The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-09-25
Director General Sanders Says All Available Equip ment Will Be Utilized
 at Once
BUSINESS PLEDGES
 COOPERATION IN
 RATE ADJUSTMENT
of Birmingham Must PatrOnize Warrior to Get Best Results,
 States Director

" All equipment available Tor the Warrior river will be put in operation in one month to six weeks.
 1.-The initial equipment will
 barely take care of the coal on the river bank, but the mo- ment we get additional equip ment we will reach out for other business.
 Possibility of lower tariff rates than those now in effect depends on how much 1t will cost to get the coal to the river. Arrangements with rail- roads for through rates with a 1 division of revenues must be made before Warrior river transportation can be made profitable.
 nrhe administration is bound to try to get a lower rail rate from coal mines to the l Warrior.
 Birmingham must help get | the lower rail rates and help make the business for the War rior river"
 1 This is the message delivered to Bir- mingham business men and shippers yesterday by Director General M. J. Sanders of the Mississippi-War waterways, the things he told them they must do in order that water trans portation may be made available to the Birmingham district and Birmingham 1 You are an inland city, have always had inland rates and will always have inland rates until you're physically an the river.' he told his audience How are you to put yourself physically on the river? You must answer that your self. I can't"
 l MT. Sanders and Traffic Manager l Theodore Brent of the Mississippi Warrior waterways came to Birming- ham yesterday in response to the in vitation of the Chamber of Commerce and the Civic association, and addressed an audience of about 100 business men of Birmingham.
 START OPERATIONS l Birmingham wanted to know if in fact anything had been done or would be done toward opening up the War rior river. and if so when would it be done? MT. Sanders brought the answer. Birmingham business men and shippers, accepting his word without question, 1 promised their hearty cooperation in whatever might be necessary to start up operations on the Warrior. They | said they were ready to go with him to the higher authorities and to inter- cede for the Warrior; they stand ready to furnish the loads for the boats and barges that may be put in operation. But they wanted to know when these would be started and how many. | President Arthur c. Crowder of the Chamber of Commerce presided. He reviewed the efforts made by the Bir- mingham committee to get the govern ment to take over the Warrior river; of the conferences with Secretary Me- | board and Director Garfield of the fuel administration, and of the inspection made by agents sent here by the gov ernment; of the delays and the ob- stacles that apparently had been over come; of the appointment of Mr. San ders as director general of the river, and of the further delays that created doubts in the minds of Birmingham lbusiness and shipping interests as to the real intention of the administration, and of the invitation to MT. Sanders to come here and tell just what the real lsituation is.
 MT. Sanders stated that he under lstood the insinuations of MT. Crowder and for the purpose of impressing the people of Birmingham with the diff iculties that had to be overcome be- fore transportation can be started on 1 the Warrior river, told of the fight railroads had made against the rivers of the practical elimination of river !traffic and finally of the call of the railroads for help to relieve the con gestion in tho east when war traffic swan1ped them.
 NOT IDEAL STREAM
 He said the Warrior is not an ideal stream for transportation; that it has only six-foot stage of water. with IF locks and dams; with inadequate IequipMent, ana that under these condi- tions 1t would be difficult to compete with the railroads
 He said he hoped that within two or
 three years new and better equipment
 could be secured that would enable the
 river to compete with the railroads. and
 that if an eight-foot stage could be at
 tained the cost of transportation would
 be decreased at least 25 per cent. He 1 said he would not be satisfied with any
 thing but the best in equipment, the best
 that human ingenuity can devise, and
 an eight-foot all the year stage of water In order to get -the best possible results
 from Warrior river operations it is es- sential that Birmingham merchants pa l tronize it. he said. and asked if the Birmingham merchants would do that I Saying that ha had the greatest faith l in Birmingham. he painted a glowing ], future of industrial activity and growth with the Warrior as a thoroughly de. veloped transportation channel taking our products away and bringing goods to our people
 COAL ON RIVER
 He said the coal on the river would
 be taken care of. and whether coal that had to be partly hauled by rail would be taken care of depended on the rail