MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS. 



BRANCH COUNTY ROADS. 



Branch county has during the past two or 

 throe years awakened to the advantages of 

 good roads and the interest is still growing. 

 With the advent of the new road law undoubt- 

 edly better and more substantial progress will 

 hereafter be made along this line of needed 

 public improvements. 



Girard township this spring built one road 

 at least that is not only a great credit to it, 

 but sets a pace for others to follow with profit 

 for the entire community. What heretofore 

 has been a deep sand highway has been trans- 

 formed into a splendid hard road, and a wide 

 one, too. It has been given a high crown and 

 well rolled, so that it will shed water promptly. 

 This splendid highway extends from the south 

 line of Girard township to Reed's Corners. 

 Other townships that are contemplating road 

 improvements should examine this stretch of 

 road to Union City and interview Charles 

 Reed in regard to how he accomplished such 

 good results. 



Some good work has also been done on the 

 same road between Hodunk and Union City, 

 but that there are yet some stretches of deep 

 sand. 



It is up to Union township and Coldwater 

 township to get busy and complete the work 

 begun by Girard township. 



Work is under headway in the improvement 

 of the road from Coldwater to Coldwater lake. 

 The underbrush alongside the narrow strip 

 leading north from the head of the lake has 

 been cleared away preparatory to widening 

 the road to 18 feet, thus putting an> end to 

 the former long waits of -one team for an- 

 other. This improvement is to be made in 

 continuous stretch and as much territory cov- 

 ered as $521 will accomplish in making a good 

 road. 



tween Tuscola and Bay county, a distance of 

 4J4 miles, being a continuation of the Tuscola 

 Stone road. 



BRIDGES GO WITH GOOD ROADS. 



In connection with its general work of im- 

 provement, the board of county road commis- 

 sioners' of Wayne county has repaired and 

 planked the Gratiot road bridge over Connor's 

 creek and is now engaged in building a steel 

 truss bridge over Monguagon creek, at River 

 road, and a steel girder bridge over the county 

 drain on Fort street. 



Commissioner Hines explains that this work 

 is necessarily being done at the expense of 

 the county rather than at the expense of the 

 townships, because once the commission un- 

 dertakes to improve a county road it must be 

 a continuous job. It cannot force the town- 

 ships to fix up the bridges. 



"The outlet for Monguagon creek, under 

 River road, was insufficient, and every year it 

 overflowed and ruined the roadway," says Mr. 

 Hines. "The abutments _ of the Gratiot road 

 bridge were bad and the Fort street bridge 

 was dangerous." 



GOOD ROADS NOTES. 



Mayor \\". D. Burke, of Owosso, is out with 

 a plea to the aldermen to quit wasting money 

 on temporary repairs and raise a slightly 

 larger sum for enduring construction work, 



He declares that the building of gravel 

 roads year after year, only to have the gravel 

 washed or worn away, and the cleaning of 

 tile drain is short-sighted. Stone roads and 

 sanitary sewers should replace these 'make- 

 shifts. 



The mayor's talk made- a strong impression 

 and he was loudly applauded by the citizens 

 who heard him. 



ROADS A DISGRACE. 



Henry B. Joy, of Detroit, says: "The roads 

 adjacent to Detroit, leading the surrounding 

 prosperous cities and villages are scarcely 

 worthy of the name. In the fall and spring 

 they are almost impassable to any kind of a 

 vehicle and a disgrace to the community and 

 the state, and the remainder of the year after 

 slight rainstorms they become almost as bad. 

 The road between Detroit and Toledo beggars 

 description. Sixty miles long between two 

 large cities, it is a practically impassable bar- 

 rier of mud. The road between Detroit and 

 Ann Arbor, part of the through road route 

 to Chicago, and many prosperous cities in 

 Michigan, is a most deplorable highway. It is 

 almost impassable from Detroit to Ann Arbor, 

 and from there on through Michigan to Chi- 

 cago it is nearly as bad until you get down 

 into Indiana, where good macadam roads are 

 available. There is no use of further details 

 as to other main arteries, Plymouth, Pontiac, 

 Bay City, Saginaw, Rochester, Mt. Clemens, 

 etc.; they are all alike." 



HILLSDALE COUNTY IN LINE. 



Grade stakes are already set for graveling 

 the highway leading directly east from Hills- 

 dale in Adams township, for a distance of 

 two and one-half miles east of the Hillsdale 

 township line. 



It is quite possible that the road will also 

 be .improved through Hillsdale township 

 toward Hillsdale city. 



Fayette township was the first in Hillsdale 

 county to folow the provisions of the new law, 

 and a number of stretches of fine highway 

 have been constructed in that township', which 

 are giving fine satisfaction, and which will be 

 extended from time to time. 



BAY COUNTY ROADS. 



Taxpayers of the Township of Merritt, Bay 

 county, have petitioned the county road com- 

 mission to at once lay out, designate and 

 establish, as a county road, the highway 

 known as the Kinney road, commencing, at 

 the Tuscola Stone road, between, sections 29 

 and 32, thence east to the county line ]>c- 



The City of Iron Mountain has ordered a 

 new and powerful stone crusher. It is a much 

 more powerful machine than the old one, 

 which has been sold. It is guaranteed to 

 crush from twenty to fifty tons of rock per 

 hour, depending upon the sie of material. 



