MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS. 



15 



price the operators cleaned up about $3 per 

 cord. Their freight charges are $2.25, costs 

 of peeling from $2.25 to $2.50, and hauling $1. 

 The bark season has ended, May and June 

 being the only months that the bark is loose 

 enough to be peeled successfully. An unusu- 

 ally large quantity of bark was also shipped 

 from points on the Munising line during the 

 present season, and it is a question which of 

 the two districts has shipped the most to 

 the Wisconsin tanneries. In addition to the 

 bark going to these concerns, a large quantity 

 has also been taken from lands owned by 

 the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company for the 

 Munising tannery. The Kenosha tannery has 

 procured from 75 to 85 per cent of the bark 

 shipped. It gives the operators an advantage 

 of 160 pounds in weight, figuring 2,240 pounds 

 to the cord, while the others insist on 2,400 

 pcunds. This, together with the fact that the 

 Kenosha people raised the price early in the 

 season and again before the close, won the 

 jol lit-ri; to them. It is expected that the bark 

 imli'stry- will grow in the territory along the 

 North western railroad line, as the jobbers had 

 excellent success this year. There is an im- 

 mense quantity of hemlock in the territory, 

 so that there will not be a shortage of bark 

 for some years to come. 



BUYS 10,000 ACRES OF TIMBER. 



The McKenzie River Timber Co. has been 

 organized at Grand Rapids with a capital of 

 $750,000, the greater portion of which has 

 been subscribed. The company owns a 10,000- 

 acre tract of timber land in Lane county, 

 Oregon. The estimated cut is 500,000,000 feet 

 of which 90 per cent is yellow fir and the pur- 

 chase price. 



The land is being purchased through John 

 H. Bonnell and Charles H. Chick, of Grand 

 Rapids, who located it. Walter C. Winchester 

 and E. G. Maxwell, of Grand Rapids, C. W. 

 Johnson, of Greenville, inspected the tract 

 which verified fully the original estimates, 

 while Mr. Winchester declares it to be one 

 of the best tracts of standing timber he has 

 ever seen. 



The company does not intend to manufac- 

 ture, but simply hold this timber and an ef- 

 fort has already ben made to secure an option 

 upon it at an advanced price. It is well lo- 

 cated, being upon the McKenzie river upon 

 which logs can be floated to Portland. 



Those interested are lumber and timber men 

 with investors who are familiar with the class 

 of property, either having their location in 

 Grand Rapids or being identified in common 

 properties in the past. The leading stock- 

 holders are: E. G. Filer, R. R. Blacker and E. 

 N. Selling, Manistee; John J. Foster, Johnson 

 Bros., and F. S. Gibson, Greenville; W. C. 

 Winchester, Charles H. Chick, John H. Bon- 

 nell, Daniel McCoy, Claude Hamilton, James 

 M. Barnett, Henry Idcma, John T. Byrne, W. 

 S. Winegar, R. W. Griswold, W. G. Herpol- 

 sheimer, B. P. Merrick and H. J. Dudley of 

 this city, with a number of others both in 

 Grand Rapids and of prominent business cen- 

 ters in the state. 



The organization was completed with the elec- 

 tion of these officers and trustees : Walter C. 

 Winchester, president; J. H. Bonnell, vice-presi- 

 dent ; Claude Hamilton, secretary, and Henry 

 Idema, treasurer. The board consists of these 

 men in addition to the officers, John J. Foster, 

 Greenville ; E. N. Selling, E. G. Filer and R. R. 

 Blacker, Manistee; Charles H. Chick, L. H. 

 \Vithey and B. P. Merrick, of Grand Rapids. 



REFORESTING MICHIGAN. 



The Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company is spend- 

 ing considerable money in carrying out its 

 plan of reforesting pine lands in the Upper 

 Peninsula. Undoubtedly the only exclusively 

 white pine nursery in the Upper Peninsula 

 if not in the whole state of Michigan is the 

 one at Coalwood, in Alger county, operated by 

 the company. 



At this nursery, according to Chief Forester 



Wyman, of Munising, are 75,000 transplants 

 ready to set out. 



There are also at the Xegaunee general 

 nursery of the company from 10,000 to 15,000 

 white pine trees, two years old, which will be 

 transferred this season to the Coalwood 

 nursery. 



Last fall twenty pounds of white pine seed 

 was received from Copenhagen, Denmark, and 

 this will also be planted at the Coalwood 

 nursery. Growing from the seed the trees at- 

 tain the age of two years before they are 

 transplanted. 



At present the company is devoting its at- 

 tention to planting young pines on its cutover 

 lands near Coalwood. 



Forester Wyman estimates that about 40 

 years' time is required for a pine tree to grow 

 to a size that will make it profitable to market. 



The C. C. I. Co., through its chief forester, 

 will also begin shortly to experiment with 

 growing cottonwood to be used for pulpwood. 



A considerable quantity of cottonwood cut 

 tings, which are expected soon, will be planted 

 on the lower lands in the vicinity of Coalwood. 



BIG POWER PLANT PROJECT. 



An immense concern backed by Chicago and 

 eastern capital is seeking admission to Kala- 

 mazoo and through its representative, Frank 

 W. Armstrong, will ask that city for a 30 

 year franchise to do business there. The ob- 

 ject of this concern is to furnish power and 

 heat to the large manufacturing institutions 

 of the city, also to heat business blocks and 

 residences by steam from a central station. 

 Mr. Armstrong is authority for the statement 

 that if granted the franchise desired the com- 

 pany will immediately begin operations and 

 will erect an immense power plant in Kala- 

 mazoo and extend its mains to all points 

 needed, the initial outlay being about $1,500,- 

 000. 



