MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS. 



15 



SAGINAW VALLEY'S 



PIONEER RAILROAD 



In view of the fact that this is Saginaw's 

 Semi-Centennial year, it is of interest to note 

 that it is also the semi-centennial year of the 

 first Saginaw railway system, the Flint & Pere 

 Marquette Railroad Company having been or- 

 ganized January 21, 1857. The provisions of 

 the law granting lands to this company were 

 accepted February 24. The map of location of 

 line was filed in the office of the secretary of 

 state August 1, and in the general land office, 

 Washington, August 18, the work of grading 

 the road began in August, 1858, and up to 

 March, 1859, about $10,000 had been expended 

 in grading. Track laying was commenced at 

 East Saginaw August 11, 1859. The first freight 

 handled over the road was 32,000 feet of lum- 

 ber from Smith's mill, 13 miles out to East | 

 Saginaw August 11, 1860. The first 20-mile 

 section of road was accepted by Gov. Wisner 

 Sept. 5, 1860. The road was opened to Mt. 

 Morris, 26 f / 2 miles, in January, 1862. The other 

 section of the road and tributary line's were 

 opened as follows Flint & Holly railroad, Flint 

 to Holly, November 1, 1864, 17 miles; East 

 Saginaw to Midland, December 1, 1967, 20 

 miles; Midland to Averill, December 1, 1868, 

 l /2 miles; Averill to Clare, November, 1870, 23 

 miles; Clare to west line township 17 north, 

 range 6 west. December 29, 1870, 10^ miles; 

 total miles. 111. Bay City & East Saginaw, 

 November, 1867, 13 miles. The Holly, Wayne 

 & Monroe railroad -was completed in 1872, 

 bringing Saginaw into direct communication 

 with Toledo. 



The United States Congress in 1856 granted 

 land to the state of Michigan to aid in the. con- 

 struction of certain railroads in the state, 

 among them the F. & P. M. to Flint. The state 

 of Michigan, by an act of the legislature in 

 1857, conferred upon the F. & P. M. Co. as 

 much of the lands granted by congress as per- 

 tained to a railroad from Pere Marquette to 

 Flint, the grant comprising 511,492.22 acres, of 

 which, however, 131,000 acres were granted to 

 the F. & P. M., G. R. & I. and J. L. & S. rail- 

 roads in common. These lands, located west 

 of the Saginaw river and in the counties 

 through which the road runs, now comprise a 

 large proportion of the finest farms in this 

 section of the state. 



The first engine used on the road was called 

 the " Polly wog," a small second-hand locomo- j 

 tive, bought at Schenectady, N. Y.. for $2,000 \ 

 It was shipped on the schooner "Quickstep" 

 from Buffalo, arrived at Saginaw August 31, 

 and was landed at East Saginaw September 2, 

 1859. The same machine, after a thorough re- 

 building, was still in service on the road under 

 the name of "Pioneer" into the eighties. 



The road was opened January 20, 1862. and 

 on that day an excursion ride over the road 

 was tendered to a large number of citizens. 

 The train was made up of the "Pollywog," one 

 baggage car and one coach, this equipment 

 being all there was at the disposal of the pas- 

 senger department of the road at that time. 

 The time occupied in making the trip to Mt. 

 Morris was four hours, and the return trip took 

 five hours. 



From January 20 to 27 the receipts of the 

 road from passenger traffic were $102.54 and 

 the next week $100.31. The freight and passen- 

 ger business from January 20 to December i, 

 1862, totaled $31,764.37, of which $19,254.15 

 came from passenger traffic. 



Although the F. & P. M. was the first rail- 

 road company that adopted any practical 

 method of opening up the Saginaw region it 

 was not the first railroad projected here. As 

 early as 1835 the old city of Saginaw, or rather 

 the embryo city, dreamed of great things in 

 the way of railroads, and in that year was or- 

 ganized the Saginaw & Mt. Clemens Railroad 

 Company, for the construction of a railroad 

 from Saginaw to Mt. Clemens, via Lapeer. The 



capital stock of the company was set down as 

 $1,000,000, but the project never matured. 



In 1837 the Saginaw & Genesee Railroad 

 Company was organized to construct a railroad 

 from Saginaw to the center of Genesee' county, 

 with a capital stock of $400,000. This was 

 another paper railroad that never matured. 



The construction of the Jackson, Lansing & 

 Saginaw railroad was first projected in 1856. 

 Two companies were organized for this pur- 

 pose, the Amboy & Traverse Bay Railroad Co., 

 making Jackson a point in the line of the road, 

 was organized in December, 1856, witli a cap- 

 ital of $5,000,000; the other, the Amboy, Lan- 

 sing & Traverse Bay Railroad Company, mak- 

 ing Albion a point, was organized January 23, 

 1857, with equal capital. The Saginaw Valley 

 & St. Louis railroad was surveyed in June, 

 1871, and the contract for grading, etc., was let 

 on September 15, 1872. A branch of the De- 

 troit, Saginaw & Bay City railroad was com- 

 pleted to East Saginaw in January, 1879. 



It will thus be seen that Saginaw has been 

 quite a railroad center in the past, since the 

 general offices of a number of lines have been 

 located here. The progress of time and spirit 

 of combination has welded the various small 

 lines into parts of larger systems, but with it 

 have come substantial advantages in the way 

 of transportation facilities for the distribution 

 of Saginaw-made goods to the great distrib- 

 uting centers of the United States and other 

 lands. Saginaw Courier-Herald. 



