Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1879-10-25

W.B. Williams, State Commissioner of
| Railroads Of Michigan has issued his
seventh aHAualrep6ft fer the calendar
Year 1879! from whichl~b Icendense the
f6lioWingge The late issuelof the nreport
isaaHributable to the delays 6foyafiens
Companies in sending in1 their sreturns
aceerdingItO law. iThe Commissioners
strongly urges more prOmptneSs and at
tentiOn in the future. '"'d I" H'"i
The railroad interests of Michigan are
represented by A. distinct cTporatiOns'
Four new cQrp poratiOns were, formed dur
| ing the year, to succeed those roads sold
Under foreclosure Of mortgage sh7th cuiO
1.-THE capital stock investment amounts
TO- $l4S, 152, ,0lk.l6, eFs42 H.. .S33 per mile.
The debt account of the, roads presented
| in this state amounts to a total Of $16f,,-. !.
373, 74S.27, Of which L 81 1858, 1920 IS
funded, and $15, ,83T, $500 isnnfunded or
floating. .eta',
The aggregate earnings of the several
roads was $42, ZIG, 1906; an amount ,, in
excess Of that for the previous oyeaf0 of
81, ,176, ,208.99. The steady decrease eifi
earnings since 18774 Hoted in the lastfei
port, seems to have reached. its downs
ward limit with 1877, and to- have made
a fair start on it's Upward Course III
1878. is'i2c ld1sH 1G 51IEd efT .'o2 OK
1Fiveieompanies Chicago and Northv
western, Detroit, Lansing and Northern,
Lake Shore and Michigan Southern,
Michigan Central and Mineral Rang L.
paid dividends f61 tlfeif stock. - ysq laEe
AT the present time there are i3615.36
miles of railroad in Michigan, 81 miles
having been put in operation dufffig the
present year.. This is an. increase of
l60.19 miles over 1877. There is total of
3,977 bridges, showing that tracks cross
bridge on an average, of once in. a
small fraction over two miles. There
are 849 stations in Michigan, and there
are 20, 1856 persons employed in the Oper-
alton of our railroads, of whom 14,722
are in our own state. The roads have
along their several lines ,6Y$ lIs,Id miles OF
fencing. '''''i '-''''''. '''oA'' 81
The aggregate miles run by passenger
trains during the year was 9,47, 1896, by
| freight trains 19,115,17 and by mixed
sos, ,788, which together. make train
mileage, for trains earning revenue, of
28,570,S54 miles. Construction and 9TH
er trains ran 1,522, ,549; which added to
the above, gives total of &c, ,093, ,403 train
miles run. The increased mileage of
trains over that for the year previous is
quite marked, being a total: increase of
train mileagefer the year 1878, ,971 miles.
There were carried during the year TO-
| 615,5O4 passengers, number larger
than for 1877 by 679,656. The freight
traffic was by far in excess of. any pre-
Yl0uS year. i.i ifssT -5ii od - .4ss. i I.
Il He is satisfied that there was far, more
accomplished toward perfecting our
roads in 1873 than in any previous year.
our roads as whole were never in a
better condition than at present. There
are few that require a large eXpendi-
ture,. to place them in a, condition to
transact their prospective of business
with safety and dispatch; but these will
he Thinks be in a very good condition at
the close of the year. In short, Michi-
gan may well feel. a degree of pride in
the general management of its railroads
their general condition and repairs,
the low rates Oof2 freight, (which have
never been Oppressiye) and the safety in
upon them 1iEs' 'a''S7!a ~. .'iy' 'i'-i-
div elIichigan n and a. K1entuckyi -....is
To the Editor of the Homestead, Al, ;,,-,,,, ID
| Will you please teIf me through your valua-
| BILE paper why it is that you have peaches in
| while we have none whatever? The peaches
were killed here during the cold weather in
January. Is it possible that the cold was more
your state is better adapted to the raising OF
fruits of all kinds than Kentucky? Our wheat
crop was par-excellent from twenty to thirty
over aIiaverage crop. Tobacco good, and a large
breadth grown, selling from $40 to $l2 per hum
dred. Farmers are sowing large crop OF
| wheat this fall. .-g-si MASON. :
MURPHYsvMLE, Mason Co, KY, Oct. 4.
REMARKS To answer the above .ques-
tions fully would redfife both more
space and more facts than we have at
be grown in Michigan is; the, favorable
influence of the great lakes by which it
is surrounded in preventing sudden and
extrem changes Of temperature How
surprisingly great the influence is, our
any of the recent charts showing the
climate of this region. The lines 0fuhi-
| form temperature instead of running
due east and west.as mlghtYbe expected,
are detected SO as to, run nearly north
and south following nearly the course of
| the east shore of lake. Michigan. Thus
/
a period of % years during which Obser-
yatiOns were taken, is not on an average
greater than at Fort Riley, KANSAS,
| though the latter point is $50 mi les far
ther south, while elOwestp point reach;
ed at Mackinac was only two, degrees
lower than the lowest point reached at
St. Louis during the same period. u AS
| the prevailing winds are from the west,
the east shore of Lake Michigan feels
this modification of climate much, more
than any other part Of the state and has
been appropriately termed "the fruit
belt" In January the mean temperature
of the laRdfin the,r fnidsae, latitude; of
while that Of the lake rarely falls Below
40. As Grapes and peach trees drBd tire
for their destruction iaficoid snapiMhith
zero, it follows that they are cOmpara-
lively tiHa safe Xa the M1laHeaRes of the
Another orablescircumstanee par
ticularly along the northern part of the
:'belt' is the Fact that the snow falls be-
fore the ground freezes in the fall and
usually lies in an unbrokeIl5 coat three
or four feet thick ALI winter, sbarying
grape vinesiand small fruits out0f reach
| of frost. till the return of warm weather,
when the snow fhelts and sthere is no
subsequent freezing and thawing SO de-
strHetise to tender fruits and so common
farther S8uth:h Add to this a very pro-
d6ctiFp soil ,ythei istimulusi Of good and
Hear markets and the presence of skilled
fruit growers who give their q wholei at-
tehti6Rtoithe business, and fwBGhage
SOME of the feasOnsWig gAliehiganlexcels
aS fruit state. % S9sssl3 yIemiIg qfi
19d bsGni1ne-.--tet+4- rtfs7a,
s1ifhe 44aiaafrff 44iarfftfage Of the king of Spain
and Attddehess Marie whip Cake place
at Madrid OH the S7tH Gtff 18th Of Novefil-
6Ar;;;7 The latter is | < ftfgo AfoDs6s birth