The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-05-09
Pnying the COunty's Debts.

The veracioUs incident which is about to be set down here happened some twelve years before the out
 break of the war in the young days of l the county, in which, the thing oc-
 cured. For the plain and simple req son that the writer some day, near or remote, expects to be called back to
 that county on some sort of news paper work and 1t is possible that in such an event relations between him and some of the patriotic citizens or the county, might 10 say the least, De
 strained. the name of the county IS not used.
 The county in question might be a Southeast Alabama County or 1t might l be a South Alabama County. That | is neither here nor there. It Is suf- ] ficient to know that 1t was settled I in the early forties and. that it has , a wide expanse Of territory @ in e1is ehis
 tory it shall appear disgulsheo as | Wilkes County.
 This is to tell how the .%Tok SoOks ana and
 accounts of the county Wnlen aro n"u n". dited, passed upon and. the county given a clean sheet. It was so start | ling a method of auditing the county books that it made deep impression | on the county's history and the in cldent is repeated to the stranger as | it has been handed down from the | old to the younger geiS ration.
 In the early days the county was hopeful and persevering. Ihe pupLG
 school system of Alabama had not | been established and the people as | rule had no money to import teachers Land build up private schools, even hao | they awakened to the importance ol | education, an awakening which tooh years to come in Alabama AL any | rate there were no fine brick schoo | buildings in the county costing seVeral l thousand dollars as there are now ano no fortune was spent each year 1ol l SnPnt annually during
 great eTts v possibilities which have beer pee,
 more than realized but wnlch at ''"' | time were only of the future. 1 The sheriff of the county labored umh' m | der the misfortune of not knowing noN @ l to read or write. He had never me me. l days he was a good official in spite ol 1 this slight obstacle. 4 way was founf | to overcome the obstacle. Fortuna te, l iy for the county. the circuit c, clerF | nlishment of being able to both reac
 and write with but little difficulty; | When court came arouiu te XVbar l warrants and subpoenas were to p' | served the clerk and the sherin iouh'
 a way for serving them. ,tEeeNt uRe ewo coI OI | ored strings Say the sherin h1d U | take off and serve some half dozet | warrants and subpoenas in the loWel edge of the county. Nothing @ easier CT | A different colored string was tied or
 each paper or the knots on the strlne | were tied differently. The clerk Wouit | explain that the red string sig ghllle. L.l | that the paper around which IL Was | tied was a warrant for Jim Jones. teL l miles from town, while the greer l string was a sign that the paper DeioMN l it was a subpoena for John oIn'tn VI 1 twelve miles from the court house, H tt l this way the circuit judge when ne 1 rode horseback into the county WI; able to transact the business Of th' | court. ,,.,,o, +b.
 But the main trouble came when tht l county commissioners tried to do puSl | ness. Perhaps ether officials or tn' | county suffered from the sherll IllS l fortune and found a pen or pencl | an unwieldy tool and print or wrltlne
 a series of puzzling lines whlch meam .,.,as nothing but headaches ana "oIrles ss | Certain it is one or more than one 1 | the commissioner labored under th'' | disadvantage. .,,. oo,r | house had just been moved from us ~ ot'
 watery site on the banks or ,a sIna ! | river and set upon a high hiiI aroTi' Th | which a $mall town was building. ,n, U. l new couft house was log structuI' | set in d pine grove that was slowl,, 1 giving |ay at the growth and approaeeII 1 of the flown. During WlnteI unol' oI 1 the caqBty commissioners met to see
 somesSs&& could not be done Wltn th sh lnvAtYeG GSoka and accounts or th