MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS 



11 



This brand on 

 every sheet. 



None genuine 



without this 



brand 



* "AM Eif ic AN"* 



\3IoENHMy / 



\AH/ 



V 



To those 9O,OOO Taxpayers who want a 



Road Culvert Which Can Not Rust 



T^HROUGH the Agricultural Dep't at Washington, you have made a demand 



for a rust-resisting material, which you can use for rooting, road culverts, and 



agricultural purposes. Engineers and Chemists the world over endorse American 



Ingot Iron as the material you have asked for, and Ingot Iron Pipe as the culvert. 



You owe it to yourself to investigate the product resulting from your own demand. 



Write for information regarding Ingot Iron Pipe, the culvert which can not 



rust, collapse, or be injured by the frost. Addr< 



MICH. BRIDGE & PIPE CO., 



Dept. T. LANSING, MICHIGAN 



KALAMAZOO REDEEMS HERSELF. 



enmity has redeemed herself, 

 writes A. J. - :" Climax, a prominent 



worker i'nr y -1 public road cor- 



K. !;:nr 

 with the city "f K. 



!.-'.'- in 



favor i.f the c-'iinty road system. This m:i- 



i"Hr. ne the adverse 



untry di.-tricts and the result in 



larpe was a majnrity of 477 in 



\ year nazoo 



city - y ~><>o n if the 



proposition and r feated. Las: 



Richland wa- th. wnship outside of 



y to declare in favor of good 

 This - again in line this 



and had 



and C">per. which in 



that i of goo.', -vread- 



in.g in t: '::e city. 



want better roads 

 face with a most important 



question: \Y ; ll he accept t' nee of the 



city alhe.-r \Y:11 h.e we'.cnme the aid of the 

 road-machinery man. the capitalist, the bicy- 



Or will he treat 



them as schemers who are trying to meddle 

 with his affr; 



The answer - ought to de- 



pend nds of good roads 



are r>~ !f they propose to have 



the country roads improved in order : 



ir business r.nd enhance their pleas- 

 ures, wlu'lly at the ex; -mer. then 



'n the proffered alliance. : 

 the contrary, they are proposing, t:. 

 state and nati ft a large part 



of the burden off the farmer and ]' 

 the tax-ii the city, he usiht to bid 



them ad hand. 



I have worked hard : : co-oper- 



at : on nntry and 



the city in order I te the work .if the 



permanent improvement of the main highways 



-em. Tl- 



take tributary and less trav- 



eled roads. The countv tax should be large 

 enough to provide 5- funds to 



permanent highway work in eve -hip in 



the county. The roads should be built - 

 to get the state award and a national award 



11. For I believe most firmly that na- 

 tional aid for IT- " d roads must come, and 

 when it dees the burden iding im- 



d main country roads and bridges will 

 be equalized and be borne by the whole peo- 

 ple, as it should be. 



The railroads and the steamship companies 

 apureciate the value of good r 

 willing tu stand their 'hare .x. Study 



tiestion. It needs lit: ht to dem- 



onstrate why railroads want good v 

 roads. A- stion, w'r, 



-eat Grank Tru- n come: 



building its double tracks through the city "i" 

 Kala:- [f there were not twen: 



men, with a combined capital of v. 



-igned the w 



tion last September, and s.- 'ther mer- 



chants and manufacturers, who expect to reap 

 the benefits derived from an even fl 



ve and manufactured go. d.-. which will 

 be transported over Kalan: 



tern of improved roads, to her nearby village 

 markets, thence to the city, in car loads, on 

 tributary railroads, and imnroved wagon roads, 

 which will be in repair and condition for use, 

 radiating from the city, in the poor-road sea- 

 son as well as the good season, the Grand 

 Trunk would not be interested. But the road 

 is deeply interested, and will help with a state 

 and county tax. to improve main roads into 

 the village^ and city of Kalamazoo county- 

 next year. 



If Calhoun county, a county that the writer 

 has worked for with might and main for the 

 adoption of the county roads system to lessen 

 the expense of hauling to its market place. 

 Battle Creek, will take up the proposition 

 again next spring and carry the same, the 

 Grand Trunk system will build its double 

 tracks to Marshall, and Albion, for the sake of 

 the traffic that will come into these cities over 

 the improved roads. 



above paragraphs are sufficient argu- 

 ments why the Whelan bill, and the repeal of 

 the cash township law. should not be allowed 

 to pass the legislature. The legislative suc- 



hat we are to attain for the promotion 

 of the state law. and the continuation of the 

 township cash tax. with an increased appro- 

 priation for state rewards, largely depended 

 on the way the county roads system carried 

 in Kalamazoo county and other leading coun- 

 :e state. Our state representative 



.1 the writer that if our county made a 



-bowing for the county road system, it 



romote the laws for state and 



ms. and the writer will assure 



ader. with all due consideration, that the 

 success in carrying the county of Kalamazoo 

 for good roads, was due to the stick-to-it-ive- 



and untiring efforts of \V. M. Bryant, 

 chairman of the good roads committee of the 

 city if Kalamazoo. For the past two years 

 he h; - od by the writer and conducted 



a campaign that led to sue. 



