MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS. 



Best Road Material 



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Crushed Granite and Gravel 



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THE HENRY MERCIAN CO., 



43-44 Peninsular Bank Building, 

 Phone Main 6251 DETROIT. 



MASON COUNTY ROADS. 



Mason's county road commissioners have 

 been having quite a strenuous summer with the 

 building of new roads and repairs of old ones, 

 the scattered condition of all the work and 

 the many details. They have traveled hun- 

 dreds of miles, besides doing the work of 

 overseeing, the clerical labor, and laying out 

 and inspection. 



Commissioner Harding, discussing a state- 

 ment made recently, that the old stone roads 

 in Nassau county were in such bad shape 

 they could not be repaired, says: 



"We have this summer made repairs on 

 one of the oldest stone roads in the county, 

 the state road between Ludington and Scott- 

 ville. We have repaired on that road about 

 one and one-half miles of surface, and we 

 know from observation and experience, as 

 well as the expression of those who use the 

 road, that it is a better road now than it 

 was when first built." 



Commissioner Jameson says the state road 

 south from Sixth street, Ludington, to Sum- 

 mit, through Pere Marquette, has been re- 

 paired and covered for about the same length 

 of surface, and is a decidedly better road than 

 it was the day it was turned out new for 

 public travel. 



The commissioners have accomplished a 

 great deal of work, taking all conditions into 

 consideration. A half mile of new road has 

 been built south from Sugar Grove. It is 

 considered as good as the mile next south 

 of it, which Commissioner Earle thought the 

 best in the state when built, and another half 

 mile east from Scottville, which is a good 

 piece of road. A half mile of road has also 

 been built in continuance westward of the 

 road built last year around the south end of 

 Round lake, in Sheridan township, to reach 

 the Pere Marquette railroad at Bachelor. 



One of the most extensive pieces of gravel 

 work that has been done in Mason county 

 is that building south toward the county line 

 from Scottville, between Riverton and Custer. 

 This piece is twelve feet wide, instead of 

 the usual nine feet track. Four and one-half 

 yards of gravel are used for every twelve feet 

 of this road. 



THE BOTTOMLESS PIT. 



The road between Marquette and Escanaba 

 is in frightful condition and is practically im- 

 passible. Clarence Carey, of Escanaba, went 

 over the road in an automobile in August. His 

 party went prepared for trouble, and they had 

 a surfeit of it. Mr. Carey says: 



"During the trip we constructed corduroy 

 roads, actually that's a fact, and at one stage 

 of the journey one hour was consumed in 

 making a headway of fifty feet. In some 

 places the trees scraped the body of the ma- 

 chine on both sides, and it was continually 

 necessary to maneuver in order to make some 

 turn. It is not generally known, but the bot- 

 tomless pit is located on the Escanaba and 

 Marquette road. We got into it, and but for 

 the rolls of burlap, previously provided, the 

 whole outfit would now be working their way 

 toward China via the earth's center. We cut 

 boughs and twigs, hauled logs, and placed 

 them in the wheel tracks, then covered them 



ROAD BUILDERS WANTED. 



Many different localities throughout Michi- 

 gan are writing the State Highway Depart- 

 ment, asking for names and addresses of con- 

 tractors and practical road builders who can 

 and will enter into a contract, or will take 

 charge of and superintend the building of 

 state roads. All persons who desire to make 

 contracts, or wish to be employed as super- 

 intendents, should send their names and ad- 

 dresses to the State Highway Department, 

 Lansing, Mich. 



with burlap. Slowly the automobile would 

 work over this improvised roadbed at the 

 slashing gait of one mile in seven years. 



"There is a patch in the road that resembles 

 Broadway. That is, the stumps are over thirty 

 feet apart. We struck this, and were bowling 

 along, enjoying the exhilarating effect of mo- 

 tion when disaster overtook us. The unampu- 

 tated portion of a tree, concealed by a rasp- 

 berry bush, bobbed up and caught the axle. 

 The effect was instantaneous. I went up in 

 the air and caught on an overhanging branch, 

 from where I could view the ruins conveni- 

 ently. This accident made a skirmishing ex- 

 pedition necessary. After many hours of 

 search we found a blacksmith, who forged 

 the broken parts of the machine together. 

 But what's the use of telling it all? We 

 reached Marquette about 10 o'clock in the 

 evening, leaving Escanaba at 5 a. m. The dis- 

 tance is about seventy-six miles. 



'RAH FOR THE NEW CAPITAL. 



