Bisbee daily review., 1914-02-08
Cochise County Receiving Greatest Amount of Present
 Effort; Arizona Will Be Made Much More Attractive to Traffic by Reason of ampaign Being Carried Out
 Overland and Other Tourist Traffic Much Encouraged

With 250 bills introduced fin con. gress looking to federal aid in road. building. that which was deemed visionary but two or three years ago becomes possibility that is by no means remote and approaches A prob ability. Since such federal aid will be extended to those states they are helping themselves, tbe betterment of road systems Is receiving an incen. tive that has not been before enjoyed. Tn what form a measure will pass can. not be prophesied, but there is reason to believe that the governments con. tribution will be proportionable with that of the states If such shall be the case. Arizona will not participate at once so largely as other states. since under the constitution no bond issue for road purposes is possible and the state is now spending only s5O.OO0 per year raised by direct taxation. Nest of the bills make the state the smallest unit recognized, SO that coun- ty bond issues would not bring any participation in federal fund. { is therefore more likely than ever that the initiation of a proposed constitu- tional amendment permitting state bond isisues will be pushed by its ad- vcoates and voted on at the next gen. eral election.
 The state engineer. accompanied by W. A. Crossland. chief of the govern ment's stan of read engineers, recent ly returned to Phoenix from an auto mobile trip through the south of the state which carried them over 1000 miles and during which they inspected much road work. Mir Crosslani was highly commendatory Of the work dcne and in progress and satisfied win the plans for future work. Like all enthusiasts he wants to see rapid progress and therefore is an advocate of state and county bond issues rath- CT than the slower methods of direct taxation.
 State highway building is being energetically pushed in other coun. ties of Arizona, where the appropria- tion for the year has not been ex- hausted as in Maricopa. In Cochise county, where the largest fund is available. there is naturally the most extensive work This is being dcne by, convict labor, but not un5er the honor system. The convicts are work ing under guard and when not work ing are confined in stockades.
 COchise county nighway work is be ing directed by Department Engineer Jchn Ryan and with excellent results. A 1S6-foot, three span concrete bridge has been completed over the San Pe- dro river at Fairbank and is pro- nounced one of the best in the state. In the mountains above Bisbee, be. yond the divide. there is a convict camp where 75 prisoners are Working. They have completed three miles Of mountain read of which Mr. Cross land says that he has never seen a better example Of grading or surfac- ing. It is well drained and its con- struction takes the road up out of the wash. These prisoners are now en- gagged in widening the mountain road back over the divide and to the Bis bee city line to a uniform width of sixteen feet and eliminating sharp and dangerous curves. They will be thus employed until April. when they will be taken to Yuma county for bridge construction and return to Co ohise county and resume road work in the fall. It is Engineer Cobos idea that convict lator can best be em ployed on road work and this Is the plan he Is carrying out
 Repair Werk Expensive
 Between Risbee and Donglas there