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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 13, 1916)
6 TSTE STJXPAY OREGOXIATT. POKTLAKD, AUGUST 13, 1916. SUMMER SHOW TO MOTORIST WHO HAS TOURED PACIFIC HIGHWAY MANY TIMES MAKES TRIP THIS SEASON AND FINDS ROUTE MUCH IMPROVED MAXWELL BLAZING ALL-COAST ROUTE BE HELD NEXT WEEK C. A. McGee, Who Holds All Elapsed Time Records for San Francisco-Portland Run, Tells of Many Stretches of Improved Road Between Bay City and Oregon Metropolis Narrowed Down to 25 MUes Bridges Replace Ferries Buick "Six" Averages Nearly 20 Miles to Gallon of Gasoline for 793-Mile Drive. -Bad Going- Now Probably 30 Cars of the Less-Than-$1500 Type Will Be on Exhibition. Party Leaves Tia Juana, Mex.. for Vancouver, B. C, Via Shoreline Highways. PLAN ON ELABORATE SCALJ GRIFFIN DIRECTING TOUR : B - $-h f J. il i 3 . "I -..?: ..... -a: '-''. S ' . : i -? T- 'v"v display Will Be In Basement of Meier & Frank Store and Will Be Open Only During Daytime. Admission Will Be Free. BY CHESTER A. MOORES. Ladles and gentlemen, with your kind attention, the automobile dealers of Portland will, for the week com mencing August 21 (that's a week from tomorrow), stage the first midsummer auto show ever conducted in this com munity and perhaps the first full fledged display of its kind to be held In a department store anywhere. - Almost the entire basement space of the Meier & Frank department store buildings will be used for the display of every car represented locally which sells for $1500 or less at the factory. No admission fee will be charged and the show will be open only on a. day light schedule, or during the hours that the entire department store is "at home." At a meeting of Portland automobile dealers in Meier & Frank's tearoom last Thursday noon the various automobile dispensers decided unanimously to con duct the show, and named the follow ing committee to handle the project: W. B. Doan, Paige and Saxon distrib utor, chairman; C. M. Menzies, sales manager of the Northwest Auto Com pany, and C. L. Howe, of Mitchell, Lewis & Stayer Co. The show is not to be conducted by the Portland Auto mobile Dealers' Association, several of the dealers, including Chairman Doan himself, not holding membership in that body. About 30 Can to Be Shown. All told, about 18 different Portland companies will be represented at the midsummer exhibition, which indicates that the coming show will be one of the largest auto displays that has ever COHtllIA RIVER HIGHWAY OPE1V TO TRAFFIC AT ALL HO l ltS. Roadmaster X e o n announced Friday that the complete length of the Columbia River Highway in Multnomah County has been paved and that it will no longer be necessary for motorists to pass over the final portion of the highway dur ing the noon hour or after work ing hours at night. The county road officials thought the road work between Fairview and Troutdale would be completed yesterday, thus onen- JTVng the Sandy boulevard route J " lor its full length, but it win a still be a few days before this i route wiU be open. Meanwhile !the accepted approach to the highway is the Base Line road to its extremity at Melrose 'Covm .1-li i. r- n , 1 . 1 .. P V, 1 .1 is taken through Troutdale and connection made with the Sandy route, which is open and paved from that point forward. been held in Portland. The fact that no admission will be charged guaran tees attendance considerably larger tlian usual. Probably more than 30 cars will be on show, as most of the dealers handle more than one make of car, and different models of each car will be shown. The idea back of the midsummer show is that now is just the time for prospective buyers to close their bargains, as the high tide of the motoring season has arrived. No decision has as yet been reached as to whether or not accessories and Bide lines will be displayed in supple ment to the automobiles. An orchestra has been engaged to supply music for the show and, as Chairman Doan puts it, "the old base drum will be pounded as it has never been pounded before." The dealers all seem enthusiastic over the prospect of a successful show, and every visible sign bears out their op timistic predictions. Models of the following cars will be displayed in the coming show by their respective agents: Mitchell. Overland, Willys-Knight, Reo, Cole, Kissel, Bris coe, Ford, Grant. Hupmobile. Stude baker, Velie. Maxwell, Dodge, Buick, Haynes, Saxon, Paige, Oldsmobile, Scripps-Booth, Chalmers, Chevrolet and Oakland. As a result of this broad rep resentation nearly every automobile agency in Portland will participate in the 1916 Summer display, a situation