If the Calumet owners of one end of Isle 

 Royale and Good Roads Commissioner Earle 

 can get together, that state capital proposi- 

 tion for our near neighbor will be carried 

 through without further occasion for com- 

 ment. It won't cost the state a cent for the 

 island, the owners standing ready to donate 

 the site. Then we might employ surplus 

 prison labor on the construction, and 

 the building might be made out of concrete 

 mixed with the poor rock which can be gath- 

 ered from the stockpiles made by the old 

 original English corporation that spent a few 

 millions trenching across the island in search 

 of the copper that they never found. Alto- 

 gether, we sincerely hope that the good roads 

 enthusiast from the southern part of the state 

 will go ahead with his proposition, and he 

 has the well wishes of everybody in the upper 

 peninsula. Houghton Mining Gazette. 



WAYNE COUNTY ROAD MUDDLE. 



Judges Brooke, Mandell, Donovan, Rohnert 

 and Murphy, of the Wayne circuit court, sit- 

 ting en bane, decided that the new county 

 good roads tax is invalid, denying the peti- 

 tion of the new commissioner for a manda- 

 mus to compel the county auditors to allow 

 a warrant for $1.20. Assistant Prosecuting 

 Attorney Frank D. Eaman, representing the 

 good roads commission, argued that, although 

 the officers were illegally appointed, the office 

 itself is constitutional and given the power 

 to levy the tax. Ward N. Choate argued for 

 the county auditors. 



The decision of the circuit court, if upheld 

 by the supreme court, places the county audi- 

 tors and County Treasurer Robertson in the 

 position of trying to decide what to do with 

 the good roads tax already collected, amount- 

 ing to $73,000. 



MENOMINEE'S GOOD ROADS. 

 Menominee county farmers have come to 

 believe that the country road system is the 

 only thing. It has been in operation in that 

 county long enough to be thoroughly tested. 

 When the system was adopted, having no 

 ready cash, the county was bonded in the sum 



of $30,000. Each year since then there has 

 been raised about $10,000 by taxation, which 

 has been used in building new roads and mak- 

 ing repairs on others, and the result has been 

 that Menominee county today has some of 

 the finest roads in northern Michigan. The 

 $30,000 for which the county was first bonded 

 was judiciously expended, rock macadam roads 

 being built, and now the highways are such 

 that traveling men make Menominee their 

 headquarters and use automobiles to make 

 towns within a radius of forty miles, so good 

 are the roads. 



Menominee county officials declare that 

 much of the advancement of that country is 

 due to good roads. 



Since Menominee county adopted the sys- 

 tem whereby the county took charge of the 

 roads, a large beet sugar factory, several can- 

 ning factories and other industries have 

 sprung up at Menominee, and the residents 

 unhesitatingly say it is due to the roads, 

 which make it possible for the farmers to come 

 frequently to town with their produce. By 

 way of explaining what roads have done for 

 Menominee, it might be well to say that an 

 agricultural and training school is about to 

 be started in. Menominee soon. It will be 

 for the purpose of educating teachers for the 

 farm districts and farmer boys in the care and 

 practicabilities of farming. 



HOUGHTONS ROADS. 



Highway Commissioner Peter Ruelle, Sr., 

 of Portage township, Houghton county, has a 

 force of men at work rebuilding and repair- 

 ing about four miles of road, on the main 

 highway between Houghton and Chassell. The 

 entire surface of the present roadbed is being 

 raised, the township's road machine being used 

 in making the improvement, and when the 

 work is completed and the road thoroughly 

 hardened the main highway between Hough- 

 ton and Chassell will be as fine a roadway 

 as can be found at any point in copperdom. 



At the conclusion of the present job Com- 

 missioner Ruelle will go to work on the Para- 

 dise road, the highway leading to the farm- 

 ing district south of Houghton, known as 

 Paradise. 



CALHOUN WANTS GOOD ROADS. 



At the annual meeting of the board of super- 

 visors of Calhoun county, to be held in Oc- 

 tober, the question of organizing good roads 

 districts in that county will be taken up, and 

 undoubtedly the question will be submitted to 

 the taxpayers. The Business Men's Associa- 

 tion of Battle Creek is much interested in 

 the subject. 



A movement is on foot to take advantage 

 of the new road district law passed by the 

 last legislature and make Marshall the center 

 of a good roads district composed of the city 

 of Marshall and the townships of Marshall, 

 Marengo, Eckford and Fredonia, if the plans 

 of State Highway Commissioner Earle and 

 C: E. Gotham, president of the First National 

 Bank of Marshall, carry. Mr. Gorham is 

 chairman of the good roads committee of the 

 Marshall Business Men's Association, and has 

 been looking into the matter of better roads 

 for Marshall and vicinity for some time. 



