The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-12-03
BIRMINGHAM PORT DIRECTORS CHOSEN
 AT FIRST MEETING
Crawford E mphasizes I'm portance of Putting Up
 With Inconvenience Un-
 til Traffic is Developed

Directors of the Port of Bir-
 mingham Co.,, Inc, were elect
 ed and formal incorporation of
 the company was authorized,
 at the first meeting of stock
 holders of the company, held yesterday at noon at the Tut wiler hotel.
 The directors were called to meet following the stockholders meeting for the purpose of electing. officers, but owing to lack of a quorum this ac- ton was deferred until tomorrow. The following comprise the board of di- rectors:. J. Frank Rushton, Henry T, DeBardeleben, Judge William E. Fort, Merrill F. Northington. H. K. Milner. Victor s. Gage, ". B. Allen and K. A. Brown.
 It was reported by MT. Rushton, gem eral chairman of the campaign for the sale of stock in the company, that sub scriptions to date totaled s144,S00, with several good prospects. It is proposed 900 capital stock has been sold. Stock to the extent of $79,SO0 was represented at the meeting.
 J. R. McWane, chairman of the War rior river development committee, who was named chairman of the meeting, said the committee was gratified over the number of stockholders, totalling 14o. Those canvassing for subscrip- tions, he said, had sought especially subscriptions of s1o0, since it was de- terested in the enterprise as far as possible.
 TO SUPPORT RIVER PROJECT
 George Gordon Crawford, president road company, announced that his com pany proposed to put up with the in- convenience of river transportation during the early stages of development of the terminal facilities, until the necessary volume of business has been built up to assure efficiency
 This is our opportunity to deter mine, once and for all, whether inland waterway transportation is an obsolete method or whether it is genuinely eco nonHc," said MT. Crawford.
 It has been true. unfortunately, hith- erto. that people have banked too strongly on the river as a means of haa clared. The railroads are operated in the service of the people, he said. and if rates are beaten down at one point they must be raised correspondingly at some other point. The honest way to secure the benefit of the river, he said, is for every one to ship by the river, submitting to present inconveniences, until a large tonnage has been devel- oped.
 After January 1. said MT. Crawford, 7h or S-foot depth would be available, as compared to the 6-foot depth of for mer days, and this promised to prove the difference between success and failure.
 The amount of freight that passed locally between the points on the river, like Mobile, Tuscaloosa and Demopolis, he said, was not sufficient to make the use of the river profitable. but through rail and water rates to inland points not on the river would make it possible for commodities to be moved more cheaply than by rail. The volue of this traffic, he explained, would de pend upon the service provided for ship pers, and upon the utilization of the vessels the government had put on the river. DUTY BUT HALF PERFORMED
 '.Our duty is hut half performed now that we have raised money for the ere ation of terminal facilities on the river," he said. "We must develop the necessary volume of traffic, or the gov ernment will discontinue the use of the vessels it has provided"
 MT Crawford said it would be quite practicable to use on the river self propelled boats of about 1500 toAs, which could proceed to Mobile and take on a heavier cargo there, in ac cordance with deeper draft available at sea, and then could ply profitaly be- tween gulf ports, such as Havana, Gal veston Tampico, Mobile and others.
 This was being done in North sea waters, he said. wedish ores being across the sea and up the River Rhine to Ruhrort. Conditions are far more favorable to this kind of transportation in the gulf, he declared, since it is a quieter body of water than l the North sea.
 The government has expended the money of the people of all the United States for an improvement local to Alabama" said MT. Crawford. '1t has 1 provided the necessary boats and now | we have secured freight rates that | make it economical to use this highway | of transportation. It IS unthinkable to | suppose that we are not going to see | that it is used."
 Marriage Licenses
 The following marriage licenses were |