The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-25
NEW JAIL WILL BE
 BUILT AT GADSDEN
New Site May Be Secured for
 the Structure
WATER RATES TOO LOW
The City Council of Gadsden Decides to Rnise Rates-Progress of Work on New Plant Has Been
 Slow Recently

| Gadsden, January 24.-(Special 1.-The county commissioners at a special meet ing yesterday definitely decided to pro- ceed with the building of a new county Jail An expenditure of s25,o0O for this purpose was authorized. Whether the
 money shall be raised by bond issue or
 whether county warrants will be issued
 to cover the cost of the structure has not
 been decided. There is also some diffey- ence of opinion as to whether the same site shall be used as the one now oc- cupied. The old jail site is a valuable one and it is not unlikely that a cheaper location will be selected.
 At meeting of the city council last night it was decided to raise the water rates. The minimum rate was advanced from 65c to 75c and the meter rate was raised from 15c to 25c per 1000 cubic feet. The matter of making the use of meters compulsory was also taken up and dis cussed but was finally referred to a com mlttee. The progress on the new water plant has been very slow since the fail ufe or the Atlanta contracting company having the contract for it's construction and Consulting Engineer J. N. Hazlehurst of Atlanta has been summoned to come to Gadsden at once to assist the city in getting the matter better under way to completion. He is expected to be here to- night and the council will meet again to further concider what action shall be taken in reference to completing the plant as soon as possible
 At a meeting of the council last night Mayor Bellenger addressed the body in reference to taking some action relating to the return of the liquor traffic. He took the position that the sale of liquor would again be legalized in the state and that Gadsden should not be found asleep. That the city needed the money that could be secured from taxing the traffic and that early action should be taken looking to this end. The mayor is in favor of the Georgia programme and would have beer saloons and this possi- bility supplemented by a dispensary to handle the whisky business He did not ask for any action but proposed to pre- pare resolution embracing his recom- mendations and present the same al an early meeting of the council While there are many people here who are in sympa- thy with the views of the mayor, num- Der of prominent prohibition men be- lieve that saloons for the dispensation of light wines and beer would do more tO pIOHiOle the cause or temperance than present conditions, still the people of the city as whole would probably fight hard before they would allow a return o fliquor of any kind to be sold in legalized way
 Secretary of the Business Mems Club w. R. Phillips is at work securing the views of prominent industrial and finan- cial men already interested in the district to what they think of the future of Gadsden. He is meeting with a ready re- sponse and will make use of the these expressions in some literature he has planned for further advertising of the city. All those heard from express them selves in the most optimistic measures in extolling the resources of the city and its probable future progress. They seem to agree that the growth of the Queen City has only just begun and that the progress of the past is but an earnest of what the future will bring forth.