The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1915-04-06
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cessful escape Communities no longer fear to
have our convict camps established near them.
We have made manhood as well money by this
healthy, hearty outdoor labor We have built the
prisoners up both physically and morally. Men
discharged from our road camps do not have the
prison pallor, the physical weakness and the
hesitating hangdog appearance of the typical dis
charged convict. They are bronzed, sturdy, heal
thy efficient laborers and are In demand as such.
About 20 per cent of those we have sent out upon
the completion of their sentence have made good.
The other 20 per cent have mostly found their way
back into prison elsewhere.
In his last biennial report Warden lyman had
the following to say with reference to the inan-
cial side of convict road building:
Our largest item OF labor performed by the
convicts was, Of course, the road work. The prs-
oners have been employed In the construction OF
roads in Mesa, Fremont Larimer. Weld. Boulder,
Jefferson. Ell Paso and Pueblo counties They have
built 1877 miles of good roadway and great deal
of this has been blasted out of solid rockthat in
Mesa county being the most difficult and heavy
work ever attempted by our men.
Owing to the fact that 1t was impossible to get
from the various counties the cost Of material.
such as cement lumber, steel, corrugated cul-
verts, powder, tools and supplies. other than &C
tual labor used In road and bridge building we are
enabled to give you only the labor cost to these
different counties for the work of the men. This
Doen average COBI
ferent counties Of 80 cents per day per man; and
as this cost includes Sundays and holidays the
cost Of labor Of these men to the counties for the
two years, or 731 days. would be 336.72544 We
have worked twenty-one state teams and the feed
for these teams cost the counties $40 per month
per team, which would amount to $10.088: making
total cost to the counties for labor Of $46,805.
The average labor cost for the 157 miles was
$29s.12 per mile.
1T is hard to estimate the immense value Of
these roads for the reason that the work In Mesa
county alone would have cost. with free labor not
less than $4,000 per mile, as the rock in places
had to be blasted for 75 feet In order to get q
proper roadbed. In this work II was necessary to
drill holes rs feet deep and to drill three depths
before the roadbed was reached. SO you can see
the magnitude of this work. The work In Ute
Pass, in ri Paso county, was done through solid
rock for six miles, all blasting. The work in Salt
Canon and Parkdale Hill, in Fremont county and
Ingree Hill, Cherokee Hill and Thompson Canon
In Larimer county have been very expensive work.
because Of the blasting. This necessarily would
have been very much more expensive had II been
done with free labor. and the counties would have
been forced to pay big salaries for drillers bias
tiers, powder men, masons and cement workers.
Not counting what the contractors profits might
be and not including any skilled labor, except
blacksmiths cement workers and masons. and e.
timating the cost Of free labor at 20 per day. BY
eliminating sundays anu nOuuayb, VIC may Couut
1872 men working 40 days at 81 per dav which
would give us labor value Of $4,000. We have
worked an average Of twenty masons and cement
workers, which would have cost the counties IS
per day, and would have amounted to $4,000. We
have averaged i've blacksmiths, whose labor Ii
estimated at "A per day and this would have
amounted to $12220. Estimating the value Of 81
teams at $3.50 per day per team for SO days. II
would have amounted to $s2026. At low figure
the value Of the labor Of these men and teams
would be worth to the counties $2662S6. Add to
this depreciation OF state equipment $4,000 and
the interest on state equipment $1,000 and you
can see that this labor has been worth to the df-
fsrsnt counties S17o.2sk The difference between
what the nee labor alone would have cost the
public namely, e170.2S6 -and what the labor Of
our men actually cost them shows labor profit
Of o133,l7o.se However. this labor did not com
~ Win he ne labor Of he state for The ree
20 (hnt ~ counties eoeld rot otherwise have
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