Atlanta Georgian. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, August 24, 1912, HOME, Page 2, Image 2

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2 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. • : STS , \ ' Li? ' n a A, HOE/ > \\ zZ i . Z-< \\ S' •* A 11 » / /JI? jHK nBF .# i i \f, // // 7 / // < • // / / Ir I dr / / I J . .|'T Z* - \ \ JBemHßEbk. '■ ■ - CtZ*' 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 ■