After receiving numerous complaints, backed by continuous urging by the Tribune-Herald, the county commissioners had voted to improve Rome’s four bridges, re-flooring and reconstructing where necessary.

It was pointed out that the East Side bridge had become dangerous, and both that and the West Second Avenue spans were particularly bad. The Fourth Ward and South Side bridges showed wear and tear. Workmen had begun at once on the South Side bridge, which was closed for three nights and reopened during the day. The board had ordered 20,000 feet of long leaf pine for the work.

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The county commissioners voted to complete the road from the Alabama state line to Cave Spring as far as the corporate limits of Cave Spring. … M.B. Carr, J.R. Thompson and 118 others had requested the commission to improve the road known as Black’s Bluff, pointing out that it was impassable in many places. The board agreed to put the chain gang on it as soon as possible. … Several new street cars had been ordered by the Rome Railway and Light Co. to use on the city lines. As soon as they arrived, a 15-minute schedule was to be inaugurated in place of the 20-minute one in force. … Manager S.S. Bush of the Rome Railway and Light Co. had leased the Rome Driving Park for five years, given a cash bonus of $500 and guaranteed a 15-minute trolley schedule to the park towards securing the Chattanooga baseball franchise in the Sally League. …

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A cablegram had been received from Rome, Italy, advising of the death of Prince Enrico Ruspoli, at his chateau in Nemi. He had married in Washington, D.C., in 1901; Mrs. Enfield Barton, the former Miss Nennie E. Berry of Rome, daughter of Mrs. Thomas Berry of “Oak Hill,” and a sister of Miss Martha Berry. A brother, Tomas Berry of Atlanta, had already sailed for Rome, Italy. … Little Rebekah Williams Watters had carried first honors in the big Tribune-Herald contest, winning a Forbes auto piano. Miss Beatrice won a $50 savings account, Miss Anna May Park a suite of furniture, Miss Effie Broach and Mrs. Anna Hickman a Dix diamond apiece, Misses Bessie Wright and Mamie Wooten, Fleetwood sewing machines. … Will Fahy, who had spent several months in Rome, had gone to New Orleans to live, and Duke Fahy, son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Fahy, was to return home from New Orleans in 1910, and be at Fahy’s store. …

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A published account in a Chattanooga newspaper revealed that the first car ever seen in Chattanooga came to its end in Rome. Called a Locomobile, it was a two-seater, tiny compared to the big machines of 1909. After being sold by its Chattanooga owner to a Dalton man, it finally came into the hands of Lee Arnold, who drove it to Rome. One day on Broad Street, it became overheated with its own internal exertions and was consumed in flames. Thus was written the last chapter in the history of the first automobile in Chattanooga. … Exciting a great deal of attention here last week in 1909 was the appearance of a caravan of “auto gypsies.” The seven tourists on their way from Michigan to Florida, traveling in two big “Rapid” trucks fixed up to accommodate passengers. The machines were 9-1/2 feet high and 14 feet long, the seats and cushions arranged to let down into beds. Close-fitting side curtains kept out the breezes. The owners found it quite profitable to use them as sightseeing cars on the beaches. …