unheard of in years gone by. Dort Cars May Be Seem. Tn case the new models of the Dort car arrive this week it will probably be represented at the show and it would not surprise the wise ones to see Frank C. Riggs return from the East with an agency or two tucked under his wing, thus making an additional entry pos sible. a A total of 29 new G. M. C. trucks have been sold in Oregon since the first of the year, instead of IS, as cred ited by the last statistical statement, according to Charles G. Irwin, of the Columbia Carriuge & Auto Works. Port land dealers In G. M. C. trucks. One or two of this number were, however, de livered outside the State of Oregon, and perhaps all of the trucks sold have not yet been tagged with new 1916 Ore gon license numbers, which accounts, in a measure at least, for the divergence in the official and the private reports. ... Among the prominent visitors in Portland last week were W. E. Sills, of New York City, general salesmanager of the Chevrolet Motor Car Company, and Norman DeVaui, head of the Chev rolet Motor Car Company, of Califor nia, who visited J. J. DeVaui, Oregon distributor. P. C. Dressel has invented and per fected a distillate generator to bo used on automobiles using distillate as fuel and the patented appliances are now being manufactured in Portland by the inventors. H. W. Garland and j. C. DresseL Soldier Gets Leave to Enter Race. Christians, the Beligan speed king, now serving with the British Aviation Torps. is to be seen in competition in the Vanderbilt cup and International grand prize races at Santa Monica on November 16 and 18. according to ad vices received from the beach city re cently. . Christians has been granted an additional six months' leave of ab sence and will appear in the cup clas sics with the Sunbeams, is tlv. report. Is"1 , '4r-i- ASTAXDARDIZED Pacific High way connecting Washington and Oregon with California is soon to be an accomplished fact, according to the report of C. A. McGee. of the Howard Auto Company, of San Fran cisco. McGee drove up over the high- way last week with his family in one of the new six-45 Buicks and is loud in his praise of the road improvements, especially in the mountain districts of both California and Oregon. There is probably no one on the coast in a better position to judge the actual amount of improvement that has been made on the Pacific Highway. McGee, in company with other members of the Howard organization, holds all elapsed time records between Portland , and San Francisco, for both trucks and pleasure cars. Tour Taken Seriously. Iii speaking of road conditions and the recent trip in general. McGee says: "On the present trip no effort was made at fast time. We left San Fran cisco at 9:30 Friday evening, arrived at Roseburg, Or., Sunday at 8 P. M. Monday was spent in visiting relatives near Roseburg and the run to Portland finished Tuesday. "The road improvements started as soon as we were off the Sausalito boat and continued until we were on the paved streets of Portland. There is at this time less than 25 miles of really bad road between San Francisco and Portland and in most instances this is caused by detours around construc tion work. "The highway is mostly completed between San Francisco and Corning. What is known as the back road will be found best between Corning and Red Bluff. The highway between Red Bluff and Redding is mostly graded and is & big improvement over the old route. North from Redding the highway is graded to within, three miles of Antler and should be used ty all means instead of the Kennet road. Wont Road far Ddnimnir. "The worst roads on the entire trip are encountered between the end of this highway and Dunsmuir, but inas much as there is now only about ten miles of bad road, where formerly there was 65 miles, the experienced motorist will be patient for a while at least, as there is every indication that the highway is to be completed right through the Sacramento Canyon in the near future. "A new concrete bridge has been built across the Sacramento River at t s . . tv- f " " - - T . " 4 - ' ' 1 ti I . . ' &&s-JJil-- : .... . -. ,. cj J - FTv 1 , Redding: and another one has been the route thai, should be followed into I I- . - ..1. " " . II built across the Pitt River at Baird. These both take the place of ferry boats. Another big bridge across the Sacramento River at Dunsmuir is almost completed. This bridge will eliminate a bad grade and railroad crossing. "From Dunsmuir north the road via Gazell is in fine shape and good time can be made over it and as the motorist is fn constant sight of Mount Shasta, whieii rises to an elevation