I am, herewith, filing with your committee correspondence relative thereto which I have received and which is evidence of good faith on the part of my constituents. Thanking you for the courtesies extended to me in this matter, I am, Yours very truly, Hon. JOHN M. NELSON, JOHN M. Nelson. CHANDLER, SHEPHERD & OWEN, Member of Congress, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR SIR: After beginning the preparation of a statement relating to the financial arrangements which had been made to insure the immediate construction of the toll bridge across the Mississippi River from Prairie du Chien, Wis., to Marquette, Iowa, I found that I would need certain records which I did not have in Washington, and I have waited until my return to Memphis to furnish you the information which you desired for use when the matter of H. R. No. 14446 came before the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce for action. The original bill which you introduced in the House (H. R. 5818) was enacted into law on March 7, 1928, and the committee of citizens of Prairie du Chien and Marquette, interested Harry E. Bovay of Memphis, who has built a number of toll bridges, in the project, with the understanding that Mr. Bovay was to finance the cost of the bridge, undertake and supervise its construction, and operate the bridge thereafter. Mr. Bovay undertook the matter, and within one year from the passage of the bill he had the Austin Bridge Co. of Dallas, Tex., begin work upon the proposed bridge, he then having made arrangements with Messrs. Byllesby & Co., of Chicago, to finance the project. However, the parties who had contracted with Mr. Bovay for the financing of the project failed to live up to their contract, their excuse being, as we are informed, that business conditions did not warrant their going through with it. As a result of this first attempted financing, a certain amount of work was done on the proposed bridge by Austin Bridge Co., the extent of which will appear hereafter. Thereafter, Mr. Bovay made numerous attempts to finance the bridge, but owing to conditions in the bond market, he was unable to do so. Eventually, Mr. Bovay found it necessary to retire from the project, and he interested the firm of Florida Bros. & Co. of Osecola, Ark., a concern engaged principally in the mortgage-loan business, in working out the problem in cooperation with the citizens of Prairie du Chien and Marquette to whom Congress had given the right to build the bridge. Florida Bros. & Co. entered into the matter in the spring of 1930, and have been very active ever since. The result has been to perfect an arrangement whereby the bridge will be built by the Austin Bridge Co., the contracting firm which drew the plans originally, and the financing will be carried through by Messrs. Florida Bros. & Co. and Bartlett & Gordon (Inc.), of Chicago. The details of the financing are as follows: The citizens committee, whose interest is to secure the building of the bridge, arranged with Messrs. Florida Bros. & Co. that a corporation be formed to build and operate the bridge. That corporation is known as Prairie du Chien Bridge Co., and was incorporated under the laws of Delaware on May 10, 1930, with an authorized capital stock of 32,000 shares of class A common stock, and 32,000 shares of class B common stock. After extended negotiations in a very difficult bond market, Prairie du Chien Bridge Co. has now entered into two separate contracts for the sale of bonds in the aggregate amount of $800,000, which sum will prove sufficient to construct the bridge proper and defray all necessary expense for real estate, rights of way, and other proper expenses. Prairie du Chien Bridge Co. has contracted to issue and sell to Bartlett & Gordon (Inc.), of Chicago, an issue of $350,000 of first-mortgage 62 per cent bonds, payable 10 years after date; and it has contracted to issue and sell to Florida Bros. & Co. an issue of debenture 7 per cent bonds in the sum of $450,000 which bonds are payable 15 years after date. The Prairie du Chien Bridge Co. also has made a contract with Austin Bridge Co. for the construction of the bridge, and that company is at work now with headquarters at Prairie du Chien, but it will be necessary for Congress to exend the time for the completion of the bridge because the present act expires on March 7, 1931, and it will not be possible to complete the bridge within that time. Furthermore, by agreement with Bartlett & Gordon (Inc.), the proceeds of the first-mortgage bonds can not be used until the extension is granted. Therefore it is exceedingly important that the bill granting the extension be passed through Congress at the earliest possible moment in order that these funds may be available when required and the force of men now at work be kept employed and augmented when these funds are available. When I was in Washington it was suggested by you that I obtain a report as to the status of the work to date, and I thereupon telegraphed J. Max Yingling, engineer in charge for Austin Bridge Co., and received the inclosed telegram from him. Further work has been