8 



MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS 



MICHIGAN 



ROADS AND FORESTS 



Official Paper of The Michigan Road Makers Association and 

 Michigan Forestry Association. 



70 Lamed Street West, Detroit, Michigan. 



Entered as Second-class Matter April 27, 1907. at the Post Office at De- 

 troit, Michigan, under the Act of Congress of March J, 1879. 



Frank E. Carter Editor 



PUBLISHED EVERY MONTH 



BY 

 TH STATE REVIEW PUBLISHING CO.. 



SUBSCRIPTION l ONE DOLLAR A YEAR, 

 ^ PAYABLE IN ADVANCE. 



SHOULD BE MORE CONVICTIONS. 



John Rowett, deputy lire warden, arrived in 

 Iron River the other day, and had a warrant 

 sworn out for the arrest ' f Andrew Wiznick 

 for starting brush tires on his farm near the 

 village contrary to the state law. The man 

 was convicted, the lire having gone beyond 

 the limits of his property. He was given a 

 fine or sixty days in the county jail. He re- 

 fused to pay and in consequence is serving 

 out his sentence. Commenting on the case, 

 the Iron River Reporter says: There have 

 been thousands and thousands of dollars' 

 worth of valuable property destroyed the past 

 few weeks just through such carelessness and 

 it is time that the peope were given to un- 

 derstand that the* starting of brush tires during 

 such dry spells as we have been having is 

 fraught with too much danger and should be 

 stopped. Wiznick is not the only man who 

 should be sent to jail. There are others and 

 the officers will be doing their full duty in 

 causing the arrest of all violators, no matter 

 who they are. 



FORESTS MEAN WEALTH FOR POS- 

 TERITY. 



About twenty years ago John Earlington, 

 head of a big coal mining concern in Ken- 

 tucky, planted about 1,650,000 young walnut, 

 catalpa, locust, and yellow poplar trees on 

 his company's denuded lands, and they are 

 flourishing splendidly. Some day his com- 

 pany will be reaping as big a fortune off the 

 surface of its lands as it has taken from its 

 depths. Mr. Earlington thinks that "justice 

 to posterity requires that two young trees 

 should be planted for every old one chopped 

 down." 



There's more in it than justice to pos- 

 terity. There's wealth for posterity, possibly 

 more wealth than in putting one's money into 

 banks, bonds, ana insurance for one's pos- 

 terity. 



One railroad concern in southern Califor- 

 nia has 8,000 acres planted to "blue gum" 

 trees, and the reader would be surprised 

 could he know how many individuals, fav- 

 orably located, have invested in a growing 

 younp forest of pines, eucalytus, and other 

 rapid growers as a safe and sure way of leav- 

 ing riches to their posterity. Parks of young 

 saplings that wiil some day make ties, furn- 

 iture, honsi -. and fuel can't be run away 

 with by cro, ked cashiers, and it can be fig- 

 ured that they v\ ill finally return the highest 

 SOrl c.f interest on the investment. 



Nobody has more to learn about his own 

 opportunities than has the fellow with land. 

 Not even the Northern farmer, with hi 

 iiuril income from syrup and sugar, plan's 



two mrk maple. For the one he cuts" / or that 



goes down from age or tempe-l. All over 

 the land the work of r i -lion has been 



ruthless. It is time we preached the profil 



as well as the ivstiee that there i- to pos- 

 terity in reforestation. There'* main .'i lot iii 

 the farms of thi.- nation so p or that on it 

 you couldn't raise a first mortgage, but that 

 would grow money for it- owner's posterity 



if set out to trees now. Hut the prevailing 

 idea is to take all that can be squeezed from 

 nature and make the least pi ssible return. 



$131,600 PAID IN STATE AWARDS. 



During the past fiscal year the state of 

 Michigan expended one-half as much money 

 lor good road> a> the total amount expended 

 in the four preceding years. 



The ligures at the department of the high- 

 way C( mmissioner prove conclusively that 

 Michigan is making gigantic strides in the 

 task of improving her highways and the vast 

 amount of money which the state has ex- 

 pended in awards, is but a small portion of 

 the total which tlu various township and coun- 

 ty organizations are expending in order to 

 win these awards. 



The records show that during the fiscal 

 year which ends July 1 the state has already 

 *pent $131,600 and this amount will probably 

 be increased by two or three thousand. The 

 records, also show that during the four years 

 preceding July 1 the "state expended $265,506. 

 The amount spent the past year is therefore 

 almost one-half as large as the total expendi- 

 ture of the four years preceding it, cr in 

 other words two years' work has been crowd- 

 ed into one. 



some action in continuing the work through 

 ( Oakland County in the near futre. 



The work is also progressing in a satisfac- 

 tory maner on Michigan and Grand River 

 Roads, and these thoroughfares will soon be 

 open for traffic The road crew on Wood- 

 ward has been moved to Mt. Elliott Road, 

 where the grading is now practically finished, 

 but the work of placing the concrete is being 

 delayed through the Grand Trunk strike. 



NEED STONE CRUSHING PLANT. 



The necessity of a stone-crushing plant and 

 a steam road roller were discused at a meet- 

 ing of the Kalamaxoo county highway com- 

 missioners. 



