COLONIAL SECRETARY'S OFFICE. As a consequence of the change in the Constitution of the Island in 1865 one of the first steps taken was the reconstruction of the administrative system, in conformity with the form of government to be brought into operation. By an Order of the Queen in Council, dated 11th June, 1866, the offices of Colonial Secretary and of Financial Secretary were created and the duties up to that time exercised by the Executive Committee, together with those previously perfomed by the Governor's Secretary and new duties arising out of the altered form of administration, devolved upon these officers, who were each assigned, by Law 3 of 1866, a salary of £1,500. The office of Revenue Commissioner was also created by Law 8 of 1866, the performance of the duties thereof, which were in the nature of a direct supervision of the Revenue Department, being required of tho Financial Secretary. As in 1870 the finances of the colony had been satisfactorily reoganized, and a complete reconstruction of the Revenue Departments had been secured, whereby the necessity for the special services of a Financial Secretary no longer existed, the opportunity was taken on the occurrence of a vacancy in the office of Colonial Secretary to abolish the office of Financial Secretary and to transfer its duties to the Colonial Secretary, whose salary was then fixed, upon special grounds, at £2,000 per annum, £1,500 being fixed as the stipend of any future holder of the office. This change was effected by Law 7 of 1870, and provision was at the same time made for the appointment of an Assistant Colonial Secretary. The staff of the two Secretariats was then united. On the occurrence of a vacancy in 1883 in the office of Colonial Secretary by the resignation of Mr. Newton, Mr. Walker was appointed to the office at the reduced salary of £1,300 a year; and, as the result of the Report of the Royal Commissioners, the salaries of the offices of Assistant Colonial Secre tary and of Chief Clerk were in 1884 reduced to £700 and £500 a year, respectively. AMONG the first of the statutes that were passed after the English conquest of Jamaica was "An Act for the Highways" (1681). These highways were kept in repair at the expense of the respective parishes through which they ran, but as the progressive spirit of the new settlers induced them to go further inland in search of land "to plant," the parochial funds became insufficient and had to be supplemented by annual grants from the Legislature and tollage on the great highways. *Temporary. First appointment dated 7th December, 1882. Temporary. First permanent appointment dated 1st February, 1886. This system continued until the year 1836 when the Justices and Vestry of each parish were entrusted with the power of raising money at their discretion for repairing roads other than roads laid out and maintained under turnpike trusts. But this arrangement was not satisfactory and a Committee of the House of Assembly reported in 1843 against its continuance. Their report was not agreed to and the annual grants were continued, the amount for each parish being made payable to the members of Assembly of such parish. The result was that, notwithstanding the large sums voted, the roads were "a disgrace to a civilized community and militated considerably against the agricultural prosperity of the country. Even the lines of communication between the principal towns were very little better than river courses which placed the life of every traveller in jeopardy: deaths from this cause indeed were of frequent occurrence."* In 1851 the Legislature, with the hope of permanently improving the highways, passed a law repealing all former road laws and settling a new system for the management of these roads. The system comprised a Board of Commissioners of Highways and Bridges in each parish. To this Board was entrusted the exclusive care of all roads and bridges not being turnpikes. This system of road supervision continued until 1857 but without any appreciable benefit to the highways. In the latter year "it was thought advisable, with a view to facilitate the means of communication between the several parts of the island," to transfer the most important sections of roads (including the turnpike roads) to the care of a body styled the Main Road Commissioners, and to provide for the appointment of County Engineers. To carry out this new system a main road fund was constituted, to which the land-tax and the land-tax redemption and all tolls and special grants for road purposes were transferred. Besides these sources of revenue, loans were authorised, for the interest and eventual re-payment of which the general revenue was made liable. In 1859 a loan of £56,000 was raised, but a much larger sum was required to effect a solid reconstruction of the roads and to provide for the bridging of more than one rapid and dangerous rivert Other loans were accordingly raised and the work of reconstruction was proceeded with. The whole scheme, however, soon failed. The law granting the power to redeem the land-tax was repealed in the session of 1862, and the toll