The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-03-26
NEEOO Of WORKERS
ON ROADS IN WAKE
General Road Supervisor
Wigs Points Out That
Present Force Can't Build
Roads

considerable agitation recently about
road conditions in Wake county, and
iL. view of the meeting of the Good
Roads Association at the courthouse
today, / Will appreciate It very uch
if YOU VIII permit me, through the
columns of our ape to submit 10
the people the following facts ABOUT
the roads in Wake county:
j. Wake is a large county, contain
ing over seven undred square miles,
and has, approximately. twenty-five
hundred miles Of road-abOut TOO
miles designated as "highWayS' and
about 1850 miles Of township or
''croSs" roads. The highways are
the principal roads leading out from
Raleigh to the lines Of the counties
adjoining Wake, and under the pres
ent road law are worked by the con-
Wet camps. Most of them are ordl-
nary dirt or gravel roads. Near
Raleigh they were built with trap or
"nigger-head' rock and in some
places with crushed stone, but no
binder was used and they are now
full Of holes.
2. The county convict force has
averaged q total of about sixty hands
throughout the past year. 1t is com
posed Of those convicts sentenced
from magistrates courts, the police
court and those sentenced from the
bcbbtI - ,ouIl 1Ot III ( Ills. "A
majority Of them come from Raleigh
and arc usually weak, ~diSsipated and
diseased, so that we have to praC-
tically rebuild them before they are
worth anything to US as hands. The
strong, anle-bodied men, especially
negroes. can usually find some man
who will pay their fines n costs and
take them IN the farm to work. The
two terms of Criminal Court which
have the heaviest docket are in the
Iai and winter, n these send us con-
Nicls at the very time when they are
of h least use. The March term
sends us very few men that are worth
anything, as ~able-bcdied men on
VIcted at that term can usually find
some ma who will pay them out in
order to get their labor on the farm,
as stated above.
). liz the eastern and northwestern
sections of the county the lumber
business has been very large for the
past few years. and the constant
streams OF heavy log and lumber
wagons oEer the roads in these sec
tons have cut them up dreadfuIly,
50 That the work necessary to keep
them pas5able has doubled and
trebled.
4. The traffic TO Raleigh has in
creased wonderfully and has SO cut
up the highways near the city as to
make patchwork absolutely necessary
III order TO keep the roads ~passable.
.. with all these conditions press
ing is. we q to take two of our
ca'ros last summer and put them to
work widening and cutting out the
lire OF tn Central Highway. and one
o. these camps has been on this
highway ever since. | refer to Camp
NO. !. which has cut out and gravel
ed a beautiful stretch of road thirty
feet wide from M%orrisvil!e to the
Durham county line.
.. In addition to tryino to keep ur
II 500 miles of highway in thu
county, this convict force of sixty has
TO Keen up the bridges in Wake Coun-
~. but in cuiyerte. boxes. concret.
pipes, etc. and has to open M the
new highways that are granted by tn,
Board Of Commissioners The bridgs
item alone is sufficient to keep tn,
camps employed. Within the past siy
months timber and paint neccSsar,
Tor repairs To bridges has amounted
TO almost $4,000.
= nuer n present road law tn
people will not work on rte roads
Gaming that they cannot be con
peiieu 70 work roads and pay take
100. ana since | have been SUPERVISE
l nave not had any free labor on tn
highways.
Inc ~foreeoing facts, it seems TO me
iedd 10 the following conclusions.
Win COO miles Of highways to kee
IN reDalr, and only sixty convicts +
do the work, it is very easy To caIo,
late that each convict would have +
cover more than ten miles a wear 6
the entire force would have to ayara O
more than two miles per day in O,
der to get over the highways once
year. Provided. also. that there we,
no bridges to build. no cuiyerts to D,
in, no rainy days and nothing to il
terfere with their work. To cover II
highways within 4 year. ever patch
work, is impossible. of course. b,
1eVe that 1t Will take at least tN
years 70 patcn tn I'm up. and by Il
end of the second year the section {
which we began work would be sore
in need Of patching again, SO you S,
we are firmly dashed to a treadmili
patching, with no prospect Of buildi,
permanent roads unless we take tin