Newspaper Page Text
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Edwin P. Ansley Urges Atlanta to Plan for Population of Million--Attacks ‘System' of Handling Streets
CALLS CITY’S MAKESHIFT IMPROVEMENT METHODS VERY EXPENSIVE
RECEIVERS FDR
DE LEON, HONE
CONTINUES
Mystery Deepens as Search for
Missing Atlanta Contractor
Keeps Up.
w .mtinued on Page Two.
irresponsible persons with resulting
injury tn his creditors.
A pay roll of $1,200 on the court house
work had to be met today, and this was
the cause of the hurried action. The
contract provides’ for the work on the
county building to be completed in a
specified time and the surety did not
wish to endanger its forfeiture by any
delay of however short duration.
Mystery of His
Disappearance Deepens.
The receivers wore named to take
charge and control the contractor’s af
fairs until such time as he should ap
pear in court in person or the court
should be definitely informed that he is
permanently lost.
In the meantime the mystery of
DeLeon's disappearance deepened.
Though, at the instance of his brother,
E. W DeLeon. president of the Cas
ualty Company of America, of Chicago,
the detective force of that city in
which he was last seen. August 9,
scoured it to find trace of the man. and
though the police that patrol the Mich
igan wilds, where he was supposed to
have gom on a fishing excursion, have
made i systematic search, no clew to
his whereabouts has yet been ascer-
At his offices in the Walton building,
the employees had received no w, rd of
their chief At his home, 714 Pic. uont
ayenue, thd door waS closed to all vis
itors.
The contractor left Atlanta August 7.
He had not been in the most robust
health and It was his plan to spend
nevera. weeks in the Michigan woods
to restore his vigor. Two days later
he was heard of in Chicago, where he
visited friends in Wilmette, a North
Shore suburb of the Illinois city. He
told them th ' he intended leaving the
next day for Saginaw. Midi . and would
then strike out for the woods.
Brother Alarmed
For DeLeon’s Safety.
He never appealed tn Saginaw, ac
cording to the authorities there. Thor
point out that he might have arrived,
obtained the services of a guide im
mediately and then have struck out
without registering at a hotel or leav
ing other trace of his having been
there. Persons familiar with the woods
in which DeLeon intended to fish say
that a man and guide could stay in
them an unlimited period of time with
out leaving trace of their whereabouts.
When days passed and lengthened
Into weeks without word of his brother,
the Chicago DeLeon grew alarmed. He
sought the aid of the Chicago police and
a thorough search of the city was in
stituted without avail At the same time
the Michigan authorities became ac
tive in the hunt.
DeLeon is known as one of the fore
most Atlanta contractors He has had
charge of the work on many of the
city’s largest buildings and was re
garded as an eminently successful man
He is described as 43 years old, 5 feet
S inches tall, weighs between 135 and
140 pounds, has dark eyes and com
plexion. dark hair (heavy and in
clined to curl), is slight In build and
walks with slightly stooped shoulders
affects dark clotht s and wears nose
glasses almost constantly,*
Had Planned to
Recuperate in Woods.
DeLeon xvas confined to his bed for
two weeks in July threatened with an
attack of typhoid fever From this he
had never fully recovered, and. accord
ing to the word of business associates
and friends, his recent trip North was
planned as a journey of recuperation.
F C. Disbro. of the Woodward Lum
ber Company, is authority for the state
ment that Itel.e n had eontemplatod x
trip that would bury him in woods for
three weeks.
"1 am all run down an 11 am going
away where 1 won't se. anybody or
bother with bufness," Disbro reports
the mis-ing contractor as hiving said
on the morning >f August 5. the day
before he left Atlanta
A list of credit) s being compiled by
Smith & Ransom, ittorneys for the
Fulton bank, show D< Lean's indebted
ness to lot al materia! men to be slight
According to the attorneys, who tiled
suit for the bank to s. eu , notes ag
gregating $17,’.0(1. th) majoritv of D, .
Leon’s dealings with Atlanta n iterial
men ha,ve been in the na.tuit if per
centage eontb'. ts on wlm . ' ■ >wn<-i
I ■ -ponsib e and not • >•,.. cont: ,
l-’itends of the missing build. - deny
t.-da v that he .-ft tr nt., wit ■ ’
sum of money They assert that ae
ca rted ample funds to finance hi- Dip.
but no more
Hi- Inter) si- in Atlanta entii. 'v
in his own name and he |.ft no on,. I
beii- doiM red with his poxec of all.■
ney. clearly Indicating that!. . xp<
to kee; In touch with his bush . -- at '
The Atlanta Georgian-Premium Coupon
Thi, coupon wII u« accepted at our Prom m Parlor, 20 Kaot Alabama at.,
1 aa partial puymont tor any ot the beautiful premium , da displayed there.
