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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 5, 1915)
3 THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, SEPTEMBER 5, 1913. HIGHWAY TO ORSETM FAELS NOW READY FOR INSPECTION Columbia River Route Festivities Tomorrow Will Be Marked by ParticipatioTlu-ongs-Stretches Closed for Improvement Are Shorfr-Pro-grammes Win Be Held at Scenic Points. f i Iff "J-" THE Columbia River Highway is a, 11 ready for its big home-warming party tomorrow. Those -who join the Inspection day throngs out to see the road by auto or Journeyingr by train to three of its finest scenic points Benson Fark. Multnomah Kails and Horsetail Kails, -where they will have lunch and 'bands ill play through the afternoon will find the -wonderful highway all they have dared to expect, and more. A reporter for The Oregonian and camera man, who went over the In spection day route a couple of days aso. found the road in splendid con dition for travel. Of. course, the highway is not all hard-surfaced yet. It has been only two months since work began, and the paving of the whole highway will not be completed until December; some of It. over fills which should have another year to settle, not until next Summer. But the "hot stuff." as the peving man calls the steaming hot bltulithio mix ture, has been put-down on 9S miles of the highway, and the pavers are going ahead at the rate of 6400 yards (about 2G00 -tineal feet, or half a mile) a day. The paving is not continuous, but is laid In sections, gangs on the different sections working at both ends and towards 'each other. There are now five plants, including rock quarry and mixing plants, and five complete gangs, employing in round numbers a total of about 1200 workmen along the highway. Kach of these gangs is an active center of paving w ork. Closed Stretches Are Short. There will be no long closed stretches of the highway tomorrow. In a few places, all before Crown Point and the real Columbia scenery is reached, there are short stretches where the old road is used for a few hundred yards, while the new one is getting its paving coat. But for Inspection day, the detour by way of the old road on top of the hill, with its wretched grades and hair raising curves from Just this side of Crown Point to Latourell, is officially abolished. Autoists will be permitted to drive on the real highway from the top of Crown Point down the beautiful "Hairpin Curve," or 'Figure Eight," as It is also called, where the road twists and turns by easy grades above itself four or five times in the width of a few hundred yards. This stretch has been closed for sev eral weeks -while ,ihe pavers were busy on -it, and it will be closed again for a time after Inspection day. The re porter and the camera man had the good fortune to be riding over the high way in an official car. so did not have to make any of the detours. It was amusing at times to see the alacrity with which watchmen, stern-faced at the weary job of shooing another auto-.-' ist on his w-ay, let down the bars and beckoned to come ahead when they aw the official sign. Going Is Generally Smooth. Tn between the sections of completed pavement the going, contrary to what n.ight be supposed, is generally smooth and the road fast. In places the soil has become so hard packed that it is almost a hard surface in itself. Where loose -rock, which made traveling bumpy in places early in the year, the many, cars and heavy auto trucks now using the road have worn them down and smoothed off the surface. The longest stretch of completed pavement now on the highwny extends from just beyond Oneonta Gorge past Horsetail Falls, and beyond, a distance, as measured by the speedometer, of 3.2 miles. And what a stretch it is! The Instant temptation is to open the throt tle and hit her up! The new pavement is so smooth to the roll of the wheels that it's like a spin on polished glass with an air cushion beneath it. As the chauffeur agely remarked: "They'll need about ten motorcycle :ops' along here to hold 'em down!" Road Qpn to ' Horsetail Kails. The Highway will be open for the Inspection day crowds as far as Horse tail Falls, wiijch is roughly speaking bout 14V. miles up the Highway from Its beEinning at the Portland Automo bile Club on the Sandy River. Speedom eters will register ."S to 37 miles from Portland when the cars reach there, taking into consideration the rather circuitous route just