History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume II, Part 109

Author: Owen, Thomas McAdory, 1866-1920; Owen, Marie (Bankhead) Mrs. 1869-
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 724

USA > Alabama > History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume II > Part 109

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Four service squadrons 128, 129, 131 and 193 arrived at the Field by April 16, 1918. In addition there was the usual complement of quartermaster and sanitary and medical detachments.

Active flying began May 2, 1918. Major E. M. Hoffman, Signal Corps was the first officer in charge of the Flying Field. He was succeeded by 2nd Lt. Charles N. Mon-

teith, July 9, 1918, he in turn on October 2, 1918, was succeeded by 2nd Lt. Kenneth G. Fraser. The Field graduated 139 cadets. The total number of flying time 20,619 hours, and 27 minutes.

The Field was abandoned as a flying sta- tion in April, 1919.

Commanding officers: Maj. E. L. Hoffman, S. C., February-December 6, 1918; Lt. Col. Seth W. Cock, J. M. A., A. S. A. December 6, 1918-May, 1919.

REFERENCES .- Manuscripts and letters in files of the Alabama State Department of Archives and History.

TCHANA' NOGI. See Chanonagi; Chunnen- nuggee.

TCHUKOLAKO. A Lower Creek Indian town in Chambers County, and on the Chat- tahoochee River. The name signifies "great cabin," that is, of the public square. The site has never been identified. A town of a very similar name, now called Choccolocco, was located in the Upper Creek territory, in the present Talladega County.

REFERENCE .- Gatschet, in Alabama History Commission, Report (1901), vol. 1, p. 411.

TELEGRAPH SERVICE. Public utilities for the transmission of messages by means of the Morse, or other code, over electrically operated instruments and wires. The com- panies now engaged in commercial tele- graphic service in Alabama are the Postal Telegraph-Cable Co. (q. v.) and the Western Union Telegraph Co. (q. v.). Both are inter- state companies, having extensive systems of wires and local offices, of which their Ala- bama properties form but a small part. Be- sides the facilities of the companies which perform a general commercial service for the public, telegraph lines are maintained by most of the railroad companies for the transmis- sion of messages between their own officials and employees, and for use in dispatching their trains. In some cases telephone systems have replaced the telegraph for train dis- patching and for transmitting certain classes of messages; but the telegraph is still the main dependence of the transportation com- panies for handling such business.

Rights and Powers .- The activities of tele- graph companies in the State are regulated by section 239 of the constitution, sections 1268, 2141, 2143-2145, 5815-5817, and 7820 of the code of 1907, and by acts of March 31, 1911, February 24, September 14, 15, and 25, 1915. The constitutional provision is as

follows:

"Any association or corporation

organized for the purpose, or any in- dividual, shall have the right to construct and maintain lines of telegraph and telephone within this state, and connect the same with other lines; and the legislature shall, by gen- eral law of uniform operation, provide reas- onable regulations to give full effect to this section. No telegraph or telephone company shall consolidate with or hold a controlling interest in the stock or bonds of any other telegraph or telephone company owning a

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complete line, or acquire, by purchase or oth- erwise, any other competing line of telegraph or telephone."

Regulation. - Telegraph companies are classed as public service corporations and are under the jurisdiction of the State public serv- ice commission, which has power to super- vise their operation, including the regulation of their tolls and other rates of charges for service, and to require itemized reports of their business at specified times and in pre- scribed form. They are also required by law to make annual reports to the State board of equalization, giving prescribed details of their property holdings, income, expenditures, pro- fits, etc., for its information and guidance in assessing the tangible and intangible taxes levied by the State. With respect to taxation and the regulation of their operation and earnings in the State, telegraph companies are on practically the same basis as railroad companies. The municipal authorities of cities and towns have authority to regulate the use of streets by telegraph companies, and also have power "to sell, or lease in such manner as it may deem advisable, any franchise which

· [they have] power to grant." The property of telegraph and telephone compa- nies is protected from damage or interference by a penalty of from $25 to $500, and im- prisonment in the county jail or sentence to hard labor for the county for not more than six months, at the discretion of the court.

