MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS. 



IMPROVING WAYNE ROADS. 



Work on the first improvement of the roads 

 of Wayne county under the county roads sys- 

 tem has begun. The Grand River road out of 

 Detroit is the first road to receive the atten- 

 tion of the County Road Commissioners. The 

 work was inaugurated with a great flourish on 

 April 23. County Road Commissioners Ed- 

 ward N. Mines, John S. Haggerty and William 

 Murdoch manipulated the plow that turned 

 the first furrows. Deputy County Clerk Geo. 

 Humbert was at the throttle of the engine of 

 the road roller that dragged the plow. In ad- 

 dition to the County Road Commissioners, the 

 interested ones were State Highway Commis- 

 sioner H. S. Earle, County Auditors Hilton, 



Beginning Work on Grand River Road. 



Oakman and T. Hawley Christian, Deputy 

 County Clerk Walter Oldfield, and many 

 others. 



The road-making machinery which the com- 

 mission has purchased was on exhibition and 

 the engines were put in operation. One is a 

 big traction engine and the other of about the 

 same size is a roller with a lot of pulling 

 power. There are twelve dump wagons, or 

 spreaders, two scrapers and two sprinklers. 

 The supply yard is two miles out so that the 

 engines and wagons will not have to turn un- 

 til the wagons are empty. These wagons will 

 hold seven tons of stone apiece. By an ar- 

 rangement in the bottom, a layer of any de- 

 sired thickness can be spread, saving the work 

 of the shovel gang and doing it more regularly. 

 The levels were made by George A. Dingman, 



engineer for the commission, and the work on 

 this road is in charge of John F. Stahelin, of 

 Redford, who was a strong good roads advo- 

 cate on the board of supervisors. 



The county commission has about $89,000 to 

 spend this year. The work mapped out con- 

 sists of two miles on Grand River road; a mile 

 and a quarter on Mt. Elliott avenue; mile and 

 a half on Gratiot avenue; mile on River street; 

 mile and a half on Fort street; $16,000 on 

 Michigan avenue, the kind of work to be de- 

 termined; $2,500 each on Jefferson and Mack 

 avenues in making repairs. 



After the preliminaries had been attended 

 to the party adjourned to the Log Cabin Inn 

 for lunch and some speeches. Mr. Earle was 

 greeted everywhere with "Hello Governor." It 

 was a great day for him. 



BENEFITS THE FARMERS. 



The farmers in townships having villages 

 certainly cannot complain of the new cash pay- 

 ment highway law. Howell township, Liv- 

 ingston county, furnishes an object lesson. 

 Formerly on the basis of one day's work to 

 $600 valuation and the rural valuation being 

 about $800,000, the farmers worked out (if 

 they did do the work at all) about 1,350 high- 

 way days or with the $700 also raised $2,050 

 worth of highway tax. 



The village takes care of its own streets, 

 sidewalks and sewers at a cost of $800 to 

 $1,000 annually. 



Formerly the $700 highway fund was as- 

 sessed on the farmers only. 



This year $3,000 highway improvement fund 

 was voted. It will be assessed on the entire 

 township, and as the valuation in the village 

 Is about $1,800,000, against a total of $2,400,000 

 in the township, the village will pay three- 

 fourths the tax, the farmers one-fourth or 

 $750. 



The road repair fund of one-third of one mill 

 to be paid by the farmers would be less than 

 $500, leaving them a cost of $1,050 a year 

 against $2,050 a year formerly, approximately. 



CALHOUN SCORNS GOOD ROADS. 



Despite the object lesson of the Beadle 

 Lake road out of Battle Creek, the good roads 

 proposition was voted down on April 6, not 

 only in Battle Creek by a comfortable major- 

 ity, but it also lost out in the townships in 

 Calhoun county surrounding Battle . Creek. 



Secretary Gibson of the Industrial Association 

 announces that the fight will not be given up, 

 but that a campaign of education will be 

 started and the question will again be sub- 

 mitted to the people. The proposed Battle 

 Creek district comprised the city of Battle 

 Creek and townships of Battle Creek, Bedford, 

 Emmett and Pennfield. 



The townships of Marengo, Eckford, Fre- 

 donia, and Marshall, including the city of Mar- 

 shall, also voted down the proposition to or- 

 ganize these townships into a good roads 

 district. 



GOOD ROADS NOTES. 

 The Board of Public Works of Jackson has 

 recommended to the council of that city the 

 purchase of a 10-ton road roller manufactured 

 by the Port Huron Engine & Thresher Com- 

 pany of Port Huron. The company's bid was 

 the lowest of half a dozen competing con- 

 cerns. The board has not yet decided the 

 question of buying a road grader. 



Does Delta county favor good roads? If you 

 have any doubt about the matter here is the 

 way the taxpayers recorded themselves on 

 April 6: For good roads 2,340 votes were cast 

 while those opposed numbered only 905. The 

 tax-payers voted to bond for $25,000. This 

 sum will be expended this season in building 

 twelve miles of stone macadam road in six 

 dicerent townships. This, together with the 

 $1.000 per mile bounty which the state pays, 

 will, it is estimated, pay for the work. 



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Now that the first "good roads district" in 

 Tuscola county has been decided upon let us 

 all work for an honest trial of its merits. It is 

 a new method and its operation may develop 

 defects. If they appear do not condemn more 

 than the defects; hang on to the good points 

 and correct the faulty ones, says the Caro Ad- 

 vertiser. 



