Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (March 7, 1920)
SECTION SIX Pages 1 to 10 Automobiles, Road Trips and Northwest Highway News VOL. XXXIX. PORTLAND, OREGON, SUNDAY MORNING, 9IARCII 7, 1920 NO. 10 " ; " i FOREST GROVE HOW FINE PAVED HIGHWAY MAKES HILLSBORO AND FOREST GROVE PRACTICALLY PORTLAND SUBURBS I CLOSE 10 PORTLAND ., ' ,. , ,n, ' , - New Paved Highway Brings r . StlSST ' ' ' ' - A It Just Over Hour Away. , . i&fSS - ' - ' ' mwWMmTWTWin w : BEAVERTON REAL SUBURB . ' ' - 1 "fSC , -t-- ft ' ' : Tualatin Valley Town Shows Ben.- Kfe?' ' ' ' ' v4 ' H T ' ' T f &" 1 fits Already of Business fi'lZE'x 1 . . I $3l M , I , - H USW" f ' 3 ; I Over the New Road. F' , J L 1 M - Si H ' X Vi H I V; -C li Ctrl I .ci- - ,v ll'l .. . .... 'J l'AJ Aw ... ' - ' t.;a i rJA ..-ia,.., h'fliiilftftiWv'' -x,v a. VS BY U H. GREGORY. Forest Grove and Hillsboro arc on the map at last. Road crews have completed laying pavement all the way to Forest Grove and the run to the university town can now be made by automobile from Portland eaail in one hour and lb minutes. It was only a counle of months ago that the new paved highway to Hills boro, via Terwilliger boulevard. Bertha, Beaverton and Reedville, was opened to traffic. Nobody expected further pavement before well into this spring or summer. But taking advantage of the perfect February weather, the contracting firm having the job of paving from Hillsboro to Forest Grove put down the hot stuff last month and now has hard surface laid over the entire distance. The macadam shoulders on the sides are ' not as yet in place, but the road is open to traffic and already handles an enormous amount of it. This new paved highway from Port land through the Tualatin valley is doing wonders for that section. J different looking town. L'nrler the rush of automobile traffic and accom- panying tourist and truck shipping business that has come with the hard- ! surfaced highway, the town has 1 spruced up and snapped to attention, j so to speak. The new briskness ofj II was plainly noLiceauie un a ui in stop there in the course of a run to Forest Grove by the writer last Sun day in a Chevrolet car. As Close as Montavilla. The highway has put Beaverton in about the same relation to Portland, Q far as time of traveling there is concerned, as Montavilla. In effect. Beaverton now becomes a suburb of Portland. This will become very plain ly apparent this coming Bummer and thereafter. More Portland people will remove to Beaverton and adjacent spots in the Tualatin valley to live, for when you can snap out there from the busi ness center of Portland in 30 minutes by automobile, without once stepping over the legal speed limit of 30 miles an hour, you might as well enjoy country life and grow your-own potatoes. But even this time of ,30 minutes will be cut down when the Canyon road gateway from Portland is paved. This is three or four miles shorter than the present route, which is by way of Terwilliger boulevard and liertha station on the Capital high way. Work of completing the pave ment on the Canyon road route will :n very soon. There are only a c"iii:e of miles remaining to be hard- this hard-surfacing is . motorists are advised to iie present "highway. In one lietour on the Can . s next to impassable. Spin KIght Along, .om Portland to Hillsboro over Che new highway is a matter of only Co minutes to one hour. And on over the just completed pavement to Forest Grove, seat of Pacific university, pic iuns.iue among its stately oaks and the oldest higher durational institu tion in Oregon, is easy in 70 minutes to an hour and a quarter. This will be a mightily popular drive this sum mer. ' There isn't a prettier town in the state than Forest Grove, though there is certainly not much activity there on Sunday. Even yie drug stores are closed. The pavement on the new highway to Beaverton, Hillsboro and Forest Grove is in fine condition. Some what narrow, to be sure, but wide enough for two cars if the drivers use any kind of caution. However, the boys will try to step on 'er, and a narrow highway is always morel dangerous than a broad one under these circumstances. We saw one bad smashup narrowly averted SundayJ wnen tne driver of one car tried to beat a car from the opposite direc tion In passing a third car. The high way wasn't wide enough for all three at once, and the car that really had the right of way, a stage bound from Portland, had to take the ditch to avoid a