MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS. 



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THE COST OF STONE ROADS. 



Royal J. Taylor, county road commissioner 

 of Cheboygan county, has submitted ,a state- 

 ment of the cost of the Black River Stone 

 road, built by him under the State reward law. 

 He says: There has been so much said about 

 the excessive cost of building this kind of road 

 that I believe it best to let the tax-payers of 

 Cheboygan county know how much they have 

 been swindled by this means, so that the peo- 

 ple can best decide which kind of road they 

 will have for their money, viz: A first class 

 stone road, a second class gravel road, or the 

 common dirt and mud trails which are so com- 

 mon. As 



One day through the primeval wood 

 A calf walked home as a good calf should, 

 And made a trail all bent askew, 

 A crooked trail as all calves do. 



The trail was taken up next day, 

 By a lone dog that passed that way, 

 And then a wise bell-weather sheep 

 Pursued the trail o'er vale and steep, 

 And drew the flock behind him, too, 

 As all bell-weathers always do. 



And from that day o'er hill and glade, 



Through these old woods a path was made, 



And many men wound in and out 



And dodged and turned and bent about, 



And uttered words of righteous wrath 



Because 'twas such a crooked path. 



But still they follow, do not laugh, 



The first migrations of that calf, 



And through the winding woodway stalked 



Because they wobbled when they walked. 



This forest path became a lane 



That bent and turned and turned again. 



This forest lane became a road 



Where many a 'poor horse with his load 



Toiled on beneath the burning sun, 



And traveled some three miles in one. 



And thus a century and a half 



They traveled in the footsteps of that path. 



The following statement of expenditure I 

 take from the records in the office of the 

 county clerk: 



Total expenditure for 1900 $ 3,845.04 



Total expenditure for 1907 3,693.14 



Total expenditure for 1908 4,757.17 



Total $12.295.35 



For this expenditure we have four and a 

 half miles of first class stone road, at an aver- 

 age cost of $2. 732.30 per mile. But for the 

 purpose of being fair, and allowing that road 

 building should be tested as a business propo- 

 sition we will add 2<> per cent for the use of 

 the machinery, or the sum of $1.000. making 

 the total expenditure $i:;.29.->.:i5, thus bringing 

 the average cost per mile up to .f:;.'.i:>4. r>::. 



Xow I do not believe we should play the 

 foreign missionary act all of the time, and pay 

 out about $fiOO per year to help other counties 

 to build gooil roads, and keep our calf trail 

 roads in a wabbling condition, when by organ- 

 izing ourselves into n home missionary society 

 we can convert our calf trail roads into first 

 class gravel, or stone roads. By using a little 



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THE HENRY MERCIAN CO., 



43-44 Peninsular Bank Building, 

 Phone Main 6251 DETROIT. 



common sense and energy mixed in with 

 resolution and hard work, to the good roads 

 cause, with the promise that we should be 

 rewarded if we were faithful to our trust, and 

 build roads according to the State specifica- 

 tions, our reward came to our county: 



In 1906, received $1,000 



In 1907, received 1,178 



In 1908, received 1,330 



With another warrant just issued from 



the State Highway Department for... 307 



Making a total paid and due from the 



State Treasury of $3,815 



Received from the township of Benton, 



1907 and 1908 . . 700 



Total received and due from state and 



township $4,515 



Now if it was fair to add $1,000 to the orig- 

 inal cost for the use of machinery, it is but 

 fair to subtract the amount of reward received 

 from the sources above mentioned from the 

 total cost of $13,295.35, thus you can see at a 

 glance that the direct cost to the county is but 

 $8,780.35, or an average cost of $1,951.20 per 

 mile for the stone road. 



Now, brother taxpayers, I will leave it to 

 you which you had better have, a stone road 

 at the above cost, or a second class gravel 

 road at about $2,250 or more per mile, or will 

 you retain your wabble-shanked calf roads 

 indefinitely. 



MICHIGAN HOLDS THE RECORD. 



Three hundred and twenty-six miles of good 

 roads have been built in Michigan in the last 

 three years and a half, which is a record not 

 equaled except by New York, and these roads 

 have been inspected and Iheir construction 

 supervised by the state highway department 

 at a less cost than in any other state. The 

 cost of inspection in Michigan has been less 

 than one per cent, while the cost in other 

 States has been not less than five per cent. 



These are some of the facts whicli Highway 

 Commissioner Earle will cnbody in his annual 

 report to Governor Warner, in which he will 

 cover the work of the department since it was 

 organized under his supervision in July, 1905. 

