110 THE COMMISSION OP INQUIRY, 



We, O. Perry Burgess, and George Wilson, respectfully submit the 

 following report of our investigation in accordance with directions and 

 instructions received from you under date of October 1, 1907. 



Concerning our own qualifications, we wish to state the following : 



I, O. Perry Burgess, 333 West 11th Street, Traverse City, Mich., am 

 forty-three years of age, born in Mecosta county, Mich., and at present 

 a practical timber cruiser and have been a resident of the State all of 

 my life. My father, Johnson Burgess, was one of the pioneers 'in Me- 

 costa county, where he established a farm on which I was born. He 

 also took part in the original public land survey in various districts 

 in the Southern Peninsula and carried on more or less the work of 

 timber exploitation, as well as to serve as timber looker for different 

 parties. From my fifteenth year I have been variously employed, as 

 scaler and estimator and in other capacities connected with the manu- 

 facture of timber, up to the present day, except for a single interrup- 

 tion of eight years, when I was engaged in railroading. During the 

 last seven years I have been continuously engaged in cruising and land 

 looking and to some extent in the buying and selling of lands and 

 timber. 



I, George Wilson, address Cheboygan, Michigan, sixty years of age, 

 have been a resident of Michigan continuously since 1861. I was en- 

 gaged as land cruiser from 1867 on. The greater part of this time I 

 have been engaged in the survey of lands, estimating or cruising of 

 timber, which has been my occupation exclusively for the last fifteen 

 years. 



On October 1st, after verbal conference, we received front you the 

 following instructions, which have formed the basis of our operations 

 throughout : 



"You are hereby instructfed to examine such bodies of land as will 

 be listed to you from time to time in the following manner : 



1. The estimating is to be done in a thorough manner by going 

 through each forty at least along two lines, noting the standing timber 

 in the usual manner. ' 



2. Be perfectly sure of your lines and do not take any hearsay for 

 facts. ' 



3. Determine by careful inquiry the prices of material (a) on the 

 stump, (b) at stream or railway, and thus ascertain as carefully as 

 possible the real stumpage value of the timber. 



4. Ascertain the character of the land and note the same, together 

 with its real value, independent of the timber, in accordance with the 

 blank form of report with which you are supplied. The attached is a 

 copy of the blank form which was used throughout our investigations. 



On receiving from you the lists which were furnished by the State 

 Land Oflace, showing the sales of tax homestead lands and homestead 

 entries, we went to the county court house of the particular county and 

 verified, first, the transfer from the State. We then followed the 

 records of the several transactions for any particular tract of land 

 from the date of transfer by the State, to the time of our investigation. 

 After the examination of these records, and gathering other pertinent 

 information concerning such tracts, we proceeded to make an investiga- 

 tion on the ground. In every case reported herewith where such in- 



