The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1908-06-01
Mr., FR|EL ANSWERS
/. COL. BUSH'S LETTER
Maintains Bond Issue VIII Be
Good Investment
SAYS SENTIMENT FAVORS IT
Thinks Birmingham Must Necessarily
Go Into Debt If She Ever Has
Advantages Belonging to a
Great City.
SAYS SENTIMENT FAVORS IT

picture on the front page of The Age
Herald, with a man in an automobile
with load of bonds for sale, marked
Birmingham Health Bonds For Sale"
| blocked by suburban bond issues Right
here allow me to say that water bonds
are also health bonds A vast number
tired of having to use water filtered ou5
of the drainage of Trussville furnace.
half dozen coal mines, Henry Ellen,
Leeds and Leeds Cement plant, Boyles
yard, Dolcito and many other thicl1ly
populated districts. l don't know whether
water drained from furnace Stag will hurt
people or not, but l do know that 1t
Will kill fish. At this point I will say
that the Birmingham Water Works com
pany is now doing all that it can under
the circumstances to give the people Of
birmingham good water, but they cam
not make good water out of bad Just
because the water works company is do
ing all 1t can to make the water pure is
no reason why Birmingham should not
/, have the best water in the south, If she
is able to get 1t, and she can with 20
times the capacity of the Birmingham
Water Works company and at a less
price than the Birmingham Water Works
company could be bought for.
Colonel Bush seems to think that the
town of North Birmingham is undertake
ing to build the water works system for
+, Greater Birmingham without first know
ing the sentiment and attitude of the out
lying municipalities in regard to the I'M
! dertaking Colonel Bush must be gnor-
ant of the fact that Birmingham aad
the outlying municipalities have a Mu-
nicipal Ownership league. which did its
best to get Birmingham to allow them
to vote on this same proposition, but
failed to get the necessary results through
the City Council which they were most
successful in doing in North Birmingham.
1t is the people that believe In municipal
ownership, pure water and cheaper water
end lights for the whole Birmingham dis
trict that are behind this movement, and
they are into 1t to the finish. Nothing
that Mr. Bush can write or say will have
any tendency to even slow the matter up.
The engineering feature and cost of this
undertaking was thoroughly gone into
with the best engineers In the district,
and by engineers who had constructed
like undertakings for other great cities.
for instance. the Great Falls Power COM
pany in South Caroline, and also the
Montgomery Power company at Tallas-
see Falls also the hydraulic engineer
from the Allis- Chalmers company, the
largest engine and turbine wheel build
ers in the world Mr.. Bush calls atten-
ton to the fact that the Panama canal
is costing double what the engineers
figured 1t would cost, but he fails 10
call attention to the fact that after said
figures were made the government de-
cided to widen and deepen the canal.
making the cost of the completed canal
just double the engineers previous fig
ures The difference in cost was not due
to any mistakes in the engineers calcu-
lations. The calculations on cost of this
water works undertaking were carefully
gone into, and ample allowance made for
mishaps.
water plant can be constructed to the
corporate limits of Birmingham with
pipe line large enough to supply Birming-
ham with 25.Oo0o0O gallons of water daily
with an average pressure of 112 pounds.
Also. the light plant can be installed
end wires extended to the corporate lin
its of the city of Birmingham, all for
SO. 900. and 1t is up to Mr.. Bush to
show that 1t cannot be done for this
amount.
7 have been fully confronted with the
would have to be paid two or three times
before the work was completed and these
points that Mr.. Bush brings out in re-
eard to the interest charges are moth
ing new to me. The legislature seems
to have also been confronted with the
proposition of paying interest on bonds
before the work is completed. as they
saw fit to make law giving cities the
right to mortgage a water works prop
erty to pay interest on bonds before or
after the work was completed, or for the
purpose of raising money to construct
the same. In the first place. the bonds
will only have to be sold or delivered,
as the money is needed to pay for the
work as It advances. Mr. Bush seems 70
think 1t will take about four years to
complete this work I am of the opinion
that 1t could be done in a year and
half.
The question of water and light cor
porations already performing this work
has also been carefully considered, and
1 realize the fact that in order to have
successful municipal light plant in the
city of Birmingham it will be necessary
for the City Council to compensate,
through some plan hereafter to be agreed
upon, the Birmingham Railway. Light
and Power company for their poles and
wires, lamps, ETC.. that are now being
used for commercial purposes. This could
be very easily accomplished by buying
from them their equipment used for that
purpose, and at the same time granting
them a small license on their street car
franchise, and everything could be made
satisfactory with all parties concerned,
as it is wholly In the hands of the City
Council to make honorable and reason
able adjustment of these conditions.
AS to the water works plant, l would
not recommend the buying of any part of
their equipment as a great many of their
pipe lines are almost as old as l am, and
are wholly inadequate on account of age
ham in this age of her prosperity and
growth. For a waterworks plant suf-
ac,ent to supply Birmingham at this date