The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-01-15
EXPLAINS SCHEME
WELLS BROTHERS COMPANY GIVES
 OUT sTATEMENT.
To AIIay Public Apprehension Con- tracttng Firm Gives Facts to show Practicnbnfty of Mov-
 ing Moscs Building.

Since announcement was made that
 the Moses Building will be moved in- tact from its present location to a point on Montgomery street several num- Der of property owners along the route
 which will be traversed and other citi-
 zens have questioned the advisability
 and safety of such a gigantic under
 taking. The project is so unique that
 it's oddity has attracted widespread comment in which the element of safe-
 ty is playing a prominent part
 In view of this feeling of uneasiness
 Wells Brothers Company, of Bal.-more
 the contracting firm gave out the fol
 lowing statement yesterday, describing
 the, scientific principles and the com
 plete practicabiIity involved in moving
 the building.
 The letter follows:
 'The Moses Building, as if now stands, covers something like b,VOO square feet of area. The weight of the
 building is about 2,500 tons This means that should we put under the Moses Building a cribbing of timber which would cover it's entire area, and on which the load would be uniformly distributed throughout this area, that we would have just one-half of one ton per each square foot of pressure on the street over which we were passing.
 Suppose, as a parallel case, to illus trate the, strength of any city street paved as the streets of Montgomery are paved, that boiler were to be
 moved, weighing say six or seven tons'
 and to which truck were hitched an equal number of mules. such spec, tacle in the city of Montgomery would not in any way excite the curiosity or apprehension of any citizen as to the
 safety of the streets. ana yet the con centrated load on each wheel Of this truck would be one and one half tons, there being four wheels and toai ioad of six tons; and each one, one-naiI tons would be concentrated on sur face equal to the width of tfe tire or the wheel. which would be somewhere about four inches.
 Tn other words, there woud be concentrated load of six tons per square foot; whereas. on the area of the Moses Building ther is concentrated load of only about one-half ton per square foot
 Again, should we find the sewers are near the surface of the ground. 1t Is very simple matter to throw tim Der across these pipes in such man ner as to span them and not allow any load whatever to be concentrated on their surface
 we are drawing attention to these facts simply for the reason that we do not wish for one moment to have the people of Montgomery think the enterprise upon which we are entering is other than most practical and sim- pie one from an engineering standpoint. We would be glad at any time to go into further details, but if the people will for one moment compare these two
 parallel cases they will at once see
 that the danger to the streets by the
 weight of this building Is radically
 less than that subjected to them every
 day by the loaded trucks that now pass
 over them"
 The statement was signed by the
 Wells Brothers Company.
 The recent purchasers of the Moses
 building, which Is to be removed in-
 tact from it's present site to Lee street.
 near Montgomery, yesterday conferred
 with Mayor Teague and assured him
 they would make sufficient bond to i'm
 demnify the city against loss resultant from suits for damages The Mayor replied the city would not oppose the movement of the building if the in demnity bond Is made.