See Prenvun Parlor Announcement on .Another Page
Points Out Examples of Piece
meal Policy Failing in Its
Purpose.
Edwin P. Ansley, real estate man and
a leader in the business world of At
lanta, in a striking statement, today
shows the need of sweeping improve
ments In this city. Mr Ansley shows
up the present terrible condition of the
streets and attacks the present system
is a "makeshift. ’’ His statement is of
especial interest and timeliness in view
of the city council's meeting to reor
ganize the chief of construction de
partment on Monday.
Here is Mr. Ansley's statement:
Atlanta Is the Gateway of the
South, and its location, together
with the fact that perfectly graded
and paved public roads and inter
urban car lines are planned to in
tersect all the country within 200
miles of Atlanta ami that within
100 miles there is already a popu
lation of more than 1,000.000, helps
to make Atlanta the Metropolis”
and the financial and commercial
center of the South. No other sim
ilar area of the South can show so
great a population, not excepting
New Orleans and Louisville with
their surrounding territory.
Plan For City of 1,000,000.
We must plan for a city of 1.000.-
000 people or more and build ac
cordingly. We must plan for the
future, and not for the present
alone.
Reorganize every department of
the city government.
As we have no commission form
of government, we should place an
expert at the head of each depart
ment of the city. Not a political
expert, but an expert who can stop
the waste that has been going on
up to the present time.
It will cost the taxpayers millions
of dollars to perfect Atlanta’s water
and sewer system and perfect the
grades and pave the streets of the
city..
Employ the best sewer and street
experts In America and contract all
this work. Lot the city and county
combine and perfect the trunk sew
er system, and then lay all lateral
sewers and water mains on unpaved
streets by contract at about $1.40
to $1.50 per lineal foot, or practical
ly at cost to the owners of prop
erty on the street. This will perfect
these systems at a minimum expense
and within a minimum period of
time.
Street Work by Contract.
City and county forces should do
sewer and repair work and not
build streets in the city. Street
work should all be done by con
tract by the lowest best bidder. All
contractors should be forced to
furnish the material called for by the
specifications. The city should em
ploy more laborers and fewer boss
es for its work.
Employ the best business man ob
tainable to be chief of construction,
and let all plans and specifications
for work to be done be drawn by
expert engineers, and contract for
all work strictly under these plans
and specifications.
In addition to aidermen and coun
cilmen, let each ward select by
written private ballot the best busi
ness men in their ward to form an
advisory board that will be non
political and hear all requests for
public improvements to be made
anywhere in the city, and let this
board recommend to the city coun
cil such work as it approves, after
all necessary estimates of the cost
of same have been obtained.
Makeshift System Now,
In my opinion, the fault with the
present system, if it may be called
a system, is that it Is only a "make
shift,” and public improvements,
where undertaken at all are done
by "piecemeal,” which is not only
unsatisfactory, but very' much more
expensive than if these matters
were handled on a business basis.
The city should adopt a definite
progressive policy and work to that
end. The streets located In the
center of the city should be brought
to their proper grades at the ear
liest possible moment, and this
could be done at a comparatively
moderate expense.
Building limits should also be es
tablished on streets where it is
deemed advisable to widen the
present street and an agreement
obtained from the property owners
to conform to this building limit
in the erection of all future struc
tures.
As an illustration of the present
"pieeeine.il" method. 1 will mention
the following cases:
1 Mitchell street was regraded
three times before it was brought to
its present level.
2 Edgewood avenue was regrad
ed at a large expense to both the
city and county on two different oe
■ cd.ms before it was brought to its
present grade
3 Hunter and Forsyth streets
have beam regraded twice, and the
new gram now bi ing established on
For rth -treet Is from three to five
I W’hlti -.ill sleet was widened
•i.d ri cr i. . ! ala very large ex
i" th. .iu and county a few
yeai< .igo. and by reason of Im
i 1 gi.ole being placed on the
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS. SATURDAY. AUGUST 24, 1912.
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Edwin
P. Ansley,
Atlanta
Real Estate
Using
Better Busi- Ik
ness Methods I
in Municipal \\\ ’'7 i
Affairs /
w
street, the residents of that section
of the city are clamoring to have
the street’ regraded.
Ths Peachtree Example.
5. The city and county are now
engaged in grading and widening
one block on Peachtree from Har
ris to Baker, and grading Baker
street and West Peaentree street to
conform to this new grade. "While
this is a much needed improve
ment, it Is a very small part ot
what should have been done.
