The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-10-26
MAGAZINE MEN ID
 WRITE UP CITY Claimed That They Are
 Here Gathering Data NOT COMPLIMENTARY Staff Writers From Well Known Magazines Working on Stories
 of Fee System, Alamo In- vestigation, Etc.
NOT COMPLIMENTARY

1 Birmingham will shortly come into
 the limeIight strong if all the maga-
 zine writers that have been here re- gently write as they promise. ih-
 dustrial men here have been called upon during the past few days by nc less than h magazine writers, repre- senting the Survey, the Cosmopolitan
 the American, Scribner's and other
 magazines. It is believed that Bir- mingham has never received such
 muck raking" as will be her DOT ton when the magazine men finish the iob. A great deal of concern Is felI
 among the leading industrial men here
 over the matter. The fee system is to
 be written up. the convict lease sys- tenn is to be handled, the housing Of miners is to be given attention, the recent investigation into Alamo gas
 stock is to be written up and various other propositions that are of beneht
 to margarine writers are now being
 probed.
 President George B Mccormack of the Coal Operators association, said yesterday that about 12 of the men had called upon him and that efforts to
 convince them that the fee system had been condemned by the better class oi citizens here had been futile. He had
 been made proposition that if II
 could be shown that the newspapers had taken up the fight they would leave off the fee system proposition Clippings from local papers were be- ing eagerly sought yesterday.
 It is said that a recent immigra-
 tion commission that came to Bir- mingham made a government report which has brought to Birmingham these magazine writers. The report made by that commission Is said to have been the results of the eXamina- ton of a coal operator whose state
 ments the local operator cannot un- derstand
 The coal operators here, especially
 the Pratt, Tennessee, Republic and other large companies, have been try ing for many months to give the best
 efforts to the improvement of the con
 dition of the work Model houses have been erected and other steps
 taken to- satisfy the workmen. How ever, arguments of that kind created little impression upon the writers who came here.
 | The writers, from all accounts, were given every assistance by the corpor-
 ation heads in looking into conditions They were given passes over the prop critics, shown where to find the best and worst conditions and allowed tc | | t1,. i, n1 U tf | think it should be treated. It is said
 one big corpora ton with city quarters pointed out the conditions in those l quarters and did not make an effort | to show the model outside quarters because the fear existed that the claim would be made that in showing the model place an attempt had been made to hide the city conditions. It is said to be a fact that the city quarters of | that company are not good. However | the position of the company was that | the men did not have to live in them but could go elsewhere and still work | for the company.
 There is mucn regret here among the operators who are striving to help conditions that just at this time the magazines should take it upon them- l selves to disclose conditions which will | be completely eradicated in time as far | as the corporatio are concerned, but which cannot be fixed in day.