MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS. 



11 



ROADSIDE LOCUSTS. 



ivas born; who had made the journey overland 

 rom Puget Sound to the Atlantic coast be- 

 ore there was a railway operating in Michi- 

 ? Why did not this man reap the harvest 

 ic had and join with the others in contribut- 

 ng to the Michigan Bad Lands of today? 

 Secause he was not ignorant. He was edu- 

 ated, mentally and morally. And such a 

 nan is, perforce, a lover of Nature. He knew 

 hat mere dollars are as vapor when relied 

 ipon as tributes to a man's good character. 

 -Ie loved the Rapids of the Grand: he knew 

 vhen he first viewed the valley at this point 

 hat he had found his resting place for all time 

 nd he also knew that the glorious hillside 

 iver yonder, with its beautiful vistas and 

 avines, its brooklets, trees, vines and flowers. 

 11 commanding a view of the ultimate grear 

 ity, would become a splendid and everlasting 

 nonument to his memory as a man in its 

 ruest and best sense. 



When you see a man or woman who, 

 trangers though they may be to you, r.re 

 nown -to you as the guardians, helpers and 

 riends of a pretty little dooryard, a neat and 

 hrifty little garden, take your hat off .to them 

 nd, if you can make the opportunity, con- 

 ratulate them. This will not only cost you 

 Othing, but it will do good to yourself and 

 them. When you see a child pulling and 

 auling away at a young tree, keep your 

 emper and get them interested in your story 

 s to why such cruelty should be forever 

 topped by them. When you see a gang of 

 ielephone or telegraph linemen abusing shade 

 jrees make complaint against them and ask 

 |or an injunction against their continuing 

 Hich abuse. If you see a man or woman 

 those efforts demonstrate that they are 

 lOvices in tree planting, training or culture, 

 nake friends with them and, without seeming 

 !0 butt in, give them the benefit of your ex- 

 erience and knowledge. So far as it is within 

 i'our power to do, never fail to impress upon 

 y child you know or may know the bru- 

 iility of abusing trees, shrubs, vines, plants, 

 owers and grasses, by teaching them how to 



contribute to the life, 'strength and beauty of 

 such growths. 



Do all these things, do them generously, 

 diplomatically, patiently, but never again ask 

 a man to talk upon matters with which he is 

 not thoroughly acquainted. 



The final paper of the afternoon treated on 

 "Planting and Transplanting Trees," and was 

 given by J. Pomeroy Munson, landscape gar- 

 dener. 



Mrs. Sarah Smith, Mrs. Husband, W. N. 

 Cook and others attested interest by making 

 brief remarks and asking questions. 



Refreshments were served by Mr. and Mrs. 

 Udell at the close and the host and hoste.-^ 

 were given a well Reserved vote of thanks -or 

 their hospitality. 



MODEL LUMBER TOWN. 



Few if any communities in the lumber dis- 

 tricts of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan 

 can boast of conditions more ideal than the 

 village of Xahma, Delta county. The town 

 possesses an electric lighting system, a water- 

 works plant, a well equipped fire department, 

 an opera house, a first-class hotel, schools, 

 churches, wide, well graded streets that are 

 lined with shade trees, a natural park of pic- 

 turesque beauty and a fine water front. Every 

 house, from that occupied by a high official 

 down to the humblest employe, is substan- 

 tial, roomy and well situated. Wages are 

 good, living is reasonable, and everything pos- 

 sible is done to make life agreeable to those 

 who live there. 



Nahma ana the country for forty miles 

 back are owned by the Bay de Noquet Lum- 

 ber Company. This concern is one of the 

 largest and most successful in the Upper 

 Peninsula, and it shares its prosperity with 

 its employes. During the busy season the 

 mills of the company employ over 300 men, 

 and the logging camps use 400 more. To 



transport the timber from forest to town a 

 private railroad is operated. It possesses 

 forty miles of trackage its own telegraph sys- 

 tem, and 100 cars and four locomotives. Every 

 board of the many million feet of lumber 

 produced is sold on the dock at Nahma and 

 transported from there by the purchasers. 

 But little of the product is moved by rail, 

 and the greater portion of it is taken south and 

 -UIM aip aouanbasuoa B sy 'SJSSSSA uo }s3 

 ter's output accumulates on dozens of docks 

 that aggregate several miles of water 

 frontage. 



The ships which transport the lumber are 

 loaded by Indians, a branch of the Chippewa 

 tribe, who live at Nahma. The men are paid 

 forty-five cents an hour for this work. The 

 Indian village is ruled over by Chief Kissis, 

 a venerable red man of eighty-four years. 



The residents of Nahma, instead of finding 

 life lonely and irksome, have many amuse- 

 ments, and are a happy lot. They have lite- 

 rary and dancino- clubs, theatrical entertain- 

 ments, snowshoeing and tobogganing during 

 the winter, while in the summer recreation is 

 found in baseball and boating and picnic 

 parties. 



The government of the village is model. 

 There is only one saloon allowed to do busi- 

 ness in Nahma, and it is under the supervision 

 of the lumber company. Gambling is strictly 

 forbidden. The saloon closes at nine o'clock 

 at night and does not open until seven o'clock 

 in the morning. All electric lights in the town 

 are extinguished at nine-thirty o'clock, and, 

 except when some sort of an entertainment 

 is going on, the community retires at a health- 

 ful hour. There is one physician in town, a 

 man of unusual ability, and he is paid for his 

 services on the assessment plan. 



It is estimated that the Bay de Noquet 

 Lumber Company has timber at the present 

 time sufficient to supply its mills upwards 

 of twenty years. J. C. Brooks, the president, 

 is located at Chicago, but makes frequent 

 trips to Nahma and takes an active part in 

 the management of the affairs of the town. 

 George J. Farmsworth, the vice-president, is 

 the resident manager. 



