The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-06
COLONEL HooPER,s VIEWS

COLONEL HOOPERS VIEWS
 Col J. deB. Hooper, who is inter- ested in coal development in Walker county, believes that the best inter- ests of Birmingham and the entire dis trict would be served by the construc- tion of a paved highway to Nicol's Ferry. Colonel Hooper points out that this point is only 10 miles from the city limits of Birmingham; that it runs through Edgewater and number of the best industrial towns in the dis trict, many of them now having no good road connection with Birmingham and it would serve to open up rich field for Birmingham. This route, ac- cording to Colonel Hooper, would serve 150,O00 people, whereas the road to Taylors Ferry would go through a territory not nearly so rich and pros- porous.
 One of the greatest sections of Jeff ferson county" said Colonel Hooper, lis now practically cut off from Bir- mingham on account of the lack of proper connections. While this highway is being built, consideration should be given to the territory through which the road would run. The road to Nich- oPs Ferry would serve more people be- tween Birmingham and the river than any other possible route and after the river is crossed it would open up a
 
 great potentialities. This highway could probably be constructed for less money than any of the proposed routes" PRESTON SPEAKS FOR JASPER
 Birmingham is not the only city which is interested in the proposed connection between this city and the Warrior river" said A. S., Preston, a prominent Jasper banker last night. "A large part of the best mineral section of Walker county is on or near the river and whatever steps Birmingham takes to secure advantage of the water will be watched closely in the neigh boring county.
 "Cordova and some other parts of Walker county are already securing certain advantages from the river, but if Birmn gham arranges to have big business on the stream it will aid all the smaller cities in handling theif business. The greater the volume of freight, the more frequent will be the boats and barges Walker county people are watching with unusual in- terest to see how Birmingham is go- ing to solve this problem to get the best advantages of the river"
 MURRAY CANYONS VIEWS
 Murray Cannon, a prominent whole sale grocer, who is interested in stores
 
 in west Alabama, says his firm has already secured some advantage from the. river in spite of the lack of fla cilities for doing business on the stream "Our firm has already handled a number of shipments of freight on the river,' said MT. Cannon, "and in spite of the infrequent and uncertain boat schedules and the high cost >of unloading and moving the goods to our warehouses we have found the river to be a fine saving. With regular boat or barge schedules, and with adequate wharves, large part of the freight which is now being handled by rail would be be'diverted to the river"
 BUILD FOR FUTURE
 Ferd Caheen said: q hope we will be able to build the proposed highway from Birmingham to the Warrior in a short time. The quicker it is done the better it will be for every one who lives in Jefferson county am in favor of a concrete base or no road at all, and think it is time for we of Alabama to realize that it is a waste of money to spend a dollar on some sort of road which will wash away when the first heavy rain comes along
 "Other states have long since aban- doned the idea of building roads out of anything except material which will give the maximum of service plus the minimum of upkeep. The cause of many failures in all branches of business is the overhead expense. When I say overhead l mean small leaks and the amount of money which is unnecessary for the maintenance of the business The same proposition applies to a house which is roofed with paper instead of some sort of good roofing material. The paper will last for few days, then fn hrrVy AF ,k keep the rain from coming in. The paper will cost less to start with but if you have to continue buying paper you will find that you have spent more on paper than it would have cost to put on permanent roof to begin with.