The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-08-20
Road Buying and Road building.


Persons who have talked with members
OF the special committee Of the grand jury
which has been examining the drainage
and other county work, think it is very
likely that there viii be a majority and a
minority report 1t is said the first will
show that as a general proposition the con-
dition of the drainage about the city is
lovely, but will recommend to the county
commissioners that twenty-five hands be
taken from Buckhalter swamp and put to
work on drainage nearer the city so as to
pacify kickers. This report will also sug-
gest that the county commissioners buy
the toll roads provided they can be had at
a stIl further reduced price, say 1900 for
the White Bluff road and $500 for the
Thunderbolt road. It is also said that this
report is intended to harmonic matters,
and that the suggestions contained in 1t
viii receive the favorable consideration Of
the board of county commissioners.
IL is difficult to see where the harmony
can come in Where there is a question of
right and wrong, there can be no com
promising II it is better to spend the pub
lie money seven to eight miles from the
and the work in Buckhalter should be
pushed with all energy. If it is right TO
make the people pay toll to the owners of
shell roads while the county commission
ers are quietly working out their plans for
revenge on one man, say so. If these
things are wrong say so.
The work OF misleading the public as to
he haa ter, oil
and persistently carried on. The idea seems
to be to create the impression that the
criticisms upon the county commissioners
come from those who are at fault them
selves, or have some private interest to
serve. Among the statements which have
been made on that line s one to the effect
that the commissioners previous to 1893
spent 800 900 on the Dundee canal The
fact is that $1,000 would he within the
mark. The commissioners who have since
held office possibly spent the difference
between these figures. They destroyed the
wooden bridges and put up iron ones and
wasted time and money apparently in try
ing to make the work costly. and thus be
little the work of their predecessors.
Another misleading statement is that it
viii cost only $1,000 to surface the new
| road to Thunderbolt The fact is 5000 will
be nearer the figure, and to that amount
| must be added the cost of building the
road The Morning News, from figures in
| its possession. estimates the cost of the
proposed road, if properly built at $4,000
If the committeeman are in doubt, let them
figure up the cost Of Augusta gravel, and
then get a dsinterested engineer TO furnish
an estimate for doing the work.
1t is said that when the grand jury's
committee was inspecting the section be-
tween the Dundee and Telfair swamps
with the county commissioners party it
was asserted by one of the latter that Tel
fair swamp could be drained into Dundee
The fact is that the level of Dundee
swamp is two feet higher than that of Tel
fair at their nearest contiguity, and it
would require a canal three-quarters of
mile IN length cut through a hill to con
meet them after all of which the water
would run the wrong way It is said that
this statement was made by an official
who has charge of the drainage work Is
it such Information as this that is needed
az this time? 1t is such misstatements, or
mistakes, as the foregoing that the public
is RECALLED with, and which are being fore
ed to the front to sustain the board OF
commissioners in its present position The
assiduously circulated stories of the ex-
travagances and bad work of the commits
sioners previous TO 1898, are evidently in
tended to cover the work al Buckhalter,
hut those who will give the matter their
serious attention and do some thinking for
themselves will give such stories no more
weight than they deserve.