The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1913-08-02
ClAY-SAND ROADS
UNSATISFACTORY
SLIPPING IN WET WEATHER AN0
ROUGH IN DRY
ENOUGH ROLLERS LAST YEAR
Kalamazoo County Man Explains Why
No Steam Rollers Are In Evidence
In His County.


week al Grand Rapids where we arriv.
Cd Sunday night was called 10 De.
troit 10 attend me citing Of the execu-
tive committee of the grand encamp-
nent while Mrs Conlin went 20 Mus
kegon. leaving Tom to overhaul and
clean up the car at Grand Rapids be-
\ tween visits 10 the l0l Ranch circus
which WAS showing there Re did
good job at both. The change 10
riding ON steam cars was not pleasant
because of the excessive heat. On my
return trip Tuesday | travelled via the
Pere Marquette and was greatly sur
! prised AZ the excessive drouth that
prevails over central Michigan The
oat crop all over the state is slight.
The corn is better but needs rain The
potato crop in the north is good but
mighty poor inthe central and south.
II the oat crop is no better in other
states than in Michigan we will be
paying big prices again for oats this
winter.
Tuesday afternoon found us assembl.
ed again al Grand Rapids and we left
that town about 90 o clock for Lake
Odessa. The road was very hard
one. The county is preparing TO re-
build the road and il certainly needs
is
| got my first taste of clay sand road
on this trip and want TO digress right
nere 10 dispute the statement that clay
over sand makes good road. It's the
poorest construction diyised In wet
weather 10 is too slippery 10 stay on
the road and in dry weather IL is too
rough | found the clay surface road
all over the state badly ruttsd and too
rough for comfort.
Lake Odessa has the finest water Of
any two ia Michigan. II is second
from drilled wells and there ls an
abundant supply.
The roads from Lake Odessa are
fine gravel roads level and smooth
ana we were able 10 make good time
on them We spent this afternoon
visiting at the capitol but most of the
Crystal Falls people there were away.
We found .. b. Fuller quite interested
in our trip. He had driven from
Lansing to Escanaba via Cnicago a
month previous 10 our trip and gave rs
valuable information about the roads.
Thursday found us on our way 10
jackson. Tho road Ia not particu-
larly good one az 1t contains some
heavy gradss and much sand
We arrived at the !. o. o. f. home
shortly after noon and spent the after
noon inspecting the place and visiting
with the So inmates. Evelyn got in.
tereeted at the orphanage while Tom
started out to see the, shop where Or
Darling : car waa Manufactured
As we we're driving along wildwood
avenue in jackson we heard some ono
calling our name. We stopped the
car and saw Rev A. A. haywood rae.
ing towards M on bicycle he said
that the name Crystal Falls on our
pennants attracted his attention and
he resolved 10 inye stigate A pleasant
call upon the Maygoods followed next
morning. They intended leaving Mon.
day July p for o trip via auto tc
l. Anse. Their car was shipped
aero ~ the lake and the start made
from Milwaukee
The state roads from Jackson 4
Battle Greek is undergoing extensive
grading and surfacing. The gravel.
like that 70 the north is simply dumped
on the road and left TO he pounded into
place by the traffic The absence Of
steam road rollers IL still in evidence
] asked friend az Battle Ircek the
reason for the dearth Of rollers he
replied that last year two steam roll.
ers we're nj work. one st Bay City the
other at Chicago and SO many Of the
boys got rolled out that they don 5nd
il necessary in Kalamazoo and Can
ouni counties especially. 10 use rollers
} this year Both counties were Roose
Welt strong holds. hence the joke
From Battle Creek 20 VicksbnrR
where we spent Sunday, the roads are
very good gravel construction on which
we made good time Mrs Conlin
went TO Leonadis for Saturday night
} meeting. Joining us ut vicksburg
} Sunday forenoon and the afternoon
! Of an extremely no, day We spent at
! Indian lake. a summer resort near
vicksburg. The weather was cool and
TO our liking last week, has turned