done since the date of the telegram, December 4, 1930, but this telegram itself shows that material progress has been made and that the bridge actually is well under way. I have asked Mr. Yingling to write the Chief of Engineers as to the progress of the work, and to try to have the district engineer at St. Paul, Minn., to go to the work and make an inspection and report to the proper authority in order that, if the House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee desires, full information can be obtained from the War Department. I should add that the revised plans for the bridge were approved by the Chief of Engineers on March 2, 1929. I exhibited to you in Washington the following original documents: 1. Approval of location and plans of bridge. (6371J. H. Peacock, et al., Mississippi River). 2. Certificate of incorporation of Prairie du Chien Bridge Co. 3. Assignment of franchise by J. H. Peacock, et al., to Prairie du Chien Bridge Co., dated May 15, 1930. 4. Contract between Prairie du Chien Bridge Co. and Bartlett & Gordon (Inc.), Chicago, Ill., dated November 25, 1930, for purchase of $350,000 first-mortgage bonds; also disbursement agreement between the aforenamed parties covering proceeds of this bond issue. 5. Contract between Prairie du Chien Bridge Co. and Florida Bros. & Co. for the purchase of $450,000 debenture bonds. 6. Construction contract with Austin Bridge Co., dated November 20, 1930, for the building of the bridge. 7. Letter from Austin Bridge Co. and sureties to citizens' committee dated November 22, 1930, guaranteeing construction of the bridge. The officers of the Prairie du Chien Bridge Co. are F. K. Ketler of Chicago, Ill. (bridge builder), president; Thomas B. Florida, Osceola, Ark., and James W. Wrape, Memphis, Tenn., vice presidents; I. E. Lindquist (of States Contracting Co.), Chicago, Ill., secretary and treasurer. All of these gentlemen are reliable and responsible. As the present plans to complete the bridge are in every way bona fide, and as business conditions are such that financing another and different bridge at this time would be almost impossible and would involve even longer delays than have occurred, my clients and the citizens of Prairie du Chien and Marquette feel that Congress should grant the extension requested and make possible the immediate employment of a considerable number of men and the completion without interruption of a project that was conceived first by those who now are vitally concerned in its completion. The bridge will be built if Congress grants the extension, the people of the State of Wisconsin and Iowa will be the beneficiaries of a public improvement and a real need, and I believe sincerely that the best interests of everyone will be served by the passage of the bill introduced by you. If further information is desired from me, please do not hesitate to indicate it. Respectfully yours, WALTER CHANDLER, WALTER CHandler. PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, WIS., December 4, 1930. House Office Building, Washington, D. C.: Your wire the following work has been completed on the bridge between Marquette, Iowa, and Prairie du Chien, Wis. One concrete abutment and one concrete pier on Iowa side complete in place. Excavation for concrete anchor, Iowa side, complete and preparations being made now to pour concrete in same. Excavation on anchor, Wisconsin side, started and work in progress now. Two hundred-foot right of way across island cleared ready for drag line. We now have 27 men working with work under progress both sides of river and on island. Large number of additional men to be added as rapidly as work can be laid out. BRIDGE ACROSS THE ST. LAWRENCE RIVER NEAR ALEXANDRIA BAY, N. Y. DECEMBER 20, 1930.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed Mr. PARKER, from the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 14452] The Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 14452) to extend the times for commencing and completing the construction of a bridge across the St. Lawrence River near Alexandria Bay, N. Y., having considered and amended the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it pass. Amend the bill as follows: Line 4, after the word "of" strike out the word "the" and insert the word "a" in lieu thereof. Line 7, after the word "by" strike out the word "virture" and insert the word "virtue" in lieu thereof. Line 10, after the word "and" strike out the word "three" and insert the word "four" in lieu thereof. The bill has the approval of the War Department, as will appear by the letter attached. WAR DEPARTMENT, December 12, 1930. Respectfully returned to the chairman Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, House of Representatives. So far as the interests committed to this department are concerned, I know of no objection to the favorable consideration of the accompanying bill (H. R. 14452, 71st Cong., 3d sess.) to extend the times for commencing and completing the construction of a bridge across the St. Lawrence River near Alexandria Bay, N. Y., if amended as indicated in red thereon. F. TRUBEE DAVISON, |