Hide Article Text (OCR)
Martin Free Bridge HistoryDetailed By Local Citizen(By Adolph Felsenthal)The News has been steadily urging upon the State Highway Commision the duty of replacing the present weakened and worn approach to the Free Bridge with a new structure of ampler width and more enduring material, of iron and concrete, and fitted for our more modern-day use. This constant insistence has evidently made the needed impression upon the commission, judged by the fact of the recent inspection of the president and the consulting engineer of that body. If and when this brings to us the desired improvement, it will stand to ' the great credit of this valuable Jo-cal daily, just another proof of the good public service that a loyal and intelligently edited newspaper renders to its community.It may be of some interest in these later days to bring some personal recollection* regarding the history of this Ouachita county bridge. In doing so, it is my hope to emphasize the credit that is due to one man fov the part he played in his original conception of its building and his persistence in its advocacy until its actual construction made it a reality. That man wasprobably most of all—because I was willing to serve without salary I was secretary of the organization without opposition tili I left Camden to move to Fr;1.-senthal in Union county.When Martin's letter appeared I was struck with the importance of the idea and made it a point to speak to our County Judge about it. This was Judge Rushing of Chidestei, who was then rounding out his second and ti-nal term. He felt that it was an impractical plan, beyond themeans of the county, and thatthe approaches to the bridge proper would cost, as he said in :\ general estimate, at least $50,-000. And he was probablyright too in all that he said. It must not be forgotten that th»s^ Chicago where he lived, suggest-I1I\agreed to put the bridge into -1 first-class condition without cost j to the county of a single additional penny and this was done under the supervision of Mr. Baum. It has cost the county very little since and that only for the repairs of the flooring1worn out by years of constant use.Some time alter the job was done Baum told me that the * piers were so substantially built, that they were strong enough to be used as a railroad bridge in addition to its highway uses. I urged him then to make a special report of this fact to the county authorities and have it filed on the county records for possible future contingencies, I do not know whether or not this was done by him. But just a few months ago, it happened would then have his statement his and wrote him a letter to1(1approaches were never built until the state itself recently constructed them. He would not even agree to a preliminary survey and estimate by a civil engineer.One of Lm: diawuucks in my past has been that I never gave enough weight to the practical arguments against a plan that seemed worth trying; and another was that becoming intrigued with an idea of this sort, Icould never rest till something definite came of it—that it was1Iour lately deceased ever patriot . either tried out or killed out.: ~ • • _ * a • tic and enterprising citizen,Judge Wm. T. Martin. And itis in his honor that the bridge has been officially named by th'» county as the Martin Free Bridge,Up to the building of thisbridge and as far back as I car*remember, the crossing of the Ouachita River to and from Camden was by ferry - boats, guided by strong ropes strung from bank to bank, and impelled by the muscular arms of the ferryman and his helpers. There was the Lone Pine Ferry, owned by Mrs. Darnell, an aged widow of this city, which was located in the vicinity of the present Cotton Belt Railway bridge; the Hill Ferry, owned by her daughter, another widow, Mrs. Buffington, which was in the vicinity of the present Sandy resort; and the Bradley owned by exSheriff P.Lee, in its later operations, ferries for many years, tolls were paid by theBeachFerry,LynchThesewhileusers,And I believed Martin's idea was a good thing fov town and county.The next year, George W. Hays, then a young and rather obscure lawyer, became a candidate for County Judge and asked me to support him. I toM him that I would do my best for him if he would promise, that he would, if elected, have this survey and estimate made. He made the promise, with thei single reservation that he would not make it a public issue, feeling that he would lose more votes in the other parts of the county than he would gain on the other side of the river. It was not until the latter part of his second term that he secured an engineer and the survey, which was favorable, was made. I think the engineer was named Vineyard, who lived here several years.ing that if he had not came:! out my previous request, *(lt; would be very helpful to him and to the people here to write a full description of his connection with the reconstruction of the bridge and of its strength and possible uses and that I would then have hos statement published in the home paper and filed with the proper county officer. Unfortunately, he died from a sudden attack of the flu too quickly after the receipt of my letter to act upon it. But I believe I have covered the case as faithfully as my own memory permits.1annually tofundslightthinkwhichgave good returnstheir owners.Afterwards, the city bought and maintained a free ferry as an attraction to customers of the local stores. This was a welcome benefit as the ferry toll, though not excessive, counted against more frequent Lips to the towri This free ferry operated at or near the former Hill's Ferry and was capably managed for a time by a fine old citizen name*] Knight, father of Walter, Kira and John Knight. He was well liked by the patrons and made his home at the ferry until hbc death.But ferry operations wereslow, and tin.