 [n that period application has been made for 

 stale a ill in the construction of 562.2 miles of 

 good roads- The applications were principally 

 fur aid for macadam and gravel roads, it being 

 proposed I" construct '-".'1 miles of gravel road 

 and 251 miles of macadam. There has been a 

 tolal of :>27 miles of good roads completed. 

 ()f the total mileage completed. !.">:! miles are 

 macadam roads, 140 miles gravel. :>.(> miles are 

 of stone bottom with gravel top, 2.5 gravel 

 bottom and stone top and 1 mile of low-grade 

 gravel road. There is pending the reward for 

 1 27 miles of gravel road and 83.9 of macadam. 

 This shows, Mr. Earle points out. that lie has 

 gradually weaned the people from macadam 

 roads for country use to good gravel roads. 

 which serve every purpose just as well and are 

 not injured by automobiles as are macadam 

 roads, and they cost less. 



The department has received applications for 

 .*H>s. <;]:; in .state rewards for road building: it 

 has paid $22S.21." and there is now pending 



application for $149,786. The total amount 

 appropriated for rewards was $320,000. 



Mr. Earle has said frequently that the good 

 road laws of this state are the best road laws 

 in the country. This opinion has -been ex- 

 pressed by road makers of other states. He 

 says, also, that except for a few changes in 

 details of the county and township road laws, 

 there are no changes required in the present 

 system. He adds that a larger appropriation 

 will of course allow for the construction of 

 more good roads each year, and declares that 

 with the record his department has made in 

 keeping down the expenses of supervising the 

 construction he cannot see why the legislature 

 should refuse to give more funds. 



MICHIGAN ROAD NOTES. 



R. D. Graham, tlie Grand Rapids banker 

 who is a member of the Kent district roads 

 commission, is opposed to the idea of taking 

 pay for services out of the money raised for 

 the use of the commission in building roads. 

 "The township could not pay me for the work 

 I am doing," says Mr. Graham. "I could not 

 do it for pay. I am interested in the work, 

 which I believe is a mighty good one, and 

 am willing to give my time to it. I can see 

 that the case might be different with some 

 of my colleagues than with me for various 

 reaxms and do not object to their getting pay 

 if they can from their own townships." 



The improvements to the hill leading out 

 of Glen Haven, Leelanau county, are completed 

 and they make one of the finest and most ex- 

 tensive pieces of road making for the distance 

 covered ever accomplished in that part of 

 Michigan. The hill was cut seventeen feet at 

 the top and raised twelve feet at the bottom, 

 making an eight foot grade to the hundred, 

 and has both up and down roads, the up road 

 being well covered with material found in the 

 hill, a natural mixture of heavy gravel and 

 clay. The go down is of the natural soil and 

 is an easy descent for the heaviest loads. The 

 job cost $1,100 and was paid for by D. H. Day 

 personally. F. S. Haswell, civil engineer of 

 Benzie county, had charge of the job. 



The good roads question in Calhoun county 

 will be agitated vigorously during the winter 

 months. Farmers are anxious to have good 

 roads and have signified their willingness to 

 do their share in promoting the project. Xo 

 one township in the county possesses the poor 

 roads which Benton is noted for. The voters 

 two years ago voted down a proposition to 

 bond the township in order that money might 

 be forthcoming for improving the highways, 

 but it is believed a different sentiment now 

 exists. Prominent farmers of the township 

 are of the opinion that Benton will yet blaze 

 the way for other townships to follow in the 

 matter of good roads. 



Thomas H. McFwing, of Lansing, is a can- 

 didate for the office of state highway com- 

 missioner to succeed Horatio S. Earle, whose 

 term expires next spring. 



The residents of Carlton. Barry county, are 

 proud of the fact that they have what has 

 been pronounced one of the best stretches of 

 good roads in the State. The road was made 

 according to the requirements of the State law. 

 A part of the road leading from Hastings to 

 Freeport has always been notoriously poor, 

 especially at the Hastings end. whore it would 

 lia\e thrown into the shade the fabled "rocky 

 road to Dublin." It was sandy and hill}-, and 

 "Figure 8 Hill" itself was an obstacle against 

 traffic. In the process of building the good 

 road this hill was shaved down into a knob 

 over which a heavy load may now be easily 

 hauled. The mile of road extends from the 

 Carlton-Hastings town line, near the south 

 end of Leach lake, north to Welcome Corners. 

 The people of Carlton are now planning to 

 extend the road a mile north of Welcome 

 ( '< i! ners. 