Early Companies .- The first company au- thorized to construct and operate a telegraph system in the State was the Washington & New Orleans Telegraph Co., chartered by the legislature, March 3, 1848. The incorporators of this company included, besides Samuel T. B. Morse, the inventor of the telegraph, and his business associate, Amos Kendall, the fol- lowing Alabamians: John J. Haley, William Knox, Charles T. Pollard, Joseph J. Winter, Frank M. Gilmer, Jr., John Whiting, Jobn Henry, William Stewart, James Battle, and Robert Desha. It was authorized to acquire from Morse the right to construct and operate the "electro magnetic telegraph" through the State by way of Montgomery, Cahaba and Mo- bile, to New Orleans. The charter contained a proviso that "funds to be raised for the con- struction of said Telegraph, putting the same in operation, and from time to time adding to, and improving it, shall be only sufficient for these purposes, and shall not be invested or employed for any other purpose whatever." However, the corporation was empowered to increase its capital stock for the purpose of building or buying any connecting or side lines, and was permitted to erect lines along the common roads, streets, turnpikes, rail- roads, and canals within the State. At a meeting of the stockholders, September 14, 1848, 19 directors were elected, among them, Charles T. Pollard, of Montgomery, W. W. Fambro of Cahaba, and Alex Stoddard of Mobile. The employment of operators and clerks at these towns was authorized, as fol- lows: Montgomery, one operator at $750 a year; Cahaba, one operator at $500; Mobile,

a chief operator at $1,000, and one assistant at $700.

The second and third telegraph companies in the State, the North Alabama Telegraph Co. and the Alabama & Mississippi Telegraph Co., were chartered by the legislature on Febru- ary 10, 1852, the incorporators of the first be- ing Samuel T. B. Morse, James J. Donegan, Charles H. Patton, Robert Fearn, George P. Beirne, C. C. Clay, Sr., Samuel Cruise, Joseph B. Bradford, John Simpson, Thomas J. Fos- ter, James H. Weakley, William Cooper, George G. Canale, and Richard Townes. The incorporators of the second were Henry C. Hopburn and associates. The first was au- thorized to construct a line from any point on the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad, via Huntsville, "to connect with the Morse or Southern Telegraph Line at Florence or Tus- cumbia," and the second, to establish a line from any point on the Alabama River to any point on the western boundary of the State.

The Selma and Tuscaloosa Telegraph Co., chartered by the legislature February 2, 1856, with F. S. Caswell, W. L. Allen, and associ- ates as incorporators, was the fourth com- pany. It was authorized to construct a line between the towns named in its title; but ap- parently little or nothing was accomplished, and the charter seems to have been allowed to lapse or was forfeited, for on January 25, 1867, the legislature chartered a new com- . pany with the same title, whose "chief busi- ness and object" were "to construct and use a telegraph line of communication from the city of Selma to Tuscaloosa, passing through the following places, to-wit: Marion Junction, Marion, Greensboro, and Eutaw." The incor- porators of the later company were Richard T. Knott, A. W. Coleman, and their asso- ciates.

The fifth and sixth companies, and the last ones organized until after the War, were the Mobile & Ohio Telegraph Co., chartered by the legislature, January 20, 1858, to construct a line "through this State, on the route of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad, and to the mouth of the Ohio River at Cairo, Illinois"; and the Cahaba & Tuscaloosa Telegraph Co., February 6, 1858, to build a line between the points named in the title of the company.

Early Telegraph Lines and Later Devel- opments .- The records now available do not show what was done by these various com- panies toward constructing lines and perform- ing actual service for the public, except in the case of the Washington & New Orleans Tele- graph Co., which is known to have completed the line between Montgomery and Macon, Ga., the last link in its through line to New Orleans, by July 18, 1848.

Soon after the close of the War, probably between 1866 and 1868, the Western Union Telegraph Co. entered the State, acquiring the lines of the Washington and New Orleans company. The Western Union company was incorporated in New York, April 1, 1851, as the New York & Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Co. Its name was changed to the present title in 1856. It appears that by 1869

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this company had acquired all the telegraph interests in the State, from the fact that the report of the State auditor for that year shows taxes to the amount of $451.76 col- lected from the Western Union, and mentions no other company.

The property of the telegraph companies in the State was assessed for taxation in the year 1916 at the valuation of $1,279,222, and the amount of the privilege tax paid by them to the State for the same year was $4,693.40.

An interesting phase of the telegraph serv- ice in the State is the controversy between the Western Union Telegraph Co. and the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Co. over the occupation of the latter's right-of-way by the poles and lines of the former, which arose at the expiration of the contract between the two companies entered into during 1884 and ter- minating August 17, 1912. The telegraph company served advance notice upon the rail- road company of its intention to terminate the contract, and soon after instituted con- demnation proceedings in the courts of Ken- tucky in the effort to secure a right-of-way for its lines upon the property of the railroad company. The matter has since been in liti- gation. A recent development was the inter- vention of the Federal Government to pre- vent interference with preparations for war by any action resulting from the controversy.