crash. No damage done, luckily. One surprising fact is the very heavy automobile traffic on this high way even now. so soon after it has been opened to travel. Passenger automobiles follow each other on Sundays in long .lines. And this is only a marker to what the travel will be later in the season. Broadway Bridge Conies ear It. The Beaverton - Hillsboro - Forest Grove highway is one of the straight est roads in the state. There are some curves, but very few of them, after it cuts loose from Bertha sta tion on the Capital highway. For the most part it follows long tan gents. It is not what could be called,. a scenic drtve, though it is interest ing all the way. And it will be much more interesting when spring- is a little more advanced. But it takes a motorist who has suffered the anguish of driving to Beaverton and Hillsboro over the old road, which was" one continuous series of shell holes and rough weather, really to appreciate the new highway. From Hillsboro to Forest Grove used to be fairly good. But from Hills boro to Portland There no doubt were worse roads In Oregon than this old one and there may be worse roads now, but we have never' found them. The present surfacing of the Broadway bridge in Portland comes as close to it as any thing else we can think of. HERE are some views along the new paved highway to Beaverton, Reedville, Hillsboro, Cornelius and Forest Grove. The pavement has been extended from Hillsboro to Forest Grove only vithin the past few weeks. This highway, which cuts through the rich Tualatin valley, was opened to Beaverton and Hillsboro only a couple of months ago, but already the paved turnpike is crowded with cars on Sundays. The road is one of the straightest in the state, there being not more than half a dozen main curves all the way from Bertha station, just outside Portland, where it branches off the Capital highway, Forest Grove. Right Signpost warning of sharp turn just outside Hillsboro. There should be many such clear to Forest Grove. Above at the left is one of the few curves in the highway, this being near Reedville. signposts on Oregon highways. Below Left, Tangent, between Hillsboro and Cornelius: right, bridge on the At right Big oil tanks of Union Oil company of California, at Cornelius. Center, left Pacific university at highway, between Reedville and Hillsboro.. The car in the pictures is a Chevrolet, in which the run was made. HOOD RIVER-WYETH STRETCH IS CXDEB WAY. Getting a Llplit. What car owner has not at some time been in the position of wanting a smoke and yet finding his pocketsj empty or matches? In this emergency drivers may be glad to know that by soaking a bit of waste in gasoline and laying it close to the sparking points of one of the plugs which has been removed from the engine for the purpose the material will ignite when the engine is turned over. Several Weeks Will Suffice to Coin - plete Long Stretch of TTpper Highway Work. HOOD RIVER. Or.. March 6. (Spe cial.) Hood River residents are jubi lant over the fact that paving has al ready started on the Columbia river highway between this city and Wyeth, notwithstanding the fact that pav ing operations may close the highway to traffic for several weeks. The mixing plant at Wyeth began operations March 1 and is delivering material to the surfacing gang at a point just east ot Shellrock mountain. The gang is working 'east toward Hood River at the rate of 600 feet a day. The highway between Shellrock mountain and Portland is completely hard surfaced. A second mixing plant has been in stalled at Sonny, just west pf Mitchell point, and this plant will be in opera tion within a few days. The two plants will pave between 1000 and 1200 feet of highway each working day, or better than a mile 'a week. There is about ten miles of pavement to lay, or a little less than ten week's work, which should bring the work to completion by May 15. Definite plans for closing the- road have not yet been worked out, but it is probable that the working hours will be be tween 6 A. M. and 6 P. M. and during that period travelers will be taboo. The contractor will have a great ad; Vantage this spring, as practically all material is on hand, so that car short ages will not affect the work. Hun dreds of loads of crushed rock have been delivered out on the grade and this is being spread rapidly, in ad Vance of the hot stuff. In fact prac tically every bit of rock has-, been hauled. " , Work on the Hood River-Mosier