The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-26
NEED FOR AUDITORIUM

new spirit of cooperation for the good of Birmingham was engendered.
 NEED FOR AUDITORIUM
 The necessity for an auditorium was emphasized by President Bush, who cited the need made evident during the reunion at the meeting of the veterans and on the occasion of the two big balls. He pointed out the value of the advertising to be received from the meeting of large and important conventions here, many of
 which could not be secured without adequate auditorium. President Bush ex- plained that the Chamber of Commerce
 was not committed to any particular
 proposition. He said that the city com
 missioners had been assured that the
 support of the organization would be
 given readily and heartily for any audi
 torium located anywhere that the wisdom
 of the city commissioners might dictate.
 On account of his illness, President
 Bush retired immediately after the con-
 cluson of his address, and J. Frank
 Rushton, vice president, took the chair. REPORT ON REUNION R. A. Brown, in making his report on the reunion, stated that $22.000 had been subscribed and all except $250 had been collected, this amount being due by seven people. He stated that every dollar would be collected without any delay. He explained the system which had been inaugurated and told of the careful man.
 ner in which the finances of the reunion
 had been handled. Through the liberality of the Birmingham Railway, Light and Power company in giving 2S. 400 car tickets | for the transportation of all the veterans | and the Boy Scouts, the committee would 1 be able to pay all bills and have a small
 sum left over. This, he declared, would | be apportioned among the various con | tributors and returned in a short time-I l He pointed out certain methods which | had been adopted in order that the money | might be made to go as far as possible and stated that practically every dollar | received had gone for the care of the veterans themselves-the men who made l the reunion, but who were unable to spend any money. we let the generals and the men with the gold lace look
 after themselves. They were amply able to do so, said MT. Brown. We devoted our time and money to caring for the thousands of old soldiers who had no money to spend and who were the guests of Birmingham at the camp"
 "The success of the reunion was due to the hearty cooperation we received from all the people of Birminghafn." said MT. Brown. Everybody helped and this added very much to the pleas- ure of the veterans They said it seemed that everyone thet met felt personal interest in them and there 1 in, to a large extent, lies the secret of I the great success which Birmingham l has made with this gathering" ! The work of Secretary Radcliffe was praised in the highest terms by Mr. Brown, who paid tribute to his l loyalty and efficiency. He also gave | much of the credit for the success of | the veterans camp to Mrs. John B. Reid and Sam H. Fowlkes, who were in l charge at the fairgrounds.
 INDORSE WARRIOR PLAN 1 The members of the chamber went l on record unanimously indorsing 1 the report of the Warrior river high 1 way committee made by Chairman Sib- l ley and gave his committee authority 1 to take the matter up with the board l of revenue in the name of the organ l ization. Chairman Sibley and his com l mittee reported in favor of the rec-~ concentrations made by Government Engineer Crossland with the exception l of the fact that they stood for 3 1 per cent maximum grade instead of l the 4 per cent grade as suggested by Mir. Crossland. The report pointed out ! that the difference in the costs of the 1 2 per cent and the per. cent would be only $40,000, the interest on which was ! $2000 annually, and that the saving l in cost of transportation would be many times that amount annually on 1 the low grade road. The further proba- bility of the construction of an elec- 1 tric line was cited as anothea reason | for the low grade.
 The report in all other features con 1 cured in the recommendations made | by Engineer Crossland based largely l on the work done by County Engineer Clark. The Nichols Fish Trap route l was favored and it was pointed out that this was one mile nearer Besse- mer than the Taylors Ferry route
 Chairman Sibley reported that financiers had agreed to handle county | warrants to the extent of the cost of the road-S275, ,000--for a term of five. ten or twenty years. at an interest of A per cent The recommendations of the committee were concurred in unan-
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