The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-01-06
CAPITAL PLANS ID
 REDUCE EXPENSES One Fire Department Sta ton to Be Eliminated MANY WILL LOSE JOBS Fire Chief Protests Against Any Cut, Declaring Department Being Run on as Low Basis as Pos
 sible-Policeme Lose
MANY WILL LOSE JOBS

Montgomery, January 5.--tSpeeial.)- An entire station of the Montgomery fire department will be cut out. eff feetive February l i; seven firemen will lose their jobs; the patrol wagon of the police department will be thing of the past, effective February 1; four policemen will lose thelr jobs six horses will be turned back over to the city, two from the fire department and four from the police department, to be either sold or used by the street cleaning or engineering departments; certain police officers will be dropped from the force a little later in the year, all of this to cut down expenses so as to come within the income of the city. Further. several cuts will be made in the sanitary and health departments, but these cuts have not been definitely decided upon, Commissioner Brassell asking for more time to confer with heads of ub-departments, but 1t Is most probable that three garbage wagons will be dispensed with, the in- cinerator closed down and the sery- ices of the ante-mortem meat inspector dispensed with.
 Tie board of city commissioners held a lengthy session Friday morning and some of the discussions were quite heated. Commissioners Brassell and Letoher had slight tilt which, how ever passed over without any un- pleasantness.
 When the matter of chtting down ex- penses in the fire department came up Chief Browder was invited to appear be- fore the commission and he vigorously protested against any cut, saying that the department was being run now on as low a basis as possible and that any cut would jeopardize property interests in Montgomery. Commissioner Mcintyre, in charge of this department made the dec- laration that he fully agreed with the chief, but inasmuch as an appropriation Of only S50,000 a year had been given him to run this department, that something had to be done as the department was HOW costing about $G5,0o0 year. 1t WAS suggested that the fire station in North Montgomery be closed, but Chief Brow der protested and appealed to the com mission not to close this station, as over n million dollars worth of property was at stake in that section of the city, and if there was no station there building
  paratus from other stations could reach the scene Then it was suggested that one or two men be dropped from each station and Chief Browder replied that sl ch a course would be impossible, if the service of the department was main- taired
 The income of the city of Montgom- cry during 1912, as estimated, will ap- proximately be $600.o00. The budget, ps fixed by Commissioner Letcher, totals s52S.000. This leaves s32,00o for con- tngencies. All of the commissioners are agreed that cuts must be made, but how? That is the question that hds the city hall in a stew" just now.
 In regard to doing away with the pa trol wagon, ii is probable that an ar- rangement of some character will be made with some automobile exchange to answer police calls. The city will probably ask for bids on this matter
 In the police department the 1912 budget cuts down the appropriation from $S0,000 last year to S50,000 this year-that is, 1t cost sS0,000 to run the police department last year, based on the expenses for the month of April, 1911.