sec tion is progressing very slowly, on account of the diffcult character of the work. It "was planned to have this section opened on the first "of the year, but it will not be completed un til about April 1. - The old Mosier hill road is passable except immediately after heavy rains. The new highway west from Hood River to the top of Ruthton hill, which was graded last fall, is now open to travel, thus eliminating 8 long detour. The new grade is now rocked and will be paved this spring. This is the last piece of the Columbia river highway to, be graded between Hood River and Astoria. Between these two points the highway is In its final location. Linseed Oil for Lubricant. Linseed oil mixed with a small amount of graphite is recommended as a lubricant for door hinges and latches, which seldom receive atten tion in this way. Ordinary cylinder oil has a tendency to' run. which is not desirable at this location because the clothes of passengers are likely to' come in contact with it. NO PLACE FOR MATCHES OXLY FOOLISH OWXER LIGHTS THEM IX GARAGE. It Would Be Juht as Sensible to Try the Same Trick Jn a Vbwdcr Magazine. The West Virginia miner who blew himself and family to pieces and tore out one. end of his home when he carelessly threw some damp powder into his fireplace to see if it was any good was not much more of a fool than the man who gropes around his garage with matches. One feels just as familiar with the matches as the other did with the powder, but fire and explosives are a bad com bination under any circumstances. Vnn mav think vou know how to haa die both without danger, but so Boon cide, this will no doubt prove valu as you mix carelessness with them the results are almost sure to be fatal. The motorist has no more right to carry lighted matches in his garage than he would in a powder mill. The destructive potentialities of both are about the same, and under the right conditions the open flame is as dan gerous in one place as the other. If your garage is not wired for electric lights, the first investment-you should make is to put them in. They are more important than keeping the garage warm in winter because the latter will merely do the car harm, whereas lack of electric lights will cause you to use matches and that is pretty sure to mean bodily harm to yourself and the rest of th family; perhaps not today or tomorrow, per haps the very next time you do It. At no time is the danger greater than in winter when the garage is kept snugly closed and the dangerous va pors of gasoline and kerosene have no chance to escape harmlessly into the great outdoors. But, ff you are contemplating ui- able, hints Motor Life Magazine, which alms to be helpful in every way possible. El'GEXE CROSSING NEEDED Dangerous Grade Likely to Be Eliminated Front Highway. EUGENE, Or.. March . (Special) The construction of an overhead crossing on the Pacltic highway at McVeigh's point, four miles south of Eugene, where the Southern Pacific track Intersects the hlRhway and where there is a had turn In the I rack nearby, making the crossing extreme ly dangerous, will probably be or dered by the state public service com mission in the near future. A hearing on the project was held at the courthouse In Eugene a few days ago, the public service commis sion taking evidence as to the advisa bllity of the overhead structure. Become thoroughly familiar with your local traffio regulations and fol low them to the leU.ec m PAVING IIP ID ' I,BOiELECTII Unless Voters Approve, Many Gaps Will Be Left. . MORE FUNDS ARE NEEDED Even With Xrw $10,000,000 lloiwl Is.-uo, Pacific Highway Can Not He Finished Thin Year. BY LEWIS A. MoAItTlILR. Expectations of a hard-surfaced highway from Pendleton to Seaxide, and from Portland to the California line, with an alternate route from Portland to Junction City, will cer tainly not be realized In IKIO. not withstanding the hope of good roads enthusiasts that such would be the case. Much more money will be need ed, and even Ir the additional funds are provided in the May eleitlon. It will take well Into li;i to fill up the gaps that now exist in the hard-sur face system. Roughly. It Is about 3."n miles by the Pacific Tilghwsy from Portl to the California line, and of this dii. tanoe, Hbout UG inllen. or a little more than half. Ix hard surfaced or under ronlrset. Soino of the miss ing stretches are roads that are very heavily traveled ami are, of considerable economic Imp"' lance. Apparently the future of the un paved gaps Is dependent on the May election. If the necessary funds sre provided lit that time, undoubtedly many of the Improved sections will be started this summer. Among the Impurtiint Pm lfllr hlth whv gaps south of Portland are the following: Oswego to Oregon Cltv. (west side), seven miles; Salem south eight miles: Albany lo .lumllon I'm. 23 miles: Goshen In VoncalU. 