The record-union., 1896-08-05

There, however, the earth was exca-
waited to a depth of five or six inches,
where sub-soil Of hardpan was found,
which for foundation purposes was
fully equal to concrete.
I'm Santa Barbara, however, I found
| the ocean boulevard paved with as
phalt which is laid directly on the
beach sand. It has SO far stood two
years wear satisfactorily. There Is
no reason why the uses Of this mate
! rial, under these conditions, should not
be extended to certain classes of rural
highways in localities where asphaltum
and like materials can be secured.
II find great difficulty in unearthing
the expenditures on the county roads.
The system Of keeping books now
practiced in the Auditors offices
throughout the State. in SO far as it
pertains to road matters, is radically
| wrong. In practically every Audi
tors office that I have visited l am told
L can give you expenditures made
during my term Of office, but my pre-
| decessor's records are In such shape
that it is absolutely impossible to as
certain anything from them This I
generally find only too true, and yet
the same thing will be said by the sue
cessors Of the present incumbents. No
uniformity is observed in keeping these
accounts, which aggregate thousands
of dollars in each county, and the sys-
tem-f I may call it such-is as widely
different in each county as one can we'll
ina gine.
After investigation in this set Of
offices of the various counties I have
visited, much Of which has consisted
in the unearthing of old memoranda,
receipts, etc., stored in out-of-the-way
pigeon holes, I have been able to Sc
cure considerable data relative to coun-
ty expenditures for road purposes.
have generally been assisted in this
labor by the Auditors, who, with but
few exceptions, have been courteous
and willing in their assistance.
I'm Stanislaus County, however,
found the books In better shape. This
Is largely owing to the painstaking
work Of the present Deputy Auditor,
Mr.. Sorensen, who has been connected
with the office in various capacities for
number of years.
THE law provides that certain road
records shall also be kept by the County
Clerks. These records L find to be in
the same general condition as are the
records in the Auditors office. Excep
tions to this general rule are the Clerks
offices Of San Luis Obispo and Santa
Barbara counties.
THE records in the Surveyors offices
are, If anything, in worse shape than
are the records Of any other office. In
one instance the Surveyor of an inn
portant county candidly confessed that
there We're no records in his office, and
that he had not been called upon to
make survey or report on road dur
ing his incumbency, although there
were many cases wherein the law clear
ly defines that he shall make certain
surveys and reports.
Most of the Supervisors I found will
ing and ready to assist the Bureau with
suggestions and earnest work. Unfor-
tunately, there are exceptions to this
rule. One particular instance that now
think of is a Supervisor who refused
to attend the last State Supervisors
Convention on the ground that. 1t would
degenerate into q good roads talk and
couldn't learn nothing from them fell
lows And yet he had the very poorest
roads that I travelled over during my
trip south.
'I have been laying particular stress
on ascertaining what materials are
available for road building purposes in
each county which I visit. and without
exception I have found superior ma
terial in every county SO far visited, and
in some material in the greatest abund-
ance and readily accessible.
'I can't say that the trip has been al
together a holiday. On number Of oc-
casions 1 have been compelled to roll
up in my horse blankets and sleep on
the soft side Of a board. The weather
has been warm and the roads dry and
dusty"