The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-12-13
MUST LAY HEAVIER RAILS.
STREET RAILWAY WORK STOPPED
FOR AWHILE.

Track Forces on the AbercOrn street
and Montgomery street Lines Dis
charged Until IA supply of 5O-POund
Rail Can he Had-AIderman Davis
Says He VIII Enforce the ordi-
nances Regulating street Railways
to the Letter.
The force of 125 to 80 hands employed by
the Savannah, Thunderbot and Isle of
Hope railway in tearing up the tracks of
the abandoned lines and double tracking
and extending other lines has been dis
charged, and this work viii be discon-
tinued for the present.
This is the result of the action of the
street and lane committee in putting
stop to the work of laying rail Weighing
less than 50 pounds on Abercorn street.
General Manager J. H. Johnston of the
street railway company sent several tele-
grams yesterday to northern iron compa-
MES calling for bids for furnishing So
pound rail in large lots. The gangs en-
ployed in laying the 5O-pound rail on
hand on Bay street and elsewhere on the
system, will continue at work
THE work will be resumed just as soon
as we can get supply of JO-pound rail
on the ground" said Capt. Johnston yes
terday. The ordinance will be obeyed, and
the contract will be conformed to to the
letter. l was entirely innocent of any in
tention to violate the ordinance. 1 had no
idea that any set of business men would
enter into an arrangement requiring us
to take up lot Of good rail already in
service and then prohibit US from making
use of it elsewhere on the system"
The street railway company has several
miles of forty-pound rail which was in
use on the tracks of the old electric rail-
way system, and Capt. Johnston was ask
ed what he was going to do with it.
I'VE shall take it up, of course" he re-
piled. The contract requires that. We
have no use for 1t if we are not allowed
to put it down again, and 1 do not see
that we can do anything with it. 1t Is
not needed on the lines outside the city"
The street railway contract seems to
be one of those things which works both
ways. Evidently there were points which
the astute attorneys of the company fail
ed to cover in their contract with coun-
ell. The people who have been sore on
council because they thought it had given
the street railway company pretty much
all of the earth in this neighborhood, can
feel a little better now. There are other
points in the contract which may not
prove so satisfactory to the street rail-
way company. The contract requires that
all switches shall be removed on certain
streets, and that double tracks shall be
laid on others. This win put the COM
pany to considerable expense in the way
of tearing up and replacing pavement on
Abercorn street, and where the tracks
cross South Broad street
Alderman Davis, chairman of the street
and lane committee, said that the terms OF
the contract will be strictly enforced and
also the provisions of the city ordinance
regulating the operations of street rail-
ways One step which Alderman Davis
has determined upon, and which Will be
heartily approved by the public, is a
change in the street railway tracks in
front of the Central railroad passenger
depot The track of the former Price
street belt runs squarely in front of the
depot cutting off vehicles from that por-
ton of the street and being a serious in
convenience as well as danger to persons
passing to and from the depot to Liberty
street. The change in the tracks in this
point is provided for in the contract with
the company. The result of the change
will be 10 remove a source of danger and
to add greatly to the convenience of the
public.