The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-02-28
WOULD TAKE STEPS ID PROTECT LANDS "Squatters' Are Giving Super intendent Hill Trouble EARLY ACTION NECESSARY Great Interest Has Been Aroused In the Plans to Have Better Schools
 In the Rural Dis
 tricts.
EARLY ACTION NECESSARY

Montgomery, February 27.-(Special.)-- State Superintendent of Education 1. w. Hill has received notice lately of instances where men have "squatted" on state in. demnity lands with the hope of thereby acquiring shadow of title in order to make fight for ownership on the plea of adverse possession in 1908. A lawyer has written MT. Hill that he knows of cases of the kind and seeks to have tn 2 state employ him to conduct the legal proceedings. It is well known that sever- al other parts of the domain are similarly affected and will need attention.
 Already the state has lost thousands of acres of fine lands in this way. So far they have been sixteenth section grants. but after 1908 the same danger will apply to the indemnity properties granted in lieu of valueless sixteenth sec tons. The state not having any one wh7 can go on these lands and look after the invaders they have been occupied for years and now the supposed owners con- tend that they have a right to stay. The only way to outwit them Is for the legis- Iature to pass a law preventing adverse DOSStSStOu liO ldAAiihS o6iihSt SNoh1 lands. which 1t is hoped will be done at the next session.
 Better Superintendency.
 Superintendent Hill believes that the only way to have proper care of the prop erty of the state is to make it the duty Of the county superintendents to look af- ter it. He would have the funds of the ,f.~e. intendent can afford to give enough of his time to the affairs of the office as to keep track of all the school valuables, be they lands, houses or other holdings. There are in some counties more money than is earned by the superintendents, They do not give their time 10 the service and simply in many cases stay in tAeir office and draw the 1 per cent that Is com ing to them.
 It is now the practice in many states to have the county superintendents put or salaries in the order of the work to be done In Louisiana, for instance. the compensation is from $6OO to $500. Many counties in Alabama could well afford to pay good man $50 a month to look after the schools and in many of them good men can be secured for this price. If they could be so compensated they would save every year to the schools far moro than they would cost.
 Better Buildings.
 There has grown up new interest in school house building in the rural dis tricts and it will soon be that many of them have modern structures for the edu- cation of the children. A handsome house after plans furnished by the state de- partment-they are free-has just been finished in District No. 36, St. Clair coun- ty, called the Moody school. A picture of it has been sent to the office of Superin- tendent Hill and 1t makes a fine showing, B. F. Hammond is the principal and Miss Bessie Moore. assistant. The picture shows 100 children in the yard of the building which has just been finished and occupied
 The offer made by MT. Hill some days ago to give to one school in each county S10O towards new building provided the trustees would build after plans furnished by the state and deed the property to the county has met with several responses and he has almost given away the 5000 so generously provided by the Peabody board for such cause as the superintend- ent should see fit. It has done much, too, to develop the spirit of better houses and