The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-04-06
LETTERS TO EDITOR
BLOCKING THE CROSSINGS

To the Editor of The Age-Herald:
 notice in Wednesdays edition, under head of Letters to the Editor" George H. Rogers criticises the Southern Railway company and Commissioner Cloe for allowing the formers trains to discharge passengers at Twentieth street.
 I have lived in Birmingham for the past five years, and this is the first time have ever heard of any one making kick about this courtesy which the Southern railway is ex- tending to the public.
 Who is it living on the Northsde, Southside or in West End that wants to ride all the way around the Terminal station, when they can get off at Twentieth street and be half way home by the time the train backs into the Terminal?
 MT. Rogers makes some reference to stop ping west of Twentieth street and dischargng passengers, but this would not be practical in rainy weather, and besides, no passenger train ever blocks Twentieth street more than three minutes
 MT. Rogers again takes up his time to critcise SAAN pNNssAiSAAA tieth street and names several instances in which the street was blocked, giving the num- Der of street cars, automobiles a pedestrians that were blocked from their work. Wonder f MT. Rogers ever had a carload of freight shipped to him and had the same placed on the A. c. s. team track just west of Twentieth street? If he did, am sure he found it the most convenient place in town.
 I wonder what he would say eff under the plan he wants MT. Cloe to have adopted" the railroad would tell him they couldn't place his on the team track, but that he would have to go to Avondale to unload same. I daresay he would refuse the entire shipment.
 Mr Rogers closes his letter with this state ment: "Let MT. Cloe place one man any day to observe conditions created by the Southern railway at Twentieth street. and I am sure he will find remedy for the outrage"
 Wonder why MT. Rogers didn't make any reference to the Louisville and Nashville rail- road, which runs parallel with the Southern railway at Twentieth street and operates over half dozen more tracks, while the South ern only operates over three tracks?
 Wonder if MT. Rogers has ever ridden to Acipco? What did he think when he came to Ninth avenue? Did he ever ride to North Bir- mingham? What did he think when he came to Ninth avenue, then? The Frisco railroad crosses both lines at Ninth avenue, and have seen street cars at both crossings blocked 10 and 12 minutes at a time.
 Wonder if MT. Rogers has ever ridden on the Pratt-Ensey car, and I wonder what he thought when he came to the Frisco crossing in Pratt City?
 It appears to me that Mir. Rogers has it in for the Southern railway for other reasons than he stated in his letter and would suggest that when he gets MT. Clce to place a man on Twen- tieth street to observe conditions that he be in- structed to watch the movements of the Louis vile and Nashville railroad at that point, and that he also be instructed to visit the different crossings of the Frisco railroad which I men tioned. Also the Seaboard crossing at Twen- tieth street and Avenue A and the Belt cross ing at Twentieth street and Avenue E. Yours truly. E. L. PORTIS, Clerk Southern Railway Co.,, Twentieth
 Street, South
 Birmingham, April 5, 1922.