El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-02-13

the east. but would draw people from
the north.
". y. FIeck. while owning extensive
ranch interests west Of Orogrande.
said he preferred to see a short line
to Fl Paso in the interest OF every
body. and he urged the building of A
road down the railroad on the west
side. saying he and Oliver " Lee and
others interested east of Orogrande were
willing TO furnish free teams and give
money He said he and Mr.. Rains and
associates were going to build a road
to Fl Paso II il VAS never built north
Of Orogrande 10 AlamOgOrdc-
French objects To COnyicts.
II. A. Voorhees, read a letter from
state engineer James = French offer
ing aid on The road and said he believed
the TT Paso chamber OF m
would put up some money for the road
work The letter from Mr.. French
also dealt with %convicts on road work.
Il follows
santa Fe. y. NJ. Jan. IS. 1917.
Board Of County Commissioners. Otero
County
I have yo1r letter OF January II in
which you sent me a COPY of the reso-
tuition passed by the board OF county
commissioners ON the 4th day OF jan
uary. 1917 This resolution
proposed work on the road between
Orogrande and state line at Newman.
II also requests that application be
and is hereby made 70 the governor OF
the state of New Mexico and to the
state highway commission asking their
assistance in the matter Of procuring
from the state the services of a state
%convic gang for the purpose of grub
bling out and working upon the public
road etwee OrOgrande and the state
line al Newman This IS 70 acknowl-
edge -eceipt OF the resolution.
In the first place. I wish TO discuss
with YOU the use or conrictS by the
county commissioners. There seems 10
be q general impression throughout the
state~that the use of convicts does p o
amount TO much i'm cost The state has
been using cOnvicts in the past and
our experience is that there is no econ
ony I'm convict labor under the present
law The state has to transport. guard
and maintain these convicts and IL
costs anywhere from 20 to 90 cents a
day TO take care OF them Again. this
work is not rs efficient as paid labor.
so that IN the long run ] am OF the
opinion that paid labor is more eco
nOmlCdL- For You to have a crew OF
convicts. say 80 or more. sent TO Ala
mOgOrdo. their transportation would
have 10 be paid for down and back. the
transportation Of guards. the cost OF
food. tents. bedding. cooking outfit and
camp for the men. 7 wish to advise
against the use or ~convicts. Darticu-
lsrly in work OF this kind. They are
much better suited to heavy work
AiANN AM HnNN dlu lVA NHt hAHAN u
road work you are going to build 7
have stated the above to you SO thar
you may consider the proposition
offers 10 Aid Road.
In reference to the above PROPOSE
ton. 7 wish TO make one myself and
That is. 7 VIII contribute $1,000 to the
work between Orogrande and the state
line provided the county authorities
viii make an offer of financial as
sistance to meet this $1,000 and also
HhaH ~ .l-W 81
and Turquoise be taken care Of by the
county
Very truly yours.
James \. French.
State Engineer.
Judge Pool told the people they }
would he foolish TO accept such a small
contribution as $1,000 from the state
engineer and suggested that they or
ganlze every voting precinct from Ros-
well trough to the Texas line and
then demand that the road from Ala /
mosordO TO FL PasO be made a state
highway IF You organize and de-
nIand-nct ask-that this be made a
highway. and back up wour demand
To Vote Bonds Soon.
DIT. Gilbert informed Judge Pool that
steps had been made to organize every
county precinct at meetings to be held
February -. at which delegates will
~ ANNNN - q ANAAAAN Atau EAAAAOM D
TO be held in A~lamOgordo March 1. At
that time a 100000 bond issue for Ote- .
70 county roads viii be discussed and
plans laid for the expenditure of the
money If voted. DIT Gilbert said he
favored spending half the sum in max
ing a good road to Ell Paso and the
rest in making the Y p~assable so
the people could some there and 90
anywhere in the picturesque mountains
Of the county to camp. fish and rest
from the heat in summer time
Others at the meeting who expressed
interest in the road were mayor l. y.
Jones. otto T~inklepaugh. secretary OF }
the Commercial club; DR.. E.. D. McKin- I
ley. chairman of the county board of
supervisors. J. j.. Sanders and a Sew
ell. members OF the board of supervis- |
ors. the latter representing the noun l
tain DISTRICTS. John Coltharp. {. f. |
MOffet and II. X. Work. of Orogrande, !
, (COntlnued on next PaseJ