Arizona weekly citizen., 1882-03-05
THE NEW COURT HOUSE.
The Rapid March Of Improvements s-The New Court House What it Costs and How Con- structed- An Imposing Edifcs

can people. whose ideas, broad practical
 and expansive, born of and conforming
 to the infinity of their surroundings,
 which progressive and panoramic like
 ever unfolds itself before them as on-
 ward they have hastened to cultivate, to
 besutify and populate the! great West.
 The heraldIc prospector whose hardi-
 hood, indomitable courage and tireless
 perseverance are not oyermatched in tine
 annals of man, urged on and buoyed by
 hope, they neither shrink nor falter save
 at the feet of decrepitude and age, or
 sink from thirst, famine, or the wild and
 willy savage which as sentinel grim and
 gaunt, sood watch on hill, chasm and
 plain and bore them company; but what
 man dare do they dare, as Jason like
 they sought the Golden Fleece and rough
 hewed the way fro civilization's march
 in life. The plains and steeps of Ari-
 zona, long wrapped in the solitude of
 ages, slumber no more, but wakeful, re- pays the miner as he delves for gold,
 the herdsman as he tends his fiOcks and | herds, and the busbandman as he tills
 the soil, in plentitude. The busy hum of
 life Is heard and millions may thrive
 where erst one man had starved and died. In one decade, the changes wrought
 are manifold and Tucson though ancient
 and honorable was cobwebbed with the
 inactivity of its precariOus existence,
 from the earth, but the slender thread
 was not destined to be sundered nor its
 vitality to cease, but to grow and be re- ! newed to gather strength, to cast off the
 hoar of age. renew youth and with
 its distan. sister cities contest for the emoluments of commerce, and of trade.
 The incoming of the prospector was the forerunner of its future, which now full of fair promise girds on the armor of security, of wealth, of modern innova- ton and convenience. The town has four churches with possible fifth; they are large, well built and of imposing ap- pearance, belonging to the Roman Cath olic, Presbyterian, Methodist and Bap- tist denominations. The Episcopalians contemplate the erection of another, making the fifth named. Five schools, three of which are under the patronage of the Catholic Church, including the Convent school for girls, which has an average attendance of two hundred an- nually, and two parochial schools for boys, in care of the fathers. The great public school under the charge of Pro lessor Hall, teacher of knowledge and much experience, and the kindergarten under the direction of Miss Morehouse, where the little ones, with their bright eyes and faltering tongues are taught life's rudiments. There are two banks, Pima County Bank, and that of Stafford, Hudson & Co, upon whom or through either money can be paid or exchange drawn the world over. Of mercantile houses there Is no end and some of which for their size, cost, appearance and quan- titles otgoods handled have no superiors if equals on the whole Pacific coast.
 A telephone company for the trans mission of local messages and the Vest ern Union Photographic Company for com munication with the outside world, send their enquiring arms in every direction, and form a wire network overhead so numerous are their lines, and although but one railroad, the Southern Pacific, is yet in operation, the requirements of ,he country demand more and they will, within another year, be under construc- ton. as the preliminary surveys have been made and some of the companies but wait the coming Spring when work will be actually begun. The roads in contemplation are the Tucson and Gulf Railroad, which will pass through the Meyers district and by the famous Gum sight mine, connecting Tucson and the Gulf by way of Point Lobos aud the dis trict named; the Tucson and Calabasas road winch will run almost directly south ard connect with the Atchison and Topeka at the latter place; the Tue son and Arizona Narrow Guage road which, leaving Tucson, will connect with the Northern Pacific by way of the cop per mines of the Santa Catarinas, the coal beds of the San Carlos and the agri- cultural district of the Gila. In a few days the gas works, built at an expense of sl20,O00, will be completed, to be fol- lowed within the next three months with l water works equally extensive, and the | city will receive its full supply of both. The Masonic hall now being built, said ! to be the finest this side of San Francis co, is almost completed and will be ded- | icated with much ceremony on or about | the twentieth of the present month, and | lastly but not least comes the new court house, a view of which heads the present | article. and although but in the process of erection. will by terms of contract, soon be completed and ready for occu- pancy. Fronting as it does on Penuing- ton street, it will stand in the center of an almost perfect square, being bounded by Court street on the west, Ott street on the north, Church street on the east and Pennington street, as named, on the south The building is of modern de- sign and so arranged as to best meet the of the county, the conven- fence of the officers administering it's af- fairs and to come within. in the cost of the amount set aside tO be used for that purpose. Bonds to the amount of s75.000 were issued by the county for the purchase of the ground, putting up and furnishing the building But as the bonds sold at premium, it added an additional sl 300 to the amount already given. The Board of Supervls- ors at that time were Messrs- W. c. Da- wis. B. Nj. Jacobs and Michael Pagan. They met, and after mature deliberation decided that the interests of the people could best be served by ad- vertising for competitive plans and premium of $500 for the &C., cepted plan. San Francisco, Oakland and Tucson entered the list and sent in