Peachtree street should be graded
from the Grand opera house to
Harris street, and the street wid
ened. as is being done on the next
block. This can be done now at a
very much less cost than it ever
can be done in the future, because
it Is only a matter of a short time
until permanent structures will be
erected on this part of the street.
The only bailding in the way now
is the Aragon hotel, and it will be
a comparatively easy matter to ar
cade the front of that for the side
walk.
Atlanta Is one of the easiest
drained cities in the United States,
being located on a high ride with
creeks and branches running in all
directions away from it, and yet in
spite of this fact, its sewer system
is now in a deplorable condition
Years ago. before Atlanta had
reached anything like its present
size, a sewer system was adopted
which would probably have been
adequate for a village, but which
can never be satisfactory with a
large city, that Is the single sewer
' system, where surface water and
sanitary sewage all go together.
The difficulty Is that with every
house erected and eve-y street
paved, the volume of surface water
which flows into the sewers is
largely increased, and as a conse
quence sewers have to be con
structed of such magnitude that it
is very expensive to extend them.
Rains Overtax Sewers.
Every trunk sewer in Atlanta has
a branch running through it. and
tn cases of heavy rains these sew -
ers are taxed to their utmost ca
pacity to Tarry surface w ater. Sev
eral of these large trunk sewers
now empty inside the city limits,
and when the bond issue was
passed some three years ago it
was stated that one of tin main
put poses of this bond Issue was to
relievo that situation and dispose
of this sewage In an effort to do
this a plan was adopted to estab
lish sewage disposal plants near
the city to take care of all the sew -
age. and to eiirrj the sanitary sew -
age from th. ends of the present
large trunk sewers to these dis
posal plants in reduction pipes In
locating these disposal plants they
were located so near the city that
they will not only interfere with
" the extension of the city, but in or
Met- to eonvev the sewage to th. se
plant- at the proper lev.-l th> r<
duetion pl|H s U > i r ,>';*> >‘d -'I a
high level that .1 largo y.irt >f the
s-w age .an not tb>w Into th.-. •
duetion pipes
X trunk sower ' is ben '.<i- >n
i I < eutr.il at >■ ntn at a , o-t .if . i -y•
imately SSS,QOO, which, It )s stated,
is of practically no value to the
city, because it has been improp
erly laid.
Remedy in Double System.
All of this means that before the
city of Atlanta can get a satisfac
tory sewer system it will be forced
to adopt the modern double sys
tem, separating the sanitary sewage
from the surface water.
With these great problems before
it. the city should employ an expert
engineer, capable of handling the
situation, to direct the work, and,
if a proper selection is made, the
city will be saved many times the
cost of his services.
The present officials seem to be
unable to cope with the situation,
and, in my judgment, it is time
some action is taken along the lines
suggested.
EDWIN P. ANSLEY.
Amorous Not Ready
To Run; Hits Charter
Martin F. Amorous, mentioned for
the mayoralty, announced today that
he was not ready to run and at the
same ttifte issued an emphatic arraign
ment of Atlanta’s charter and the pres
ent system He said;
I realize fully the work the mayor
of the city of Atlanta will have to
do in the next two years, as 1 have
been in council three terms and
have thus acquired some knowledge
of the conduct of the business of
the eity. 1 predicted four years
ago the coming of the present crisis,
as recently admitted by the mayor
and chairman of the finance com
mittie, and yet 1 know their ad
ministration lias ben absolutely
clean and honest and that they and
the council were helpless to pre
vent it.
Under the charter laws there is
no individual power or authority
and responsibility reposed either in
the mayor or any member of the
council. It is a limited joint or col
lective authority to resolute and
legislate and divide out- the city’s
income for administrative officers
seieeti'd by the people to expend.
The results ne neither satisfactory
nor economical. To divide the in
come. it’s the duty of the finance
committee to collate it on a sheet
and it takt ■ a majority of the coun
cil and a majority of the aider
men voting separately to approve
Only Makeshifts Possible.
Every one f the 30 members has
son-.e use for monej to be exjiended
in his particular ward Hence, in
order to have the sheet approved
it is m < i>s-arv to promise at least
a majority in each body certain
amounts tor th. ir ward?, then the
j mayor has a shot at it also, so if
h lias any platform rromlses out,
these must be provided The re
sult is that Util.' dabs are given
out around th.it are hut mak< •
Th. luiiihi: is not to blame and
the tniyoi I* not to blame it*- t".
biialn. >■ system. If ibis »vstem
Wil. foll.iw.il by illy p iv.it,. fi||..
