The Birmingham age-herald. [volume], November 08, 1914, Page 10, Image 10

About The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950

Image provided by: University of Alabama Libraries, Tuscaloosa, AL

                
FIRST BARGE OF THE
PRATT GO. LAUNCHED
ON WARRIOR RIVER
Christened bv Miss Aliene
i
McCormack in Presence
of Large Gathering
—
BEGINNING OF NEW
ERA IN THIS DISTRICT
Birmingham Is Now I'nbottled and
Experts Expect Kail in Rales to
Tidewater — Eight More
Barges to Be Built
By ri,ynt: tv. enms
Tjie first barge for an Alabama indus
trial corporation. In a system of water
transportation, was launched yesterday I
afternoon about a o'clock at Tuscaloosa
an the Warrior river, it was christened
"Barge No. 1" by Miss Aliene McCor
mack, the little daughter of H. Kills Me- >
t'ormack, vice president and general man
ager of the Pratt Consolidated Coal com
pany, owners of the barge. The launch
ing was perfect with the exception of the
injury to Air. Ramsay.
Birmingham Now I'nhottled
The launching was witnessed by a mini-,
ber of men from Birmingham and Tusca
loosa who had been asked to he present
when tile huge boat went into the waters
of the Warrior river. The barge is 140
feet long and is 34 feet wide. It Is also
eight feet deep. The timbers nt the two
sides are eight inches thick while at the
bottom 10 inches. The boat Is capante
of hauling 600 tons of coal at one time,
and with a tow boat and two other
barges will carry to Mobile at one time
3S00 tons or coal twice per month, 'in
getting to that place 17 locks will he
passed by the barjges.
The launching of the Harare yesterday
sign ale the beginning of a new era in
water transportation in this district and
also Indicates the effectual unhotlling of
Birmingham from dependence upon rail
road transportation. With loal mines on
tile Warrior capable of supplying a large j
tonnage to the gulf coast and with slack |
water up to and including Cordova, it is !
believed by industrial experts that rates !
will be so adjusted as to give this dis
trict marked advantages over any other
section in this country.
This fact was the cause for more than
passing enthusiasm and interest in tne
launching of barge No. 1 of the Pratt I
company yesterday near Holt. Jt oost
only $2600 and is one of nine that are |
to be built as fast as Capt. W. B. Keeler ;
ot tlic fleet can get them together. He
■will also build the tow boats that are
necessary to take the barges to Mobile.
Jt was stated yesterday that the mines
of the I’ratt company are above Lock 17
which was recently ordered completed by
Congress. On tills account it will be
about April before tile Pratt company
will be aide to load the barge with its
own coal and tow it to the gulf. In the
. ■ 1 1 ""**'*[. m - ' ■■■ i i
You Can Have Your Home
Just as Modern and Conven
ient as the One Illustrated Here
11
• .. * *«*«**' uru yoaieraay
trill -abe U8ed> ^ is stated, by F. n. Blair,
llic m?wn® a mllle below Lock IT, to tow
M'he 1’^ b*s Poal Mobile. Sixteen looks
•lav waspal,s"'1 dotting to Mobile from,
bought fr? of Mr. Blair,
at Katlltur?'1 whlch f»» launched yester
i arable of ,*1 lo,|K leaf yellow pine
01 wealberJ 1 tb* KaUI Lumber company
forcemeat b'B ®k®®vdingly heavy and
unusually «0tJ,*tandln>; tbe roughest sort
of tite barge. s Bta‘ed that tlie rein
vent given thJ1M' of bolts and steel is
expectations ofl tb® Uf® of one
tie interested ift,M aec.iunt ,,f the treat
, _ „ % lumber, will exceed the
Will Meleven tie most enthusias
The barges to 111 is new development.
twin tons of coal _. „
,o Mobile twice Reduced Rates
fleet of three it. N by a low boat with
the Pratt compari'lin htake a round trip
In Mobile a cargO'ery inontli. With a
every f.-W days. TfW to caleiilate that
is $1.10 per ton. The 111 bo abb to place
j,e able to better tf 1*0® Ions of eoal
end will therefore I freight by railroad
coal at u much It Pratt company will
prevails for bunk erf'at price materially
The men who at*® able to uell hunker
x.ater transportat*wer price tlian now
that the advants °oal
consist not only0 D*hmd the plans for
1 ,s, but also thr,n to ‘he gulf realize
coal may be ban® oyer the Ohio will
Ohio river this ii° tbp nearness of the
son that often * ®vpry day in the year
with Ico and tr« 'he gulf. On the
operators in P* no‘ a fact fo1' tlie rea
orders to this/"® Obi" river is packed
inability If <W,r‘' ,ha" °"CP ,bP eoal
,.f,7P Vt^ib'irgf have transferred
Ti,e citiwi sfattion bv reason of their
elated nv.yp *betn on account of the
portH.tion/
i staled ruscaloosa are as much
ti.iniHg- tl,p be*luning of barge trans
ha'c tb' people of Birmingham. It
,-rl I he I in order to get out tlie
alvP required the Pratt company will
'f to make extensive openings on its
jperties above Jiolt, widen means also
fove Lock 17.
