his sEMI-ANNUAL REPORT, | which was as follows:
 | To the Honorable Board of Aldermen | GENTLEMEN: Under section 50 of the l city code it is made the duty of the mayor
 to submit semi ann ually report showing | the financial condition of the city. l The treasurer's report shows amount of cash on hand December l, 1894, .S9062.66, | and all interest on your bopded debt paid | to January 1, 1895; and that you have re-
 deemed and cancelled the second and third | sanitary series-of bonds, 0,0O0 each, !, amounting in all to S20, ,000 and go out of office leaving no floating debt; and there
 remains uncollected, as per the city books,
 for taxes and improvement account, as es-
 timated by the auditor, S100, ,00o.
 From the city engineers report you have | done a great deal of necessary work, as fol-
 lows, and paid for same, since taking hold | of the city affairs in 1892: You had the 24- | inch sanitary main completed at cost of | S133O. .25; also caused to be built main l 15OS feet long, 12 inches and 15 inches in | diameter, to connect the North and South | side sanitary systems on Fourteenth street, l and in addition to the above there has been | laid 1150 feet of smaller sanitary sewer. l There has been laid 28,647 lineal feet of | curbing.
 l The Tv enty first street bridge railing | was completed during your term. There | has been laid 2081 s square yards of vitrifed l tile and BIO square yards of asphalt tile side | walks.
 There has been great amount of neces- | sary and beneficial work done in and
 around Oak Hill cemetery by building 700 | lineal feet of stone wall on the Nineteenth
 street side and I'll lineal feet of brick storm | water sewer through the cemetery, thus | retaining lots enough to doubly pay the | cost of these improvements. l In addition to the above improvements, l the cutting of drain ditches, laying drain | pipe, building bridges, cleaning out catch | basins and sewers, the following work of | plished:
 Streets graded, one and seven- eighth miles, equal to 30, 600 cubic yards of exca- | vation.
 Streets graveled, three and three- quarter | miles.
 | Streets regarded and regraveed three and | one half miles.
 l Streets temporarily graded, either cin- | dered or graveled, two and one-quarter l miles.
 Sidewalks either cindered or graveled. | nine and three- quarter miles. 1 respectfully submit the foregoing report, | DAVID J. Fox, Mayor. THE RETIRING MAYORS SPEECH.
 "By operation of law my official con | nection with you, gentlemen, is about to | cease, and before retiring from the position
 have held for the past two years desire l to thank you for the valuable assistance | you have given me in the administration of
 the affairs of the city and the execution of | the law. We have been confronted with | conditions more severe than any of our pre-
 decessors, and l truly hope that no suc- | cessor of mine will be surrounded with
 such obstacles. During the last two years
 we have not only passed through the most
 disastrous panic in the history of the city,
 which curtailed our revenues at least one-
 third, but our enemies have been as re- | lentless as they have been unjust and un- | patriotic in attempting to make the out | going administration failure. But they
 have not succeeded, though 1t Is far more | difficult for public officer to discharge his | duty when he is not supported by all the
 people. We have discharged our duty &C.,
 cording to the best of our ability, and our
 fellow citizens should require no more of
 us. We have challenged an investigation
 of our accounts, and if our enemies do not
 want to know the truth then let them revel
 in their mire of libel and islander.
 'To the new administration, my most
 earnest desire is that under your ad-
 mnistration new life will be in-
 fused into this municipal government. l
 cannot doubt that this will be done when
 observe the promises which you have made
 the people who have honored you by their
 votes. chosen head of this government,
 who can with meager resources at his com
 mand increase the efficiency of the several
 departments-fire, police, lights and
 schoos-and protect the credit of the city,
 will prove public benefactor, and be en-
 titled to the brightest page in the history
 of Birmingham. promise you here, sir,
 that you shall command my humble serv
 ices as private citizen in every step you
 may take for the advancement of this city | and he peneral welfare of this peopIe but