41 miles: Wilbur to I i 1 1 :i ret . n miles: Myrtle creek to Wolf creek. .1.1 mile", and Gravo creek to Grants Puss. IS miles. They All Waal Patina. Considerable "pressure will be brought to hear to get the paving completed on the Oswego-Oregon Cltv road and on the section south of Salem. There is nlso a big demand for hard surface between Albany and Junction City. Without additional funds the west side highway will be but little more thnn half finished. The nn pa veil sections lie between New berg Slid Amity. 2 tulles; from Holmes gap to Itlckreall. six miles; from .Monmouth seven miles south; from Corvallis south, nine miles, ami betw een Monroe and Junction I'lty. nine miles. Some of thexe rondx are fairly well ni.ieu.l ainiied. hut there will be inxlKlent demands for paving the ol miles listed. All the rest of the west side hlghwsy, amounting to about f-f miles. Is either paved or under contract. The Columbia river highway Is w ell provided for between Hood Klvcr find Astoria, hut about ten miles of pav ing Is required between Astoria and Seaside, and 23 miles between Hond River Hiid.The Pallcx, where pn e I men! is urgently nei de.l. There should (lino be about ten nilleM hard surface between The Pallcx and ltufur. Thi-re Is u l.-mile gap between For est (irove ami Yamhill that ix not paved, and about "" miles between Sheridan and Tillamook. Now that Tillamook has nn all-l he-year-round road lo the Willamette valley Ys quins Ix clamoring for a good high way and this will also have to be paved before many cars. Pendleton Streleh linportnnl. It ix nearly lf0 miles from The Dulles to Pendleton, and east orego nlans feel that this Important stretch should lie paved, thotich It does not seem probable that the work will be undertaken until Bfter the Pacific hlgt'wa.v is completed. It imiM he burre In mind that even in the places where no paving ix now provided, the commission has done n great deal of work grading, gravel ing or macadamizing. Miany of the unpaved gaps mentioned above have been virtually Impaxsahte In the win ter time In previous years, but during the fall and winter of 1920 they will be suitable for sutomohile traffic. By the middle of this summer lie.irlv every foot of the Pacific, t'olumbla river, west side. Portland-Korest liruvr McMlnnvllle and Tillamook highways will be either paved or rocked, so that the work of complet ing the paving will consist of hard surfacing roads that have nlreadv been graded and brought up to stand ard. It Is understood that the commis sion will proceed with estimates and plans for the unpaved sect ions so that Immediately after the eieitlon con tracts can be let if the state vMrs more funds. It Is hard to guess what new projects will be at the top of the list, but it Is certain that nmong the most -called-for sections are: oswego Oregon City, Salem south six miles. Albany-Junction City. Wilbur-I'lllard and Newberg-.McMlnnvllle. tiikki: i.im;s akk mi;k.i:i Mercer Locomobile and Simplex In Single Company. NEW YORK, March .Announce ment has been made by Kmlen- 8. Hare, former vice-president of the Packard Motor Car company of le. trolt, of the organization of Hare's motors as an operating company to control Jointly the Locomobile, the Mercer and the Simplex automobile companies. Immediate Increase In the output of the present factories will be one of the results of the plan of Joint control with strict adherence to high quality standards and th de velopment of additional transporta tion units, passenger and t-uck. will follow. Kormer Packard executives sre In charge of the operating compan. sup ported by the existing nrganl'V lonx of the Locomobile, Mercer ami Sim plex plants. .Make Their Own "Jiilcc." It has been said that everything in hogs except the squeal is utilized In Chicago's great parking plants. That's pretty nesrly true of the Lexington Motor company at Conners llle. Kn glnes on blocks for test ars connected to electric generators. The current created In the testing of these motors Is added to the hl , pUul.' supply of "Juice" or power.