• Again this is the first time in Ala
bama that an Industrial company with
■/ capital such as controlled by Hamsay &
j McCormack, has undertaken to launch
■ water transportation system. It has
been talked of considerably but quietly
»nd effectively tlie Pratt Consolidated has
gone about the plan and Is nearing suc
cess. It tvas stated yesterday by Q. B.
McCormack that the other boats to the
fleet of barge No. 1 would be built just
• s rapidly as possible and they would be
ready for service when Lock 17 tvas com
pleted.'
Ramsay and McCormack Enthusiastic
Mr. McCormack and Mr. Ramsay arc
both very enthusiastic over the system I
ot water transportation they have started
and believe lc will place Birmingham on
the map as a place that has a water
route to the sea. The people of Tusca
loosa think the same.
The party from Birmingham at the
launching yesterday included George Gor
don Crawford, president of tlie Tennessee
Coal, lion and Railroad company; F. H.
Crockard, vice president of the same com
pany; P. G. Shook, Erskine Ramsay, ©.
B. McCormack. Mrs. G. B. McCormack,
G. B. McCormack, Jr.. H. E. McCormack,
K. B. Pennington, John L. Kaul, W. E.
3>ake, of the Alabama company; Neil
Hutchins. R. E. Chadwick, J. C. Patter
aon and Mrs. Patterson, E. P. Rosemond
and Miss Rosemond, W. W. Robertson
and others. From Tuscaloosa there was
present F. G Blair, president of the Tus
caloosa Mineral railroad; R. E. Rhodes,
Georgy K. Little, assistant engineer on
the locks on the Warrior; R. P. Prowell,
C. M. Ayers. Fred Stickney of the Tus
caloosa News; W. C. Klutz, superintend,
cut of the Central Iron and Foal com
pany; Frank Miller of the Seinet-Sol
Oay company, and others.
Negro Watchman Assaulted
Tom Smith, the negro watchman of
the Southern Bitulithic company at
Avenue B and Twenty-sixth street, was
assaulted by two unknown negroes
about 7 o'clock last night and robbed
Of 75 cents. He was struck over the
head and Jaw with a hammer and may
41s from his injuries
BATH ROOM
DINING ROOM
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Cossacks Among Best Cavalry
force of 32S.700 available for Immediate
var service.
The entire history of the Cossack race
;s one of fighting and stubborn defense
.if tlielr tribal liberties. Not even the Czar
lias been able to curh them thoroughly.
They hold their lands exempt from many
taxations In return for giving military
service.
They have been an important factor In
the politics of the Black and Caspian seas
since the days of the Byzantine empire.
They were known as Kazaks, or free
booters, then, a name that follows them
yet under the modern spelling of Cos
sack.
Poland, Turkey and Russia all tried to
subdue them and keep them from raiding
cross frontiers. Slgsmund I of Poland
found It an Impossible task and compro
mised by hiring the Cossacks to become
his frontier guards.
Peter the Great of Russia was the first
ruler to make his sway over them any
thing like successful. He saw In them a
most valuable addition to his fighting
forces and tried to bring them under his
rule. The Cossacks refused snd war be*
gan. In time the hardy tribes were sub
dued and made a part of the Russian
empire.
They make up the flower of the light
cavalry of the Russian army. In times
of peace they form one-fourth of every
cavalry division, being brigaded wtth
dragoon a Uhlans and Ilussars form the
other brigade of a division. In the event
)t war the numerous regiments called
from their territories are made into solid
brigades of Cossacks.
The organization of Cossack govern
ment is ;m based on its probable mili
tary use. They are divided t/to 10
tolskos, or districts—the Don, Volga or
Astrakhan, lrral, Kuban, Terek, Oren
burg, Siberia, Semiryechensk. Amur and
Usuri.
The unit of life Is the stanitso, or vil
lage commune. Bach stanitso furnishes
i squadron of cavalrymen to Russia In
time of war, hence the word stranltso
lias become to mean a squadron of Cos
sack cavalry
Eacli Cossack begins his military serv
ice at the age of IS years. For 20 years
he Is an active soldier and for 12 years
answers every call to arms. The Czar
can summon every man, regardless ol
age, to the colors.
Most of them belong to the Creek
Jatliollc church. Some 400,000 are
t-lassed as dissenters. A half million
ding to the Mohammedan faith.
Their territories cover about 229,000
iquare mileB. Their principal Industry
s agriculture and the breeding of
horses and cattle. They are also
greatly Interested In the fisheries of
the Don, Ural and Caspian, the vine
culture of the Caucasus and bee cul
ture.
