The age-herald., 1900-10-16
RAILROADS STILL.
 ROW OVER CROSSING
Another Chapter in the Cele-
 brated Selma Case.
SATURDAY NIGHT EPISODE
The Southern and the Birmingham, Selma and New Orleans Again at Loggerheads = The Courts
 Again Appealed To

Agaln Appeaied To
 Selma, October 15.-(special) )-The usual contest where rival railroad endeavors to l cross the tracks of another has been going
 on in this section for the past two months 1 between the Southern Railway and the l Birmingham, Selma and New Orleans Rail- way, short line running twenty-one miles 1 southwest from Selma and which in course
 of extension into Marengo County. The lat- 1 ter was purchased last spring by H. M Ab-
 bot and associates. Who is back Of Colonel l Abbot has never been divulged, various the
 ories having been advanced, the most plaus- 1 ibie being that the Louisville and Nashville
 had secured the road to keep any other road
 from getting it. and their intention Is to l extend it into the rich section of Marengo l County so as to make it profitable feeder l Of course, the road thus extended will be
 of vast benefit to Selma increasing her re- l ceipts in cotton alone some 30 900 bales l To make this extension 1t was necessary I to cross the Southerns track about thirty l five miles from Selma, between Mobile and l this city.
 For two months, with varying fortunes I one road seemingly gaining the advantage I and then the other, the contest has been I waged, the last chapter occurring about l the hour of midnight Saturday night after l the receipt of a telegram from Chancellor
 Smith to his decision in the matter of an
 injunction which he had granted the South l ern Railway on September 10, restraining ] the Birmingham, Selma and New Orleans from further interfering with the South ern's property and right of way.
 Injunct ion Granted
 This injunction was granted, as stated above, September 10, but the contest dates back many days beyond that period. On August Il, after the Birmingham, Selma l and New Orleans people had sent word to l the Southern that they intended crossing I their track at a specified point, they awoke 1 the next morning to find that side track 1 had been put in at the very point up to 1 which their grade extended, and eighteen box cars put on the siding
 I That same day the Birmingham, Selma | and New Orleans road filed in the Probate | Court an application for an easement over 1 the right of way of the Southern, the l hearing of which application was set for l August 31. In the meantime on Monday 1 August 20, after a failure the Friday
 night before a citizens meeting was held ] in this city and resolution in a measure l condemnatory of the Southern were passed. It was made to appear that the Southern after keeping the Birming- ham, Selma and New Orleans from com pleting its extension until too late to haul this seasons cotton, the most of which Is now carried to Demopolis and hauled over the Southern This meeting after its ad-
 journment, was seen to be barren of re-
 suits, so on the next day the president of the Industrial League of Selma appointed a committee to see If matters could not be amicably arranged and the crossings al-
 lowed to be put in. This committee found 1 out that the Southern wanted inter-locking | crossings put in. an expensive pattern, and \ one that would require the services of a | watchman at all times. If this proposition
 had been accepted by the Birmingham, l Selma and New Orleans the matter would l have been ended. The committee the nnxt l day, which was August p, held a joint meeting with Superintendent Hayden of the | Southern and Colonel Abbot of the Bir- l mjngham, Selma and New Orleans, and l after considerable discussion they gave it l up as bad job and the whole matter l went up to the court which was to act l on the S1st of September.
 When the day for the hearing of the ap- | plication for an easement came the Pro- l bate Judge granted the application and l appointed commissioners to assess the
 damages. On September the commission | CTS visited the proposed point of crossing l and the next day assessed the damages to ] the Southern at $5. The Southern took an l appeal to the Supreme Court from the de- l cision of the Probate Judge and also from l the decision of the commissioners. Put in n Cros ing
 l On the morning of September s. the B. 1 S. < N o. people, with d large force of l hands, removed the Southern's cars off of l their right of way over which they had l been granted an sment and proceeded to 1 put in the crossing. They finished their l work and wired the superintendent of the l Southern that the crossing was in. It was l the B. $ & N. O.'s time to crow that day, | and they wore d happy look. On Septem- l Der 10 the Southern had its inning, for l Chancellor Smith, who was in the city
 l that day. granted the injunction restrain
 {, ing the B. $. & N. o from interfering wibh
 | the siGetrack and right of way of Lao ] Southern The Southern then, two days
 l afterwards, on September l2 took up tie
 | obgtructons which were over thcdr side
 l track and coupled the cars together again.
 1 Then, on September 19, the Southern re-
 1 moved the crossing that had been put :.
 | on their main line and sent it to the B. s.
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