MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS 



PRAISES PRISON LABOR ON ROADS. 



. In an addre'-- lief' re the members of the 

 State Association of County Superintendents 

 of the Poor at its ar.nua' held at Lans- 



inir thi- year. \Y. if. lienr.ett. Kalan 



y's superintendent, dwelt at length on 

 the benefits derived from working jail prison- 

 ers "ii tin- reads of the county He said: 



"A comparison of the -herifT'- hook for the 

 im.ntli.- of X vemher. December, January , 

 February ard March, the first five months that 

 inty triid the -y-tem of \vnrk- 

 nts upon it- public highway^, there 

 rease in the number < 'its of 



over 2.300. The jail committee'- 'ast report 

 .-hewed ten vagrant- for tl'.at period. The po- 

 lice report fir the mm t'.i oi November. 11)11). 

 - but one arrest fir vagrancy. This has 

 usually been one of the heavie-t months of 

 the year for "gentkmen of the road." 



It wa- during the IW.i October -e--ion of 

 the Board of Supervisors that the chairman 

 of the Courty Road C mmission requested 

 that the o innii--i ner- be given the right to 

 nirty pr n the roads in the va- 



ti wr-hip- of Kalair.azoo count}'. He as- 

 serted that if the petition was granted, it 

 d have a great effect on petty crime, an<l 

 that it would eliminate the tramp nuisance. 

 i \v i >f the fact that the sheriff reported 

 :: :.4t; tramps and >. the previous year, 



-eemed like a prediction. How- 



ever, the -upervi-or- unanimous!}- granted the 

 petition, and preparations were immediately 

 made to begin working the prisoners. 



\\Vrk was begun first < n road.- near the city 



. f Ka'amaxi o, with a -quad of fifteen to 



eighteen men I'.rr-b. -tump-, stone, and all 



ere removed. After these roads 



were finished, the men were taken to Pavilion 



-hip. nearly ten miles from Kalamazoo. 



Here two miles of brush along the highway 



:t and burned, and considerable ditching 



was done. A house was rented stoves, cots, 



bedding and other necessary articles installed. 



At the beginning the commissioners ex- 

 pected to put two crew- of fifteen or twenty 

 men each <at work, but finally decided to wait 

 a few weeks to see what the results would be 

 with a single crew. The effect was almost in- 

 -tant: I'he new- goon spreaed that Kal- 



amazi o county, once known as one of the best 

 feeding grounds for hoboes between two 

 ocean poor place to stop in the future. 



After two months the attendance at the jail 

 had run so low that the road gang was called 

 in and preparations were made for manufac- 

 turing tile. Part of the time but two prison- 

 ers were available for this work, when four 

 were needed, and Deputy Sheriff Xash had to 

 act as the fourth man. Three four-ton cement 

 rollers were made, also a 28-foot bunk house 

 with room enough for 18 men. This is warmed 

 by a stove and is well lighted. 



The outlook early last spring was not very- 

 promising for much help from county prison- 

 ers. The jail was practically empty. Only 

 one camp has been maintained with prisoners. 

 Xearly all of the time extra men were hired" 

 at this camp, "as the number of prisoners was 

 too small to supply the dozen shovelers 

 needed. Preference is always given to the 

 discharged prisoners who have been good 

 workers. As a rule a hard drinker is a hard 

 worker, in fact, the be-t obtainable for such 

 work. Very little extra precaution has been 

 found necessary. A few. during the early 

 spring months, walked away, but an extra 

 thirty days' sentence by the circuit judge 

 quieted any inclination along that line. 



These men are given good food and good 

 treatment, and they respond readily to any 

 call the superintendent may make. After 

 serving their sentence, they come out clear- 

 eved. with hardened muscles and good appe- 

 tites, ready to do a man's work. This system 

 is like a two-edged sword it works both 

 ways: a clean, moral and physical uplift for 

 the men. and for the county the making use 

 of what has been waste material a valuable 

 by-product. 



GOOD ROADS EARLE 



Detroit Board of Commerce Delegate to Indianapolis Convention 



BUILT ROAD IN TWO MONTHS. 



The longest strip of road built by one or- 

 ganization this season has been completed and 

 accepted by the State Highway Commission. 

 The highway, constructed of gravel, runs 

 through the townships of Ionia, Orange and 

 Berlin in Ionia countyfi and is 3.994 miles in 

 .ength. The state award is $1,997. With the 

 exception of a single mile of road in Otis 

 to\\nship, this is the first state award highway 

 ever constructed in Ionia county. The fund 

 fcr its construction was raised by popular sub- 

 scription. 



Many interesting features are connected 

 with the construction of the four miles of 

 road, which starts at the limits of the city of 

 Ionia and runs south through the three town- 

 ships. Application was made on Sept. 21, 

 1910, and the road was completed in two 

 months' time. 



$250,000 FOR GOOD ROADS. 



Considerable is being done by the counties 

 of Western Michigan toward securing better 

 wagon roads. In round numbers, a quarter 

 of a million dollars will be expended in 1911 

 for better highways. 



The fifteen townships of Charlevoix county 

 are raising better than $20,000 for the coming 

 year. 



Grand Traverse is under the county system, 

 and its supervisors voted $18,000. . Several of 

 the townships of Kent county are raising $47.- 

 for the purpose of bettering the high- 

 way-. Manistee county's tax for the coming 

 year is in round numbers $23,000. Mecosta 

 ciunty will spend $10.121.86 in 1911. 



Mason county commissioners will have $20.- 



with which to work. Muskegon county, 



since 1895, has expended for improvements 



and maintenance, $350,000. The county will 

 spend $42,729.80 in 1911. 



STONE ROADS FOR CITY. 



City Engineer Terry is preparing to make 

 estimates of the cost of constructing stone 

 roads to connect the city of Flint with the 

 new stone roads that are to be built by the 

 county road commissioners within the coming 

 year. The roads to which he will turn his 

 attention are the Miller, Lapeer, Fenton, 

 Xorth Saginayv and South Saginaw roads, on 

 all of which work either has been done or will 

 be done by the road commissioners next sum- 

 mer. 



Roads Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow 



(Continued from page S) 



trunk line road system of two hundred fifty 

 miles, radiating from Detroit throughout 

 Wayne county. This system will so well pro- 

 vide the county with good roads that when 

 finished no farm in the county will be over 

 three miles from a four-ton load road. 



In addition to this $2,000,000 bond issue we 

 appropriated $200,000, and will get enough 

 state reward to make a grand total of $2,500,- 

 000, all of which is to "be expended in the next 

 live years for good enough roads to satisfy the 

 legitimate demands of to-day in one county. 



Our road officials are building concrete and 

 rock asphalt bonded macadam roads. These 

 are costing a handsome sum to build, but prac- 

 tically nothing for repairs. 



The American Road Builders' Association is 

 hereby invited by authority invested in me by 

 the Board of Commerce of the city of Detroit 

 to hold their 1911 convention in the city 

 "Where life is worth living," Detroit, Michi- 

 gan. 