bars which had become a fruitful source of discontent-in some parishes leading to open riot-were abolished in October, 1863, consequently, when the Main Road Commissioners ceased to exist (on the change in the form of government) and their functions were transferred to the Director of Roads, the main road fund was hopelessly insolvent and the roads were but tolerably good. The Government had to assume the entire debt, which at the time that this was finally effected (1870) amounted to £133,045-£100,350 being for loans and £32,695 for overdrafts from the Treasury. From that time until the passing of Law 17 of 1890 the expenditure on the main roads was entirely defrayed out of the general revenues of the island. In the year 1870 the length of the main roads was 7074 miles; during the period of 21 years to the end of 1890 new roads of an aggregate length of 86 miles were added, making the total length in the latter year 793 miles. The following are some of the new roads constructed or re-constructed during that period : From Hope Bay up the Swift River Valley. Loop Road from Linstead Market by the Railway Station to the Rio Magno Bridge. Barquadier Road at Chapelton. Riversdale by Williamsfield, Kendal, Richmond and Highgate to White Hall. Richmond to Augualta Vale. * Phillippo's Past and Present State of Jamaica. † Sir Charles Darling's Blue Book Report for 1859. The following important Bridges were also erected during this period:- Rock River near Falmouth. Flint River between Montego Bay and Lucea. Rio Minho at May Pen. Middle River at Annotto Bay. Warner's Pond at Port Maria. Black River at Linstead. Bodles Gully near Old Harbour. Church Spring at Yallahs. Sulphur River at Bath. Caneside River near Port Antonio. Orange Hill, Moore Hall, Dunder Gully, Williamsfield, in St. Mary. Mighty Gully near Old Harbour. The most important of these bridges is that over the Dry River, which was completed in the year 1874. The necessity for this structure had long been felt. The river had been known to rise as high as 37 feet above the bed within a few hours. The bridge consists of three spans, the centre span being 150 feet in the clear and the two outer ones 75 feet each, the underside of the girders is 46 feet above the bed of the river, that is, nine feet above the highest known level of the flood water. The cost of this magnificent structure was £16,901, exclusive of the cost of land and of approaches. The main roads were also in many parts widened and otherwise improved The average annual cost of maintenance was £35 per mile. The average annual expenditure on new works during this period amounted to £4,914, all provided out of general revenue. By Law 7 of 1881, power was given to raise a loan for building Bridges over the Yallahs and Morant River in St. Thomas and the Rio Grande, Buff Bay, Spanish, and Swift Rivers in Portland, but this power remained for several years in abeyance. By Law 33 of 1887 power was given to apply a portion of the above-mentioned loan to the building of Bridges over Roach's Gully, the Devil's River, and Harbour Head River in St. Thomas, Priestman's River, and White River in Portland, and the Dry River and Pencar River in St. Mary. In 1888, His Excellency Sir Henry Norman, with the approval of the Secretary of State, ordered the construction of all the Bridges in Portland and St. Mary named in the above Laws, and of the Bridges in St. Thomas named in Law 33 of 1887. The works were begun in the Spring of 1889, and the several Bridges were completed and opened to the public on the dates set against them in the Harbour Head River, August, 1890 following list: Devil's River, December, 1890 Rio Grande, May, 1892. All these bridges have wrought iron superstructures, capable of carrying the heaviest loads that can come upon them, and, with the exception of the Harbour Head Bridge which is carried on cast iron screw piles 18 inches in diameter, all are carried on concrete piers and abutments. The bridges over the seven rivers between Annotto Bay and Port Antonio are all of one type, differing only in the number of openings which are all of 76 feet clear span. The foundations of the piers are laid in wrought iron caissons 24 feet long and 6 feet wide sunk in the bed of the rivers and reaching to low water level. Owing to large boulders being continually encountered in the river beds, the great depth to which many of the caissons had to be sunk, and the dangerous floods to which these rivers are subject, the difficulties to be overcome were very great. The impossibility of transporting the heavy pieces of ironwork by land over the hills between the sea ports and the sites of the bridges, and the consequent necessity of carrying them by sea and landing them on various dangerous beaches on an inhospitable coast, formed another formidable difficulty which had to be overcome. The Rio Grande Bridge, the last of these Bridges to be completed, is the largest in the island, being 520 feet long, and having six openings. The eastermost pier is founded at a depth of 33 feet below low water and has a total height of 48 feet. Its completion was hailed