El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-08-22
A County and City Need.

Much has been said lately concerning
employment of county prisoners who
won t pay their fines, but lie in Jail and
have the county credit them for every
day of the first ten days at the rate of
one dollar per day and three dollars
per day for the remaining time which
they have to serve. Many of these
prisoners are we'll able to pay their
fines, it is said, but won't do it simply
because they can get fed every day, a
good bed to sleep on and in this way
pay up their fines.
A leading citizen was asked what
he thought QUE ht to be done with such
think it is shame that we have to
pay out money at a high rate for
street labor when We can hire these
county convicts to work our streets
for us and we can get them cheap.
Say, where the city at present Is giving
q dollar or dollar and q quarter for
Mexican labor per day, why not make
arrangements with the county commits
siopers to hire county prisoners at fifty
cents and then we would be doing two
good things at one time-we would re-
duce the amount which the county has
to pay out for the board OF these worth
less fellows, and at the same time could
have good streets which at present are
very near q disgrace to the cOmmupi-
ty. These main streets could nearly
all be graded inside of q years time if
we only use the men instead of letting
them lie there in Jail and have a good
time amongst themselves, being credit
ed with a dollar every day on the
am in favor of working them.''
Another Ell Paso street merchant
said: Back in Ohio where I came
from the county had what they called
rock pile and as soon as man was
thrown in Jail for a small fine he was
sent every day to this rock pile, and
introduced to a fifteen pound sledge:
there he had to exercise his muscle I'M
til his fine was worked out 1t was
good thing, too, for the whole coun-
~ had goodroadsin consequence. They
we're nearly Gil macadamized, by this
fine broken stone being placed.on them
with other dirt, and the roads we're
all as nice and even as could be, and
nearly all of it was done by the county
convicts. Here they don't think of
making any of them work, except once
in q great while. Sometimes the city,
like last winter puts the vags' to work
Oh the street, still that was only to
clean up and not anything else. Even
that was good, for we got lots of free
labor out of these trsmps. and am n
iaSoT vi SettluR all OUT Oh luem we
can"
A bicycle fiend who lis quite we'll
known about town came up in time to
hear the words ''good roads," so he at
once became interested and when the
speaker was through he began to talk
on the matter. He said: Il tell YOU |
wish that l could only get the mayor
OF this town on bicycle and ride him
over the streets SO that he could see
how bad the streets really are and
then maybe we could have them raised
in some places and graded SO that we
wouldn't have any holes full of water
standing all along in them, as we do
now. [ see in the last few DAYS that
the street and grade committee of tb e
city is trying to fix this matter
by filling these holes with
gravel. Well, that does not help
the holes where the stuff is dumped.
but it only serves to make holes some
where else near the same spot and
until the streets are raised in the CEN
ter, where that mulecar track runs.
the streets will never be free from the
pools OF water. The streets In III Paso
look nice on account of the trees which
are planted on the sidewlks, and could
be made so much better if they were
only graded and fixed up. But the
matter is let to rock along, and nothing
is done, when if the city would only
see it, it is good streets which catch
the eye of an investor quicker than
else