Policy of the State .- While the attitude of the State toward public service companies has usually been fair and even sympathetic, es- pecially toward enterprises locally projected and financed, there was at one time a feeling among public men that the State was not get- ting its proper share of facilities for quick communication with other parts of the coun- try. This feeling characterized particularly the period after the War and prior to the consolidation of the several local lines into a few large systems which connected the cities of the East and North directly with those of the South and West. On February 2, 1870, the legislature adopted a joint resolution ad- vocating "the establishment of a National Postal Telegraph System which shall afford to the people abundant facilities for telegraphic correspondence, with equal charges for like distances in all parts of the country." The Alabama Representatives in Congress were directed to urge the project upon the at- tention of that body, but with the adoption of the resolution, the matter seems to have been allowed to pass from public attention. Later development of the telegraph and the inven- tion of the telephone, particularly the long- distance appliances, have for some time afforded the people of the State ample facili- ties for quick and convenient communication with virtually all parts of the world.

The Telegraph and the Press .- While the telegraph has important uses in business and social affairs, not the least important is the revolution it has brought about in the as- sembling of the daily news. It may be said that the telegraph has revolutionized the news service of the country, and the extension of the telegraph from narrow limits to an

enlarged cable service over the entire globe, makes possible the regulation of affairs in all parts of the world, in the light of the knowl- edge of all important happenings as they oc- cur. An interesting evolution of the tele- graphic news service is presented by an ex- amination of the newspaper files of the State. At first the dispatches occupied but a few lines in an issue, and as the telegraph devel- oped, the news service grew.

The superiority of the telegraph over the old postal news service, and its great advan- tages for the quick transmission of vital in- formation and instructions, were demon- strated during the War. Military information and orders, both public for the newspapers, and secret by means of cipher codes, were transmitted throughout the State; and, while the construction and extension of telegraph lines were retarded by the War, the use of existing facilities received an impetus which has continued to the present time. From the inch or two of unedited telegraphic reports on an inside page of newspapers in the fif- ties, the service has grown into world-wide news-gathering agencies.

See Equalization, State Board of; Public Service Commission, The State; Railroads; Taxation and Revenue; Telephone Service.

REFERENCES .- Constitution, 1901, sec. 239; Code, 1907, secs. 1268, 2141, 2143-2145, 5815- 5817, 7820; Acts, 1848, pp. 270-274; 1851-52, pp. 282-285; 1855-56, pp. 300-301; 1857-58, pp. 122- 123, 140-142; 1866-67, pp. 211-212; 1869-70, p. 458; General Acts, 1911, pp. 159-191; 1915, pp. 193- 200, 321, 435, 440, 523, 567, 866; State Auditor, Annual reports, 1866-1916; R. S. Cotterill, "The telegraph in the South," in South Atlantic Quar- terly, Apr., 1917, vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 149-154; Poor's manual of public utilities, 1916, pp. 1618- 1621; Western Union Telegraph Co., The tele- graph: its history and present development (n. p., n. d., pp. 24) ; L. & N. R. R Co., Willful mis- representation of L. & N. R. R. Co. by Western Union Telegraph Co. disclosed by the facts (1917, broadside).

TENNESSEE AND ALABAMA CENTRAL RAILROAD COMPANY. See South and North Alabama Railroad Company.

TENNESSEE AND COOSA RAILROAD COMPANY. See Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway Company.

TENNESSEE, ALABAMA AND GEORGIA RAILROAD COMPANY. A consolidation on January 10, 1911, under Alabama general laws, of the Chattanooga Southern Railroad Co., incorporated in Alabama and Georgia January 10, 1896, the Chattanooga & Atlanta Railroad Co., incorporated in Georgia Janu- ary 3, 1911, the Gadsden & Birmingham Rail- road Co., incorporated in Alabama November 29, 1910. Its road extends from the Tennes- see-Georgia line to Gadsden; mileage operated June 30, 1915-main track and branches, 97.37, side tracks, 8.34, total, 105.71; mile- age operated in Alabama-main track and branches, 47.48, side tracks, 3.85. total,

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51.33; capital stock, authorized-common, $2,350,000, preferred, $750,000, total, $3,- 100,000, all actually issued; shares, $100, voting power, one vote a share; funded debt, $1,500,000.

