(No. 17.) Annual report of the Board of Internal Improvement of the State of Michigan. OFFICE OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT, Detroit, Jan. 15, 1839. } Hon. K. S. BINGHAM, Speaker of the House of Representatives i Sir-I herewith transmit to the honorable the Legislature the annual report of the Board of Internal Improvement, together with the accompanying documents. By order of the board. EDWIN H. LOTHROP, President of the Board of Internal Improvement‹ REPORT, &c. To the Honorable the Legislature of the State of Michigan: The undersigned, the Commissioners of the Board of Internal Improvement of the State of Michigan, in pursuance of the requisitions of the act entitled "An act for the regulation of internal improvements, and for the appointment of a Board of Commissioners," respectfully report That the Commissioners appointed at the close of the last session of the legislature, met at the city of Detroit, on the first Monday of May last, and organized by electing Edwin H. Lothrop, president; Hiram Alden, auditor; Levi S. Humphrey, acting commissioner on the southern railroad; Lansing B. Mizner, acting commissioner on the central railroad; James B. Hunt, acting commissioner on the Clinton and Kalamazoo canal; William A. Burt, acting commissioner on the northern railroad, and the Saginaw and Maple river canal; Rix Robinson, acting commissioner on the improvement of the Grand and Kalamazoo rivers, and the Sault Ste. Marie cañal; and they severally entered upon the discharge of the duties of their respective offices. The board also appointed Amos T. Hall, as collector on the central railroad at Detroit; Thomas B. Clark, collector at Ypsilanti; Alexander H. Adams, secretary and general book-keeper; and Charles Hoffman, way collector and captain of the train of cars; and the other appointments on the said road were made by the acting Commissioner, under a resolution of the board. The board also appointed the following chief engineers, Joseph S. Dutton, on the southern road; John M. Berrien, on the central road; Jarvis Hurd, on the Clinton and Kalamazoo canal; Tracy McCracken, on the northern road and Saginaw canal; John Almy, on the improvements of the rivers and Sault Ste Marie canal, each at a salary of eighteen hundred dollars per annum. In pursuance of a joint resolution of the legislature, the Commissioners were directed to cause a correct and accurate survey and estimate of a railroad route, on the best and most eligible ground, from Centerville, via Lockport, Geneva and Cass polis, to Niles, to be made, and to report said survey and estimate to the legislature at their next annual session. The charge of this duty was assigned to Dr. Alden; on his being subsequently appointed acting Commissioner on the central road, on the 12th of June last, in the place of Mr. Mizner, who had resigned, it was transferred to Mr. Lothrop, who appointed Erastus Hurd as the engineer to make said survey and estimate; and said engineer will submit to your honorable body his report, with a map of the country and an estimate of the expense. By a like resolution of the legislature, the Commissioners were directed to curve the southern railroad between the village of Petersburgh and the city of Monroe, continuing the same on the south side of the River Raisin, if such curve could be made as cheap as a branch could be made from said southern railroad : if not, that they make a branch road to the village of Dundee, with a proviso in relation to a cession of lands and water power for the use of the state. The acting Commissioner on said road having reported that the persons interested at that point had complied with the resolution in relation to the grant of sufficient land, and the necessary water power, was directed by a resolution of the board to inake a branch road to the village of Dundee, it appearing from the statement of the Commissioner and engineer that a branch road would be less expensive and equally beneficial. By another résolution of the legislature, the Commissioners were authorized, with the consent of the common council of the city of Detroit, to extend the track of the central railroad from its present termination, down Woodward avenue, to its intersection with Atwater street, and thence each way along Atwater street as far as the Commissioners might deem best for the public good, provided the expense should not exceed five thousand dollars. The consent of the corporation was obtained, and the acting Commissioner on said road was directed to let the same to contract, and part of the work has been done-the particulars of which will appear in the report of the acting Commissioner on that work. By another resolution, the Commissioners were instructed to contract for one hundred miles of railroad iron. By a resolution of the late board of Commissioners, this duty was assigned to General Humphrey, and his report on that subject is herewith submitted. At said meeting of the board, the Clinton and Kalamazoo canal was located from Mt. Clemens, in the county of Macomb, to the outlet of Crooked lake, in the county of Livingston; its further location was postponed until a further survey should be made west of that point, for the purpose of ascertaining if a better and less expensive route could not be found. Such further survey has been ordered by the board, and the acting Commissioner on that work has stated the situation of the same in his report, herewith submitted: and also to cause a survey and estimate from Mt. Clemens to Belvidere to be made, which is not yet done. And the acting Commissioner on said work was directed by a resolution of the board, to expend the amount of money appropriated to said improvement on the eastern section thereof, commencing at Mt. Clemens, and thence west as far as the appropriation would construct the same; and he was directed to have the same prepared and let to contract. The board also passed a resolution directing the northern railroad to be so located through