CONVICT LABOR FOR ROAD WORK. 135 



From the standpoint of mobility the cage usually is regarded as 

 somewhat superior to the portable building, because in transporting 

 the latter there is involved the tearing down and reerecting processes 

 in addition to the actual transportation of the buildings, whereas 

 the cage mounted on wheels has only to be hauled from one location 

 to another and is always ready for occupancy. However, this ad- 

 vantage never is fully realized, owing to the fact that the great weight 

 of the cage, from 3 to 4 tons, makes it extremely difficult to transport 

 over bad roads. In one county in Alabama it required two days for 

 eight teams of mules to move a steel cage 12 miles over the muddy 

 roads. Though this is, perhaps, an extreme example, the same objec- 

 tion applies in lesser degree under better conditions. 



Furthermore, the time in moving saved by the use of cages is unim- 

 portant except in those cases where the camp is moved very fre- 

 quently, which frequent moving implies the performance of very 

 light road work shown elsewhere to be generally uneconomical with 

 convicts. When the camp is maintained in one location for from 

 four to six months or longer, as is desirable, the interest and depre- 

 ciation on the running gear usually will be found practically to 

 absorb the value of the time saved in moving. 



Thus, from the standpoint of economy alone, apart from the sani- 

 tary and sentimental objections, the cage is found to be unsatis- 

 factory. 



The illustrations in Plate IX, figures 1 and 2, show types of wooden 

 cars and steel cages, and Plate VIII, figure 2, represents a somewhat 

 less objectionable type of wooden car. The latter is so arranged 

 that by removing the adjacent sides two or more cars can be joined 

 to form a single building as shown. 



PORTABLE BUILDINGS. 



For the purposes of temporary camps, probably the best type of 

 housing is the portable building. This type has been adopted in 

 many places with excellent success, and no doubt it will be brought 

 into wider use when its merits are more widely recognized. Properly 

 designed and constructed, buildings of this type have much the 

 same advantages as tents in point of mobility, and they have the 

 further merits of furnishing greater protection from weather and 

 greater security and longer life than tents; also, they furnish suffi- 

 cient security at lower cost and with less objectionable appearance 

 than cars or cages. 



They may be constructed of wood or metal or of a combination of 

 the two materials. Those made entirely of metal have the advantage 

 of long life and of being fireproof and relatively vermin proof, but 