The Chattanooga Southern Railway Co. was chartered under the general laws of Alabama in April, 1890, and completed its road from the Georgia-Tennessee line to Gadsden, 86.25 miles, in June, 1891, The company's finances became involved and in pursuance of a plan of reorganization, the property was sold un- der foreclosure proceedings, February 14, 1895. A reorganization was effected under the name of the Chattanooga Southern Rail- road Co., January 10, 1896, and the property was turned over on May 11. On April 23, 1907, the road was placed in charge of a re- ceiver, sold at auction July 15, 1910, and transferred to the Tennessee, Alabama & Georgia Railroad Co., organized for the pur- pose, on January 30, 1911.

REFERENCES .- Annual report of company to Ala. Public Service Commission, 1915; Poor's manual of railroads, 1891 et seq.

TENNESSEE CENTENNIAL EXPOSITION. See Centennials and Expositions.

TENNESSEE COAL, IRON AND RAIL- ROAD COMPANY. An industrial corpora- tion, incorporated by special act of the Legis- lature of Tennessee in 1860 under the name of the Tennessee Coal & Railroad Co .; char- ter amended in September, 1881, and name changed as above; capital stock outstanding -$32,529,998 common, $137,600 preferred, of which the United States Steel Corporation owns $32,461,105 common and $26,900 pre- ferred; bonded debt, $12,056,000; bonds of subsidiary companies guaranteed as to prin- cipal and interest by this company, $1,893,- 000. Since its reorganization in 1881, this company has purchased or absorbed the fol- lowing companies: the Sewanee Furnace Co., September 13, 1881; Southern States Coal, Iron & Land Co., February 1, 1882; the Pratt Coal & Iron Co., September 20, 1886; Cahaba Coal Mining Co., the Excelsior Coal Mining Co., and the DeBardleben Coal & Iron Co., in September, 1892. The company also purchased the entire capital stock ($1,200,- 000) of the Birmingham Southern Railroad Co. (q. v.) on July 1, 1906, from the joint owners, the Louisville & Nashville Rail- road Co. and the Southern Railway Co. On July 1, 1899, the company purchased the Sheffield. Coal, Iron & Steel Co., and on July 5, a controlling interest in the Ensley Land Co. It controls the plant of the Alabama Steel & Ship Building Co., at Ensley City, and · guarantees its $1,100,000 bonds and $440,000 preferred stock.

The Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Co. entered Alabama in 1886, when its owners absorbed the Pratt Coal & Iron Co.'s proper- ties. In 1891 it obtained the controlling in- terest in the DeBardeleben Coal & Iron Co., and the Cahaba Coal Mining Co. In Novem- ber, 1907, the property of the Tennessee Coal,

Iron & Railroad Co. was sold to the United States Steel Corporation, by which it is still owned.

REFERENCES .- Poor's manual of industrials, passim; Armes, Story of coal and iron in Ala- bama (1910); Tenn. Coal, Iron & R. R. Co., Description of plants and mines, with illustra- tions (1900).

TENNESSEE RIVER. The largest river flowing through the State, and the center of the extensive basin which drains the section, north of the mineral districts, known as "North Alabama." Its total length is 652 miles, of which a little more than 200 miles is within the limits of Alabama. The average low-water width of the river within this State is about 1,200 feet, and its depth varies greatly with the season and the locality, often being less than 3 feet during the extreme low- water.

The Tennessee is formed by the confluence of the French Broad and the Holston Rivers about 41/2 miles northeast of Knoxville, in east Tennessee; and flows in a southwesterly direction through the eastern section of that State and northern Alabama, to the western boundary line of the State, and thence north- ward, forming for a few miles the boundary between Alabama and Mississippi, through Western Tennessee and Kentucky to its junc- tion with the Ohio at Paducah, about 47 miles from the Mississippi River.

The Tennessee is a placidly flowing stream and traverses a country of great productivity. Its value for navigation has long been recog- nized by general use. Its upper tributaries have their origin in the Appalachian region, where they collect large volumes of water, even in seasons of drought. The low-water discharge of the Tennessee at times exceeds that of the Ohio, and its lower reaches are often navigable long after the Ohio has be- come too shallow for use. Together with its tributaries, the Tennessee forms a system of navigable inland waterways more than 1,300 miles in length. Its banks are unusually per- manent for a stream of its character, and its bed is likewise unusually permanent. The drainage basin of the Tennessee River covers about 44,000 square miles.

Geological Features .- The geologic strata of the Tennessee River Valley in Alabama are comparatively level for the most part and show no evidences of having been changed by heat or pressure. They are all sedimentary. The geological formations now exposed in the region are the Tertiary, Cretaceous, Carbon- iferous, upper Subcarboniferous, lower Sub- carboniferous, Devonian, upper Silurian, and lower Silurian. The soils of the valley are adapted to a great variety of crops, and, the territory was once heavily timbered with many valuable varieties of trees, a consider- able portion of which has now been cut for lumber. The Tennessee River traverses or forms a part of the boundary lines of the coun- ties of Jackson, Marshall, Madison, Morgan, Limestone, Lawrence, Colbert and Lauder- dale. From the northwest corner of Colbert

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to the northwest corner of Lauderdale Coun- ty, the river forms the boundary between the States of Alabama and Mississippi.

