MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS 



uf\\\T Tf\ rrWttTPI TPT the crown built up and by the use of the roller county in the sum of $100,000 was carried and 



nUW l\J VA-fPIO JiIVUV^l n jt yQU have a well compacted crown to $50,000 of these bonds were disposed of in . 



A SAND-CLAY ROAD withstand the penetrating effect of rain and June of that year and the remaining $50,000 



frost. It also maintains the surface drainage, later. 



With the road once in good condition, it can The first board of road commissioners con- 



The sand road is one surfaced with a m\^- be kept good for a small and reasonable sisted of Messrs. E. J. Swart, Allen Warren, 



. , . , David Brown, Isaac Eagle and Frank Shafer. 



ture of sand and clay. Instead of the clay n p L GAINES> The board or ' gan i z ed on May 8, 1895, by the 



ture, it may be composed of sand and gum Grand Rapids, Mich. election of Mr. Swart as chairman, 



or other kinds of soil. It may be termed the The board and the supervisors did not 



sand-gumbo or sand-earth road. Roads can ALPENA COUNTY ROADS. "hitch" well, and in 1899 the supervisors got 



be made in this manner, wherever the different The most profitable investment ever made a law through the legislature^allowmg Crnp- 



ingredients are accessible. -isors "ind county road com- member. Frank Eagle was the commissioner 



Ordinary, clean, marketable sand contains ^ ioner& _f P or the "development of our agri- chosen He was succeeded by William Splan, 

 about one-third voids open spaces between cul ' trral interests, has been the construction, H- A. Osborn and William Godfrey in turn, 

 the grains of sand. The proper mix for a road and keeping up, of our county roads. Every person living in Chippewa County 



i rnnntv Vn s the best roads in concedes that the people have had value re- 



h when every void is completely filled and I a <**?*** ^J t h ived from all the money it has expended in 



every grain of sand is in contact with other t ' not on , ; u ' st as good as those of the improvement of the roads, and Chippewa 



grains. The sod acts as a cement as a co- f in tho s th are better _ sta nds first and foremost of all upper penin- 



hesive substance to solidly bind and hold the y ^ SQ accus -f omed to traveling sula counties in this direction. The follow- 



whole mass together. e ovci . ^.^ -^ mi]es Q{ these roadS; as smooth mg is a list of the roads adopted by the board - 



materials must be correctly proportioned and ^ \ evt .\ - ts H boulevard that we do not fully of supervisors and which are now included in 

 thoroughly mixed. If there is an excess of ap edate how good our r oads are, compared the system. 



soil the mix does not have enough body, and ^. h tnose of ot her counties, until strangers Mackinaw road, 18 miles; Pickford road 

 if an excess of sand, it lacks binding material. CQme .^ ong alld ca n our a ttention to it. (through to DeTour), 60 miles; Superior road, 



In either case the sand particles are free to Q ^' ccun ' t road sys t e m was adopted in 16 miles; Munoskong road, 20 miles; Midway 

 move about, are unstable and the road-bed will ]8() ., ^^ at - terwards t h e county was bonded road, 18 miles; City Limits road, 8 miles; 

 be penetrated by water. Inr '$ioo 000 for the improvement of our roads. Shunk road, 9 miles; Ridge road, 6 miles; 



All soils will not do for this purpose. The first county roa d commissioners elected Meridian and Barbeau road, 4 miles; Neebish 



cf a plastic, cohesive nature, such as gumbo, ^^ (h ^ j.^ 1 w B c onlstO ck, E. O. Avery Island road, 4 miles; Sugar Island road, 10 

 are the best. The "slacking clays" disintegrate and x M B rac kj nre ' e <l. That money was ex- miles; Kinross road, 4 miles; Kinross and 

 and crumble to pieces in the air and water. (le( j to good advantage, and even the Strongville road, 6 miles; New Rudyard road, 

 They have not the binding and cementing chronic kickers lleve r charged the commis- 7 miles; Stirlingville road, 4 miles; Rudyard 

 qualities of the more plastic clays. - sioners with having purposely wasted one dol- road, 10 miles; Fiber and Dryburg road, 8^ 



clays" are of a sticky, plastic nature which shed lar o f t h at $100 000 miles; Trout Lake road, 15 miles; Whitefish 



the water well and make a good binder. Lhe For several years afterward, our county road, 16 miles; Drummond road, 10 miles; Soo 

 best soils are those containing the least roads were neglected and allowed to run down, Line road, 4 miles. Making a grand total of 

 organic or decaying matter, which have the unti] the people and the supervisors took up 257^ miles included in the system at this time, 

 least expansion and contraction under heat the alarm> and proceeded to rebuild these roads Of this there are 150 miles graded, graveled 



it plast: Mty am j keep . them ; n re pair; and during the past and in as fine condition as any county roads 



and imperviousness f ew years our county road commissioners in the state. About 100 miles are graded and 



