THOMAS U. TAYLOR—-ECONOMY OP GOOD ROADS. 
87 
ROADS IN TILE BLACK LAND COUNTIES. 
With a view of ascertaining the condition of the roads in the different 
black land counties, inquiries were sent out in October and November, 
1896, to all the counties mentioned in the table, and to several others, 
from which no reports have been received. Attention is called to this 
table, especially to the road equipment of the different counties. Many 
valuable suggestions that can not appear in the table were made' in these 
reports. Some of them are submitted: 
Judge Furman, of Bell: The overseer system is defective, hut I am not 
in favor of a radical change at this time. The overseers co-operate with 
the county force in Bell. 
We have been working oxen to our graders, hut shall abandon this 
method and buy mules, as oxen are too slow. 
The advice of an expert (as State superintendent of roads) would be 
invaluable. 
Judge Hall, of Coolie: To levy an additional tax and work altogether 
by taxation would be more profitable and much more satisfactory. 
I am of the opinion that with the right man (as State superintendent 
of roads), much good might.be ae. umplished. 
Judge M. L. Shelton, if Navarro: The proposition to increase our road 
levy was submitted to the people, and was lost b} r a large majority. We 
have no regular hands. County convicts work (when they do work) at 50 
cents per day. I think a new system for working the roads is sooner or 
later inevitable. We should levy a special tax and work the county con¬ 
victs more extensively. 
A State superintendent of roads would be an unnecessary expense. 
We in this county have no facilites for keeping the convicts over night 
away from the county poor farm (at which place we, of course, have a 
prison), and, therefore, we only work convict labor near the farm, but 
we do not work convicts over two months per annum. Most of our road 
work is done by the overseer and his hands. We have four graders and 
work three hands and six mules with each grader. 
Mr. J. W. Vaughan, of Hill: Hill county has been using one grader 
for about eight years, but, owing to the demand for grading, we bought 
three more last April. We keep two graders and one plow in each squad, 
and work eight mules to each grader, and from four to six to a plow. An 
extra squad, with drag scrapers, is maintained to fill in where the grader 
