MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS 



9 



Here is a Potent Factor in all Good Roads Work 



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 ment. There is no wagon built which can show an equal record in durability and strength. 



The points of superiority in Watson Wagons are so many that we cannot outline them in 

 this space. Send for our new catalog today. Investigate Watson Wagons when you are about to purchase any 

 dumping wagons, for they are first in improved features and proven value. 



Watson Wagon Co., Canastota, N. Y. 



Michigan Road Makers' Association 



W. W. Todd, Jackson, President; P. T. Colgrove, Hastings, First Vice-President ; C. C. Rosenbury, Bay City, Second 

 Vice-Piesident; E. N. Hines, Detroit, Secretary; E. B. Smith, Detroit, Treasurer. 



Board of Governors: Royal T. Taylor, Cheboygan; D. L. Case, Detroit; Frank F. Rogers, Lansing; W. W. 

 Trayes, Hancock. 



EIGHT MORE COUNTIES 



ADOPT GOOD ROADS 



The question of the m adoption of good roads 

 was submitted in 29 counties in Michigan at 

 tli' April election. The result was not par- 

 ticularly encouraging to the friends of the 

 n >;ul movement. 



Three of the counties voting yes, Gogebic, 

 Ontonagon and Schoolcraft, are in the upper 

 peninsula. With their vote nearly every coun- 

 ty of the 1") north of the straits of Mackinaw 

 is now tin the right side of the good roads 

 c< 'lutnn. 



Kalamazoo county, which went against good 

 mads two years ago, turned about this time 

 and ga\e a substantial majority in favor of the 

 plan. Barry and Antrim both voted against 

 the plan because of local issues; both of these 

 Counties contain townships that are now build- 

 ing or have already built good roads of their 

 own. 



State Highway Commissioner F.arle is not 

 discouraged by the defeat and will try again 

 in many counties next spring. He says: 



"Generally speaking the cities have voted for 

 guild roads because it serves to bring farmers 

 t" town oftener," said Mr. Earle. "However, 

 the cities voted against local option generally. 

 The saloon men urged their forces to vote no 

 on all questions so as to he sure that there 

 was no mistake and so the good roads proposi- 

 tions suffered in counties where there was a 

 tight on local option." 



Following is a list of the counties in which 

 the proposition was submitted and the result: 



Antrim 'No. 



Ucona No. .... 



No. 



Branch No. .... 



Calhoun No. 



Charlevoix No. 



Clare No. 



Katun No. 



' lenesee Yes. 



Gogebic Yes. 



Grand Traverse Yes 



Hillsdale No. 



Huron No. 



Iack>on No. 



Kalamazoo Yes 



r -ake No. ...'.' 



-apeer No. 



Livingston Yes 



Midland No. ' 



tlontmorency No. 



Dgemaw Yes. 



Yes. 



Ontonagon Yes. 



Osceola No. .... 



Oscoda No. .... 



Otsego No. .... 



Presque Isle No. 



Schoolcraft 



Shiawassee No. 



Tuscola No. 



The counties now under the county road 

 system are Alger. Alpena, Baraga, Bay, Ben- 

 zie. Cheboygan. Chippewa, Delta, Dickinson, 

 Kmmet, Genesee, Gladwin, Gogebic, Grand 

 Traverse, losco, Iron, Kalamazoo, Kalkaska, 

 Luce, Manistee, Marquette, Mason, Mecosta, 

 M cnominee, Missaukee, Muskegon, Oceana, 

 Ogemaw, Ontonagon, Saginaw, Schoolcraft, 

 \\ ayne and Wexford. 



SPENDS MONEY ON ITS ROADS. 



People, who live outside Bloomer township. 

 Montcalm county, and have occasion to drive 

 through it. have long known that, compared 

 with most of our neighboring townships, we 

 arc n ad builders, writes a correspondent liv- 

 ing in Bloomer. We have often wasted both 

 time and money by graveling before a road 

 had been properly turnpiked and drained, but 

 we have been guilty of as little waste in this 

 direction as almost any township in this or 

 adjoining counties. 



\Yc have raised from $1,000 to $3,000 a year 

 for a long time for graveling alone, and much 

 good turnpiking and draining was done by the 

 pathmasters under the old labor tax law. 



In the past year our road officials have 

 graded about six miles of roadbed and grav- 

 eled over four miles, besides any amount of 

 patching in both grades and gravel. 



Our people are coming to know that a 

 good road system in Michigan does not neces- 

 sarily mean macadam or stone roads, but the 

 application of good road sense and perma- 

 nent methods in road construction with as 

 little waste in labor and material as possible. 



lage of Roscommon at the intersection of 

 Lake street with the section line between sec- 

 tion 5 and 6; running thence north 40 degrees 

 east to the county line between Roscommon 

 county and Crawford county, being 4,500 feet. 



Road B Thence running east along the 

 county line to a point 700 feet west of the 

 corner of sections 2 and 3 in T. 24 N. 2 W., 

 being 11,700 feet. 



Road C Beginning at the intersection of 

 Main street with the east and west Vn line of 

 section 6, T. 24 N. 2 W. ; thence running north- 

 westerly to the township line of Gerrish town- 

 ship, bein 5,100 feet. 



Road D Commencing at the intersection of 

 Lake and Second streets, thence running 40 

 degrees and 45 minutes west, 1,100 feet; thence 

 running along what is known as the Muck 

 road 3,400 feet to the line of Gerrish township. 



All work must begin by the 15th of May, 

 l!Mi'.i, or sooner at the option of the contractor, 

 and completed by the 15th of cto'ber, 1009. 



D. E. Matheson is the clerk, and his address 

 is Roscommon. 



BIDS ON ROADS ASKED FOR. 



The township of Higgins, Roscommon coun- 

 tv. will receive bids up lo 1 p. m.. April 26, for 

 the constructing of gravel mads in said town- 

 ship, in accordance with the specifications to 

 be furnished to applicants de.-iring t<> bid by 

 the township clerk of said township, separate 

 bids will be received for the making of either 

 road \ or 1! or C or D. but the township 

 board reserves the right to accept the bid for 

 such a portion of the said lines as may to 

 them seem proper to be granted to any one 

 bidder. 



Road A Beginning on the line of the vil- 



WOULD BELT JACKSON COUNTY 

 WITH GOOD ROADS. 



The Chamber of Commerce of Jackson has 

 indorsed the county good roads system. At 

 a meeting of good roads enthusiasts held at 

 Jackson, State Highway Commissioner Earle 

 said that no county in Michigan is better 

 adapted to the county road system than Jack- 

 son county. He said further that 125 miles 

 of good roads would form a trunk system, 

 with Jackson the center, leading from Bath 

 Mills. Napoleon. Liberty, Hanover and Hor- 

 ton. Concord. Springport and Rives Junction, 

 Munith and other county centers to Jackson, 

 'besides connecting the larger villages with 

 good gravel highways. The system can In- 

 built in five years, he said, with the assistance 

 of the sl-ite reward, without raising a cent in 

 addition to the one-mill tax. This would cost 

 the owner of a $3,000 farm $3 a year, and the 

 owner of a $2.00(1 village or city home $2 a 

 year, and it would be worth ten times its cost 

 to every taxpayer. Mr. Earle predicted that 

 Jackson would be advertised all over the 

 slate as the good roads county, and farm land 

 would sell for $:20 to $-10 an acre more than it 

 docs today. 



The voters of Hertford township. Van Bti- 

 ren county, took a lively interest in the road 

 question in the annual township meeting. The 

 electors voted the sum of $4.000 to carry on 

 the work of highway improvement during the 

 coming year. 