It has been impnsihle to find suitable 

 gravel for improving several of the roads in 

 the county where work is to be done this year 

 without making hauls of several miles. Mem- 

 bers of the board believe that a crusher will 

 supply the best kind of material at an ex- 

 pense much less than would be incurred by 

 hauling. They have decided to purchase one; 

 also a road roller. 



Forty teams have been put to work en the 

 highways in courre o"f improvement in an 

 effort to finish them at an early date. For 

 several weeks many teams have been em- 

 ployed in the harvest fields and could not be 

 hired for read work. The demand made by 

 the commissioners can now be filled. 



It is proposed to establish at least two 

 new camps to begin work on those roads 

 not already in course of improvement. The 

 two miles laid out on 1 the Gull road in Rich- 

 land township has been begun. 



WOODWARD ROAD COMPLETED. 



Says County Road Commisioner Edward N. 

 Hines of Wayne: Woodward Avenue was 

 opened July 21 at 5 o'clock to the county line, 

 and its opening marks the end of the mud, 

 dust, ruts, holes and bumps on one of the 

 county's main highways. With the comple- 

 tion of the pavement through the village of 

 Highland Park there will be a stretch of first 

 class roadway from the River in Detroit to the 

 Oakland County line, a distance of about 8^2 

 miles. The finishing of Woodward Road also 

 makes it 'possible to concentrate the funds 

 available on other leading highways. 



Despite unfavorable weather conditions, late 

 start and a shortage in the material market, 

 the work was completed at the time estimated, 

 more rapid progress being made than was cal- 

 culated on at the inception of the work. As an 

 (\idence of the sireriuousness of the job, the 

 man whose duty it was to put cement into the 

 mixer had to open the bag, empty the con- 

 tents and put down the empty sack at the 

 rate of one sack per minute, or (100 sacks a 

 day on :;()(! lineal feet or roadway, each sack 

 weighing !i-l pounds, the man thus lifting ~>~>,- 

 HHI Ibs. of material in the c< urse of a day's 

 \, ' irk. 



Woodward Road is 2ti feet wide at its nar- 

 - -t point, and from there runs up to 34 

 lia\inur IN feet of concrete, laid in two 

 courses. This road will have a good effect on 

 people of O-dJaml Connfy as to the bene- 

 fits and advantages of a highway usable in 

 safety :\i'>~< days in the year, and I look for 



TRYING SALT ON MENOMINEE ROADS 



For the tirst time in the northern peninsula 

 salt is being used as a dust settler in Menc 

 mince county. There will be a mile of stre 

 covered with salt as an experiment, one-ha 

 mile with the salt in its dry state and tr, 

 other half mile with the salt as a solution, 

 being mixed with water. This dust settle 

 has been used extensively all over the Unite 

 States during the ;>ast few years, it being trie 

 in Detroit and other cities, and in almost ever 

 instance it has been found to be serviceal" 

 and well adapted for the purpose. The 

 eminent has made investigations and also tr. 

 manufacturers thai are putting the salt 

 the market, and their experiments have alwaj 

 met with success whenever tried. The gov 

 eminent recommends that the solution be use 

 The manufacturers, however, recommend tha 

 the salt be used without mixing with wate 

 and for that reason the Menominee count 

 commissioners art using it both ways. Th 

 salt is said to absorb enough of the dampnes 

 out of the atmophere during the night 

 keep the street damp all the following da 

 and absolutely dr.stless. In addition to beir 

 a dust settler, it is also a protection to til 

 road, and greatly . c aves the wear and tear 

 the vehicles passing over it. 



Michigan Road Notes. 



J. S. Haggerty, chairman of the Wayn 

 County Board of Commissioners, was appoin 

 ed as Michigan's delegate to National Goo 

 Roads convention at Niagara Falls July 28-3 



Chairman W. M. Bryant of the Kalamazo 

 commission was another delegate. 



The long-continued drouth in June and Ju 

 seriously interfered with road work in mar 

 sections of the state. Since the drouth wa 

 broken work has been rushed with grea 

 vigor. 



Athens township, Calhoun county, wil 

 probably build a mile of state reward gravel 

 road this summer. It will be the opening 

 wedge in that township and will undoubted- 

 ly be foil. /wed by the building of gcod roads 

 all over the township. 



DROUTH HARD ON ROADS. 



The prolonged dry weather did great, dam- 

 age to the macadam roads of Marquette city 

 and .Marquette county. 



The results on the curves are most ap- 

 parent and the county road between Mar- 

 ijnette and Negaunee is now in very bad con- 

 dition in many p'accs. In Marquette, many 

 of the streets fa<-cd just as badly. 



All of this goes to show that jerfection 

 building a permanent roadway of trap roc 

 has not been attained in this locality, say 

 a Marquette correspondent. For the fir 

 year or two after ebing finished, the roa 

 presents a fine appearance, but unles 

 sprinkled frequently -in dry weather, or bound 

 with tar or some other preparation, the sur- 

 face in time wears off and has to be replaced. 

 This is particularly true on hills and curves 



The street commission of Marquette 

 aboui to begin a series of experiments wit 

 various commercial binding materials, it hav 

 ing been found that ordinary tar is not 

 entire success in all cases. When some per- 

 manent and satisfactory binding material .is 

 found, the only p >ssiblc objection to macadam 

 will have been removed. 





