The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-08-05
ROTARY CLUB IS
 UP IN ARMS OVER !. IN|M|CAL ACTION OF FRISCO ROAD
Organization Scores Attack on City's Development. Nesbitt Tells of Port
 Development and Its
 Meaning to the City

Indignant at the decision of the Frisco railroad in imposing switching charges on river routed traffic at the Cordova freight station, the Rotary Club of Birmingham yesterday sent the following message to T. A. Hamilton and A. Hilton, vice presidents of the Frisco rail- road at St. Louis:
 Warrior River management has
 called to our attention your decf-
 sion forcing interchange of river
 traffic at your Cordova freight
 station, thereby imposing switch
 ing charge on river routed traffic.
 The Chamber of Commerce nnd Bir-
 naingham Traffic Association note
 with great concern attitude as-
 stunned by Frisco Railroad in re-
 gard to this matter, and the penalty
 proposed to he placed on river
 borne traffic. We are prone to
 believe thnt you fully realize re-
 suits of this position. Before go-
 ing to state ana interstate cOm-
 merce commission formally, will you
 not advise by wire stating that
 your company will give river routed
 traffic free interchange the same
 as heretofore and now being ac-
 corded rail traffic.
 ROTARY CLUB OF BIRMINGHAM.
 This message was sent to Frisco or ficials on motion of w. D. Nesbitt. who made a splendid talk to the mem l. >bers of the club at the meeting yes terday afternoon in the ball room of the Tutwiler hotel. He spoke on The Port of Birmingham" He declared the development of river and port was or importance to every citizen of Alabama. He told of the expenditure at the Port of Birmingham of s26o.0o0, and said that $15,000 in addition to what has al ready been subscribed will be required to complete the terminals there. On his motion $5,000 of that amount was un- derwritten by the Birmingham Rotary Club. President Woodall was author ized to name committee to raise this amount among the members.
 NEED INFORMATION
 MT Nesbitt stated that great lack of information prevails in regard to what is being attempted and accom- . plished in the way of river and port development, though the subject is one that affects every person that owns a dollars worth of property or who earns a dollar in the state. The government he said. Is spending s2,5o0,00o for float ing equipment to be used on the rivers and has already put on the Warrior river sufficient equipment to handle the present traffic. The immediate re- suit of this has been a reduction ot twenty per cent for river and rail traf- fic, under the all rail tariff
 GOOD WORK
 In the past ten months 16000 tons of river freight have been handled over the Warrior system, and when the in- terstate commerce commission decreeo that open top cars should be used only for the hauling of coal. the barge lines had saved the Birmingham district from severe loss on steel products that could not otherwise have been shipped to the seaport at Mobile where ships awaited them. The Warrior river, the speaker said moved an important par, of this tonnage.
 MT Nesbitt told of the campaign now being waged to place the credit of the state behind the seaport in order tn facilitate water shipments and of th5 amendment for this purpose to be voted on at the general election of November 2. He stated that a similar amendment may be submitted at the same time at the discretion of the governor, the effect of which will be to lend the credit of Jefferson county to develop ment at Brmingham's port on the Warrior.