The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-09
SELMA ASKS FUR
 BETTER WHARF AGE Promise Is Given By Vice. President Dewberry TALKS TO BUSINESS MEN Old School Board of Dallas County Is Reelected by the District Trust
 ees-Steamboat War Is
 Imminent.

Selma, August S.-1Special.)-J. M. Dewberry, vice president of the Bir-
 mingham and Gulf Railroad and Navi- gation company, was in Selma today
 en route to Mobile, with Mrs. Dewberry i and daughter. going to the latter city
 via steamboat, aboard the City of Mo l biIe While here there was held con l ference of citiens and members of the i Commercial and Industrial association l in regard to better wharf facilities and l the desire of the company to estab- 1 fish it's own warehouse whereby better
 service can be given Selma and through l bills of lading given to shipments from l points east and foreign to Selma.
 MT. Dewberry made an informal but 1 exceedingly interesting address to the
 meeting, which was composed of d
 great many Selma merchants and busi- ness men. He outlined how the trans
 portation of the country was marking back to the waterways, and pointed out that the Alabama river was the Hudson of Alabama and that it's possibilities were great. He stated to the meeting that it was the purpose of the naviga- tion company to name one of its steam
 CTS "The City of Selma" In fact the company has eight steamers and there
 will be in the list, "The City of Bir- mingham," The City of Montgomery" "The City of Selma" "The City of Mobile" "The Tuscaloosa" l" "The Colum-
 bus" and "The Demopolis."
 The proposition is for the city to
 rent at a nominal price the foot of Church street for the warehouse and wharf of the company, the company desiring to own it's own warehouse and wharf facilities. The chairman of the meeting was authorized to appoint a committee of three to take up the mat ter and aid the navigation company in getting better facilities for Selma.
 During MT. Dewberry's talk he de- clared that there was not the slightest doubt that a road would be built down the Cahaba valley from near Blocton or Bessemer to Selma and that 1t would either be built by the navigation com pany or some other company.
 Selma is practically at the head of navigation on the Alabama river and the merchants of this city are not slow to see the advantages to be gained by
 them from a modern handling of freight by an all water route.
 1 Old Board Reelected.
 The old school board was reelected l today by the school trustees, the meet
 ing being held in the court house. They ! were J. B. Ellis, chairman, Joh I i Chisolm from West Dallas, J. A. Car
 son from the Fork, and D. B. Edwards
 from South Dallas The Dallas schools
 are in good condition and it is ex-
 pected that improvements will be made i in many instances during the coming
 session.
 Steamboat Was For Business. 1 The independent steamer, The ! Lucile," is waging a war for business
 on the Alabama river in the face of
 the boats of the Birmin gham and Gulf Navigation company. The Lucils reached Selma last night and left for
 Mobile and way landings about noon to-
 day. The City of Mobile, the naviga- l tion companys boat, reached the city
 yesterday morning and left practical l ly at the same time. The City of Mo- i bile is the faster boat and the contest
 for trade on the river will be fierce.