MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS 



minus. The work is to be undertaken at once 

 and completed as soon as possible. 



The railroad officials decided to macadam- 

 ize one and one-half miles of the road leading 

 into tlie city of Escanaba, beginning at the 

 north city limits and running north on the 

 old Flat .Rock rui-d. That work is to be done 

 under the supervision of the township officials 

 and no contract for its completion is to be 

 Jed. 



TUSCOLA COUNTY. 



The town board at Cass City opened the 

 = calecl bids for the grading of the center 

 line road. The road to be worked is 5 1-2 

 miles in length and was divided into 14 sec- 

 lions. The bids on all the sections figured 

 sO.'jaa. John Mullen of Indiantcwn was the 

 lowest bidder and the entire job of grading 

 .1 warded to him on his own bid at $3,500. 



CASS 'COUNTY. 



Highway Commissioner Black reports work 

 completed >n the road to Dowagiac past 

 the Beeson schoolhouse, in Cass county, and 

 advises people enroute from Cassopolis to 

 iJmvagiac to continue straight west from the 

 Spaldmg corners to the town line road. West 

 from the Spalding corners to Beeson school 

 house has been put to grade and turnpiked 

 with a view to some day making it a state 

 n wan; road, and from the schoolhouse to 

 the t. wn line the road has been turnpiked, 

 making this a much more desirable road to 

 travel than the so-called prairie road running 

 past the Cherry Grove school house. Work 

 lias been practically stopped now owing to 

 inability to get teams until after harvest. 



CALHOUN COUNTY. 



Disgusted with the poor condition of Battle 

 Creek streets, under present administrative 

 methods, and determined to help out, if pos- 

 sible, an offer which will doubtless be accept- 

 ed, was presented to the council of Battle 

 Creek by the mayor, who read a letter from 

 \V. R. Wooden, in which the latter offered 

 to donate to the city a patent drag, in case 

 the council felt U;at the city could net afford 

 to purchase one. 



Recently a council committee have been 

 investigating several different makes of road 

 rollers. Interested in the matter Mr. Wooden 

 .addressed a letter to the mayor, in which he 

 called the mayor's attention to a patent drag 

 now en the market, which can be bought 

 for $22.50, and which can be operated by one 

 man and a team. It is claimed that the drag 

 is especially useful in street work, as it will 

 remove the bumps and fill in the holes. 



The writer of the letter offered to furnish 

 the city with one, in case the council consid- 

 ered the city could not afford to make the 

 purchase. After a practical demonstration 

 Air. Wooden will take the machine off the 

 city's hands. 



Battle Creek is to have more good roads 

 built under the state award plan. C. W. Post 

 has given impetus to the movement by offer- 

 ing $2,500 towards the cost of building a 

 highway extending five miles out the West 

 Main street route provided the township of 

 Bedford will raise the rest. The $1,000 offered 

 for these roads by the state and the amount 

 which auto owners of Battle Creek would 

 contribute will leave little for the township 

 to contribute, and it is probable that the 

 offer will be accepted. 



At a small expense to a Battle Creek auto- 

 mobile owners, a boulevard, which is sure to 

 be the most popular drive in the vicinity of 

 Battle Creek, is shortly to be completed, as 

 a result of the efforts of farmers residing on 

 the East Main street road. Last year these 

 farmers, by their own efforts raised $900 and 

 built a mile and a fifth of good road on which 

 the state paid an award of $600, running from 

 the top of the "paved hill" out East Main 

 street, to Perrin'.-, corner. This year, these 

 same farmers, encouraged by their success in 

 road building, have raised $600 more to build 



a state road on into the city to a point near 

 VV. R. Wooden's residence, from the end of 

 the road already completed. This road, in 

 connection with the Beadle lake road, forms 

 the boulevard mentioned above. 



The stretch of road built last year, which 

 was constructed under the supervision of 

 Thomas Mitchell, was built largely as the 

 result of the efforts of Clayton Strait, R. B. 

 Cowles, En Cowles and L. W. Underwood, all 

 prosperous farmers out the East Main street 

 road. The stretch of road to be built this 

 year, which will complete the boulevad, is 

 to be two miles in length, and on this the 

 state will pay an award of $1,000. 



Automobile owners have contributed to the 

 fund. 



MASON COUNTY. 



In the next two years the stone roads of 

 Mason county that -were first built, will be 

 overhauled, new tops will be put on depres- 

 sions will be filled, flattened out crowns will 

 be rounded up and all rolled down to a smooth 

 and consistent surface. The roads that are 

 scheduled for this treatment first, are the 

 Avenue road from Ludington to Scouville, 

 seven miles, and A. M. and T. B. road reach- 

 ing from Ludington southeast through Pere 

 Marquette township to Frank Chauvez farm. 

 If this 12 miles of road is made to accord 

 with the requirements of the state law as 

 understood by the state road commissioner, 

 the county's stone road fund will get $12,000 

 of state award money the same as if 12 miles 

 of new stone road had been accepted. 



FINE STONE FOR ROADS. 