AUTOS RUIN ROADS. 



The increased use of automobiles in Xew 



York State has so worn out the 1.800 miles of 



good roads already completed that the new 



State Highway Commission will not award 



ear any more contracts for good roads 



uction. The commission has determined 



to devote its efforts during the coming year 



to the 500 miles additional of good roads work 



now under contract and to repairing the 1,800 



^f road completed since the good roads 



project was started in the state ten years ago. 



The commission has asked the legislature 

 for an appropriation of $1,500,000 to repair 

 these l.SOO miles of good roads. It developed 

 at a hearing before the Senate Internal Affairs 

 Committee on the automobile bill that the 

 stone macadam roads which have been built 

 by the state will not stand the strain of the 

 automobiles, and the highway commission is 

 experimenting with an asphalt cement which 

 is to be utilized in covering all of the stone 

 macadam roads so far constructed. Mean- 

 while the commission is investigating the ques- 

 vith a view of revolutionizing road con- 

 struction in the state so as to produce a road 

 which will successfully meet the wear and 

 tear of the automobile. 



The farmers up the state are aroused over 

 the bad condition the good roads are in be- 



czuse of the destruction which follows their 

 use by the automobilists, and the situation has 

 become so acute that the highway commission 

 fears the good roads work will be checked 

 unless something is done to allay this feeling. 



F. X. Godfrey, the master of the State 

 Grange, and the members of the legislative ' 

 committee of the grange appeared before the ' 

 committee and insisted that the automobile i 

 bill should be passed. The purpose of this bill j 

 is to tax the automobiles sufficiently to raise ; 

 nearly enough money to repair the damage | 

 they do to the good roads. It is estimated ' 

 that the bill would bring an annual revenue , 

 into the state treasury of $600,000. It imposes 

 a tax of $5 on automobiles weighing 1,500, 

 pounds or less, $10 on machines weighing from ; 

 1,500 to 2,500 pounds, and an additional $5 for , 

 each 500 pounds of weight over 2,500 pounds. : 

 The owners must register with the Secretary ; 

 of State. The chauffeurs must be licensed and ; 

 pay a fee of $1. 



Probably the most important provision in 

 the bill is that all speed limits are abolished, ' 

 and it 15 provided that the automobilist must 

 operate his car with due regard for the safety ! 

 of the public at all times. His speed is left to 

 his own discretion, but the burden of respon- ' 

 sibility is placed on him, no matter at what . 

 rate of speed his machine is being operated. 



On country roads where the highways are ! 

 clear the automobilists would have the speed; 

 limit lifted and be permitted to run their 

 machines in their own discretion. They; 

 would not be kept in fear of the country jus-, 

 tice who gets the automobilists and their fines 

 bv his speed tray system. 



"Charles T. Terry cf Xew York City, George 

 H. Stillwell of Syracuse and George C. Diehl 

 of Buffalo, representing the automobile asso- 

 ciations, insisted that if the automobiles were 

 to be taxed, other vehicles using the road 

 also should be taxed proportionately, pointing 

 out that otherwise the automobile tax would 

 be unconstitutional. 



Senator Jothan P. Allds, chairman of the 

 Senate Finance Committee, said that if some 

 new scheme of taxation to meet the cost of- 

 repairing the good roads was not devised, the 

 whole scheme of good roads construction was 

 likely to fall. He pointed out that it was 

 demonstrated in Massachusetts that automo- 



cause 52 per cent of the destruction of^ 

 roads there and insisted that they should be; 

 taxed accordingly to meet the expenses of re-' 

 paid in Xew York State. 



ASPHALT ROADS. 



The state of Illinois is experimenting 

 liquid asphalt, a commercial preparation, in 

 its road making. The asphalt is mixed with ] 

 the black loam of that state, known as 

 "gumbo," and the short mileage already built I 

 is a very fine road, but it is not known how | 

 long it will last. The asphalt-gumbo road 1 

 is smooth and hard now, after rain and snowj 

 which made the dirt roads very muddy. This, 

 kind of road has been built at about or 

 the cost of macadam, and is said r 

 dusty in summer. Whether or not the a- 

 roads are cheaper and better than rock roads 1 

 in Illinois will be proven only whe.i 

 durability is tested. 