Navigation .- The large volume of water carried by the Tennessee River at all seasons makes it particularly valuable for navigation, and renders its improvement in most places simple in method, although costly on account of the magnitude of the undertaking. When the gauge at Chattanooga records a lower stage than 3 feet, practically all navigation in the greater part of the section between that point and Muscle Shoals Canal is interrupted. This occurs on an average, for about 100 days in the year. The Muscle Shoals constitute an absolute bar to navigation, except through the canal constructed around the shoals. Be- low Florence the Colbert Shoals obstruct navi- gation, and a canal has been constructed to pass boats around them.

Government and State Improvements .- The opening of the lower Tennessee River by means of a canal around the Muscle Shoals was favorably considered hy the United States Government for many years before definite action was taken. In 1827 the State board of internal improvement examined that portion of the river extending from Brown's Ferry to Waterloo, and made its report in May, 1828. Congress, during the same month, granted to the State 400,000 acres of public lands to be applied principally to the improvement for navigation of Muscle Shoals and Colbert Shoals. A project was submitted in 1830 for a canal from Brown's Ferry to Florence, and the removal of obstructions from Florence to Waterloo, but it was not adopted.

In 1831 the State of Alabama undertook the construction of three canals around Big Muscle Shoals, using funds obtained by the sale of the lands donated by the Government. One of the canals-the middle one-was put into use in 1834. It was 60 feet wide and 6 feet deep. There were 17 locks in it, each 32 feet wide, 120 feet long, and of 5 feet lift. Funds were not provided for the maintenance of the canal, and during the financial strin- gency of 1837 all work was suspended. The canal, the locks, and the construction plant soon fell into decay. In 1872 a plan was sub- mitted to the Government for the enlarge- ment and repair of the old canal at an esti- mated cost slightly more than $4,000,000, and work was started in 1875. In 1877 the project was modified so as to reduce the num- ber of locks and make several other changes with a view to greater economy and increased facility of operation. The canal was com- pleted in 1890, at a total cost of $3,191,- 726.50. Since its completion, it has cost about $60,000 a year to maintain it. The work of improving the navigation conditions of this section of the river, including the con- struction of a canal around the Colbert Shoals, is still in progress. Figures as to the total expenditures so far made upon the work are not available.

Water Power .- The Tennessee River of- fers the opportunity for water power devel- opment of great magnitude, but it is for the

most part not utilized. Various projects for developing power for industrial purposes, es- pecially at the Muscle Shoals, between De- catur and Florence, either independently or in conjunction with works for improving the navigation of the river, have from time to time been proposed; but none of them has as yet taken definite shape.

According to the information obtained, the only actual utilization on a large scale of the Tennessee River water power is located at Hales Bar, 33 miles by water below Chatta- nooga, where a private company has been granted permission by the Government to construct a 40-foot dam across the river, with structures for the development of power and a lock for passing vessels.

Sources and Name .- The Tennessee ranks as one of the most important of the 45 or more navigable rivers tributary to the Mis- sissippi. The river was called by the early French explorers, the "Riviere des Chera- quis," and in Indian cessions to England in 1767 it is the "Cherokee River." Authorities have differed as to the precise streams whose waters form the Tennessee. Some geograph- ers have held that it is formed by the junc- tion of the Clinch and Holston Rivers, near Kingston, Tenn .; others that the chief town of the Cherokees being at Tennassee, on the west bank of a stream bearing the same name -now known as the Little Tennessee which joining with the Holston, gave the name of Tennesse to the river thus formed as well as to the State. In 1889 the legislature of the State of Tennessee passed "An Act to settle all doubts and disputes as to the name and source of the Tennessee River." The law declares the source of the river to be the junction of the north fork of the Holston River with the Holston, at Kingsport, in Sul- livan County, Tenn. However, the river is still described in United States Government reports as being formed by the confluence of the French Broad and the Holston River's.

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History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume II, Part 109

Author: Owen, Thomas McAdory, 1866-1920; Owen, Marie (Bankhead) Mrs. 1869- Publication date: 1921 Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company Number of Pages: 724

Author: Owen, Thomas McAdory, 1866-1920; Owen, Marie (Bankhead) Mrs. 1869-
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 724