now necessary to get on the I'tghway. This route, as originally planned by J. B. Yeon. roadmaster. was to follow the Sandy road to the Barker road, which is some nine miles from the Courthouse, thence across to the Base Line road, and thence after consider able winding about and running up one rossrond and down another, to the Columbia River Highway itself at the Automobile Club. The Base I'ins road, however, for the last three or four -miles this side of the Troutrtale road. 16 miles from Portland, into which it runs, is pretty badly torn up with paving preparations and for half a mile this side of the Troutdale road with extensive resrrade work, which involves a cut 32 feet ieep and a nil of the same depth. Route Is Mapped Out. Mr. Yeon accordingly has mapped out a new route which insures smooth riding all the way to the Columbia River Highway. This route is as fol lows: Out the Sandy road to the Rockwood road, which is some distance beyond the Barker road previously mentioned. Here autoists will turn south on the Rockwood road aivd cross the Base 1-lne road to the Section Line road, a distance of about 24 miles. The Sec tion Iine road is now-in very good condition. The route then follows this road through Gresham, and thence over other good dirt and macadam roads to the Auto Club. Sandy bridge and the Highway. Already 5:18 miles nave been paved on the ISandy road and 4.3 miles on the Base Line road. In addition to the hundreds of private cars, expected, to make the run tomor- r- " -'53'' J A u 4. . "-'.- - ..-- . : rV-.-v 3 Jt&e&&& V 3k ' - .! ! - row, and tne auto trucks in -which sev era! business houses will send their employes on the trip, six special trains un accommodations for 6000 persons will leave the Union Depot for Benson Tark, Multnomah Kalis and Horsetail Falls at 9 o clock in the morning over the O.-W. li. & N. Returning, these trains will leave for Portland at 5 P. M. Round-trip tickets for adults will be b cents and for children 35 cents. Free coffee, cream and sugar will be served at each of these three reception points. Frankfurter " sand wiches. soft drinks and ice cream cones can be bought for 5 cents apiece At Benson Park, dedication exercises in connection with the formal taking over by the city of Mr. Benson's splen did gitt will be held right after lunch. Madame Jomelli will sing and llc-i-lroy's Band will give a concert. At Multnomah Falls there will be music by the Klks' Band and a spe cial athletic programme with 60 prizes. The Portland Fire Department Band will play at Horsetail Falls. The Portland Ad Ciub, which was the originator of the Inspection day plan and is in charge of the details, ex pects to handle fullv 10,000 persons at these three points. The Ad Club head quarters in the Northwestern Bank building will be open ail todav for the sale of tickets. Persons desiring other information should call A 1257 or Main 1995. 2 ,4 " u ' s v r CAPTOR OFUB IS CHASED Time Tails When Bear, Finally Outwitted, Marts Pursuit. EOSEBfRG, Or.. Sept. 4. Special ) Depriving a mother bear of her 60 pound cub with no other protection than an almost useless firearm is a rather risky experiment, according to Theodore) Bond, of this city. Using his rlile he crippled the cub, but as the gun required considerable patience to extract the shell. It was of no further use when the mother bear gave chase. Avoiding the angry parent. Bond made a circle in the tim ber and returned to the cripled cub and carried it some distance before he was forced to drfp it and take to the timber again. When he finally eluded the mother he returned and captured the cub. Ttaymond Buys Water Plant. RAYMOXD. Wash.. Sept. 4 (Spe cial.) The City of Raymond this week took over the waterworks from the Raymond Water Company, paying $93, 81.52 cash for the system, including S2 acres of land. Bonds to provide the funds for the purchase of the plant were issued early In the Spring. Plans for extending the system several miles up the South Fork River have been under way for some time, and pro ceedings have been Instituted to con demn right of way. When the exten sion is completed, the cost of which will exceed J 100.000, the city will have a gravity system with a good supply of excellent water. ! -,- -: H r- M, .AsSr - ... . . . , . . , 1 "-5-2 ' v " -0"'ri:JS: ? w J ft-;;.:.- II II ; SH. x -A A ,7f':-A "f..'W ? .1 2 II - -1 - ln It i" 11 pit - 3 I H 7 V4 j.. -mm31 1" f 1 I : - II r - - - i - - . - . , y