They are a mixed race, a result of a
melting pot where dozens of races used
to meet. Russian, Polish and Tartar
■tock prcdominatss, with Russian most
noticeable. They are more slim, more
active ami much lees stolid In fea
tures than the Russian peasant. The
Polish stock they assimilated when the
Polish kingdom extended to the Black
sea. The Tartars have always been
their neighbors on the east.
They became a separate entity first
when the great Inland empire of Tam
erlane fell. They had been his frontier
cavalry and the thirst for war aoqulred
under him and also Ohengis Kahn has
never died away.
Under their own lietmen they pushed
their roving way east, south, north and
west until the barriers of other civiliza
tions stopped them. On the high plat
eaus of the Himalayas they met. and
fought, the Afghan tribes. They have
raided far into China and kept Turkes
tan In terror for centuries. Down into
Asia Minor and into middle Europe ad
venturous bands have penetrated. Each
Incursion has resulted In the Influx of
some new and strange blood until the
modern Cossack can lay claim to as
much a mixture as America.
The bravery, and also ferocity, of the
Cossack as a fighter has been proven
on many battlefields. They have some
of the fatalism of the Japanese, some
of the fanaticism of the lloro, the cun
ning of the Chinese, together with the
calmness of the Caucaslon. Cowardice
Is the greatest of all sins to them; and
bravery a virtue every man must have
■o live among them.
Napoleon found them such elusive
•ml dangerous foes that hli retreat
from Moscow became a rout. Cossacks
on their scrawny ponies and armed
With long lances literally prodded the
remnants of the grand army out of
Russian territory. In the Crimean war/ t J
they fought as Infantrymen and with
proper handling might have caused the
allies far more serious damage than
they did. Kven In Manchuria they
fought as bravely and as well as any 1
troops ever fought but here again lack |
of proper direction caused their efforts B
to avail nothing.
They are armed with the mags
rifle of the Russian army, a long cu
saber and a shorter knife. Individ
carry as many revolvers as they
afford.
borne of the permanently establl
regiments are armed with the 1
also, but It Is not believed that
will carry these to war. In the 1
cfcurian campaign Russia's uhlans
Cossacks left their lances behind v
they started to fight.
The title of Hetman of the Cocc
is l orne by the heir to the Rui
throne. All other chiefs are app.
ed by the crown. It le a rule in
sack life that officers of their i
ments shall be chosen from fam
whose men have commanded thei
gt ncratlons pant.
Not Alone
''8he dresses with great pains.'
"Tes; her shoes pinch, her eoraet _
tight, and she frequently scorches hsr- 1
self with a curling Iron."
Cossack Rallying Song
Up, Cossacks, and ride away!
The Czar Is calling Ills men today,
do! now for a ride on the borderside.
And gallop away on war's wild tide,
do! now for the dash, and ho! for the
clash,
And ho! for the Joy of battle's crash,
Up, Cossacks, and ride away!
To war and fight and bold man’s play.
Up, Cossacks, and ride away!
With shout and yell and lust to slay.
Dut with the saber, call to your neighbor,
And ride away to war's sweet labor,
rhere's cities to loot and pillage to boot;
Bo rifle and saber, slash and shoot.
Up, Cossacks, and rids away!
To war and fight and bold man's play.
Up, Cossacks, and ride away!
The Czar is calling his men today.
A herald gallops Into the Cossack vil
age, says the Kansas City Star. His
>aber aloft, he calls out the news of
nar. The Utile Father has summoned
tls children.
Cartridge bandoliers and sabers arc
suckled on. Horses are saddled quickly.
In a few minutes the char’s wild riders
save Joined the messenger.
A rallying song Is started. Up and down
( N
the village streets horses and men swirl
in mad gallops. By twos and threes men
come until the fighting strength of the
village Is assembled. "Cp, Cossacks, and
ride away!”
Regimental mobilization headquarters Is
the next stop. Other troops are there and
others arrive. The Colonel takes com
mand, and without any more formality
the famous irregular light cavalry of the
Czar 1h ready to fight his wars.
In the sense that America knows it,
there is no preparation for war among
the Cossacks. They are always ready.
Arms and horses are kept in their homes.
His uniform is the only clothing he ever
wears. Even boys of 6 and 7 years weal
the long blouse, high boots and peaked
cap of the warrior.
How many Cossacks the Czar can mus
ter is something that even his own min
isters do not know, perhaps. Something
like 5.500,000 people live in the Cossack ter
ritories, along the Lower Don, Dnelper
and in the Caucasus mountains a* *t tne
plains of Southeastern Russia. Every man
between 18 and GO years of age is a sol
dier. The Czar keeps 4276 officers and 177,
790 men in regimental posts like his other
soldiers. A first reserve, which drills fre
quently in its home village, brings a total
h