The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-12
Nichols Fish Trap Route
 to Warrior Should Be
 Built First, Says Crossland
Continued from Page Five)


 afternoon. Neither pr. Lovelady nor any of the members of the Chamber of Com merce committee made any statement, be- yond saying that the matter would have their immediate consideration. They de- sired to study the recommendations made by MT. Crossland before expressing them selves regarding the details of the pro- ject.
 The report follows: 9 The Honorable Board of Revenue, Jeffer-
 son County. Birmingham, Ala Gentlemen: In compliance with instruc- tions from the United States office of pub lie roads and rural engineering, l came to Birmingham, March 27 and conferred with the board of revenue of Jefferson county, the highway engineer of the same county, the state highway engineer and the city engineer of Birmingham, regard ing the feasibility of constructing high way from Birmingham to some point on the Warrior river.
 The Hon. R. F. Lovelady, chairman of the board, explained the situation briefly and requested MT. G. H. Clark county engineer to explain fully to MT. Keller state engineer, and myself the many points to be considered in determining the feasibility of the project and to inform us regarding surveys and estimates already made under his direction.
 EXPLAINS SITUATION As explained by MT. Clark, the situation is as follows:
 The recent completion by the govern ment of the Warrior river improvements has made that stream navigable by steamers to points within the Birmingham district. Jobbers in Tuscaloosa (which | is situated on the river below these | points,. are taking advantage of the low | river transportation rates, which enable | them to undersel Birmingham jobbers in l what has heretofore been Birmingham | trade territory. Because of the inaccess- l bility of the river to Birmingham, jobbers of this city are unable to take advantage I of the river transportation. To overcome
 this difficulty, it is proposed to construct | highway from Birmingham to the river
 and transport freight by motor trucks. It 1 is hoped that this will in short time demonstrate the feasibility of construc- 1 ing trolley line or steam railway to han 1 dle this traffic. MT. Clark had already in- vestigated the several available routes and decided that two, the Taylors Ferry | and the Nichols Fish Trap routes, were feasible and had made preliminary sur veys and estimated the cost of roads over 1 these routes.
 | The purpose now is to determine: 1 Q) Can freight be shipped to Birming-
 ham by river and truck at a cost lower | than the present railroad rates? | @ Will Birmingham merchants take ad- vantage of the facilities offered to an
 extent that will justify the construction
 of the highway?
 | (S) Will the use of this highway dem
 onstrate the feasibility of a steam or troll l ley line?
 | Hl Is either of the proposed routes feas-
 ible from an engineering standpoint? | (o) What type of road should be built? 1 @ Aside from it's value a means of securing better freight rates. are there other reasons which would make the ! building of this highway advisable? BY CONVICT LABOR 1 Mir Clark informed me that there are
 not now available funds to undertake this l constructions and that If it Is done in
 the immediate future. it must be done by convict labor, and that convicts would lot be available until they had completed work on which they are now employed. l Therefore, l have had ample time to make all necessary inquiries. In forming my 1 conclusions 1 have conferred with num- 1 Der of prominent and well informed busl- ness men, including the committee of the | Chamber of Commerce having the project 1 in hand, wholesale merchants who expect 1 to use the road officers of corporations l doing business in the district and a rate l expert. professional men and other citi- zens All with whom 1 have talked are | interested in the project, and hope to see it taken up and completed. They make
 many very pointed suggestions, indicating l i'll several instances careful and thorough study of the project and have furnished | volume of valuable informa ton which has enabled me to arrive at my con clusions, and which I first thought of including in this report. l have decided later however. to omit it as it will be ' brought out in discussion of the report and to submit my conclusions for youi consideration viz:
 n d Freight can be shipped by river and truck to Brming ham at rates consid-
 el ably lower than the present railroad l rates.
 | e, Merchants have assured me that they
 would truck freight over the ro2d. 1 be- neve the amount of this traffic alone vii