Tht r»» I> ii * vn<! fx»
tr.»ubh* |n iv as the
; \ m' i? < ontlnihnn
GEOOCII TO ONE
HANNER FIIO
By E. H. HYMAN.
Publicity Director Georgia State Fair.
From all indications the Georgia
State fair at Macon October 15-25 will
be one of the biggest events to happen
this fall in the South. There is not a
foot of space left in the great buildings
on the grounds, and there are fifteen
of them, thus insuring some fine exhib
its from the manufacturers in Georgia.
Many ‘ new- features yvill be intro
duced this year, chief among them be
ing the great automobile show. The
building for this feature contains 250,-
000 feet of floor space and there is not
enough room at this time to accommo
date all of those who wish to show
their machines. This building, along
with all the rest, will be handsomely
decorated and as the fair association
has offered three silver loving cups for
the three best arranged displays, this
surely yvill be a fine exhibit.
The directors of the fair, feeling that
the amusement feature this year should
be of the best, early ip the game got
Nat Reiss with his 40 big shows and
riding devices, who will have entire
charge of the Midway. This large col
lection of good and moral shows comes
with the indorsement of all the largest
fairs in the West and Northyvest. w here
they have been having a profitable sea
son. There is not a show on the
grounds that will not be strictly moral
in every sense of the tvord. Mr. Reiss
has his reputation behind each and
every show.
The cattle and swind shoyv will be of
the finest, for since the United States
department of agriculture through the
bureau of animal industry has granted
a special order w hereby cattle can be
brought inside of the quarantine lines
and returned to their homes, many ex
hibits will come that would not have
been here. Loring Brown will be the
judge for this branch of the fair. W.
Gettys, of Athens. Tenn., will judge the
dairy cattle.
The poultry show will contain over
I 700 coops of the choicest breeds of this
I part of the country . The poultry house
has been moved inti the large, airy
building adjoining the agricultural
building and the aisles are much wider
and it will accommodate three times
the number of birds the old poultry
house would.
Giorge Ewald, of Cincinnati, and P.
A Cook, of Scotcl Plains, are the
poultry judges.
The agricultural building will be full
of the finest of the products of the
j state Mmy counties ar, l preparing
: ioi: exhibits and they assure us th'y
yvill bi much finer than last v. ,■ The
Lu g. premium in this department Is an
■ liv ntlv, to get them to make as fine i
> how as possible so- their county.
In l.iet. the whole state fair will be
lt.n b -I that has ey.r te n shown in
; stat.' l.arg. , r wds are expected
. Macon was n. xer in i b. tt. fix to a.
|.omiii late the visitors tor many new
I. tel.- hax < be <ll built flDu List >e.lt
Makeshift Policy of
City Unsatisfactory
And Very Expensive
In my opinion, the fault with
the present system, if it may
be called a system, is that it is
only a “makeshift.” and pub
lic improvements where under
taken at. all are done by
“piecemeal.’’ which is not
only unsatisfactory, hut very
much more expensive than if
these matters were handled on
a business basis. The city
should adopt a definite progres
sive policy and work to that
end--From Statement of
Edwin P. Ansley, on Needs
of Atlanta.
fiETIiW
ID RECEIVE VETS
More Than 1,000 Old Soldiers
Expected to Attend State Re
union-Opens Wednesday.
Marietta-will don its gala garments
next Wednesday' and welcome to
more than 1,000 Confederate veterans
yyho will assemble there to celebrate
the state reunion. The reunion will
last two days.
For the first time since the war a
city no larger than Marietta will re
ceive the veterans and the fact that
the city' is able to receive them is due
mainly to Miss Regina Rambo, who
collected souvenir bullets and sold them
in order that the expenses of the re
union might be paid.
When the first bugle call is sounded
Wednesday morning the city will be
decorated from top to toe. Lavish dec
orations will be used and each citizen
of the town will attempt to outdo the
other in this respect.
Many social affairs will feature the
two days. The D. A. R. will entertain
the sponsors end the Daughters of the
Confederacy will give a reception on
Thursday' afternoon. Wednesday night
a big concert will be held. Thursday
the veterans will be taken on a tour of
Kennesaw mountain in automobiles.
The reunion will end with the vet
erans’ ball, which will be held Thurs
day night. Everything in the way of
music, decorations and refreshments
will be provided for this occasion,
which will be open to the whole of Ma
rietta and all the visitors.
STREET PREACHER IS
JAILED FOR DRINKING
TOO MUCH NEAR-BEER
Wearing a uniform of the American
Salvation Army, R. p. Ausbrooks, a
member of that organization, today be
gan the serving of an eleven-day term
in the city stockade.