A careful canvass of the local manufactur- 

 ing institutions has been made during the past 

 three months and the proposal has met with 

 almost universal favor wherever considered 

 and in consequence the concern will be able 

 to show contracts for 10,000 horse power 

 already subscribed for there at the outset, he 

 says. 



Mr. Armstrong, in explaining the system in 

 vogue, said: "This is what is known as the 

 gas producer system, that is we make our 

 own gas and burn that for fuel instead of 

 consuming coal to generate power. Under 

 the ordinary methods of consuming coal un- 

 der boilers to produce power 80 per cent of 

 the power or heat in the coal is wasted. By 

 our system the coal is converted into a gas 

 and the gas is used in the engines, thus enab- 

 ling us to utilize three times the heat units as 

 under the present steam process. We can also 

 utilize the by-products from our coal, such as 

 coal tar and ammonia. 



"We are planning to build a 10,000 horse- 

 power plant with provisions to increase it to 

 20,000 horse-power, simply by installing addi- 

 tional machinery. Practically the entire 

 capacity of the plant is now subscribed for. 



"We do not intend to enter the lighting 

 field or in fact do any retail business as that 

 portion of Kalamazoo's business interests is 

 well taken care of now." 



OUR SHOE FACTORIES. 



Bulletin 72, just published by the Bureau of 

 the Census, tells us that in 1905 our Boot and 

 shoe industry had grown to the following pro- 

 portions : 



Establishments 1,316 



Capital invested $122,526,093 



Wage earners, average number I 19,9:.' I 



Yearly wages $69,059,680 



Yearly cost of materials 197,303,495 



Yearly product 320,107,458 



Compared with 1900 the number of establish- 

 ments decreased by 283, but in all the other items 

 there were increases during the five years. Cap- 

 ital increased by 22.7 per cent, and the yearly 

 product by 23.6 per cent. Advertising was 

 mainly the cause of an increase of 80.8 per cent 



in the yearly miscellaneous expenses. Increased 

 use of machinery and cut stock accounts for the 

 small increase (5.7 per cent) in the number of 

 wage earners. Every kind of boots and shoes in- 

 creased in value in the five years, though in most 

 cases the quantity produced did not increase in 

 proportion to the increase in value. 



Ever since the boot and shoe industry began in 

 this country it has been led by the New England 

 States, and more than 40 per cent of it is in 

 Massachusetts alone. That state increased its 

 shoe capital in the five years by $11,952.098, or 

 31.8 per cent, and its yearly product by $27,176,- 

 i.s::. or 23.2 per cent. New York State follows 

 with $14,106,058 capital invested in boot and shoe 

 making, and $34,137,049 yearly product. The ten 

 states next in rank in this industry, according to 

 value of product, are: Ohio, Missouri, Xrw 

 Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Maine. Illinois, New 

 Jersey, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan, in 

 order as named. In capital those states rank 

 the same as in product, except that Wisconsin 

 leads New Jersey. In the five years Missouri 

 rose from seventh to fourth place. Ohio also re- 

 ported more capital and a greater value in pro- 

 ducts in 1905 than in 1900. 



Sixty cities, each having yearly shoe products 

 with $1,000,000 or more, produced four-fifths of 

 the country's total product. Brockton, Mass., 

 leads, followed by Lynn, Haverhill, Marlboro, 

 Boston and St. Louis. Each of these cities has a 

 yearly product of $5,000,000 or more. 



Since 1893 the values as well as the quantity 

 of leather boots and shoes exported have in- 

 creased steadily. Since 1905, when our boot and 

 shoe exports for the first time exceeded $1,000,000 

 there has been nearly a sevenfold increase, and 

 from 1900 to 1905 their value nearly doubled. For 

 the past three calendar years our export record 

 is: 



1904 $7,319,775 



1905 9,650,012 



1906 9,653,751 



American shoes are marketed in England, Ger- 

 many, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Australia, 

 South America, Central America, and even in 

 South Africa and China. We lead the world in 

 shoemaking. 



LONDON'S WATER SUPPLY. 



It has been calculated that if a cistern cov- 

 ering 850 acres and 345 feet high could be con- 

 structed and the water supply of London for 

 one year turned into it the warships of all the 

 world's navies could ride at anchor there. If 

 we now dig a canal 100 feet wide across 

 Europe, from the extreme north to the south, 

 and empty our cistern into it, we shall find 

 that the water in our canal, which is 2,400 

 miles long, will rise to a uniform height o.f 

 ten feet. Every drop of it is consumed by 

 the inhabitants of Greater London within a 

 year; while each man, woman and child living 

 today throughout the world could draw fifty 

 gallons from it without exhausting its con- 

 tents. 



The mains through which these hundreds of 

 millions of tons of water flow for the use of 

 London are almost long enough to stretch a 

 quarter of the way around the earth at the 

 equator, while it would take a locomotive, 

 traveling at the rate of sixty miles an hour, 

 more than four days and night to race from 

 one end of them to the other. 



Nearly 8,000,000 feet of logs will be rafted 

 from Georgian Bay to Bay City this season. 

 These logs are cut from deeded and Indian 

 reserve lands, and do not come under the 

 prohibitive act of the Ontario government. 



Woodworth & O'Malley will bring 4,000,000 

 feet of logs from near St. Ignace to Bay 

 City, one raft of 2,000,000 being made up 

 last week. 



Three million feet of logs will be towed 

 from Bois Blanc island, near Cheboygan, to 

 Bay City during the season, and a number 

 of million feet from the upper part of the 

 state will be rafted here. 



In all approximately 25,000,000 feet of logs 

 will be towed to Bay City during the season 

 to be manufactured. 



