The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-07
Birmingham Will Not Accept Indebtedness of S5,O0O,000
 From the Suburb
OTHER SUBURBS INVITED
 TO COME IN IMMEDIATELY
More Wires Ordered Under Ground. Insurance Rates To Be lnvesti- gated-Plans For vladucts
 To Be Pushed.

various grade crossings in the city was ! brought up again; the council declared war against the town of North Birming- ham with reference to the recent $5,00o GOO water works bond issue; the failure of the Southeastern Tariff association to live up to it's promises l. the Mayor and Board of Aldermen in placing the city on a first-class basis with reference to fire insurance rates, was intimated and or dered investigated; resolution was adopted which means that great num- Der of overhead wires now strung over the city will be immediately placed in l conduits; the ordinance with reference to the creation of the office of inspector of meters and to the fixing of standard of the gas and electricity used in the city and the rates to be charged therefor 1 was passed; and a resolution was in- trodueed advising the annexation of the l towns of Woodlawn. Avondale, Graymont, 1 East Lake and Elyton.
 1 Alderman Cooper introduced a resolu- i tion which, if adopted, would be in- 1 clined to throw a damper on the pro- posed tunnel through Red Mountain. The
 resolution calls attention to the fact that l the proposed tunnel just above the head ! of Twentieth street would cost more than $55 900, part of which the city of Birming- haw might be expected to pay. Claiming this would be too costly, the resolution sets forth the claim that even better results can be gotten at an estimated cost of less than $11,ooO by the construc- ton of a good macadam road from the present terminus of Sr. Charles street to 1 the Montevallo road in Shades valley, i about mile from the Said terminus.
 Oppose North Birmingham. l The council declared itself emphatically against the recent action of the town of North Birmingham in voting favorably
 on the issuance of $5,000,00O worth of
 bonds for the erection of a water and 1 lighting plant on the Warrior river, with ! the unanimous adoption of the following resolution, introduced by Alderman
 Jones:-
 l .Be it resolved by the City Council of l Birmingham as follows
 "That it is hereby declared to be the
 sense of this body that the city of Br-
 mingham will in no way be responsible for any issue of bonds by the town of ] North Birmingham for water works or 1 lighting plant as now proposed, and that this body will resist n every way the as- i sumption of said bonds by the city of
 Birmingham when the town of North i Birmingham is annexed to the city Of l Birmingham in 1909'
 The matter of the erection of viaducts l over the various grade crossings in the 1 city was again revived last night with l the introduction and unanimous adoption
 of the following resolutions
 "Be 1t resolved by the City Council of l Birmingham as follows.
 ..That the city engineer be and is here 1 by instructed to report t. the City Coun-
 cil of Birmingham plans, specifications, ! details. drawings and estimates for via i ducts to abolish grade crossings in the l city of Birmingham
 Alderman O'Neill, who introduced the
 resolution, states to the council that it l was the purpose of the resolution to
 bring about a conference between the city
 engineer and other officials and engineers l from the various railroads entering the
 city in order that a proper idea of the
 proposed viaducts might be ascertaiced.
 Investigate Insurance Rates.
 Alderman Moore introduced a very inn
 portant resolution which means an in i vestigation as to whether the Southeast 1 ern Tariff association has lived up to it's
 promise to put the city of Birmingham l on first-class basis as to fire insurance rates The opinion that such is not the
 case has gained considerable ground. The resolution, unanimously adopted, reads as i follows:
 Be it resolved by the City Council of l Birmingham as follows:
 That a committee of five be appoint 1 ed by the president of the council to in- 1 vestigate and report back to this body l whether or not the Southeastern Tariff association has complied with it's promise ] to the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of Birmingham and has put the city upon l a first-class basis as to fire insurance 1 rates and if not why they have not done l so and what steps should be taken to require the said association to live dp to 1 it's agreement"
 Put Wires Under Ground. l Alderman Jones also introduced a resolution which terminates to some <, extent a movement that has been un- der way for some time. The resolu- | tion was unanimously adopted and pro- vides that all telegraph and telephone 1 companies in the city be instructed to place all overh cad wires under ground and remove all poles where conduits have been provided, the work to be done immediately. Another resolutions, | u, Railway, Light and Power company place a certain number of feet of it's feed wires under ground each month. City Clerk Horace E. Shropshire of fciated last night at his initial meeting with all the grace of a man experi- enced in the work. When communica- lions were called for by President Parker a letter from Mayor Ward en- closing a letter from Chief Bennett If the fire department calling attention to the lack of water pressure along the side of Red mountain south of Six teenth avenue. Chief Bennett's letter calls attention to the fact that in the vicinity Of Maiden lane and Sycamore street, Mountain avenue and Iroquois street, and that portion of the South Highlands lying south of Sixteenth avenue there are a great many beaut- ful and expensive homes that are prac- tically without fire protection and your fire department will find itself entirely helpless should it be called on to ex- tinguish fire that had been allow sd to obtain any considerable headway be-s fore being discovered. at any of the above locations.
 Chief Bennett proposes a remedy for this condition in /the following para graph of his letter: This can be done either by standpipe or pumping direct to mains that only supply that part Of the city. In either case. would take