He is there because he lost out in a
contest with four bottles of near-beer,
and, after being “thrown" by the foamy
fluid, visited the red light section and
solicited alms. His conduct attracted
the attention of a policeman, who took
hjm to the police station. There he re
mained in a cell for some time in his
uniform, and then appeared before Re
corder Pro Tern Preston.
He told the court he was sorry, very
sorry.
Judge Preston said he would be
“light.” and imposed a fine of $5.75 or
elven days. Ausbrook was unable to
pay the fine.
The American Salvation Army is a
different organization altogether from
the regular Salvation Army and has no
headquarters here.
TECH ADDS 2 NOTED
EDUCATORS TO ITS
FACULJY THIS YEAR
Among the new Instructors at the
Georgia School of Technology the com
ing year will be Professor B. H. Far
qiihar. formerly instructor in mathe
matics and physics at Washington and
Lee university. Professor Farquhar is
a Louisianan and has been identified
with the educational interest of his
native state for several years. H, comes
to Tech strongly indorsed. He has been
elected to the English department.
Another noted educator added to the
English faculty of Tech is Professor
Benjamin B. Strang, who comes direct
from I’olumbia university, New York.
Professor Strang is from New Jersey
and holds diplomas from Columbia uni
versity and also the Teachers college.
Professoi Strang is of quiet and unas
suming manner and. bids fair to make a
name for himself at Tech.
IT QUENCHES THIRST
Horsford's Acid Phosphate
1 easpoonful in glass ..f « u ier
ene.l to suit, far more dellci uis' in.i rL
freshing than lenmna ie n< * !<L.
Mr W s. Gunsalus, a farmer living
n-ar Fleming, Pi • ... h| . , 19 ‘, s i
’ r •' ' 1 s- ' . ‘ ’ I■ . u
rhoea Remedy n. f., in |i v fer fiV ' ' :
teen years, and that he ba- 'r.,ai,| i. '
T. n. NOT EAGER
TO BE MS
WITNESS
Already Answered Archbold’s
Statement Before Campaign
Probing Committee.
Continued From Page One.
Mr. Bliss is now dead. But during ths
seven years that elapsed before Mr.
Bliss' death after Mr. Archbold claims
he made the contribution in question,
Mr. Arcnbold never brought up any
statement of this kind.
Wicked Assault
On Dead Man.
"He now says that Mr. Bliss warned
him that he was making a serious mis
take in not contributing the extra
amount of money and that later on,
when the administration began to deal
with the Standard Oil people. Mr. Bliss
said it would have been different if they
had done as he asked him.
"This is an assertion that Mr. Bliss
was deliberately trying to blackmail
the Standard Oil Company into con
tributing by scarcely veiled threats as
to what would happen if they did not
contribute, and that Mr. Bliss, in ef
fect, told them afterward that, if they
had contributed the administration
would not have proceeded against
them for violating the law—for this
was all the administration did.
"This is a wicked assault on a dead
man whose high standing and probity
was such that no human being who was
himself honest would over impute evil
motives to him. Mr. Bliss was incapa
ble of conduct such as Mr. Archbold
imputes to him. And I can not too
strongly denounce the baseness of mak
ing' such an attack upon an honorable
man who is now dead and whom Mr.
Archbold never ventured to assail while
living.
"Moreover, Mr. Aichbold shows per
fectly clearly, as published reports say,
that his corporation had contributed in
order to get value for its gift and that
the gift was made with the expectation
of receiving improper consideration.
"I do not for one moment believe
that Mr. Bliss made any such remarks
to Mr. Archbold, as Mr. Archbold say-.
For example, Mr. Archbold states that
he and the late H. H. Rogers visited me
lat the white house and that I then re
marked to them that there had been
some criticism about campaign contri
butions. This is a falsehood. Neither
on that occasion nor on any other occa
sion was one word said, either by me to
Mr. Archbold or by Mr. Archbold to me,
about campaign contributions.
WHEELING MAYOR DIES.
WHEELING, W. VA„ Aug. 24.
Mayor Charles C. Schmidt, 58 years old.
died suddenly today following a stroke
of apoplexy. He was prominent in Elk.'
circles; had served two terms as grand
trustee.
Jas. H. Dodgen I
Announces for
Recorder
I am candidate for
Recorder, if council
will submit vote to
people. They have a
I right, and the people
have voted to elect a
Recorder by the people I
and this race should |
be submitted to the |
people.
I will not offer be=
fore council because 1
don’t believe in conn
I 1 cil’s steam roller poli=
tics. ■
This is practically
a full term and prima=
ry near at hand. There \
£ is no reason why peo=
| pie should not elect I
their Recorder.
Has. H, Dodgen ■