MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS 



11 



A M ERC AN 



This brand on 

 every sheet. 



None genuine 



without this 



brand 



To those 9O,OOO Taxpayers who want a 



Road Culvert Which Can Not Rust 



PHROUGH the Agricultural Dep't at Washington, you have made a demand 



for a rust-resisting material, which you can use for roofing, road culverts, and 



agricultural purposes. Engineers and Chemists the world over endorse American 



Ingot Iron as the material you have asked for, and Ingot Iron Pipe as the culvert. 



You owe it to yourself to investigate the product resulting from your own demand. 



Write for information regarding Ingot Iron Pipe, the culvert which can not 



r ust, collapse, or be injured by the frost. Address, 



MICH. BRIDGE & PIPE CO., 



Dept. T. LANSING, MICHIGAN 



SHELBY, OCEANA COUNTY, HAS FINE 

 ROADS. 



In more ways than one Shelby township in 

 Oceana county is entitled to credit for the 

 inauguration and fostering of the good-roads 

 spirit in Michigan. To begin with, Shelby 

 contributed the chairman of the legislative 

 committee on roads and bridges, who did so 

 much for the. good-roads legislation of the 

 day. And Shelby isn't like the doctor who 

 hesitated to take his own medicine. At the 

 first oportunity the township went in for good 

 roads, and good roads in that district are good 

 in a. superlative degree. Instead of entering 

 objection to the cost Shelby's farmers are 

 clamoring for extensions of the good roads 

 work. 



Shelby already has claimed $12,000 in state 

 rewards for its road construction work. Ex- 

 tending north, south, east and west from 

 Shelby are the very highest type of stone 

 roads, built according to the state specifica- 

 tions and reaching to the four township 

 boundary lines. These roads extend to Ferry 

 township on the east, Hart township on the 

 north, Benona township on the west and 

 Grant on the south. 



Shelby is not alone in the good roads agita- 

 tion in Oceana county. Hart has had just 

 another such an awakening, and Hart's good 

 roads district joins that of Shelby. Hart has 

 not gone in so strong for stone roads. The 

 farmers seem satisfied with good clay and 

 gravel. Shelby's farmers are willing to pay 

 for and demand the very best. 



With a wealth of hardhead stone, just right 

 for stone road construction, Shelby has made 

 a fine start on the plan to make it the town- 

 ship of the finest roads in western Michigan. 

 The township has its own stone-crushing 

 plant and a modern, hdavy steam roller. Al- 

 ready the townspeople recognize the good re- 

 sults oi the better roads in increased business 

 and the village is co-operating with the agri- 

 cultural district of the township in the cam- 

 paign to make the township one of the chief 

 examples of fine highways in Michigan. 



Postmaster George E. Dcwey represented 

 the Oceana district in the House of Represen- 

 tatives .of the State Legislature in 1907. His 

 district then was for good roads and he was 

 elected upon a platform with a very promi- 

 nent good-roads plank. True to the choice 

 of his constituents he landed the chairman- 

 ship of the Roads and Bridges committee and 

 was one of those instrumental in perfecting all 

 the good-roads laws of the state. 



When he relinquished his seat in the Legis- 

 lature to Representative Samuel Odell, Mr. 

 Dewey was honored by the postmastership. 

 Odell is another of the good roads enthusiasts. 

 He also is one of the several farmers in the 

 good-roads district of Shelby who owns and 

 operates a big touring car. Good-roads ideas 

 have done more than anything else to iron 

 out the temperamental dislike between the 

 average farmer and the automobile driver. 



In Shelby the roads are built to withstand 

 the tear of speeding automobile tires. They 

 are dustless to a great degree. They are wide 

 enough for safe passage and practically all 

 that is objectionable in the eyes of the farmer 

 has been eliminated by his improvement ot 



the roads, and the farmer is taking to the 

 horseless vehicles with astonishing enthusi- 



BUTLT FOUR MILES OF MACADAM 

 ROADS. 



The report of the board of county road com- 

 missioners of Muskegon county for 1909 shows 

 that a little over four miles of macadam 

 crushed stone road, built according to state 

 specifications, was constructed in the county 

 during the past year, at an approximate cost of 

 $4,000 per mile. The total expended on this 

 style of roads was $15,982.69. 



The total expenditures on county roads dur- 

 ing the year are shown by the report to be as 

 follows: 



Cedar Springs road $12,152.83 



Whitehall road 1,888.79 



Ravenna road 1,145.65 



Holton road 1,133.12 



Fruitport road 3,715.63 



North Muskegon road 1,448.51 



Lake Harbor road 2,635.45 



Peck Street road 1.00 



Montague road 2,624.43 



McKinney Avenue road 4,312.85 



Sullivan road 1,326.98 



Bailey road 13.33 



Contingent road account 1,812.13 



Total $34,210.60 



HOUGHTON TO VOTE ON COUNTY 

 SYSTEM. 