of more than 14.000 feet, this is one of the most picturesque parts of the trip. When nearing Montague from the south, conflicting road signs will be encountered. The little towns of Treka and Montague are both fighting for the motor travel and both have road signs stating that the best route is through their town. The fact re mains, however, that the state high way runs through Yreka and this is THREE AUTOMOBILE OFFICIALS 77J- t.. i r. J . Comtnz'-Ciee. s . A Hornbrook. New Grade Flne. "From Hornbrook. Cal.. to Central Point. Or, there is only a break of about a mile in the highway. This is caused by a detour around an uncom pleted bridge near Hilt. "This stretch of highway. which takes the motorist across the Siskiyou Mountains and from California Into Oregon, is in marked contrast to the old road over the Siskiyous. On the old roar! there were several miles of low gear work for the most powerful cars and the man with the under powered car was out of luck. The Buick "Six" I was driving made almost the entire climb over the new grade on high gear. "The road through Rogue River Valley is in good shape; in fact, with the exception of a few short, etecp CHOSEN TO DIRECT PORTLAND'S SHOW. .ran - . - . r : ;; . t . . - - V ' - : A V 4. . ,-v ' a " ' i ? y' f IN ' ' 5- H i J . . r' I ' ft. I 1 i 4 grades the roads are good clear through to the rougla County line north of Wolf Creek. Douglas County Is now building a new grade into Glendale, but as this is not yet completed the motorist is forced to use the old road, which is very steep for about a quarter of a mile. "The roads through Canyon Creek into Canyonville and Riddle are much FIRST MIDSUMMER AUTOMOBILE ' - ' . . . . . V - : better than 1 have ever seen them and the new grade through Canyon Creek is a big improvement. Considerable work has been done in Pass Creek Can yon between Roseburg and Kugene and it is to be hoped that this piece of notoriously bad road will be entirely improved befora another year. tverjone advised us to follow the Pacific Highway from Albany into Portland instead of coming down the West Side, as we did in years past. We followed this advice and found the roads good right into Portland. The speedometer on our Buick "Six-" showed a total of 793. miles for the trip when we arrived at the Howard Automobile Company's branch in Portland. "In this distance, which contains all kinds of road and climatic conditions, not the least bit of trouble was ex perienced with either the Buick or Its equipment of Goodyear No-Rlm-Cut tires, which had seen scleral thousand miles of the hardest kind of service before the start of the present trip. "Four quarts of cylinder oil and 40 gallons of gasoline were used on the trip. This Is an average of approxi mately 20 miles to each gallon of gaso line." MOTORS EXHIBIT WAK VALVE Five Hundred California "Hookies" Carried 150 Miles lu Four Hours. Five hundred patriotic Callfornlana, volunteering for the state encampment at Monterey, bad occasion recently to find out the value of the automoblla for military purposes. Led by a 100-point six KisselKar'. a string of 9 cars left San Francisco at 8 A. M. and arrived at their des tination, 150 miles ditant,exactly four hours later, as scheduled. In sraiirtnn eonrMilom for evapmnt pf its recently (tlscmaml u..tah deposits tM'Aln l requiring; i.ncesafiii&lrvii lo r tr for National cnmun'.ptlon aurh part 4if tha aalia as iaa aruu.ut dMnu ad vlaatia, . . Maxwell Touring Bureau Chief, Ac companied by 3 Magazine Writ ers, to Show Strategic Value of Motor Koatl Along Pacific. An Item of National defense of par ticular importance to the entire west ern portion of the United State was Inaugurated last Wednesday, when. Wilbur Hall, magazine writer; Lieu tenant Albert Gill Waddell, represent ing Federal interests and National motor publications, and Jack Griffin. of the Maxwell touring .bureau, left Tia Juana. Mex., to blaze an all-Coast trail to Vancouver. Can. The party will endeavor to add to the practicability of the tour by utilizing an automobile that has already seen much vigorous service the famous Maxwell touring car which some months ago estab lished a world's record by traveling 22.022 miles without a stop of its motor. Military strategists and preparedness advocates are indorsing the Maxwell trip. It is freely admitted, that any foreign power. Intent n invading our country, would ihave a hard time forc ing entry through any of the larger Pacific Coast cities. Most of these are already defended by sufficient arma ment, or else the War Department has already laid plans for adequate forti fications. But the greater portion of the