The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1893-01-12
The Lesson of the Cumberland Fire,

The Lesson of the Cumberland Fire.
The burning of the Cumberland
court house, will, for time at least,
be attended with more or less in
convenience to the people of Allie
gany county. Nevertheless, all
good citizens should be, and doubt
less are, thankful that the actual
loss is no greater. The money
which will come to the county trea-
sury from the insurance companies
will go II long way towards reStor-
ing the burned building. The pub
lie records, which are of priceless
value, could not have been restored
nor replaced if they had been
burned. The loss which the peo-
pie would have sustained if these
had been destroyed can not be COM
ppted,A. AZ this time, therefore, the
1 atteu tiofS OF the people Is turned 10
\ Che great oil lliS4 ~ ID iall Afllngl hasvn
escaped. rafher than 70 tKe sifgiit
pecuniary loss which they have sus-
tanned. Whilst the destruction Of
the court house of our mother
county entails no pecuniary loss up
on Garrett county, yet there is u
lesson in the circumstance which
our people ought to consider, and
which, in fact, it will be almost
criminal to neglect. Our records
are by no means safe. The grand
inquest has repe tcdly called atten-
/ ton to the fact. At the last Jury
/ term Of our court, the Chief JUS
ticc in charging the grand jury,
called the attention OF that body to
| the fact that there is not sufficient
room for our records and to the fur
ther fact that they are insecure.
The Chief Judge did this in the
/ discharge of an official duty i'm
posed upon the court by the consti-
! tuition of the State. None of these
warnings, so far as can be seen, have
aroused our Officials to Il sense of
the danger which threatens the
public. These timely and wise
suggestions, so far as appearances
indicate at least, have borne no
fruit.
Should our court house burn,
which may happen at any time, our
records would undoubtedly be de-
stroyed, as they have no protection
from fire. Our people do not seem
to realize what such a loss to them
would mean. If they did, certainly
something would be done by them
to protect their own interests.
1t has been said whether true
or not. do not know that the
County Commissioners propose to
cut door between the clerk 5
office and the room occupied by
them, and put some shelves in that
room for records and court papers.
This of course would furnish more
room, but it would be nearly equi-
valent to placing the records out of
doors, so far as safety is concerned.
Stupidity and prejudice never be.
fore equaled even in this section
combined to select the site and
erect the present court house. II
never was suited to the needs OF
the county. And even if it did
after fashion accommodate the
necessities of the young county at
the time it was built, the county
has long since out-grown it.
The present building has grown
old, and every year a considerable
sum of money is expended upon il
in repairs. This sum would more
than pay the interest on bonds to
build new court house. 1t must
be apparent to any body that all
the money expended in repairs to
the old building is wasted. Not
only this, but our records are in
danger of utter destruction all the
time. 1t is a well known fact that
some of our leading citizens and
largest tax payers petitioned the
Legislature last January to pass a
bill providing for the issuing OF
bonds to build new court house,
but our representatives in that body
gave the matter no attention. The
suggestions of grand juries, the in
structions and charges of the Court,
and the demand of tax payers have
all gone for naught thus far. 1t is
to be hoped that the lesson fur
nished by the Cumberland fire will
arouse our people to a sense Of the
great danger which threatens then
interests, and that some steps may
be taken for the protection Of tho
county records. T. Jay in Cumb,
News.
To the Public.
Having bought the store lately
owned by W. S. Dunlap, on Rail
road street. | ask the general uub-