The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1932-08-05
1884 WILL SEE
NO. IS paved
Commissioner Babcock Thinks
No. z and No. 35 Will be
Paved in Two Years.

A delegation from the Ely Com
mercial Club composed of Mayor w.
P. Wolff, City Engineer JOS Veranth
and Peter Schaefer attended the dinner
meeting at the Hotel Duluth Friday at
which State Highway Commissioner
Babcock was present and explained
why the special allotment was being
spent in the southern end of the state.
The Ely contingent was joined at
Tower by Mayor Herman Olson
The meeting had been called by the
Good Roads committee of the Duluth
Chamber of Commerce for the purpose
of hearing Commissioner Babcock ex-
plain why some of the over So ,000, 900
allocated for road work in Minnesota
could not be spent in the northern
end of the state. The meeting was at
tended by large delegation from all
the range towns and Duluth and other
cities in the Arrowhead country.
Minnesota's special road program
announced this week is not part of the
Federal unemployment relief recently
authorized by congress and has been
misunderstood by residents of Northern
Minnesota, said Mr.. Babcock at the
meeting.
The ALLEGATION of S3,373, $50 by the
government to Minnesota is to speed
road work and was requested more than
a year ago by members of the Ameri-
can Association of State Highway OFF,
Gals, Commissioner Babcock explained
The money is advanced in addition
to the regular appropriations and 10
per cent will be deducted each year
after 1898 from the usual Federal aid
until the amount is paid up.
This has nothing to do with the
Federal unemployment relief for which
congress appropriated $500, 600, 000." he
said. The governor of Minnesota can
make application for funds under this
act and the supervision rests entirely
with him. It can be used for roads,
public work, or furnishing food II
doubt if any of it will be allocated for
state highway construction"
Commissioner Babcock said that work
on highways in Southern Minnesota can
continue thirty days longer than in this
section of the state, while the jobs ap-
proved for immediate construction are
all ready for paving and there will be
no delay in getting under way next
month.
Time is an important element, as
the money allocated to Minnesota must
be spent by next July l." he said sAll
the paving work that can possibly be
done this year in Northern Minnesota
is now under way and it is impossible
TO include any projects this year under
the special program just announced"
He declared, however, that from the
fact that so many jobs will be done
in the southern part of the state this
year. more funds of the regular alloca-
ton next year will be available for
paving and grading in the northern
part of the state. He included the
paving of No. 2, from Aittkin to Deer
wood; paving No. from Swan River
to La Prairie, and paving No. 35 from
Tower to Ely, as prospects for 1888 and
1884. These were suggested to him by
the good roads committee of the
chamber, which sponsored the gather
ing
The commissioner also stated that
the state trunk highway system was
now about rs per cent completed and
that he hoped the legislature next
winter would add No. z between Tower
and Virginia to the system. No. will
be paved as soon as possible, several
miles in the Fourth District being on
the paving program for 1888.
Commissioner Babcock explained
that the bill speeding up road work
in the country was passed by the house
last February, but was delayed in the
senate. When passed, the original
deadline of Dec. was changed to July
of next year at the request of the
Minnesota highway head. It provides
for awarding of contracts, following the
usual procedure of the Federal road aid,
but includes the provision that pre-
ference be given by contractors to war
veterans out of work.
Alfred Hoel, president of the Arrow
head Association represented that or
ganization at the meeting. Chairman
w. A. Newman of the county commits
sioners and other commissioners were
present. Commissioner Babcock was
accompanied by j. T. Ellison, chief en-
gineer of the highway department who
explained in detail that projects
amounting to s2,500,000 were now in
the course of construction on the high
ways of the Arrowhead.