Birmingham state herald., 1896-12-02
OPELIKA.
Citizens Meet and Resolute on a Central
 Depot

Depot. 4
 Opelka, Dec. 1.-(Special Correspond
 ence)-The Central of Georgia and the
 Western railway of Alabama will short
 ly begin the erection of Q handsome pas
 senger depot here to take the place of
 the one recently burned. eI
 The East Alabama Fair association
 has decided to hold a fair annually and will make racing the main feature. Ar
 engagements will be made to include Ope-
 lika In the circuit with Atlanta, Mont
 gomery Birmingham and New Orleans
 thus bringing the finest racers in the
 south here annually. The race track
 here. which is a half mile one, is one
 of the best in the south, and excites the
 admiration of all stock men,
 Mir c. C. Torhert, capitalist of this
 county, has taken charge of the financial
 affairs of the Opelika and Auburn rail
 road, and will effect vast improvements
 on the line. The road has run down con"
 siGerably, but will now be put in first
 class condition. The track and road
 bed will be greatly improved and equip
 ment of superior quality will be put in
 service. The entire plant will be main-
 tained at a high degree of efficiency.
 The road is an important factor in Opeli- ka's commerce, and does thriving business.
 The Lafayette railway, the new line to Lafayette. is doing an immense bus1- ness. DOuDle udlly Hldil SeiNlCG HdsS been established on the line and the com pany has just received new engine from the Baldwin locomotive works to ena ble 1t to handle the heavy freight
 business 1t Is doing. The road is owned entirely by citizens of Lafayette. Several Lee county politicians are looking forward to receiving fat plums from the Mckinley administration. Lee county's new court house which is to be the finest building in East Ala- o,,x bn h1,i1 Il ing when finished and completed will cost about $35 GOO. The legislature has just passed a. bill allowing the county to issue $25,000 worth of bonds toward paying for it.
 A mass meeting of the business men | of Opelka was held this morning at the | Opelil1a rink hall, and it was the largest attended business meeting ever held in Opelika.
 MT. T. c. Pinckard was elected chair man of the meeting and J. l.. Dean sec retary. The object of the meeting was stated to be to petition the Central of 1 Georgia railway company to cooperate with the Western Railway of Alabama and build the new passenger depot in or near the park.
 A committee consisting of W. J. sam | ford Augustus Barnes and B. A. Cooper | were appointed by the chairman to pre- | pare suitable resolutions for the consid- l eration of the meeting. This committee | | unanimously adopted:
 | "Resolved, by the citizens of Opelka, in mass meeting assembled, That 1t l would be greatly to the benefit, security l and convenience of the citizens of the l city and the travelling public, that the passenger depot of the Western Railway of Alabama and the Central of Georgia | Railway company should be established l in or near the park of the Western rail- road, and that committee of five citi- Zens be appointed by the chairman to confer with the railroad authorities and earnestly request that the said passenger | depot be so located.
 | Resolved, second, That said committee l shall prepare proper memorial to be l presented to the railroad authorities to l effectuate the end desired, and that the 1 committee shall give the names of those l present at this meeting as appointing ! said committed:
 | Resolved, third, That the committee l is hereby instructed to urge the railroad l authorities to arrange to have all trains l made up outside of the business portion 1 of the city, thereby greatly lessening 1 the danger to life and limb. | The following gentlemen were appoint ed by the chairman as the committees: F. M. Renfro, Augustus Barnes, T. P. Hudmon, B. A. Cooper and J. J. Smith. l On motion it was decided that board of l trade should be organized, and MT. A. l l.. Dowdell and w. D. Bramham were | appointed a committee to call on the | business men and notify them that a meeting would be held on Thursday night | December 3, at the office of the Opehka l Post, for that purpose.
 The mass meeting then adjourned.