* larger the numberof vehicles at the river, the longer the waiting. This was intensified in the busy marketing season, with heavily loaded co* ton wagons, some drawn by sluggish oxen teams; the steep and muddy inclines made another interference, and rainy, cold and wintry days added to the other I drawbacks.It was the best that could be offered. Until “Bill Martin, living across the river close to t(r the Harmony Grove neighbor -hood came along with a better idea. He lived on his own place and was then a thriving planter.He had been a successful salesman on the road previously, hazing been especially good as a solicitor for the Memphis Commercial Appeal. He made a record for this paper through Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas; his ( pleasant address, friendly approach and intelligent methods built up a large and lucrativepatronage; and travel added to his natural inventive spirit and individual initiative. The bridge? suggestion was one of these products. *. 'Following a serious nnd prolonged overflow', forcing the people on the Kast side of the river to remain marooned tiil the waters went down again; their only way to get to Camden being by the Cotton Belt trains, he wrote a long letter to the then Camden Beacon, urging the County build a bridge across the j river.It happened that I was then in charge of the Bry Bro. department store, then the largest and most important dry goods establishment in this trade section. I was also the secretary of the Camden Com mercial League, originated byme in 1893 and continuing without interruption until this day. now known as the Camden Chamber of Commerce.It was organized among other aims to secure the permanent navigation of the Ouachita river, finally achieved in 1923, 30years afterwards. As the only one in town then with a stenographer and typewriter, and in tensely desirous, personally as a citizen and as a business man, tcsee the town build up, andIn those delays, there was political shrewdness, at least. For there was much opposition to the bridge—and its required taxes— from much of the western end of the county. In those horse-and-wagon days, travel betweenthe western end of the county and to the eastern end was more infrequent and the need of this bridge was not at all urgent for the former section.But Martin came out to succeed Hays, with the bridge as his principal plank and was elected by a modest majority. He was able to win over the Quorum Court to his project and a bridgewas provided for by a annual millage tax—I it. was a one mill tax— in the due course of years paid out the bridge in full. He also appointed a bridge commission of three members composed of (as I recall them) Wm, K. Ramsey, Geo. L. Ritchie ami J. Victor Snow’. At one time, backed up by Mr. Ramsey, i went to Little Rock and persuaded Frank MeKnight, then State Senator from this district, to introduce a bill which would allow the use of this bridge af-construction, by railroads, if desired. The idea was that it would form a very desirable bonus for new lines. This need has not since arisen, howeverFinally, there became a sufficient fund on hand from the taxto start the construction. Tha contract was awarded to the Vincennes (Ind.) Bridge Co., and the work was completed andiaccepted by the commission. Unfortunately, too much trust had been given to the company’s superintendent, who was allowed to act for the commissioners,also. Mr. Itamsey trusted him implicitly and this trust was betrayed. In a very few year* one of the concrete cassion piers pave way and sharply careened over, unable to resist the strong currents of the rising waters. This weakness disclosed faultyconstruction.It so happened that a younf. civil engineer by the name of I. Albert Baum, *ho had been engaged in the construction workof the Rock Island branch from Malvern to Camden, had met and married Miss Hertha Stern, a daughter of Mose Stem of this city and was temporarily makin.r his home here. The County Judge, McCall, employed him to examine the structure and ascer-After his four year term inoffice was about to end, having%a great admiration for the initiative and persistence that enabled Judge Martin to win success in this valuable contribution to the progress of Ouachita county—and believing that every citizen wfho thus served his people to their benefit should have some permanent testimonial of his or her value, not only as a deserved tribute to such, but as an incentive to like patriotic devotion from others — before the closing meeting of the County Quorum Court, I drew up a resolution and gave it to Esquire J. W. Juniel of Bearden, one of the finest citizens of the county and long an able and influential member of that body, who with great sincerity and enthusiasm, presented them to that body, which with equal willingness, unanimously adopted it. This resolution which I presume is on the county records, stated in substance that in honor and remembrance of Judge Martin's services in connection with the bridge, it should thereafter bear the official title of the Martin Free Bridge. And thus it remains to this day. In so doing, in my opinion, we “paid an honor where honor wras due to a worthy citizen who greatly loved his town, his county, his state, and its people.There was one tragedy that is linked with this bridge history. Delay in repairs one year resulted in gaps in the flooring of its East-cnd approach, then built of lumber. This caused a team of mules to get