The age-herald., 1902-01-05

% Petition Commercial Club for Y < abolishment of fruit stands turned Y < down.
 < Petition of Birmingham Railway, < < Light and Power Company to make < > connections between lines granted. < < License money lenders reduced to < ' $50. < New anti-spltting ordinance intro- Y < duced.
 ~~-<%
 Near the close of the special meeting of the City Council last night the petition of the Commercial Club asking that fruit stands on the sidewalks be abolished was taken up and turned down. License In- spector Gambill. by a unanimous vote of the members present, was instructed to continue issuing licenses.
 The petition was brought up by Mayor Drennen, who stated that he had in- structed Tax Collector Gambill not to grant any licenses until the matter was acted upon by the board.
 The mayor asked that the question be settled at once. Several Aldermen ex- pressed themselves as opposed to the movement to force the removal of the stands, but agreed that they might be regulated, with special reference to the stock in trade. Upon motion of Alder man Kerr a resolution was passed instructing the tax collector to grant H. censes
 It was agreed that the question of reg ulating the stock of the stands should be taken up later. and the suggestion was made that If the Commercial Club or the Retail Grocers Association had grievances with respect to the stock carried by the stands they might send committees to the board meeting next month.
 After the vote, Alderman Linnehan said that neither the city nor the state had a right to allow anyone to use the side walks for any purpose. He said the peo- pie paid street taxes for the right to use the sidewalks, and he did not think the city had a right to allow fruit stands or any other kind of stands to obstruct the public pathways. He said the board was not doing the right thing in voting down the request of the Commercial Club, to say nothing of the question of the city having the right to license the use of the sidewalks.
 Grant Railway Petition.
 The petition of the Birmingham Rail- ' Ca inn fn, ho right to make certain connections be- tween car lines, was granted. and the city attorney was instructed to prepare an or dinance for presentation at the next meet ing of the board granting a franchise to the company.
 The company in its petition asked the right to lay tracks along Twenty-fil-st street between First and Second avenues and along Third avenue from Twentieth to Twenty streets. It was pre- sent ed to the board at the first meeting in December and referred to the. street railway committee. At the last meeting the question was again referred to the street committee with the judiciary com mittee added. The latter reported fav- orably upon 1t.
 Aldermen George Ward and Henry Gray objected to the grant on the ground that the blocks over which right of way was sought were very valuable; and also that approach to the Twenty-first street bridge was blocked. On the vote Alder men Ward, Gray and Greener voted nay. Alderman Altman did not vote.
 Amends License Schedule.
 Alderman Ward for the miscellaneous committee reported an amendment to the license schedule making the license of short term money lenders s15O instead of of a reduction or change in the license on dealers in seeds was discussed, but no action taken. The section referring to book stores and stationery stores was changed to include blank book dealers. The license for sewing machine compa- nies was reduced to $50 per year.
 A petition from the Birmingham Realty Com pany asking for the macademizing and paving of Sycamore and Twenty second streets from Avenue H to High land avenue was granted. The city engi- neer was :Sstructed to prepare ordinances for the work The resolution was amended so as to include Tenth avenue from Twen- tieth to Twenty-second streets.
 An ordinance was introduced making it an offense for persons riding in street cars to spit on the floor. The penalty for violation of the ordinance was placed at a minimum of s10 and provision was made that conductors be required to re- port violations. The ordinance was re- ferred to the judiciary committee.
 Anti-Spittlng Ordinance.
 Alderman Linnehan offered a resolu- tion electlng Former Mayor Tom Jeffries janitor of the new city hall when it was turned over by the contractor. This was objected to because of the time which must eiapse before the building is com pleted. A number of aldermen expressed their willingness to vote for MT. Jeffries. but said the matter should wait until the building Is completed.
 
 Will Attack Rebels.