The Savannah morning news., 1900-09-23
CITY LACKS THE AUTHORITY.
nUT CHARTER MAY BIZ AMENDED
TO REGULATE RIVER TRAFFIC.

TO REGULATE RIVER TRAFFIC.
city Attorney Adams says There IL
No Reason Why the city should
Not Regulate the TranIc OF small
Boats ON the River n 10 Il speed
BcaIly Given Jurisdiction over
vessels and Rats Between the
city and Tybee-Coroncr Goctte's
Record Of Twenty-one DrowninEs
since the senboard Terminal work
BeRan-onIy rive of These Due 90
OVerturninE of boats. However.
The recent drowning Of several negroes
by tho overiurnlnE OF boat crossing
from the scaboard terminals to the city
and the narrow escape or number Of
others in similar occurrence only
a day or two later. has caused considerable
comment. and u has been generally urg-
I'd that some steps should be taken 20
prevent the overloading Of small boats,
as the practie Is certain 60 result In sim
liar and probably frequent accidents II
persisted in
The Morning News. calling attention TO
this matter and urging steps to bring
about a different state OF afairs. has been
generally Endorsed by thoughtful citizens
Mayor Myers, who was seen just before
his departure for New York. expressed
his approval Of The editorial
be'chch Trissh HIM m Inn IA NH m hmhm
II am doubtful Of the elty's authority ia
The matter" said Mayor Myers. but
some steps should be taken 10 prevent fur
Their loss Of life. The city has control OF
the wharves. ANA it has Jurisdiction for
police ana sanitary purposes over Hutch
inson's Island. though the island e not
In the corporate or taxible limits. but It
does not control the river. as I understand
H. the government having authority over
AL nayigablc streams"
city Attorney S. y Adams. when spoken
TO about The matter. said that he thought
the city has authority 10 regulate the
river traffic. or that al least it should
nave H. There Is no reason why the
city should NOT have such authority"
sail Mr. Adams. and 70 this has not been
given o. Us due TO an oversight. The sa.
Nanhan river is just as much a part Of
the state OF Georgia as any other OF our
territory, and any crime committed there
can Doe tried IN our state courts. The ma
honai government has control OF navigahle
streams for interstate purposes. but this
noeS not prevent the exercise OF jurisfic-
ton by the state"
Mr.. Adams manifested considerable IN
,eres, in the matter and spent some time
looking into the subject The result was
20 show that wialc the city has control
OF vessels and RATS IN the river. not on
~ Ia front Of the wharves. but all The
way 70 Tybee. there Is nothing IN the
charter which can be construed as spnlv-
ing 10 fowboats, as these viii hardly
come under the head Of vessels" The
city has number Of ordinances reeul,t-
INK the movements Of vessels on the river
and the conduct OF masters and crews
in regard TO loading AMI other matters
but the rowboat has evidently never been
considered Of sufficient importance 20 be
legislatei upon
The section Of The charter upon which
the various ordinances applying 10 veg-
sells are based Is as follows: The said
mayor and aldermen shall have jurisdic-
ton over vessels and RATS lying in the
river Savannah between said city and
Tybee and their respective crews" Mr.
Adams said this could hardly be applied
10 rowboats plying back and forth across
the river.
An amendment 70 the charter could
doubtless be easily secured from the next
legislature" said Mr. Adams giving the
mayor and aldermen Jurisdiction over the
small craft on the river. and I think IL
would be- well TO have such an amend
ment. for this as well as other questions
which may arise. The overlooking Of
boats on the river should certainly be put
a stop 10, as IL Is certain TO lead 60 fur
Their loss OF life if persisted in
Coroner Goette said yesterday that all
told twenty-oue negroes have loss their
lives by drowning since the beginning OF
the terminal work across ti.s river lie
only counts hve for the recent drowning.
however only that number of bodies hav-
irg been found. These are an who have
been drowned by the overturning OF boats.
The others were drowned by falling from
the wharves or from the bridge above the
city while the work was In progress. one
negro was killed by being caught between
A pushcr and car, but with this eXcep-
ton an the other fatal accidents since
the beginning OF the work have been uuc
20 drowning
Coroner Goette is OF the opinion that the
negroes Will learn caution from their re-
cent experiences and that they will not
crowd the boats so freely hereafter. They
viii also be more on the alert to save
themselves In case OF an accident as was
iustanccd in the second boat overturning
last week when all the negroes scrambled
ashore.
Since the completion Of the work across
ihe river there has been an increased
movement Of river CRATE OF oil kinds AMI
hence the boat loads Of negro workmen
going back and forth are more exposed 80
danger than was the case before the ter
ninals were put into use. II T. estimated
that between 3o0 and 500 negroes make the
Grip 60 the island daily. including those
employed by the naval stores and lumber
men, as well as those IN the employ OF
the railway and terminal companies.