After talking with you over the phone I had a conversation with Mr. Mann and read two letters written him by Mr. Stanly, the Superintendent of the convict force. I conclude from all the correspondence that the road is finished. Mr. Stanly stated that he would certainly finish the road by Monday night, the fourteenth. His letter was written on the fourth of February and since then I believe every day has been a good working day. He stated that there was no doubt about the road being finished on the fourteenth.

I do not mean at all to discredit Dr. Fletcher's statement for evidently the convicts are desired not for grading but to replace wooden culverts with stone ones. The wooden culverts should never have been placed there. There was certainly an abundance of stone in that neighborhood, in fact there was little else there. By somebody's mistake the lumber to build these culverts was purchased and hauled at considerable expense.

Workmen of some skill are required to build suitalbe stone culverts and it seems to me that this large force of convicts could not be economically handled for this purpose.

You know how these convicts have been kept on this road from time to time with the hope that the road would be finished a long time ago and at the meeting in Asheville the first of February was fixed as a satisfactory day for their removal.

The Ridgecrest road will be used as much or more by the people of north Carolina than the Hickory Nut Gap road; they are both highways of the greatest importance. It will be all that we can do to open the Ridgecrest road for the approaching summer travel but I hope that we can get it open so that it can be used.

After considering all the circumstances as best I could with the imperfect information, I have requested Mr. Mann to allow the convicts to go on to Ridgecrest and Madison county according to arrangement. I will say that Mr. Mann was ready to follow my suggestions. All arrangements had, however, been made for the removal. At the time of our talk over the phone the camp had doubtless been borken up. Wagons had been employed and the railroads had been notified to provide facilities for the transfer of the convicts to Whitney and from Whitney to Ridgecrest.

These wooden culverts will be good for some time and it may be that when necessary we can provide for the stone culverts.

I have just sent you a day letter by telegraph.