with great rejoicing by the inhabitants of the Parish, who had suffered greatly by the frequent interruptions of communication caused by floods in these dangerous rivers. In addition to the above the following bridges have been built from funds provided by the general revenue :— Orange River at Sutherlands Fording, Dry Gut Gully in St. Mary. Pear Tree Bottom in St. Ann. Duppy River, Leith Hall River, Hog River, (three crossings) Pompy River, in Saint Thomas. Annotto River in Portland. By Law 17 of 1890 revenues were appropriated for the maintenance of additional main roads, sufficient to provide for a length of nearly 1,000 miles, and a loan of £180,000 was authorized for the reconstruction of the parochial roads to be taken over under that Law. The following list gives the number and the aggregate mileage of roads in each parish which have been so taken over and reconstructed : In addition to the above the following new main roads have been added to the roads maintained out of General Revenue : The aggregate length of the main roads of the island is therefore now 1,735 miles being an increase in the past two years of 120 % By Law 1 of 1891 authority was given to spend a portion of the Loan to be raised under Law 7 of 1881 in constructing a new main road from the 11th mile on the Windward Road through the interior of the Parish of St. Thomas to Morant Bay. This road passes over Cambridge Hill through Llandewy, Ramble, Windsor Forest, Monklands, Cedar Valley, Trinityville, Coley, Serge Island and Morant. It is now in course of construction. The expenditure on new works for main roads during the past year, 1891-92, has been as follows: On the inauguration of the new Constitution in 1866, the Director of Roads also assumed the charge and supervision of the Public Buildings. But no new perma nent buildings were taken in hand until the year 1870. The following are the most important new works carried out during the period of 22 years ending the 30th March, 1892 :— Lunatic Asylum "General Penitentiary "L St. Catherine's District Prison Extensions and improvements at King's House, St. Andrew Girls' Reformatory at Admiral's Pen 66 "Shortwood Government Printing Establishment. The annual expenditure on repairs and maintenance of Public Buildings has averaged £9,154, and on new Works, £17,500. Among the other important works carried out by the Department are the establishing of the extensive Irrigation Works in connection with the Rio Cobre; the erection of a large and convenient Market in Kingston, with public landing places in the harbour; the enclosing and laying out of the Square as a Public Garden, which improvement has done much for the embellishment and convenience of the city; the erection of Gas Works in Kingston; the purchase of the rights of the Kingston Water Company and the improvement of the Works, whereby Kingston has been given a constant water service which is excelled in few places either for quality, quantity or pressure; the erection of Slaughter Houses for Kingston; and the establishment and working of a system of water supply for Spanish Town and Old Harbour. LIGHT-HOUSES. THE Light-houses of the Colony are by Law 8 of 1866 under the control and management of the Director of Public Works. d MORANT POINT.-This Light-house is situated at the east end of the island, an is elevated 100 feet above high water, and can be seen at a distance of 21 miles at sea in clear weather. The illuminating apparatus was, until recently, on the cato pric principle, consisting of 15 lamps with large reflectors. The light is a revolving light, and revolves once in every three minutes, giving a bright flash once every minute. It was designed by Alexander Douglas of London, and erected in 1842 by Mr. George Groves, C. E., now Sir George Groves, who was sent out for the purpose. A third order holophotal revolving light, with flashes at intervals of one minute, has been erected in place of the original apparatus. Paraffin oil is the illuminating material used at this and the other Light-houses, a saving of about eighty per cent. on the former expenditure for cocoanut oil being effected. PLUMB POINT.-This Light-house stands on the Palisadoes at the entrance to Kingston Harbour; the tower is constructed of stone and iron, and is 70 feet in height. It exhibits a third order dioptric light from a single Douglas burner lamp, arranged to shew a red light over one arc and a white light over another. The white light is visible at a distance of about 20 miles in clear weather. The position of the Light-house is in latitude 17° 54" north, longitude 76° 47" west. FOLLY POINT, PORT ANTONIO.-This Light house was built under the powers of Law 17 of 1886, the mercantile community having guaranteed the Government that the revenue from dues would suffice to meet the cost of maintenance, and the interest and sinking fund in the first cost. The tower is constructed of masonry and is fire-proof throughout. The optical apparatus is dioptric of the fourth order, shewing a red light, visible at 13 miles distance over an arc of 153°, the backward rays being reflected by a dioptric mirror. |