12 



MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS 



NOT HOW CHEAP, BUT HOW GOOD. 



A ride over the roads in Manistec county, 

 built under the County Road system, opens to 

 one's mind not only the great possibilities in 

 road building, but the great value such roads 

 are to the district in which they are built. If 

 those who have been skeptics on the county 

 system, or those who have befhoaned the con- 

 dition of all country roads, could drive over 

 the forty miles of good roads it was s our pleas- 

 ure to go over last week, they would become 

 converts to any system, regardless of cost, 

 that offered so practical a solution to the de- 

 velopment of any rural section, says Frank H. 

 Hamilton, county road commissioner of 

 Grand Traverse county. 



Road building leads to farm building. Noth- 

 ing was more clearly evidenced on this occa- 

 sion than the fact that good road facilities de- 

 velop the resources of the country, whether 

 the quality of the soil be heavy or light. The 

 highways impeded by heavy grades, mud or 

 sand, preventing the farmer from conveying 

 large loads to market, deprive him of that 

 which he must have to make farming the 

 more profitable. Another reason why good 

 roads should be his aim: formerly ox-teams 

 were the only means of transit; the plow and 

 the drag constituted his equipment. He could 

 return to these ancient customs and usages, 

 but it would be neither pleasant nor profit- 

 able. He prefers the horse team and all mod- 

 ern implements for his use. He drives a pair 

 of horses to his market place, and if he has 

 what he wants, he has a pair of good drivers; 

 he enjoys their action, covers the ground 

 quickly and leaves the draught horses to do 

 the heavy work at home. Good roads are a 

 means of gratifying his ambition, to ride to 

 and from his home in a comfortable manner 

 is a pleasure to him. 



Another fact was apparent: Not how little 

 could be expended on the road's to secure the 

 state reward, but rather how good could these 

 roads be made. They go upon the principle 

 that the best is the cheapest. It is probably 

 true that in some sections their roads have 

 been more expensive to build than the roads 

 will be in Grand Traverse county, but all the 

 more credit to their farsightedness that only 

 such expenditures would enable them to com- 

 pete with other sections where roads would 

 be less expensive. A 20-foot cut or fill is not 

 uncommon, a 40 foot cut was seen; deep cuts 

 and fills are sodded on the sides to prevent 

 the sand slides and washouts; all roads are 

 provided with side ditches and with proper 

 crowning, the water never settles upon them. 

 Roads are made from gutter to gutter from 

 24 to 36 feet wide, while the traveled roadway 

 is graveled from 12 to 16 feet. Old roadways 

 are sometimes abandoned for more feasible 

 routes at a lesser cost to build. It is indeed 

 a marvel to see the progress in road building 

 in Manistee county. 



Road making as seen on this drive cannot 

 be taken up as a "side line." Road building 

 requires experience, good judgment, a man 

 who is especially adapted for this kind of 

 work. The fact that he has at some time 

 built roads through forests, hewed a straight 

 line over hills and through swamps, does not 

 make him a modern road builder; the exper- 

 ience may have served a most excellent pur- 

 pose, but as evidenced in our recent observa- 

 tions, a new field for the road builder is now 

 open; he must begin again at a point where 

 the roads were left in a crude condition and 

 carry the work on to completion. First, 

 ready money must be at his command; sec- 

 ond, he must call the civil engineer to his aid; 

 third, he must be well equipped to oversee or 

 personally carry on the work as laid out for 

 him in an economical manner, he must ac- 

 quire the modern conception in road building. 



Manistee county is especially fortunate in 

 having two good road builders, yes, three: 

 E. W. Mucnscher, the county engineer; W. J. 

 Bradford and James Hnffman. county road 

 commissioners. The two former accompan- 

 ied us on our entire trip, and through their 

 courtesy made it possible for us to see in 



Lake Superior 



Genuine 



TRAP ROCK 



For Road Making and Fireproof Con- 

 crete. 



Rail and Lake Shipments. 



Write for prices. 



MARQUETTE STONE CO., 

 Marquette, Mich. 



Best Road Material 



OUR HOBBY 



Crushed Granite and Gravel 



SCREENED TO SUIT 



WRITE US 



THE HENRY MERDIAN CO., 



43-44 Peninsular Bank Building, 

 Phone Main 6251 DETROIT 



one day what we did not expect to see in 

 double the time. Mr. Bradford is not un- 

 known to the people of Grand Traverse coun- 

 ty; he is a mechanic, a mechanical roaa 

 builder, has built up the road system in the 

 to its present high state. He is a pusher as 

 well as a farmer, and owns a fine farm near 

 the village of Arcadia. His work in road 

 building is to him of apparently little conse- 

 quence, but his name will be coupled with 

 the good roads of his county long after he 

 has journeyed to another home. 



Latest Applications for 



State Reward Roads 



No. 456 Emerson township, Gratiot county, 

 1 mile, gravel; reward, $500. 



No. 457 East China township, St. Clair 

 county, 2.224 miles, gravel; reward, $1,112. 



No. 458 Weare township, Oceana county, 2 

 miles, macadam; reward, $2,000. 



No. 459 Evart township, Osceola county, 

 1.23 miles, gravel; reward, $615. 



No. 460 Novesta township, Tuscola county, 

 1 mile, gravel; reward, $500. 



No. 462 Cheboygan county, 1}4 miles, "C;" 

 reward, $1,125. 



