The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-02-06
MAY FLOAT WHARF BONDS New Interest Is Being
 Awakened. cOUNclLMEN EXAMINE SITE
 - Figure on Nature of Wharf and
 Lighting Facilities. It Is Believed That . .stepv wni Be Built From The Highest Point Nearest The Contemplated
 Warehouse.
,0UNclLMEN < EXAMINE SITE

With the prospect of floating them lat once, the recent s10.0o0 In bond is- Fsue for the purpose of building muni- cipal wharf is being examined by law lyers. Plans for the wharf are under discussion and work Is to begin short y. the bonds. 1t Is the wish of the coun- Gil, are to be floated in Montgomery. The city council committee visited the wharf site Friday morning ac- lcompanied by representatives from the
 Birmingham and Gulf Navigation Con- lpany and discussed the best possible plans for construction to be presented to the architect who is to be chosen later to direct the work. Among the lgentlemen who visited the river side
 were: Aldermen Seidel. Lowe and Hines. City Electrician Blakey. Captain Moore of the boat company, Mir. Keai- Ihofer of the Montgomery Freight
 Bureau and many business men of the lcity.
 An ordinance introduced in council at the last meeting, the. result of petition from the boat company to have an arc light swung In the under pass and also to have one or two placed at the present landing was responsible Efor the sudden interest aroused In the wharf question. At present the land ling is hardly lighted at all and the ferry across the river Is also interest ed in the placing of a few lights. The committee on municipal lights. which comprises the committee On the question of the wharf, went to see about the matter and while there the subject of the new wharf Itself was
 taken up and 1t was decided by the men
 interested to push the matter at once. Plans tentatively suggesting the con lstruction of the wharf have been under consideration for some time and 1t was decided yesterday to push the work through to completion immediately.
 One fact that had much to do with the suddenly aroused interest in the work was that few days ago 1.Ie0 sacks of coffee were shipped here from New Orleans, the consignment coming lall the way by water. By this means |ceiving the freight saved s1ss in the cost of transportation.
 It was said at the meeting of the committee that the time Is ripe for pushing the matter, especially so be- cause of the appropriation committee of the national congress having the rivers and harbors appropriations under discussion. It is recognized that un-
 less some local action is taken i'm. Imediately the representatives from Ala bama will have no show of local work to present to the committee to Insure their recognizing Montgomery's claim for improvements in the Alabama river
 It is also said that much valuable time had been lost by the appropria-
 tion not being available now, when the most work could be done with the lriver at its low stage. With these ideas in view, as soon as the lawyers pass on the validity of the bond issue and the status of the bonds, thus securing their integrity, the bonds will be floated and the work of construc. ton on the wharf will be commenced.
 PInn q "slin.0
 The plan of construction that met general approval was to have a "slip'' built from the highest point nearest the warehouse, to be built at inc ion of the bluff, right on down to the low est point in the river so the landing will be available no matter what the stage of the water in the river. Re- movap of goods from the boats will be accomplished by the means of tram cars hauled by cable from the boats up the incline. the same being operated by electric power. The cars will be so arranged that they can be run in- dividually or the leverage of the de. cending car loaded with freight to go out can be added to the power of the engine in hauling up a car of freight to be delivered in this city.
 The plan of construction that met the most general approval was a "slip" supported on brick or stone piers with wooden flooring bolted down, this plan was happily received because of the fact that the piers will be permanent and the wooden flooring can be easily replaced when 1t wears.
 The question of electric lights being installed at once to facilitate the hand ling of freight as 1t Is landed at present met with the approval Of thA light con- mittee and will be favora6fy reported at the next meeting of the city coun- Gil
 With business increasing day by day in Montgomery and signs of recover ing from the late panic observed every where 1t is recognized that he ad- of the river must be secured at once in order to meet the increasing demands for the handling of freight at this point. The river ia in good condition considering its low stage of