The process - nave done; and are doing, excellent work, as good as the average highways anywhere, 



road into condition of a well-made earth road, w h; c h acc ounts for Alpena county having the so that nearly every mile in the adopted sys- 

 crowned, ditched and drained. Spread the re- best roads jn the state . tern is open for travel. 



quired material over this prepared road-bed t One of t he secrets in the making of good The object of the supervisors has been to 



J roads aside from the proper knowledge of improve the main roads of the county, letting 



soil to a depth of about three or four inches tne work _| s j n keeping them constantly in the various townships take care of the cross 

 at the center, thinning out to two inches at repa j r . roads, and as a result the county is a net- 



What does it cost to keep these roads in re- work of good highways. 



will require plowing up the sand to nin- pair? It doesn ' t matter what it costs. The Up to the first of October the county had 

 inches in depth at the center and : < inches roads are cheap at the price expended on its roads since the adoption of 



These roads have increased the market value the system, $30,578.21, all of which, outside of 



the lumps are ground up and the ingredient of agricultural lands in this county, in dollars the first bond issue of $100,000, has been raised 

 are thoroughly mixed. f it has net enough and C ents, many times the cost of the roads; annually in various amounts by direct tax- 

 sand or soil add the necessary ingredient? trie y encourage immigration and contribute im- a tion and has all been paid in Commissioner 

 The mixing is not rapid and neec - niensely to the rapid development of our farm- Godfrey at the recent session of the super- 



servation during the process - ; country, and are an untold benefit to the V i s0 rs asked for an appropriation of $30000 



Milts are obtained if the material i i mat erial progress of this city. Alpena News. f cr prosecuting the work of the system for the 



mixed, in winch case it may be necessary next fisca , yearj bu{ thfi board yoted & flat 



pread and wait for a ram, 1 WATERS A GOOD ROAD BUILDER. rate of two mills on the dollar on the assessed 



and mixiiig Se> Thcn smooth U John Waters, who has superintended the valuation of the county amounting to $24,693. 



OUKn puddling and mixing. men MUU"UI iv. *-- . - - - . 



off by going over it with a road float (road* construction of many miles of state reward WOULD STQp MARROW TTRTTC 



drag), after which it should be thoroughly roads in- Barry county, has been chosen to WOULD STOP USE OF NARROW TIRES. 

 compacted by rolling; a four to five ton roller oversee the construction of six miles of good Saginaw county will head a movement in the 

 give the desired' results. It may not be roads near Stanton in Montcahn county. Last ne xt Michigan legislature to have enacted a 

 up to expectancy to begin with, but watch it y<** \ two mlles of strong law for the banishment of narrow- 



r, it cVnnprl nn \ with nn parth roifl road building in Montcalm county. . 



'of "the best imp enieim Mr. Waters was a favorite of former State " red wagons. It will present, through its rep- 



withwLh to maintain the sandX road Highway Commissioner Earle who highly resentatives, a bill defining the weights that 

 If -in excess of soil or sand appears, add a complimented his work. All of the roads con- may be hauled and the widths of tires that 

 little of 'the opposite material, and in a season structed by him have been pronounced among must be used> the latter to be of generous pro . 

 it will make a road which will last and bear the best ,., the state The first mi e of good tions The bi ,, ; b tterned after the 

 up well under heavy loads. roads in Barry county was bu It in Rutland f . j ; other states, which has 



The cost of these roads is the expense of "wnship, ami was the result of a movement jven go mu satisfactjon 

 hauling, spreading, dragging, rolling, etc., all headed by Hon. Philip 1 The movement is for the protection of Mich- 



<i which can be done with machinery igan's improved roads. Michigan is one of the 



ally adapted for this purpose. Nothing about r TT T DBPWA rniTMTV A T v Ar>T?R few states which have entered extensively 



it requires the nicety of finishing and trimming upon the good roads movement that has no 



:.y hand. This will cost $200 to $400 per Chippewa County prides herself on her high- l aw compelling the use of wide tires on wag- 

 mile of finished road, with material within a ways. The county was one of the first in O ns. Within the last seven or eight years there 

 mile haul. Michigan to adopt the county road system, has been a tremendous amount of good roads 



One of the best and most economical im- The inhabitants saw the advantages that would work done and hundreds of miles of new 

 plcments with which to maintain the earth accrue from good roads, and in the opening of macadam highways have been built in that 

 road is the road float (or drag). The effect ncv district-, and when the proposition was time. It is the experience of Saginaw county, 

 of the float is to put on just enough soil to fill submitted to the voters on July 10, 1894, there which is one of the foremost counties in the 

 all holes, ruts and hollow places, pressing the was little opposition. state in the construction of stone roads, that 



water out of them into the side ditches and by The board of supervisors on July 18 of the narrow-tired wagons are destroying these ex- 

 .a smoothing effect, leaving the surface in con- same year certified the adoption of the system, pensive improvements about as fast as they are 

 jdition to shed the additional rain. It keeps On April 30, 1895, a proposition to bond the made. 