The oC'iinty road system will be submitted 

 to the vote of the people of Houghton county. 

 The county road system has been before the 

 board of supervisors for a year or more. Su- 

 pervisor Hainar submitted a resolution to 

 place the question on the ballot at the April 

 election, and it passed unanimously. Great 

 credit is due to Mr. Hamar, who has fought 

 valiantly for the submission of the question 

 for the past two years. 



OTHER COUNTY COMMISSIONERS 

 SHOULD DO LIKEWISE. 



Some time ago the Board of County Road 

 Commissioners addressed a letter to the town- 

 ship highway commissioners of Wayne county, 

 urging a closer co-operation, and inviting them 

 to bring their road problems before the county 

 board, so that the best results might be se- 

 cured. A large number of the township com- 

 missioners have responded to the invitation. 

 In Romulus township a new road was surveyed 

 to take the place of a small portion of the old 

 To'bin road, or what is known as the Pontiac 

 and Monroe Territorial road, and a map was 

 made to conform to the survey. In Redford 

 township the county board was consulted on 

 the advisability of an 'earth fill on Grand River 

 road about one-half mile west of Redford vil- 

 lage, and it was agreed that the electric rail- 

 mad and the township sir mid make such fill; 

 also raise the present 'bridge to the same level. 

 In Ecorse township bids were asked for on a 

 bridge to span Ecorse creek, and the designs 

 were submitted, to the county board. Notes 

 were given them relative to re-enforcing the 

 floor and the spreading of the footing course 

 of each abutment to give stability to the struc- 

 tures. Specifications for concrete work, both 



plain and re-enforced, were prepared, and the 

 materials were inspected so that the township 

 board was safe from error in the quality of the 

 material. Springwells township consulted the 

 county commission relative to re-enforced con- 

 crete culverts and bridges which it contemplat- 

 ed building. Specifications were prepared and 

 plans were drawn for two bridges. 



All these matters effect considerable of a 

 saving to the townships involved, and yet the 

 county is put to no extra expense. As a more 

 general knowledge of the willingness of the 

 county commission, it is believed that better 

 results will be secured throughout the entire 

 townships. 



GOOD ROADS PROPAGANDA IN KENT. 



A helpful conference was held at Grand 

 Rapids recently between members of a com- 

 mittee of the Board of Trade of that city and 

 the road commissioners. The subject of good 

 roads was thoroughly discussed, difficulties ex- 

 plained, and it was shown that farmers are 

 aiding in the project for better roads. It was 

 shown that state aid has been received for 

 work on Butterworth avenue, Canal street, 

 Knapp avenue, Plainfield road and Kalamazoo 

 avenue, Grand Rapids, to a total in two years 

 of about $2,500. Good progress has been made 

 and now that the commissioners have learned 

 how to work to the best advantage more rapid 

 progress is assured. It was said that in some 

 instances commissioners in order to advance 

 the work had borrowed or advanced funds 

 themselves, waiting to be reimbursed out ot 

 the next apropriation. 



Commissioners Graham of Walker, Wheeler 

 of Alpine, Braman of Plainfield, Shafer of 

 Paris and Thompson of Grand Rapids were 

 present. Mr. Shafer suggested a change in 

 the good roads law to provide that the own- 

 ers of abutting property along the improved 

 highway shall be assessed a certain amount 

 per rod frontage to help pay for the improve- 

 ments. 



Mr. Thompson, in the course of his remarks, 

 said that it has been suggested that automo- 

 biles be assessed for good roads and comment- 

 ing on the automobile as an enemy to good 

 roads when driven beyond a reasonable speed 

 limit, suggested that scorching might be pre- 

 vented if instead of imposing fine/s, every en- 

 gine capable of more than 25 miles an hour 

 should be confiscated "like a gambling device." 



REASON FOR BAD ROADS. 



Says a Laurel farmer: "Just a few words 

 about our country roads. I, for one, do not 

 understand why road bosses and highway 

 commissioners in the country keep right on, 

 year after year, piling dirt up in the road with 

 dump scrapers. Where this was done the 

 past season the roads are very near the limit. 

 In my travels the past week I have encoun- 

 tered three kinds. Where there was gravel put 

 on the road in the past ten years the road was 

 pretty good, where there was nothing at all 

 they were fair, and where there was any dump 

 scraper work done the past two years it was 

 nearly impassable. So our idea about the mat- 

 ter is all we need is the road law left as it is, 

 or something near it, and there won't be any 

 roads in about two more years." 