the county of Shiawassee as to pass through both the villages of Corunna and Owasso, in such a manner as the acting Commissioner on the northern railroad should deem advisable for the best interest of the state. The location has been made by said acting Commissioner, in pursuance of said resolution. The board also located the northern railroad on the south side of Black river, in St. Clair county, on the line reported by the engineer on his first survey; the resolution locating said road not determining on which side of said river it should commence, stating only that it should be located at or near the mouth of Black river, &c. The acting Commissioner on said road, by different resolutions, has been directed to let to contract for grubbing and clearing all that part of said road from the commencement, at the mouth of Black river, in the county of St. Clair, to the village of Lyons, in the county of Ionia, and to contract for the grading of fourteen miles, between the village of Flint, in Genesee county, and the village of Lyons, which has been done, as will appear by his report, as submitted herewith. The acting Commissioner on the central road has been directed by resolutions, to prepare and let to contract, that part of said road between the villages of Ann Arbor and Jacksonburgh, for grubbing, clearing, and grading, and the same has been let to contract, as appears by his report. The acting Commissioner on the southern road has been also directed to prepare and let to contract that part of said road between the village of Adrian, in the county of Lenawee, and the village of Hillsdale, in the county of Hillsdale, for grubbing, clearing, and grading, and the same has been done, as more fully appears from his report, hereto annexed. The acting Commissioner appointed to take charge of the river improvements and the construction of the canal at the Sault Ste. Marie, has let contracts for the improvement of the navigation of the Grand and Kalamazoo rivers, and for the clearing, grubbing, and excavation of the canal; his report to the board, together with the report of the chief engineer on these works, contains a statement of the contracts and amount of labor done, and are herewith submitted. Resolutions have been passed by the board, directing the acting Commissioner on the southern road to prepare for letting to contract that part of said road between the villages of Hillsdale and Branch, and the work is now in progress, as appears by his report; and also directing the acting Commissioner on the central road, to prepare for letting to contract for grubbing, clearing, and grading, that part of the central road between the villages of Jacksonburgh and Kalamazoo: and to the acting Commissioner on the Clinton and Kalamazoo canal, to prepare to let to contract that part of said canal between the villages of Rochester and Pontiac. But no contracts are to be let on said works, until appropriations shall be made towards the same. The reports of the several acting Commissioners contain full and detailed statements on the several works, and they are respectfully submitted with, and making part of this report: The amount expended on the southern road, and the several works under the charge of L. S. Humphrey, during the present year, or to the first instant, is $236,195 51 The amount of work let to contract, it is estimated, will cost 497,250 00 The amount expended on the central road the past year, is 200,479 74 The estimated amount of contracts, 154,598 85 The amount expended on the Clinton and Kalamazoo canal, is 21,981 57 The whole amount of contracts let, will amount, as estimated, to 292,762 28 The amount expended on the northern railroad is The amount let to contract on said road, is estimated at the sum of 12,772 44 85,204 31 The amount expended on the Saginaw canal, during the last year, is 8,155 95 The amount let to contract is estimated at 62,000 00 being the amount appropriated on said works. There has been expended on the Grand river, the sum of 13,996 58 On the Kalamazoo, the sum of On the Sault Ste. Marie canal, And it is estimated that the appropriation made for the rivers, will cover the expense of the contemplated improvements. The amount let to contract on the canal around the falls on the St. Mary's, is estimated at about The expense of the survey of the St. Joseph river, with the maps and estimates made during the year 1837, but not audited and entered into the books, until 1838, is And there has been paid for instruments, the past year, the sum of There has also been drawn from the internal improvement fund, by the warrants of the auditor of the late board, and the warrant of the Auditor General, the sum of expenses on account of negotiating state loan, in And by the warrant of the Auditor General, for of which amount, $2,232 46, was paid by the late $3,023 07 794 48 42,000 00 5,812 22 403 79 927 00 3,000 00 3,636 80 200 00 The sum of $5,812 22 above mentioned, as having been expended on the St. Joseph river, and also the sum of $403 79, expended in the purchase of instruments, is to be paid out of the sum of $20,000 appropriated in 1837, to the survey of the route of the Clinton and Kalamazoo canal, the survey of the Saginaw canal, and of the Grand, Kalamazoo and St. Joseph rivers, and for the purchase of instruments. The expenses have exceeded the appropriation about the sum of five thousand dollars, as stated in the report of last year to the legislature. No appropriation was made to pay this excess, and it has been paid out of the general fund. A loan was made by the late board to the Bank of Gibraltar, of twenty thousand dollars, fifteen thousand dollars of which was the notes of chartered banks, and the residue was in notes of banks established under the general banking law; being some of the money which had been paid in by the State Treasurer, of the moneys received by him for taxes, under a joint resolution of the legislature. Loans have also been made by James B. Hunt, one of the |