The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1915-04-19
CITES EVILS IN THE
PLUMBING LAWS
Real Estate Men Plan Cam
paign Against Existing
City Ordinance

The Birmingham Real Estate exchange
20. and w. G. Oliver, chairman of the
special committee which has the matter
In charge, yesterday issued the following
statement:
Our campaign has two objects in view,
to get less expensive plumbing and to
make our plumbing less attractive to the
sneak thieves and the vandal.
The real estate interests of Birmng-
ham have paid out thousands and thou
saids of dollars the past few months hav-
ing expensive lead connections replaced in
vacant houses, where they had been cut
out by vandals. The thief got IS cents
to so cents worth of lead and 1t costs us
s25 to $50 to repair the damage. We claim
that some form of iron pipe will serve
just as well as lead, and the sneak will
not take iron pipe.
''As for expensive plumbing, Birming-
ham has recently had perpetrated on it
one of the most drastic plumbing laws
passed by any city in the country. We
don't blame the commissioners for this
as they are all laymen and didn't appre-
ciato how the ordinance was loaded
tanned. I'll give you a few illustrations
zone of Birminghams recent home
Builders installed a drain pipe in his
garage, and was amazed to find that the
law required him to run vent from this
drain up through the roof, and also to
install lavatory in his garage, with
the usual amount of lead work. He had
no earthly use for this washstand in his
garage. but was forced to put IT in These
extras will cost him about SIPS.
Then, again. one of our East Birming-
ham concerns makes an excellent trap at
a cost of about 80 cents, but the law
won't let us use it. A patented trap made
In Cleveland and sold for maiy times as
much is required.
.Birminghams latest big buildings-the
Trtwiler. the Motion and the Ridgely-
are supposed to have the very latest and
most expensive of plumbing and yet this
style is already declared out of date in
Birmingham. and if the job had to be
done over now, it is estimated that it
would cost 20 per cent more.
mot only big business suffer, but the
little suburban bungalow must have seven
cutoffs, when one or two is all on earth
that a housekeeper wants to operate on a
cold winter night.
II could give a score or more of illus
trations like this but it is not necessary
Our exhibit will have samples of all
these regulations, and the people will be
invited to inspect them and really learn
some OF the mysteries of plumbing.
"A kitchen sink can no longer be at
tached to the main bathroom stack An
entirely separate one has to be installed.
1.-The exchange is not taking any part
in the labor differences between the mas
ter plumbers and the journeymen plumb
ers These conditions will adjust them
selves by the inevitable law of supply and
demand.
Neither are we taking any part in
the personal fight which some individuals
have against the officers of the plumb
ing department
I'VE do propose to show, however, that
we have been asleep here-includng our
real estate agents-and let the manufac-
turers of patent plumbing appliances and
other selfish interests put over on us one
of the most obnoxious laws possessed by
any American city,