No. 464 Weldon township, Benzie county, 

 1 mile, gravel; reward, $500. 



No. 466 Pine River township, Gratiot coun- 

 ty, 1 mile^gravel; reward, $500. 



No. 467 Higgins township, Roscommon 

 county, .964 mile, gravel; reward, $482. 



No. 468 Higgins township, Roscommon 

 county, .858 mile, gravel; reward, $429. 



No. 470 Manistee county, .983+ mile, 

 gravel: reward, $492. 



No. 471 Manistee county, 1 mile, gravel; 

 reward, $500. 



No. 472 Manistee county, 1.144 miles, 

 gravel; reward, $572. 



No. 473, Manistee county, .508 mile, gravel 

 road, state reward $254. 



No. 474, Manistee county, .498 mile, gravel, 

 state reward $249. 



No. 475, Tuscola county, 1.818 miles, maca- 

 dam, state reward $1,818. 



No. 476, Delta count, 1.477 miles, macadam, 

 state reward $1,477. 



No. 477, Delta county, 1.096 miles, macadam, 

 state reward $1,096. 



No. 478, Delta county, 2.077 miles, macadam, 

 state reward $2,077. 



No. 479, Kalkaska county, 1 mile, gravel, 

 state reward, $500. 



No. 480, Mecosta county, 1 mile, gravel, state 

 reward $500. 



No. 481, Mecosta county, 1.018 miles, gravel, 

 state reward $509. 



No. 482, Mecosta county, 1.072 miles, gravel, 

 state reward $536. 



No. 483, Mecosta county, 1.01 miles, gravel, 

 state reward $505. 



No. 484, Mecosta county, 1.018 miles, gravel, 

 state reward $509. 



No. 485, Ensley township, Newaygo county, 

 1 mile, "A" road, state reward $250. 



No. 486, Ensley township, Newaygo county, 

 1 mile, "A" road, state reward $250. 



No. 487, Higgins township, Roscommon 

 county, 4.354 miles, gravel, state reward $2,177. 



No. 488, Morton township, Mecosta county, 

 .98 mile, gravel, state reward $490. 



No. 489, Elk Rapids township, Antrim 

 county, 1.84 miles, "D" road, state reward 

 $1,380. 



No. 490, Sheridan township, Newaygo coun- 

 ty, 5.475 miles, macadam, state reward $5,475. 



No. 491, Dayton township, Newaygo county, 

 1 mile, macadam, state reward $1,000. 



No. 492, Manistee county, 1.33 miles, gravel, 

 state reward $665. 



No. 493, Lake township, Missaukee county, 1 

 mile, gravel, state reward $500. 



No. 494, Newark township, Gratiot county, 1 

 mile, gravel, state reward $500. 



No. 495, Newark township, Gratiot county, 1 

 mile, gravel, state reward $500. 



No. 496, Wayne county, 1J4 miles, macadam, 

 state reward $1,250. 



No. 497, Wayne county, % mile, macadam, 

 state reward $250. 



No. 498, Wexford county, 1.018 miles, gravel, 

 state reward $509. 



No. 499, Wexford county, .976 mile, gravel, 

 state reward $488. 



No. 500, Wexford county, 1 mile, gravel, 

 state reward $500. 



No. 501, Menominee county, 1 mile, "C" 

 road, state reward $750. 



No. 502, Menominee county, 1.028 miles, "C" 

 road, state reward $771. 



. No. 503, Menominee county, 1 mile, "C" 

 road, state reward $750. 



No. 504, Menominee county, .971 mile, "C" 

 road, state reward $728. 



No. 505, Menominee county, 1.031 miles, "C" 

 road, state reward $773. 



No. 506, Menominee county, 1 mile, "C" 

 road, state reward $750. 



No. 507, Menominee county, .806 mile, 

 gravel, state reward $403. 



No. 508, Menominee county, 1.011 miles, "C" 

 road, state reward $758. 



No. 509, Menominee county, .999 mile, "C" 

 road, state reward $749. 



No. 510, Menominee county, 1.032 miles, "C" 

 road, state reward $774. 



No. 511, Menominee county, 1.498 miles, 

 gravel, state reward $749. 



No. 512, Menominee county, J/ mile, "C" 

 road, state reward $375. 



No. 513, Menominee county, 1.162 miles, 

 macadam, state reward $1,162. 



No. 514 v Elmwood township, Tuscola county, 

 1.008 miles, gravel, state reward $504. 



No. 515, Elmwood township, Tuscola county, 

 1 mile, gravel, state, reward $500. 



No. 516, Bedford township, Monrde county, 

 .401 mile, macadam, state reward $401. 



No. 517, Wexford county, 1 mile, gravel, 

 state reward $500. 



No. 518, Golden township, Oceana county, 

 1 mile, macadam, state reward $1,000. 



No. 519, Tyrone township, Kent county, 1 

 mile, gravel, state reward $500. 



No. 520, Tyrone township, Kent county, 1 

 mile, gravel, state reward $500. 



No. 521, Delta county, l/i mile, macadam, 

 state reward $500. 



No. 522, Delta county, 4.715 miles, macadam, 

 state reward $4,715. 



No. 523, Delta county, 5.595 miles, macadam, 

 state reward $5,595. 



No. 524, Delta county, 1.496 miles, macadam, 

 state reward $1,496. 