scared and the wagon drawn by them was back** ed over that. A young woman, of fine character and good family, the daughter of Jas. W. House, a sterling farmer of the Holly Springs section, was caught in the wreckage and suffered an injury to the spine that caused permanent paralysis and later, her death. The laws gave no recourse to her family who had spent liberally and sought every relief for her. It was my belief that they deserved a just compensation from this county by whose negligence this terible accident had happened. Without the knowledge or solicitation of this family, I voluntarily presented the facts to the CountyQuorum Court and they, feeling the sympathy and the justice due them, without §. dissenting voice voted a substantial donation.I have always considered this action as one of the finest stars in the crown of this fine and generous county and of the Court that ho rightly and generously protected the fair nameof old Ouachita.And right here, let me add another deserved tribute to the membership of our Quorum Courts. I have had the privilege of attending many of the annual sessions and I wish to state that these have always been marked—when time was allowed them for that—by careful deliberation, thoughtful action and, usually fair and good decisions. I have observed too that the fev* negro justices usually intelligent men, nearly always follow the lead of the progressive members of that body. They have justified the faith that I have alwaysa proof, the cost given to age has value toand its principles are included in or embodied in the State’s initiative and referendum act. It is now the law of the land.Sometimes we build better than we know. This bridge isIt has always justified by the sendee it has the people. This auto added an inestimable the original argument that urged its building. The light annual tax that paid for the structure has long been removed. It was long ago paid for in full and the cost and burden long years ago forgotten.What It has meant for the business interests of this city, and indeed for the development of every section of this county, no one can accurately put down in fijru res. Try to get it by the reverse process: try to conceive what we would do if Wm. T. Martin—or any other man—had never brought it into actual being.And let us try this other thought: suppose the OuachitaRiver had no bridge at Camden. Would we have had a chance with the original commission that built the Calion bridge? Theywould probably have eliminated us frpm the program and favored the latter one instead. Of course, that’s all guess-work now but the chances would seem tohave brought the persimmons to the longest pole—and we certainly didn’t have as long a poio as our good neighbors had appar. ently.But we did have the bridge, and so the commission gave us great permanent approaches that places ust all of Southern Arkansas in fact, far above all possible high waters. Credit the Martin Free Bridge with that inestimable good for us.On our part, we have turned over to the State a splendid andeffective bridge that we havepaid for and that has not coat the state a cent. And for comparison, get the cost that the state has been, put to in building other bridges on the Ouachita und on other streams. Then you'll see how much our own donation was in passing over ourown bridge to the state.And that justifies us in urging that we be given an equally liberal hand in design and construction of the new approaches that must soon replace the old and “shackly structure that now endangers life and holds up traffic that now daily, hourly, passes over it in a steady, nevcv ceasing North and South precision.(The End.)tain the faults and the remedy.Baum was highly qualified fori had in the county Quorum Courtthis service. His examination was systematic and thorough. It disclosed a most fraudulent construction, hiding a most worthless material that even the lapse of only a short period had forced into the light. This scandalous situation, when brought to the attention of the Vincennes Bridge Company, bucked up by the technical showing that Baum’s engineering ability made possible brought about a promrtadjustment by that firm. Theyas the best local lawmaker.In 1911, I originated the suggestion (in an article in the Little Rock Free Press) that the legislature be forbidden the making of local legislation and that this be given to the Quorum Courts of the counties instead. Thereafter I repeatedly urged this before the Legislature. Finally, it was taken up, after due correspondencei by the StateLabor Council and similar organ* izations, including the farmer*,On your way to Chicagoto theCentury of ProgressExposition...Stop in St. LouisA modern American city... rich In historic loro... 19 milts off rlvtr front.. • sixty-five city parks... world-famous zoo...Shaw Betanlcal Gordons... art galleries. Many othar points off groat Interest. ..tho world-renowned Lindbergh trophies exhibit and Municipal Optra, worth tho visit alone.Directly on your routo to Chicago from tho South, Southwest and Southeast. »At Tho American and Amartaan Annax Hotel* you will And an air off hospitality and the utmost consideration for your comfort, meals that aro the talk off experienced travelers everywhere. Special dlat menu for those who need It (sent free on request) and prices that aro surprisingly low.Ratos fromSUMTHE AMERICA! HOTEL THE AMERICA! AHHEXMarket at Cth and 7thOn the Plata”St. Louie, Me.
Newspaper Details
Camden Times
Camden, Arkansas, US
Thu, Aug 03, 1933
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Danny B.
OH, USA 19 Jun 2023
Other Publications Near Camden, Arkansas
Camden Times
Camden News