LUMBER TRUST NEXT. 



The Bureau of Corporations is now on the trail 

 of the lumber trust, says a Washington corres- 

 pondent. It is not definitely known that there is 

 such a creature, but there are various signs 

 which seem to indicate its existence. The mantle 

 of Garfield has fallen on Smith and he is known 

 to be as relentless toward all forms of trusts as 

 he is diligent in his pursuit of them. If he brings 

 iai the scalp of this particular institution he will 

 stand an excellent chance of becoming the idol 

 of all the trust leathers in the community. 



So far as an actual entity is involved, it is 

 practically certain that there is no lumber trust. 

 It certainly is not incorporated. There are trade 

 associations, such as the Hemlock Association, the 

 White Pine Association, and others composed of 

 producers of and dealers in other lines of lumber. 

 Among these various groups there appears to be 

 a more or less definite affiliation and co-operation. 

 The price of all lumber has advanced enormously 

 within recent years, and the advance in the price 

 of different kinds of lumber is practically uniform 

 throughout the country. The assumption is that 

 this advance is directed and controlled by some 

 central agency employing methods which will 

 bring it within the provisions of the Sherman act. 



The price of lumber, speaking generally, has 

 doubled within the last ten or twelve years. It is 

 claimed that the increase in the value of "stump- 

 age," in wage rates and the cost of distribution is 

 not sufficient to warrant the great advance in 

 lumber prices. This is as it may be, and it is 

 well to have the facts determined. If, however, 

 (he bureau begins its work with the hypothesis 

 reported in the news accounts of the enterprise, 

 it is more than likely to get what is technically 

 known as an "eye opener" when it gets into close 

 grip with the men who make sawdust. The state- 

 ment is made that lumber which sells at $45 to $48 

 a thousand feet costs only $10 for its production 

 and distribution. If a start is made from that 

 point it is quite certain that the steps taken will 

 have to be retraced and a beginning made in 

 some other direction. This holds for two rea- 

 sons : First, it is not at all probable that any such 

 profit is made, and second, it is not a question of 

 the percentage of profit made, but the exaction of 

 unreasonable profit by means of practically mon- 

 opolistic combination. Only in the case of public 

 or semi-public corporations is there as yet any 

 attempt at Federal restriction of profits. 



The peculiarities of this case or chase arc such 

 as to make it one of the most interesting and per- 

 haps one of the most important in all the exper- 

 ience of "trust busting." 



CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING. 

 Advertising in the classified col- 

 umns of the "State Review" 

 will be inserted at the rate of 7 

 cents per agate line. 



Help Wanted. 



THE STATE REVIEW wants reliable subscrip- 

 tion agents in all parts of Michigan. Liberal 

 commission. Address State Review, 1406 Ma- 



_jestic Bldg., Detroit. 



BOOKKEEPER and general office work; sales- 

 man for gent's furnishing. 79 Home Bank, De- 

 troit. 



COLLECTOR Experienced collector, with best 

 of references, wanted at once; good money for 

 right man. Business Men's Credit Exchange, 

 325 Hammond Bldg., Detroit. 



YOUNG MAN, good habits and scholar, position 

 to keep cost and material in sheet metal works. 

 W. J. Burton Co., 164 Larned st. west, Detroit. 



Business Opportunities. 



BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY Men of business 

 interested in a new field for making money will 

 find in our proposition what they are seeking. 

 We have a new plan in the Mail Order line that 

 will please those seeking a good investment 

 with large profits. A fortune for the right 

 person. The F. H. Alden Co., 168 E. Fourth 

 st., Cincinnati, O. 



FOR SALE or will exchange for good real es- 

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 town in Gratiot county, doing, good business; 

 will inventorv about $3,000. Montney & Jones, 

 49 Hodges Bldg., Detroit 



IF YOU WANT a business that will pay several 

 thousand dollars annually, start a mail order 

 business; we furnish everything necessary; only 

 few dollars required. Catalog and particulars 

 free. Milburn-Hicks, 708 Pontiac Bldg., Chi- 

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RESIDENT MANAGER wanted in each city or 

 town to represent large manufacturer of com- 

 plete, line high-grade automobiles ; must invest 

 small amount of money, which is amply secured ; 

 good salary, expenses and commission to de- 

 sirable party with Al references. Send applica- 

 tion and references to our general manager, H. 

 L. Palmer, 46 Dev ishire st., Boston. 



Real Estate. 



GENTLEMAN'S country home of near 30 acres 

 in Bloomfield hills, on Orchard Lake gravel 

 road, near Pontiac; 10 minutes' walk to electric 

 cars to Detroit; solid brick, 12 rooms, with 

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 beautiful lake; orchard, fruits, flowers, etc., in 

 season; other buildings; a delightful, restful 

 and retired home to one able to buy such a 

 home. Price $16,000. HOOD, 27 and 28 Cleland 

 bldg., Detroit. 



FARM FOR SALbOn account of old age, 

 365 acres, part or all of it, about 100 acres 

 in cultivation, well located; three miles from 

 county seat, I 1 /? miles from smaller town, 

 with canning factory, railroad crossing one 

 corner 6f farm; a young orchard; crops 

 good, climate fine; price reasonable; tele- 

 phone in house. P. T. JACOBSEN, Erin, 

 Tenn., R. F. D. No. 4. 



Agents Wanted. 



A GOOD subscription agent wanted in every town 

 in Michigan for the State Review. Liberal 

 commission.. State Review, 1406 Majestic 

 bldg., Detroit, 



