MICHIGAN ROADS AND. FORESTS 





Good Roads are a Crying Necessity 



But all the Good Roads in the world will not accomplish for the 

 people one half the net results obtained through good telephone 

 service local and long distance. 



fl The Independent (anti-Bell) Telephone System in the middle 

 west excels in efficiency, thoroughness of development, and ter- 

 minal facilities, and costs from 15% to 40% less. Besides it is 

 owned by the people. Not by Eastern bankers. 



LOOK FOR THE SIGN OF THE SHIELD 



Home Telephone Company of Michigan 



and Allied Companies 



HIGHWAY ENGINEERING IN STATE 

 EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 



The Montana Good Roads congress which 

 was held at Billings in June, adopted a reso- 

 lution requesting the legislature to prcvidt 

 departments, which should have special refer- 

 ence to highway engineering, in the State 

 university the State Agricultural college and 

 the School of Mines. In attendance at the 

 congress were a number of leading members 

 of the legislature, who assured the delegate; 

 that such a measure should be introduce 1 at 

 the next i-ession. 



The extension of the state aid principle in 

 the construction and maintenance of high- 

 ways; the enactment of laws in different states 

 providing means for building more and bet- 

 ter roads; ;>nd the recognition by the ;>ub'.ic 

 of the economic necessity for cheaper primary 

 transportation, all indicate the necessity for 

 a more genially distributed knowledge of 

 highway engineering, and that the state uni- 

 versities and colleges should supply it. 



Some states have already established de- 

 partments for instruction in highway engi- 

 neering, in their educational institutions, and 

 in due time will turn out graduates techni- 

 cally and practically taught in road construc- 

 tion. These graduates will become the road 

 makers of the future when a greater and more 

 general advancement will be made in enlarg- 

 ing the percentage of improved roads of the 

 country. 



That it requires technical skill to build good 

 roads is becoming more generally recognized 

 throughout the United States. The problems 

 of modern road construction are not those 

 which can be solved by laymen. Every factor 

 that enters into the subject, from the deter- 

 mination of the location until the final dust- 

 less surfacing is put en, requires the accurate 

 and exact knowledge of the trained engineer. 



Every state in the Union will do well to 

 make highway engineering a part of the cur- 



riculum of its educational institutions. Such 

 a course must naturally result in better road 

 The wagon read has been opened between 

 the Menominee and Marquette iron ore 

 ranges. It is not altogether a finished boule- 

 vard, there being some pretty stiff grades 

 and considerable of the surface has yet to be 

 smoothed and sandy spots covered with gravel 

 or other material. 



The steel bridge spanning the Menominee 

 river is a fine one and will last many years. 

 The new road will improve with each suc- 

 ceeding year. It is probably true that the 

 highway connecting these important mining 

 sections will be used more by automobiles 

 than by other forms of vehicles, but the new 

 road will alsc encourage the opening of new 

 farms along its route. The automobile. > serve 

 some such purpose in this respect as the 

 railroads, and good roads are a fine asset 

 for any section. The people are finding out 

 that it is easier and better to pull a ton of 

 produce than a few hundred pounds and old 

 fogies who used to preach that a road that 

 was good enough for their fathers was good 

 enough for the sons are not so plentiful as 

 they used to be. The automobile has proved 

 its utility and while it is often abused by 

 speed maniacs, it is nevertheless a sane and 

 safe means of getting about when properly 

 handled. It is easier to run a car well than 

 badly, there being less discomfort, and less 

 trouble. 



The work of improving the highway be- 

 tween Ishpeming and Humboldt is in prog- 

 ress. The county is working on a stretch of 

 two miles just west of Ishpeming. This is a 

 much-traveled bit of track, and long has been 

 one of the very worst in the c untry. Its 

 improvement has been too long delayed, but 

 now that the start has been made, the wurk 

 should be pushed vigorously to the westward, 

 where a great country is fast opening. It. is to 

 be of much industrial value to the people of 



this section, and it is proper that the highway 

 leading to and from it should be a good one] 

 Humboldt township has a mile or more of 

 very bad road that that township shows no 

 disposition to repair. The county commis- 

 sion has stated that it will be more willing 

 to assist those townships that shew a dispo- 

 sition to help themselves than those that do 

 not, and if this plan be observed Humboldt 

 may be left out of the good road improve- 

 ment for some time to come. 



A road connecting the iron and copper dis- 

 tricts of this peninsula would be a great line, 

 and it is thought that it will be constructed 

 in the near future. This country, with fair 

 roads leading to it, would be traveled by thou- 

 sands of people in the summer months. It 

 would bring a great many visitors from all 

 parts of the country, east and south of us, 

 and it would be the means of bringing much 

 new money to this section. 



WHERE TO SEE OTHER GOOD ROAD 

 BUILDING. 



County Road Commissioner John S. Hag- 

 gerty. "Our office is receiving many inquires 

 from commissioners and other interested in 

 the road-making exhibit at the State fair this 

 week and for the information of inquirers and 

 others who are anxious to learn something 

 ( f our methods would state that we are laying 

 concrete on River road between Sibley and 

 Trenton and on Gratiot road out near the 

 Grotto. We the building a rock asphalt maca- 

 dam road on Jefferson avenue road between 

 the Weir and Vernier roads. To any one in- 

 terested in road construction, we believe our 

 work will be of interest and we invite the 

 fullest inspection possible.' 



Knicker Man wants but little here below, 

 nor wants that little long. 



Bocker And posterity tries to hog that 

 from him. New York Sun. 



