The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-04-28
lR. FINLEY IN SELMA.
OF SOUTHERN AD-
DRESSES BUSINESS MEN.
DSnnina An Hour In The Central City
And Appeals To Citizens To
Stop Anti-RaIlroad Agi-
Advertiser Bureau,
- a

W. W. Finley, president OF the
0outhern Railway, spent a little over
n hour In Selma this morning. The
whit of this railorad magnate was made
= pleasant as possible and he left with
3 good impression ~ the city and the
<business men whom he met.
Iypon the arrival of his special train
1t the union passenger station he was
met by President E. c. Melvin of the
i Commercial and Industrial Association,
and q committee consisting of IL. Il.
Jeffries. J. w. Hunter and j. l.. Clay,
Superintendent J. H. Stanfil of the
Mobile division of the Southern Rail
way introduced these gentlemen to
President Finley and he was escorted
to a carriarge and driven to the Elks
Home.
At the Elks Home there had assem-
b1ed q representative number of the
business men of the city. Mayor At
kins with a few appropriate remarks
welcomed President Finley to Selma
and expressed the hope that he would
come to the city again and the next
time that his visit would be longer.
Those citizens present were then intro
nuced to Mr.. Finley.
IL After the introduction to all present
Mr.. Finley pulled from his pocket the
I address which he has read on several
occasions during his visit through the
South. From this he read for nearly
half an hour and explained to those
present the great work which the rail-
roads were doing for the United States
and especially for the South.
He told of the great amount of
money which the Southern Railway
had spent and contracted to spend du-
ring the twelve years of its existence,
That these improvements would con-
A. mas
year the road would spend large sums
IL money in making additional i'm
provements.
He spoke of the widespread wave of
antagonism to railroads throughout the
country and how 1t had alarmed the
Investors and money men who had
thelr money in railroad securities and
that kind of property and that as
result of this antagonism that the rail-
roads of America generally have found
IL practically impossible to market
their bonds. This, he said, had made
the railroads resort to short-time notes.
at q. high rate of interest to take care
Of existing obligations for construction
and improvements for which contracts
have already been made.
He mentioned the Importance of wa
terenavfgation and the necessity of riv-
erasas common carriers But stated
that they could not compare with the
railroads of the country and that
though the rivers were being used
more and more each year that they
would never dfsplace the railroads.
The recent railroad measures enact
ed by the Legislature was touched up
on BY Mr.. Finley. He said that the
validity of these laws had been sub
mfted TO the courts. that these courts
may Sdetermines whether the constitu-
tfonal protection to which the rail-
roads were entitled to had been in
vaded.
The 21-2 cent railroad fare was also
taken up. With figures comparing the
population of States to the square mile
he Showed him impractical 1t was for
railroads in the South to carry passen-
gers at such "a rate. The population
was not suflcient and that the travel
was not heavy enough to Justify such
rate.
After his address to the citizens at
the Elks' Home Mr.. Finley was es-
cnrted to the union depot, where ne
viewed the umbrella shed which the
Southern Railroad has recently had
erected there. At 10:40 he left on the
Rome train for Admission.
Book Store on Fire.
The fire department was called to the
book store of w. s. Butler on Broad
StEeet at 1 o'clock this afternoon, and
after some hard work succeeded In ex
tinguishing the, flames. When the de-
partment arrived the flames were COM
ing out from the windows on the sec
ona floor in the rear of the store in
am alley.
The rear of the store on the second
floor where the fire was discovered
was used as a picture frame depart
ment and many frames and
moulding and other inhammable ma
terial were stored therein, and the
flames We're spreading rapidly when
SStream of water was turned on
and the fire quickly extinguished.
while the loss from the fire will
mot amount to much. the damage
caused by the water will be consid-
cradle. In extinguishng the fire a
large quantity of water was used
and this poured down into the store
on the ground floor and ruined the
large stock of books, paper and nov
elites carried. The loss will amount
tot several thousand dollars which is
partly covered by insurance.
aIf.sion Services Starts Monday.
Considerable interest is being taxi
en- In the mission which will be
started at St. Pauls Episcopal Church
Monday. These services during the
week will be conducted by Rev.
John r. Matthews and will be held
each afternoon at $3.50 o'clock and
each night at 8 o'clock. On next
sunday afternoon at $3.50 o'clock
there will be a public meeting for
mSn at the Academy of Music.
SOCIAL AND Personal.
The members of the Misses Launder-
dale's and Kimon's dancing class and
q large number of outsiders enjoyed
social on Friday evening at River
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