The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-11-04

in fire proof room with steel cases and desks and the office is modern and a credit to the county.
 The county jail is unsanitary. unsafe and totally inadequate for the neces- sities of the county. It is in such bad condition that 1t could not be economically repaired and the Board determined to construct practically a new, commodious, modern and thor oughly sanitary building at cost with heating and ventilating appar atus of about $70,000. The work is under contract to be completed by De- cember l, and so prudently have the finances of the county been managed that both the court house and jail will be paid for without recourse to issu ance of bonds.
 In January last the Board succeeded in collecting its claim for the balance of the money for which the road and ceeds of which had been lost by the treasurer in a bank failure. With this fund and the proceeds of the half mill tax for roads and bridges, the work of extending, repairing and building new gravel and graded roads and bridges is being rapidly prosecuted. considering the unfavorable seasons. dearth of effective labor and difficulty of securing transportation of material. The fund available for roads and bridges on the first of April, 1906 was $110,9I2 56.
 Unless further unforeseen difficulties prevent, about twenty miles of gray eled road will be constructed the pres ent year. as much more graded. bridged and drained and all the pres- ent roads and bridges repaired where needed.
 The county now has 153 miles of hard roads and ro section of the county is many miles from either a good road or railroad except the southeastern.
 It requires about HOO cubic yards of gravel to properly surface a twen- ty foot graded road ten feet wide in the centre and eight inches deep slop- ing to seven inches on the edges and about 2O00 yards for a road graded thirty feet and graveled fourteen feet. Gravel containing at least eighty per cent of rock and twenty per cent of clay is found to be the most suitable for road construction and it weighs about 5000 pounds to the cubic yard.
 The cost of road building greatly increases in proportion to the distance the gravel has to be hauled, a cubic yard making a very heavy load for a good team. Suitable material for road building is only found in the northern shed of the Alabama river.
 Gravel now costs the county fifty cents per cubic yard delivered in the city The freight per car load on gravel to different stations in the county to which it is shipped from the city Is over the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad stations five to twenty five miles a flat rate of $20 per car load.
 central of Georgia, $S Car for eight miles; sl0 for twelve miles, and $l5 per car for sixteen miles.
 Louisville and N Nashville. $5 per car for six miles and $G per car for nine miles.
 The gravel supply being convenient to roads in other see ions, the rate is not gwen. as it is hauled by teams. Tre cost of bridSc building and ro- pairing has greatly increased within the last two years and good lumber for bridges is difficult to obta'n The County is using some wood prescrYa- tive paints and sta,ns on lumber for bridges and erecting concrete piers as the wooden ones decay and have to be replaced where practical.
 There were so many complaints as to the defective working of the public roads under the special and general