MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 3557

special roads thereof. The county commissioners shall have prepared an
official road map of the county, which may be in sections of one or more
election districts upon which shall be designated all county roads, which.
map shall be prepared within such reasonable time as the moneys at the
command of said commissioners will permit; whenever a new road shall
be opened or accepted, or an old road altered or closed, its location, or the
fact that it has been altered or closed, shall be properly designated on
said map. Said county commissioners may, in their discretion, have fin-
gerboards or sign-posts placed at road crossings or intersections designat-
ing the distance to the nearest prominent point, and may give suitable
names to county roads, and change the same as they may see fit. They
may cause monuments erected or to be erected on the boundaries of high-
ways, to be kept up and renewed, so that the extent of such highway
boundaries may be publicly known, and erect and establish new monu-
ments as may, in their judgment, be required.

1910, ch. 484, sec. 177H. 1912, ch. 109, sec. 177H. 1912, ch. 790, sec. 456
1918, ch. 229, sec. 177H.

754. All matters pertaining to and affecting the public highways,.
roads, bridges, avenues, streets and alleys of the county shall be under the-
control and supervision of the County Commissioners of Montgomery
County, who are hereby given power to enter into and make any and all
contracts for material, machinery, implements and equipment for such
public highways, and to employ or direct the employment of so many and
such agents, superintendents, foremen, inspectors, assistants, mechanics
and laborers as may be found necessary for the proper construction, care,
improvement and maintenance of the same, and to fix the rate of compen-
sation thereof. Said County Commissioners shall have full power to
determine how the roads of the county and any special road or roads
thereof may be worked, repaired, improved or maintained, and to regu-
late the wages that shall be paid employees engaged in such work, and
the prices to be pair for material to be used on the same, and to provide
for such clerical or other assistance as may be required by them or the
Montgomery County Road Superintendent, with their authority and ap-
proval first had and obtained, for the efficient performance of their sev-
eral duties. Said County Commissioners shall have the power to have-
work done by direct employment of labor or to let the construction, re-
pairs, maintenance or improvement of any road or portion of a road by
contract when, in their judgment, such course is deemed advisable, in which
case preference shall be given where practicable to persons directly inter-
ested in the proper care or improvement of such road or roads. All con-
tracts made by the County Commissioners for the repair or construction
of roads or bridges, or for materials to be used therein or thereon, shall
be reduced to writing and filed for record with the Clerk of said County
Commissioner's. Whenever work on any road or bridge involves an outlay
of five hundred dollars ($500.00) or more, plans and specifications there-
for shall be prepared by or under the direction of said road superintendent