MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS 



PRAISES PRISON LABOR ON ROADS. 



In an address hef< re- the members of the 

 State Association of County Superintendents 

 of the Poor at its ar.nual session held at Lans- 

 ing this year, W. H. Hennett. Kalamazoo 

 county'* superintendent, dwelt at length on 

 the benefit* derived from working jail prison- 

 er- -in the n ad* of the county. He said: 

 "A comparison of the sheriff's book for the 

 ths of \ vemher, December, January, 

 nary anil March, the first live month* that 

 Kalan-a/i o count)' tried the system of work- 

 ing vagrants upon it* public highways, there 

 was a ill crease in the number of vagrants of 

 :.'.:;<>(). Ti:r jail committee'* 'a*t report 

 > . eil ten vagrant* for that period. The po- 

 t, port f< r the month of November. 11)10. 

 \ * but one arrest for vagrancy. This has 

 \ been one of the heaviest months of 

 ear for "gentli men of the road." 

 It wa- during the I'.HMi October session of 

 Hoard of Supervisors that tlie chairman 

 iv Road C mmission requested 

 the conimissii.ner* be given the right to 

 county prisoner* on the roads in the va- 

 9 t. wr.-hi;i- of Kalair.azr.o county. He as- 

 -erted that if the petition was granted, it 

 lid have a great effect on petty crime, and 

 n would eliminate the tramp nuisance. 

 of the fact that the sheriff reported 

 ."4i; tramps and vagrants the previous year, 

 -eemed like a strong prediction. How- 

 . the supervisors unanimously granted the 

 :on, and preparations were immediately 

 10 begin working the prisoners. 



\\. rk was begun first on roads near the city 

 - o, with a squad of fifteen to 

 i :;hteen men. Brush, stumps, stone, and all 

 were removed. After these roads 

 iini-lird, the men were taken to Pavilion 

 :i>hip. nearly ten miles from Kalamazoo. 

 Here two miles of bru-h ab.ng the highway 

 cut and burned, and considerable ditching 

 done. A house was rented stoves, cots, 

 bug and other necessary articles installed. 

 At the beginning the commissioners ex- 

 pected to put two crews of fifteen or twenty 

 men each -at work, but finally decided to wait 

 f. w weeks to see what the results would be 

 with a -.ingle crew. The effect was almost in- 

 OtlS. The. new- soon *preaed that Kal- 

 ounty. once known as one of the best 

 feeding- grounds for hoboes between two 

 oceans. \v . r place to stop in the future. 



r two months the attendance at the jail 

 run so low that the road gang was called 

 in and preparations were made for manufac- 

 turing tile. Part fit" the time but two prison- 

 i T* were available for this work, when four 

 needed, and Deputy Sheriff Nash had to 

 the fourth man. Three four-ton cement 

 rs were made, also a 28-foot bunk house 

 with r. oin enough for 18 men. This is warmed 



stove and is well lighted. 



The outlook early last spring was not very 



:iising for much help from county prison- 



The jail was practically empty. Only 



camp has been maintained with prisoners. 



rly all of _the time extra men were hired' 



.,mp. 'a* the number of prisoners was 



-mall to supply the dozen shovelers 



Preference is always given to the 



.1 prisoner* who have been good 



As a rule a hard drinker is a hard 



I.er. in fact, the best obtainable for such 



Very little extra precaution has been 



d necessary. A few, during the early 



i pring months, walked away, but an extra 



hirty days' sentence by the circuit judge 



, nietcd any inclination along that line. 



These men are given good food and good 



nient. and they respond readily to any 



the superintendent may make. After 



erving their sentence, they come out clear- 



ved. with hardened muscles and good appe- 



itcs. ready to do a man's work. This system 



- like a two-edged sword it works both 



'. nys; a clean, moral and physical uplift for 



men, and for the county the making use 



'.hat has been waste material a valuable 



'y-product. 



GOOD ROADS EARLE 



Detroit Board of Commerce Delegate to Indianapolis Convention 



BUILT ROAD IN TWO MONTHS. 



The longest strip of road built by one or- 

 ganization this season has been completed and 

 accepted by the State Highway Commission. 

 The highway, constructed of gravel, runs 

 through the townships of Ionia, Orange and 

 Berlin in Ionia county ii and is 3.904 miles in 

 length. The state award is $1,007. With the 

 exception of a single mile - of road in Otis 

 township, this is the first state award highway 

 ever constructed in Ionia county. The fund 

 for its construction was raised by popular sub- 

 scription. 



Many interesting features are connected 

 with the construction of the four miles of 

 road, which starts at the limits of the city of 

 Ionia and runs south through the three town- 

 ihips. Application was made on Sept. 21, 

 1910, and the road was completed in two 

 months' time. 



$250,000 FOR GOOD ROADS. 



Considerable is being done by the counties 

 of Western Michigan toward securing better 

 wagon roads. In round numbers, a quarter 

 of a million dollars will be expended in 1911 

 for better highways. 



The fifteen townships of Charlevoix county 

 are raising better than $20,000 for the coming 

 year. 



Grand Traver*e is under the county system 

 and its supervisor* voted $18,000.. Several of 

 the townships of Kent county are raising $47,- 

 843.M for the purpose of bettering the high- 

 way-. Manistee county's tax for the coming 

 year is in round numbers $23,000. Mecosta 

 county will spend $10.121.86 in 1911. 



Mason county commissioners will have $'0 - 



(is. -'7 with which to work. Muskegon county, 



since 1895, has expended for improvements 



and maintenance, $350,000. The county will 

 spend $42,729.80 in 1911. 



STONE ROADS FOR CITY. 



City Engineer Terry is preparing to make 

 estimates of the cost of constructing stone 

 roads to connect the city of Flint with the 

 new stone roads that are to be built by the 

 county road commissioners within the coming 

 year. The roads to which he will turn his 

 attention are the Miller, Lapeer, Fenton, 

 North Saginaw and South Saginaw roads, on 

 all of which work either has been done or will 

 be done by the road commissioners next sum- 

 mer. 



Roads- Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow 



(Continued from page 3) 



trunk line road system of two hundred fifty 

 miles, radiating from Detroit throughout 

 Wayne county. This system will so well pro- 

 vide the county with good roads that when 

 finished no farm in the county will be over 

 three miles from a four-ton load road. 



In addition to this $2,000,000 bond issue we 

 appropriated $200,000, and will get enough 

 state reward to make a grand total of $2,500,- 

 000. all of which is to "be expended in the next 

 live years for good enough roads to satisfy the 

 legitimate demands of to-day in one county. 



Our road officials are building concrete and 

 rock asphalt bonded macadam roads. These 

 are costing a handsome sum to build, but prac- 

 tically nothing for repairs. 



The American Road Builders' Association is 

 hereby invited by authority invested in me by 

 the Board of Commerce of the city of Detroit 

 to hold their 1911 convention in the city 

 "Where life is worth living," Detroit, Michi- 

 gan. 