The two and a half miles of macadamized 

 roadway that the Muskegon coninty road com- 

 missioners have been building on the Cedar 

 Springs road eastward from the Half Way 

 House is completed. The work of macad- 

 izing a part of the angling road to Lake Har- 

 bor from Muskegon has begun. 



The City of East" Lansing will do much 

 work on its roads this year. 



The City of Hancock will purchase a ten- 

 ton road roller for use in macadamizing its 

 streets. 



Kent county must 'have good roads or no 

 rural mail delivery, is the ultimatum sent out 

 from Fourth .Assistant Postmaster. General P. 

 V. DeGraw,.who, in reply to the postoffice re- 

 port from Grand Rapids last month on the 

 conditions of. travel on .rural routes, has sent 

 notices to all the road commissioners on rural 

 routes frpm-JMo. 1 to 14 that no mail will be 

 delivered after the first of October on rural 

 routes unless traveling conditions .are im- 

 proved. 



.The ultimatum was sent out because some 

 of the roads in and around Grand Rapids are 

 very nearly impassable during the-wet months 

 of the year, and mail carriers, who get small 

 pay at the least, are kept overtime, on the 

 roads, while their horses are worn out. In his 

 way Uncle Sam, who has a bigger lever than 

 the local authorities, will force good road 

 building. 



The need for better roads in South Arm 

 township, Charlevoix county, was emphasized 

 by an incident which occurred recently. G. 

 G. Haan, of Atwood, who is building a $4,000 

 residence, was in F,ast Jordan and purchased 

 :i -load of fimshjng lumber. Mr. Haan had 



already hauled 2o loads of lumber from an- 

 other town which he would have been, glad to 

 purchase, at F.ast Jordan together with the 

 paint, hardware, .etc., for his house, but; on 

 account of the poor roads in the township, 

 lie was obliged to take his order to a neigh- 

 boring town. East Jordan ought to awake , 

 to the fact that in order to hold the trade of 

 the surrounding country her roads- must be 

 put in a first class condition. 



The board has also been petitioned to adopt 

 as a county road, the highway situated in the 

 township of Merritt: Commencing .at the 

 northwest corner of section 3, T. 13, N, R. 

 6 east, in said township running thence south 

 between said section 3 in Merritt township 

 and section 4 in Portsmouth township, sec- 

 tions. 9 and 10 and sections 16 and 15, Merritt 

 township to where the same intersects the 

 county road known as the -Merritt road. 



W. C. Cornwall, of Saginaw, has been "jack- 

 ing" up the Isabella county authorities on the 

 good roads subject. Mr. Cornwell recently 

 drove from Saginaw to Clare. He says he 

 found the roads in fairly good condition until 

 after leaving Mt. Pleasant. The road be- 

 tween that city and Clare was in a deplorable 

 condition. It was full of ruts and in places 

 almost impassable. Mr. Cornwell says that 

 it "seems., strange' that the farmers and the 

 people of Mt. Pleasant have not taken this 

 up before and brought pressure to bear upon 

 the proper officers to do something in the 

 matter of better roads. If the people are 

 made to thoroughly understand the pecuniary 

 benefits to be' derived from good roads they 

 will not begrudge the small amount that each 

 one will be taxed to carry on the good work. 



McMillan township. Luce county, will -ex- 

 pend a considerable sum of money this season 

 on the improvement of highways. Beginning 

 at the north end of the macadamized road now 

 being built by the county, the township will 

 continue the work the entire length of New- 

 berry avenue to the railroad track. The road 

 north from the South Shore tracks to the 

 Taquamenon river is to be widened and will 

 also receive a heavy coat of gravel, as will 

 also the road between Newberry and Dollar- 

 ville. The township officials manifest a dis- 

 position to abandon the old method of fritter- 

 ing money away in patchwork repairs and will 

 confine the work this 'season to a limited ter- 

 ritory. This is the sensible way. A mile of 

 good road is better than ten miles built rfi a 

 slip-shod manner, and will te of most 'lasting 

 benefit to the taxpayer. 



Eckford township, Calhoun county, is think- 

 ing of taking a turn at Earle's "Good Roads." 

 F. A. Stuart, the Marshall millionaire, has be- 

 come interested in the proposition of repairing 

 the road frorn Marshall to Homer, which 

 passes his farm property, and making it a state 

 reward road. Other farmers' are becoming in- 

 terested and the matter is receiving serious 

 Consideration. 



Springwells township, Wayne county, has 

 sold' its 'issue' of $25,000 of highway improve- 

 ment bonds, And work on Michigan avenue 

 will begin at once.' 



Some gbod work has been' done on the 

 Grand Lake road, 'between Beck's Mill, in Al- 

 pena county, and. the Presque Isle county line. 

 A considerable part of it has been graveled, 

 and all of the bad' spots for th'e entire distance 

 have been filled. The road clear to the coast 

 light is in first-class condition. 



The largest single cargo of cedar posts 

 brought in to a Menominee dock has been 

 unloaded from- the three-masted schooner M. 

 E. Cook. The boat had 21,000 posts aboard. 

 In spite of the fact that reports are anything 

 but encouraging for the. market, the Menom- 

 .inee and Mnrinette yards are. stocking up 

 heavily with cedar products. " 



