The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-15
.CORDOVA PROTESTS AGAINST THE RATES ON O|L PRODUCTS Storage Tank Project on . River Banks Held Up Pending Hearing COAL RATES ALSO
 SEVERE HANDICAP Milton Fies Points to Rates Prom
 ised Which Were Almost Double
 After Company Made It's Expenditures

. Cordova. January 14-(Special "A petition was formulated here today by the Cordova Land company together with number of local business men to be forwarded to the Alabama pub lie service commission at Montgom- cry, the basis of which is a complaint against the Grisco railroad and it's rate of S1a cents per ton mile on pe- .troleum products.
 The Cordova Land company had sold options on tract of land on the river front here to a large oil company which planned to erect number of storage tanks on the bluff just south of the Frisco bridge, an ideal loca- tion for loading tank cars by gravi- tation. Arrangements were about com pleted for closing the deal with the land company and plans were made Tor the oil plant. Shipments of as high as a quarter of a million gallons of oil were to be made up the Warrior river and distributed to many sections of the south from this point. Rates on these products between Cordova and Birmingham were requested and the above named rate issued
 fOPE LUNG COMMENTS
 Pope M Long, former United States marshal of Alabama, who is president of the Cordova Land company, had the following to say in regard to the deal: Complete comparisons of all rates on petroleum products from all refineries to points in Alabama have been made and the rate named us is SIX times as high as any rate from any refinery to points in Alabama, which, of course, makes it plain to anyone with just ordinary reasoning that it is only an attempt by the railroads to keep the people from getting any ad- vantage of the river and cheaper trans portation We expect to fight the case to finish and have assurances from the public service commission that the case may be heard within short time, 10 days being the legal time allowed the rallr pads as notice of hearing on a specific complaint.
 "We have the cooperation of other interests" said MT. Long, Gin seeking relief from excessive rates, as there is now also before the commission a complaint from the DeBardeleben coal people of Sipsey in regard to their rate from Sipsey to Cordova and we expect before long to be enjoying the full benefits of the river. At present the oil deal is in status quo, as the Headquarters of the oil corporation have notified us that the deal is held up pending the settlement of the rate question to Birmingham"
 FEES ON COAL RATES
 Milton Fies of the DeBardeleben coal interests was interviewed on the com plaint of his company and he made the following statement: we now have before the public service com mission our complaint in which we show that we were promised rate from Sipsey to Cordova of IS cents per ton on coal, and we went ahead and spent some $3O,O0O on unloading fla cilities at the mouth of Cane creek on the river at Cordova and when we be- gan shipping coal down the river we were required to pay rate nearly double that amount, viz: 30 cents.
 "It is also made known to us that the Louisville and Nashville railroad threatened to sever all traffic relations with the Frisco if the 1S-cent rate was granted. whereupon the rate was es- tablished at 30 cents. We expect to get a hearing on the petition during the next few days"
 The Cordova merchants and manu-, facturers are making extensive plans to use the river, with the formation of the Cordova Terminal company, which is to build a large warehouse at the wharf where there is easy access to the public road, the railroad siding and where ships can unload right into the warehouse. site just north of the