The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-11

Once upon a time there was a wise man. He did not sit with his feet upon his office desk and wish that John Somebody would do something for him. He realized that the doctrine of do things for yourself by yourself was formula that never failed to bring results.
 Now il happened that this man had a factory in which he made various and sundry things. And it also happened that one day the great government un- der which he lived formally announced to him that it had completed a great trunk railroad many hundred miles from the market places of the world to within a few miles of this mans factory. Now if you wish to use and profit by this rail- road" said the great government, you'll have to prove your good intentions by building a connecting link to It.
 The wise man considered. Then he said to himself: "I'll do It." And so saying ever after.
 The only excuse for that fable Is to illustrate the main point of this story
 If Birmingham knew that the United
 
 line railroad all the way from Mobile to within 20 miles of the city and could build it no further, how long would Bir- mingham hesitate to build a connecting link to the end of the line?
 The United States government has not done that but has done something more IL has canalized the Warrior river until now 4l4 miles above Mobile and 20 miles below Birmingham there lies among the hills and mountains the end of high way that would place Birmingham com merce in touch with the whole world. Will the rate be such over this new highway, though, as to warrant the people of Bir- mingham or Jefferson county building the connecting link?
 What? Rates?
 The use of the Warrior river is free as the air. It's United States highway over which every citizen has right, If he wishes, to tow his crop to market and tow back home his years supplies. For several months, already, it has been lying there among the hills of the edge of Jefferson county and still no tangible movement started to connect it with Bir- mingham.
 But perhaps all this is theory. The Warrior river talk may sound good on the street corner and look good on paper, hut how about it when it comes down ito brass tacks?"
 We'll, it has come down to brass Jacks. The "can' was put into the canalized Warrior last week by Murray Brown and the Pratt Consolidated Coal and Iron company MT. Brown, however, by means of a shipment of dry goods from New York to Birmingham by an all-water route, especially proved the point as the subject regards the city of Birmingham Although no means of handling ship ments to Birmingham have been provided no wharves and no connecting link be- tween the wharves and the city, the cargo of dry goods came down the Atlantic coast en the Mallory steamer Alamo, up the Warrior on the steamer M. Car. neY and into Birmingham over 2S miles of read, much of which was unmproved ordinary country dirt road, by means of an automobile truck and at an actual sav- ings in freight of cents per hundred ponds.
 On the other hand, the Pratt Con solldated company, having the Maxine coal mines located right on the banks of the eanalized river during the week de- livered in Mobile 1000 tons of coal at a savings in freight charges of 50 cents a ton. or half of the freight rate by rail, which is S1