The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-08-04
NO MORE PAY FOR
 bESSEMER SOLONS
Members City Council Cut Off Their Own Salaries.
 Other Reductions

Bessemer August 3.-(SpeciaI )-Ths
 Bessemer city council met in regular
 session tonight in the council chamber
 and was called to order at 8 o'clock Dy President George Ross. After the
 reading of the minutes the regular or. der of business was dispensed with and verbal petitions and complaints heard 1 The special committee which was appointed to confer with the Sloss- Sheffield Steel and Iron company for | the purpose of securing a right of way , through the property of the company adjoining Alabama avenue, reported
 that 1t has been unable to secure any definite information from the company | and had instructed the city attorney 10 take steps to condemn the prop erty.
 The sanitary committee, composed O, Aldermen w. J. Austin, w. E. Surrat, and M. F. Crotwell, to which was re. ferred the recommendation of City Physician M. c. Ragsdale, Jr., in re. gard to the sanitary condition of the city. recommended that the residents of the city be required to place suitable trash cans in the rear of their prop.
 erty and all trash be placed therein SC | il can be collected by the trash wagons | of city and that the city create a board | Of health with four members, the cit, physician to be made chairman. The re- port was adopted.
 l The finance committee, composed ol | Aldermen W. A. Simmons, w. J. Aus.
 tin, M. E. Crotwell and Mayor I. A Lewis, to which was referred the re. I trenchment of the city, recommend the
 following cuts be made: Five patrol.
 men. $s75; one patrol driver $6O meal
 and milk inspector $75; one stree | foreman, S54: one laborer from stree l department, $50; one fireman, $40: ano | to cut the following amounts on tho
 salaries of the following officials: D
 M. Ratcliff. $25; City Clerk and Treas
 urer J. M Houston. $25: Assistant
 License and Tax Collector T. E. Pinner
 si5. making total saving to the cit,
 of $136.5O per month or 38S36 per year
 This matter was thoroughly discussed
 Alderman Winters stating that the cit,
 had only 13 policemen and he thought
 the city could hardly get along wftl
 eight men. After some discussion ht
 stated that since the patrolmen had tt
 go on 12-hour shift he would rec.
 ommend that the 10 per cent cut 1T
 salaries which went into effect severa | months ago be restored.
 l Chief of Police T. B Wallace asked
 that the force be not reduced to les,
 than 10 men: that the four detectives
 be retained by all means. Alderman Simmons stated that within the pas
 four years the city had gone in deb
 sS1 coo President George Ross stated |, that the city was living within Its rev.
 enue and Alderman Simmons asked MT Ross if such was the case how the cit, l got In debt. Mir. Ross then stated build.
 ing streets and giving them to tn,
 property owners, buying trucks. crush
 CTS and similar improvements
 Alderman Winters then moved tha l the aldermen serve the rest of tn,
 year without pay This was carried Mir | Surratt then made a motion that tn, report of the finance committee b, 1 adopted as a whole with an amend inent that only four patrolmen b, dropped from the force. This was car l ried.
 The next thing to come before tn, | body was the election of nine regular patrolmen from the present force O
 ls men. The following were elected l J. H. Parsons. Ceph Ross, W. c. Steele l J. C. Goodwin. J. 8. Jenkins. Elli Houston, J. c. Moorer. A. D. Maddox and Lige Ross. R. M. Childress wal unanimously elected supernumerary.