The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-04-23
W,P. G, HARDING ON NEW UNION STATION Sank President Talks on Recent
 Realty Purchases CIRCUMSTAN IAL .EVIDEN NCE Bank President Says Station Will Be Enlarged on Present Site-Twenty-
 sixth Street Property Will
 Be Used for Switching.
CIRCUMSTAN lIAL EVIDENCE

w. P. G. Harding, the president of the First National bank, whose views on ques tions of public interest are valued by reason of his long residence in Birming ham and the position he holds in the financial field, talked interestingly yester- day of the proposition to erect union station in the sneighborhood of Twenty sixth street and Fifth avenue, and of the large purchases of real estate made recently with that purpose supposedly in view.
 "Circumstantial evidence" said MT. Harding, Ifs not want.-.g to prove that plans of some kind are formulating with a view to develop property in the reighborhood of Twenty-sixth street and near the railway lines. Precisely what the plans contemplate cannot, at this time, be accurately determined It is true that there have been brisk dealings in real estate on somewhat large scale; but I am not quite certain that the new union station will go so far up town. It occurs to me that reasonable interpretation of the situation would suggest possibly a somewhat different conclusion.
 Disinterested Point of View. I
 Looking at the subject from a purely disinterested point of view, am inclined to think that the present site of the pas senger station is the best possible It is near the heart of the city, easy of ac- cess from all the street railway lines, and, in point of convenience, is more satisfactory to the business and residence section than any other site could be. In as much as this is true, 1t seems to me that the wise thing to do-the thing dic- tated by common sense-would be to ex- l tend the shed over to the Alabama Great l Southern tracks, thereby making the sta ton twice as large as 1t is and run it down to Eighteenth street. In that way the area of the station would be qua drupled and would supply adequately the needs of the city for many years. It goes without saying, of course, that new building sufficiently large to accommo- date the Birmingham population should be constructed as soon as practicable.
 This is, I think, the reasonable solu- ton of the problem. When I make that statement do not mean to intimate that the purchases of real estate near Twenty sixth street is ill-advised. My opinion is that a great deal of that property is re- quired for switching purposes by the rail- ways, and the sooner the switching ques- tion is settled the better. I predict that 1 the new union station will be built prac- tically where the old one now stands, and that 1t will run from Twentieth to l Eighteenth street and from Morris ave nue across to the Alabama Great South | ern tracks
 Not Always Conclusive. | "Circumstantial evidence is not always conclusive" said MT. Harding, "of what large corporations intend to do. Like great military leaders they cultivate the habit of making an occasional feint It's part of their business to do so. There are men in this town today who can recall | cases where purchases of real estate | stock, acreage and other things in a cer- | tain vicinity led them to suppose that icer- | tain corporations were going to erect plants there. And yet, when the wind up came, the plant was erected al point | far distant from where the real estate purchases were made. I could call names and places in this connection. but for ob- vious reasons refrain from doing so. Heathful Trading.
 However. I am glad to see SO much interest and activity in Birmingham real estate The prosperity of the town jus tifies this brisk and healthful trading. l Whatever the exact plans are I do not know. but I feel sure they will operate ] advantageously to the city"
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 For Sale
 3rd and 4th Ave. property