The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-02-27
ROBSON CITY ISA
 MODEL NEGRO CITY
Has Shown Ability to Gov ern Itself Along Modern
 and Progressive Lines

From it's very inception Hobson City, with one exception the only colored municipality in the United States. has not only demonstrated its ability to organize and govern herself, but has shown that she can do this along pro- gressive lines.
 Tn the year of 1899 her small but spirited band of citizens secured after no little bit of effort charter and was incorporated and organized in the month of August of that year. h. cluding immediate suburbs her popu- lation today shows an increase of 15O per cent. Her citizens are contented, law abiding, and aa a whole indus trious; yagrants are not tolerated and are tacidly urged to move on or suit able work is found for them to do. She has several public institutions among which are four churehes-two Methodist, one Baptist and one Sancti- fled with a combined membership of approximately 800 She is the jealous possessor of one public school with an enrolment of some 200. The state funds appropriated for this institution, by the way, are, however, claimed to be inadequate and should be aug mented if consistent with the states public school funds. Donations from private citizens who are interested in educational pursuits certainly would be appreciated if put in the hands of this institution. The municipality is free from debt and has some money in it's treasury; its gubernatoria1 board is elected every two years, thereby mak- ing it possible to keep this feature of it's machinery in a more healthy and enthusiastic working condition. Its homes are supplied with electric light and more than half of the citizens own their own homes; homes can be bought or rented at very reasonable price.
 Anniston, city of some 10000 in- habitants, is located just north of Hob son City, and is connected with it by a trolly system owned by the Alabama Power company, which maintains a spe- cial car for the colored people to take them back and forth to their daily oc-' equations consisting mainly of public works conveniently located along the car line. The city is supplied with good water from the Anniston Water works, and while the system is incom- plete, plans are being made to bring u up lO luG usual SldIG OI GllACl6liCSs Ss and thereby insure the least possible insurance rate and fire loss. The city has an organized sanitary system maintained by the police department. It's jail house would be credit to 8 city of double it's population-being of concrete construction, and equipped with furniture and fixtures to preserve sanitation and hygiene. It has some two or three grocery stores, owned and operated by colored citizens. It has citizens who produce almost within a stones throw from $500 to 5000 worth of cotton and other staple products, including hundreds of bushels of peaches per year. It's governing board consists of seven councilmen, a mayor, together with so1le three or four minor officers, including chief of police. The incumbent's names are: Newman G. O'Neill mayor; Ed Pierce, G. w. Draper. Anderson Robinson, Will Bates. Lewis Waddleton, Ben Harvey and Tom Winston, councilmen. Prof. C. E. Hanna has charge of the schol sys- tenn.