Pa cific Coast is open to Invasion. With the exception of a short distance in California, and a portion of Oregon. there are no roads over which a re pelling force could be carried to the scene of a possible hostile entry. The coming of the motor car as a means of transporting troops and guns in suf ficient quantities has answered one phase of the question of defense, but these troops and equipment cannot be carried to their destination if there are no all-year-around highways over which to send the gasoline-driven ve hicles. The Maxwell party will endeavor to force a route which will be within a few miles of the Pacific at all times. Its itinerary includes a run up the Pa cific Coast from Tia Juana to Los An geles. Then the Coast Highway is again followed for its entire length to San Francisco Bay. The route here leads slightly inland, and the broad Pacific is not in sight again until Just before Kureka Is reached. . From Eureka to Marshfield a Coast road has already proved practicable. But from Marshfield to Astoria no con tinuous eea level highway has ever been blazed, and it will be the duty of the Maxwell trio to force its machine through unexplolted lanes and into the virgin forests In an endeavor to pave the way for a Pacific Coast road that will lead from Mexico on the south to Canada on the north. The return trip to Tia Juana from Vancouver will be over the familiar and well-traveled interior route. This will lake the Maxwellites through Se attle. Portland, the Willamette Valley and over the Siskiyou Mountains into the Sacramento and San Joaquin val leys of California. The inland feature of the tour Is to ascertain If connect ing links at frequent intervals can not be made with the proposed Coast route. For strategic military reasons it. is necessary that these be planned in order to make the Coast defense idea feasible. To more fully Impress members of Congress with the necessity for Fed eral action In -constructing the pro posed road motion pictures of the various points along the route will be taken. A careful log of road and topo graphical conditions will be kept, and at the end of the trip the findings will be submitted to the Federal Army and Navy officials, good roads and auto mobile clubs, and to the people of the country generally through the medium of the National Maxwell touring bureau, maintained by the Maxwell Motor Company to promote Interest in comfortable automobile touring. In order to demonstrate more forc ibly the feasibility of the Coast route, the trail blazers are utilizing an auto mobile that is anything but new. The lda Is to impress the public generally with the fact that the -present-day standard motor car can be relied, on to make the run regardless ef weather conditions, and could depend ably transport troops and guns to the scene of action should our country be In danger of a foreign invasion. ROAD REPORT IS MADE DATA OX PlinTLASTD-PR-lIHIE CITY ROUTE SlPPLIEtt E. M. Ward Gives Detailed Account of 331-Mile Trip, Walca Waa 'e KOtlated la S3 Iloara. A detailed report on road condition from Portland through The Dalles, Condon. Fossil and way points to Prai rie City, a point 331 miles from Port land, has been furnished H. H. Eling. manager of the Portland branch of the Overland Pacific Company, by K. M. Ward, of Prairie City, who recently completed the trip in a baby Overland. Mr. Ward saya he made the entire trip in 23 hours. His notes follow: "Left Portland 7 A. M-. arrived at The Dalles at noon. SS miles. Some steep hills from Hood River to Mosier. 25 per cent.: otherwise roads fairly good. The Dalles at 1:15. arrived at Wasco 4 P. M-. 30 miles. Some sand on Columbia River, but roads other wise In good condition. Wssco to Con don, t mile, arrived 7 P. M. ; from Wanco to McDonald some rough roads. lp Rock Creek to French Charley Can yon, fair road, from there to Mitzkale road, rough and deep eand for 100 yards: good from this point to Condon, except in a few places. From Condon to Fossil. 21 miles; roads being repaired in canyon. In bad shape at present: after leaving Canyon roads good to Fossil: from Fossil to Mitchell. 40 miles: arrived at T A. M. : good roads. Mitchell to Dayvllle. 40 miles', arrived at 10:30 A. M. Roads good except creek crossing, dangerous gulches full of water at present. Day ville to Prairie City. 47 miles, roads good, arrived at 12:30 P. M. "From above description you will notice thfct I mad a continual drive without sleep; weather was extremely warm In day. The run was made In S3 hours, used 14 gallons of gasoline, one quart of cylinder oil. The hood was not lifted in all the 331 miles from Portland."