The Petoskey Crushed Stone Co. recently 

 organized, with offices at Elks Rapids, has its 

 quarries and crushers at Lamson Siding, 

 about three miles west of Petroskey. This 

 company was organized for the purpose of 

 producing dux, cement and road stone. Stone 

 irom its quarries has proved to be especially 

 adapted for country roads and streets, it being 

 of a very hard variety, at the same time hav- 

 ing all the cementing qualities necessary. This 

 is going to prove of great value to the 

 community, as good roads improvement is 

 01 interest to all, and it is fortunate indeed, 

 that good material of this sort can be se- 

 cured at a reasonable figure. 



This company lurnisnes limestone for the 

 majority of the iron furnaces in the lower 

 peninsula of Michigan, and also furnishes 

 stone for two of the largest cement mills in 

 the state, for the production of Portland 

 cement. The stone in the quarries of the 

 company is of a calcite nature, containing 

 practically no magnesia, which gives an ex- 

 cellent product for the construction of streets 

 and highways. At the present time the com- 

 pany is shipping stone at the rate of from 

 ^5 to 30 cars per day, and has a capacity 

 of about 45 cars a day. 



The plant is one ot the best equipped in 

 the state. While at present the company is 

 not shipping to capacity, it hopes that within 

 the near future :he stone road business will 

 grow to such an extent that it can operate 

 its crusher to its limit. 



A Vulcan 80-ton steam shovel was recent- 

 ly =ct up, and in the near future machinery 

 will be installed to enable the company to 

 carry a large stock pile of the various grades 

 of road and street stone, which will insure 

 prompt shipment at any time. The company 

 would be glad to have road commissioners 

 and others intere.-ted in the construction .of 

 good roads, visit its plant. 



Emmet county is constructing three miles 

 of road, using Petoskey hard limestone, from 

 Petoskey out past the crusher plant, and visi- 

 tors will have a chance to see the kind of 

 road the stone will make. 



The officers of the company are: C. A. 

 \Vhyland, president; E. R. Sly, vice-president; 

 Homer Sly, secretary-treasurer and general 

 manager. All business will be conducted 

 through the geneial offices at Elk Rapids. 



Lake Superior 



Genuine 



TRAP ROCK 



F'or Road Making and Fireproof Con- 

 crete. 



Rail and Lake Shipments. 



Write for prices. 



MARQUETTE STONE CO., 

 Marquette, Mich. 



SANILAC NEEDS AN AWAKENING. 



While at Cass City considerable interest was 

 manifested by a party from Marlette in the 

 state reward roads that have been built out 

 of that village. Several autos were driven 

 over the fine gravel roads and all were loud 

 in their praises of the splendid tracts. One 

 enthusiast wanted to tear up and take home 

 a couple of miles just to show it to the people 

 in Sannac county. Hignway Commissioner 

 Dale was one 01 tne party and was convinced 

 that Sanilac was away behind in the matter 

 of good roads. He expressed himselt that 

 witn such roads it wouid not require more 

 than $50 a mile per year to keep them in 

 splendid repair, and he also thinks -the six 

 miles leading north 01 Marlette could easily 

 be put in shape to get the state reward. It 

 would pay to take more of Sanilac voters 

 to Tuscola county to drive over the ten miles 

 of smooth gravel roads and of Cass City. 



FAVOR BEST ROADS. 



Although the annual report of the state 

 highway commission is not completed, the 

 work has been carried forward far enough 

 to show that in the past fiscal year Michigan 

 has spent more for good roads than ever be- 

 fore in her history. 



Since July 1, 1909, the state has expended 

 in awards for new highways, $138,349. Of 

 this vast amount between $11,000 and $12,000 

 is for roads constructed in 1908, but the re- 

 mainder is for roads built last year. 



The awards which the state pays runs from 

 $250, which is paid for each mile of clay 

 gravel road, to $1,000 for macadam, and it is 

 a noticeable fact that more and more counties 

 are building macadam roads year by year. 



Saginaw county has built by far the largest 

 amount of good roads in the state. It is hav- 

 ing trouble with the thoroughfares, however, 

 both because the quality 01 stone used was 

 not as good as it might have been and be- 

 cause it is extremely difficult to find a firm 

 foundation for a roadway in many part of the 

 county. The universal tendency throughout 

 the state seems tc be in favor of the highest 

 class of stone roads. 



WILL LIVE UP TO AGREEMENT. 



Assurances have been received by the Lans- 

 ing Business Men's Association that the 

 greatly needed repairs to the college macadam 

 .road will be made this season. Engineer 

 Innes, of the InUian Refining Co., who in- 

 spected the road, met Secretary Jenison of 

 the Business Men's Association in Detroit 

 and stated that the repairs be com- 

 to his company that the repa-rs be com- 

 menced at once. The Indian Refining Co. 

 rebuilt the read i<ist year at a cost in excess 

 of the contract price, but agreed to keep the 

 thoroughfare in repair for a specified Lime. 

 Mr. Ir>n" sai.l that the company would live 

 up to the terms of the agreement and would 

 put thi road in first-class shape this year. 



The township of Ida, Monroe county, has 

 sold its issue of $30,000 of road bonds and 

 is prepared to go ahead with its road work. 



