The daily sentinel., 1909-02-08
CONVICTS
ON ROADS

|
| ber of Commerce has under consider
alton the making of efforts to secure
convicts to work on the public roads
of this county. the following from
| yesterdays Denver Republican will
be of keen local interest. Accom-
| panying the article were series of
| fine Photographic views of the work
being done on the state highways.
| The article follows:
Progress made on the state road
being built south of Trinidad by
convicts from the state penitentiary
has proved most satisfactory to those
in charge of the work They state
that it has shown several things real
ly worth while. Capt Cleghorn,
nephew of the warden of the peni-
| tentiary, is in charge of the con-
vict camp. and expresses his surprise
| at the order maintained with the
| slightest effort, at the cheerfulness
shown by the men, at the pride in the
work and at the progress made Sec
| retary Collett of the State Prison as
sociation has had numerous occa-
sions to visit the camp, and has been
impressed by the cheerfulness of the
men and the way in which they
work
II have been asked. said Mr.. Col
lett, in speaking of his observations
at the camp, .how many convfcts il
takes to make one full man in pro-
portion to the work done. Let me
say that have never seen a man
working for days pay do more in
day on the average than these men
are doing on that road 1t is cheer
fully done. and so honestly that one
would think the men were working
for themselves rather than for the
state. 1t is noticeable, too. that they
take pride in their work When a
visitor is shown around he is expect
ed to praise what he sees, and If he
doesn't he is asked whether it is not
as well done as any road work any
where. AS matter of fact it is. and
the men know it. They like to hear
praises of the grade, the amount of
progress made in day and of the
result
A curious fact. that has been men
toned before. is that but one guard
is kept on duty at any time of the
day or night. Two men are with the
workers during the day. ostensibly
as guards. but they are really super
ihtendents of construction One
guard is kept about the camp at
night and his duties are more to see
that no stranger or alien finds his
way in than to keep those in from
getting out. This night guard is a
me termer at the penitentiary The
only escapes that are now attempted
come when prisoners fear they are to
be returned to the penitentiary They
delight in their work. Officers of the
prison association say. too, that men
placed on the road work do better
When they are paroled and given a
chance to work for themselves
Though this may be due partially to
the fact that only special men are
paced on the roads. lut not wholly
The officers say that il fits the con-
victs for taking their places as steady
and Industrious citizens they ac-
quire habits of labor that make them
valuable men for doing good work.
they have been drilled. mostly by
their own minds. to take a pride in
what they are doing, which is one of
the best things workman can have.
The building of the piece of road
from Starkville, south of Trinidad. to
the state boundary separating Colo
rado from New Mexico was taken up
by the state. and that road is a part
of highway cutting the state from
north to south Just east of the Rocky
mountain chain. The sixteenth gen
eral assembly appropriated 10000
TOR the work. Seven thousand OF this
went at once into the necessary ma
chinery and making camp for the
men, so that when a party of CON
victs had been sent to Starkville to
begin work but SO 900 of the sum re-
manned for the actual work of con-
structlon In few months all this
mad been expended. seeming to
threaten that the work would have
to be abandoned until another Iegis-
lature could make another appropri-
alton TO carry il on.
Al this 1uncture the business men
OF Trinidad stepped into the preach.
committee was sent to Denver to
ascertain If there was not some way
OF pledging the credit of the state to
see that the work was kept moving.
AFTER consultation with number of
state officers and others Interested in
the work. the committee returned
TO It's home, and soon thereafter the
business men of that city advanced
money to prevent stopping of con
struction. Somewhere between s3,5OO
ana $1,000 has been advanced to the
road building fund by business men
OF Trinidad With the aid of this
money the road is now in good condi-
tloh Tor eighteen miles south of
Starkville and within two miles of
the New Mexico line. Most of the
road has been cut through foothills
OF cedar and pinon. these two trees
growing only in rough country. The
surveys have kept the road about
twenty TO twenty-five feet above the
creek beds. so that high waters will
never wash it out. The bed is from
sixteen to twenty-four feet wide for
Twelve miles and twelve feet wide
the other four This last part is in
the hish country near the New Mex
leo line. where more rocky work is
found. Some box culverts of cement
nave been built where needed. but
the general lot of cnlverts hnrn baa,,