Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-08-16
COUNCIL PROBES
TAGGING WORK
ON STREETS
Members of the Committee Are
Amazed at Condition of At
Ianta's Thoroughfares.

Dad condition OF streets ana the poor
progress OF the work of improvement,
the councils finance committee yester-
day afternoon began probe to find out
the troHhle.
The meeting was adjourned until
Saturday morning at II o'clock to get
Information from the meeting of the
streets committee this afternoon
and 70 give the department of
chief Of construction time to
prepare a detailed report on the
work done with the $4,000 streets or
binary fund, which is exhausted
Members of the committee declared
they were amazed al the conditions.
They were confronted with the propo
sitiOn that the streets ordinary fund,
the fund to grade sidewalks, make re-
pairs and do numerous other work, was
exhausted and that it must be replen-
ished by taking money from other APP
preparations When the cutting of other
appropriations was begun the officials
interested in the various projects be-
gan to protest and to vigorously de-
nounce the street improvement system.
They declared that less work would be
done this year than in many years and
that more than twice as much money
had been provided than heretofore.
immediate Action Necessary.
Council has planned sweeping in
vestigation of the whole system as soon
as Governor Brown has signed the
charter amendment bill granting the
authority to make reforms, which plan
~
paign for better streets. But the
finance committee discovered that i'm
mediate financial adjustments must be
made.
Ii was learned today that there were
81 unfinished pieces of work in the city
and fourteen different quads of work.
men in different sections. So far the
finance committee has been unable to
find out Just what has been done and
the amount Of money it will take to run
the chief of construction department
the remainder of the year
The data on which the annual budget
was based is upset
When Chief of Construction Clayton
recommended that 81 600 be taken from
the $4,000 appropriation for the repair
Of South Pryor street Councilman c
D. knight was bitter in his protest.
"The department was six months
getting the brick to make the repairs
on that street" he declared. The old
brick were laid in pitch. The new
brick are being put down in sand, and
if persons should get in a fight on that
street they could pick up the pavement
and throw it at one another. NO work
is being done between the car tracks at
all, which is the worst part of the
street The street will be little better
than it was before when the construc-
tion department has completed Its
work
"ShouId Have Been Finished"
'That work should have been COM
peted months ago. But every time 7
have been to Captain Clayton it has
seemed to me that he was offended be-
cause | protested. Gentlemen. the peo-
pie of that section won't stand for any
money being taken from that appro-
priation when the street is not being
half fixed"
The streets ordinary fund was divid
ed among the ten wards. Alderman
had a considerable amount Of the
money uneXpended. But it is all gone
and Captain Clayton explained that his
department had not been able to regard
the ward appOrtiOnments because of the
many washouts caused by the heavy
rains. The committee seemed TO thtnI,
that the streets committee was resnon .
sible for this unsystematic expenditure
but the members decided to hear from
the streets committee before going into
discussion of it.
Alderman John s. Gambler chairman
of the finance committee. said that he
had taken up this matter simply as
financial proposition. but since the
members had begun discussion Of the
work done in their respective sections
he could say that his ward (the Ninth,
was in as bad fix as any. Lake ave-
nue. is the only street on which work
has been begun and, according to the
present rate of progress, it won't be
finished before November. he said
Gas Company Delays Work.
Il live in half a mile of my church.
the Druid Hills Methodist church. on
Highland avenue. but I had to travel
fourteen miles to go to and from serv-
ices Sunday in an automobile" he said.
"My speedometer REGISTERED that dis
lance and the cross streets were so bad
hat I could not have gone any shorter
way.
THE property owners on ST. Charles
avenue donated twenty feet OF land to
widen the street VITO years ago. Two
thousand dollars was appropriated to
pay the city's part Of the cost OF the
pavement Work has not yet begun on
the street"
Captain Clayton explained that the
Atlanta Gas Light Company was de-
laying the work now by putting down
pipes In the street He said that
charter provision gave the company
authority over the city in this matter
our fathers gave that company more
right than the council has got" de-
clared Alderman Gambler and | doubt