The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-25
WEST END UNABLE ID AGREE ON NE W PAVEMENT PL A N $
Citizens Protest That Cotton Avenue Will Become Popu-
 lar Speedway

Birminghams city commission ad- journed after it's regular meeting Tuesday morning with the earnest and vigorous protests of a number of citizens of Cotton avenue ring ing in their ears. Those citizens claimed that paving the thorough fare is an utterly undesirable thing to do. The municipal council cham Der is still ringing with the oratory from the East Lake-Woodlawn com mitte who want First avenue paved, ana While the echoes finger, the op- posite end of town is up in arms at the mere suggestion of paving their pet street.
 President McLendon presided at the meet as usual, and spoke of but as the hroadsides of protest came from people on the front row, those a the back of the room, and unexpected spots that had been overlooked over all the room, the precipitation gathered on the brow of that merged, broke and had to be harvested with a handkerchief.
 Attendants at the meeting were impressed with that long known and almost always forgotten thing, that any part of big city leaps into
 
 the residents thereof get in an argu- ment and people begin, in memory. to visualize the neighborhood in question.
 To Become Speedway.
 It is safe to say that none in the room ever thought of Cotton ave- nue connected by side streets with Tuscaloosa avenue. would make race track anywhere from eight to tn yr1i1 y.1 cars would loop about on it until the already ticklish crossings from curb to curb would be far more dangerous, but H. J. Ward. attorney. appearing with a counter petition against the paving ordinance of fered, visualized the thing in such a way that half a dozen other Vest enders who had come to give him simply silent moral support, rose up as orators and spoke their minds.
 One or two of the speakers created the impression that there had been an attempt to slip something over. W. R. Kelly said the petition was circulated on a stretch of the ave- nue where paving was favored.
 MT Ward, who fathered the op- position, presented list represent ing 36 property owners and 2,645 feet of protesting front footage. He described the merits of chert road
 
 kept down the dust, and altogether pictures Cotton avenue. as is, as such a lotus land so long as 1t isn't paved with asphalt; that uncon ciously a sigh went up when other members of the committee stated their property was not for sale, so an enhancement in value was the last thing to be considered as an in- ducement to paving.
 L. l.. Plumber. was punctilously Polite, parliamentary in bearing and choice of words, but for all that there was no doubt of his earnest ness when he informed the board that If they approved the ordinance to pave they would have a law suit on their hands.
 Mir Ward asked that the city de- fer action until a third petition could be circulated as the final view of those interested, but the city had advertised for the work to be done and it could do but one of two things, order the paving or drop the subject, and, faced with the fact that the initial petition had the majority of names on it, and weeks had elapsed since the subject had be- come public knowlege. and that the immediate locality, city at large and the whole community benefits from paving, the board of city commits sioners voted to pave.