The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current, November 21, 1920, SECTION SIX, Image 81

The Sunday Oregonian., November 21, 1920, SECTION SIX, Image 81

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Newspaper Page TextSECTION SIX Pages 1 to 8 Automobiles, Road Trips and IV orthwest Highway News VOL. XXXIX. PORTLAND. OK EG OX, SUNDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 21, 1920 NO. 47 NORTH-SOUTH ROAD PUSiED FOR IDAHO NEW IDAHO HIGHWAY, NOW UNDER CONSTRUCTION, WILL TRAVERSE STATE FROM NORTH TO SOUTH CLOSED CAR SHOWS Construction Being Finished at Several Points. - 1 921 Production Estimated Fourth Closed Models. EARLY TRAILS FOLLOWED Hugged Salmon Canvon Is Crossed and Natural Barrier In Slat Overcome. BY H. E. FOWLER. LEWISTb.V. Idaho. Nov. 20. (Spe cial.) Within the next few months the grading- of the north and south Idaho highway, which will unite northern and southern Idaho, will be practically completed as far as Lew iston. This highway has long been awaited as a connecting link between Lewiston and Boise which would en able travel by auto from one city to the other within a single day. The present trip by rail takes 26 hours and the traveler passes through Washington and Oregon in going from Lewiston to Boise, a distance of 450 miles. When the new north and south highway is surfaced and worn down for easy travel the canyon of the Salmon river in the wilds of cen tral Idaho will echo to an ever in creasing volume of automobile traf fic. Shippers are now figuring on the saving to be made by using trucks for freight instead of making the long rail haul through Washington and Oregon. Many years ago the pioneer min ers of central Idaho made a trail through the rugged interior following the Little Salmon river from New Meadows down to Riggins, and the canyon of the Big Salmon, from there to vv hitebird. From here the trai wound up the precipitous Whitebird hill to the open grain lands of Camas prairie. The Salmon river country was rough and uninviting, peopled sparsely by cattle and she'ep men who were satisfied to live far from civ ilization. As the years went on and north Idaho continued to be isolated from the southern portion of the state, the big project of opening up a road through this wild central rgion began to take shape. For several years sections of the long highway have been under construction and now comes the culmination of the labors of the state highway engineers and the construction companies en aged on the projects. The Whitebird-Grangeville link of the north and south highway is 22 miles long and will cost $275,000. The elevation at Whitebird is 1400 feet. and at the summit of the 12-mile hil above Whitebird the elevation is 3400 feet, making a rise of 200a.eetu the 12-mile climb. The hill road has a maximum grade of 5 per cent. The Bicknell Construction company, which has the contract for the Whitebird Grangeville section, began work in January, 1819, and will complete this 22-mile link next month. The work has been under the immediate super vision of J. J. McCreedy, resident en gineer of the state highway- depart ment, who has been engaged on this project for about three years. One of the most difficult pieces of road construction ever undertaken in Idaho is the 68-mile stretch from Whitebird to New Meadows, of which 28 miles is under construction at present, the Grant Smith company having the contract, which involves $750,000. The route is along the rocky canyon of the Big Salmon from "Whitebird to Riggins (32 miles); thence up the Little Salmon to New Meadows (36 miles). Steam shovels have dug many miles of the road out of the steep rocky banks of the rivers. During the past few months this h'ghway has been closed to traffic and motorists in making the trip from Lewiston to south Idaho have been, forced to go by way of Pendleton. Or. The north and south highway prop er begins at Weiser, where it con nects with the Idaho Pacific highway which runs through Boise toward the cast From Weiser the highway goes north through Midvale, Cambridge, Council and New Meadows, the latter point being about half way between Boise and Lewiston. The construc tion work referred to in this article, has been between New Meadows and Grangeville. The grading of the rest of the highway from Grangeville to Lewiston and from New Meadows to Boise will be started when funds are available, but this section is already in very fair condition. There will soon be an excellent all-year high way over the entire route connecting with an east and west trunk highway at Boise and the Evergreen highway to the Facific coast at Lewiston. From Lewiston north the route now follows the Inland Empire highway in Wash ington to Spokane, but as soon as the 90-mile link between New Meadows and Grangeville on the lower section of the north and south highway is completed the efforts of the state highway department will Ie directed toward the extension of this road from Lewiston north through the timber and grain regions of Latah, Benewah, Kootenai, Bonner and Boundary counties, touching Potlatch. Harrison. Coeur d'Alene. Sandpoint, Bonners Ferry and other points in north Idaho. This part of the high tva; has been surveyed and construc tion of certain sections is under way. but it will be two or three years at least, in all probability, before there is a completed north and south Idaho highway from the Canadian boundary to the south Idaho state line. Thus the great barrier between north and south Idaho is being broken down. The natural obstruction formed by the great Salmon river country has led the people of the northern part of Idaho to attempt on several occasions the creation of a new state comprising north Idaho and eastern Washington. The next step in uniting the two sections of the state is the construction of a north and south railroad. Surveys and esti mates for such a road have already been made and it will not be many years before the present ""paper rail road" as well as a hard surfaced high way from the south to the north boundary of the state becomes a reality. Aviation Truck Assigned. EUGENE. Or.. Nov. 20. (Special.) A light G. M. C. aviation truck has been assigned to the Cascade national forert for use in the forest and be tween Eugene and the mountains, and W. E. Naylor. clerk in the office of the supervisor here went to Portland Thursday, to drive it to this city. lr n f rf .4.- "-k wr. . - - css i -! "I-XV GG4&VE y--tf;y-vv,?,.-jL'r I J V. O ' n..tiPlvw' - in III ' V X.appiyj j J ... - -Wpiv:i '"3 mSje TM - O ... : ' -rx iOb. . A k.-Qrr?ar .7 . ! X y7 r gSS&ST" ' , - -S J ROAD WORK IS PLANNED MMm, k if . Pf. lt' PASS-GE OF AMENDMENT MEANS PAVLXti IN CALIFORNIA Road to Oregon State Line Will Be One of the First to Under go Improvement. SAX FRANCISCO. Nov. 20. Already active plans are being laid for the reviving of the state highway con struction on a comprehensive plan, as a result of the recent election, which ma-do a higher interest rate on the bonds possible. Important confer ences have been held by the state officials within the last week that necessary funds may be raised soon through the marketing of bonds. Amendment No. 3 authorizes a spe cial board, consisting of the gov ernor, chairman of the state highway commission, state treasurer, state controller and chairman of the board of control, to determine the interest rate that will make the bonds mar ketable. With the obstacle of obtaining funds removed, the highway com mission soon will be able to push work on the roade included in the programme for which the last issue of $40,000,000 was voted. Here are the highways: Completion of the coast and valley routes to the Oregon line. BuiMing of the Sky Line boulevard to the Monterey intersection. Extension of the Yosemite highway to El Portal. Paving from summit of Cajon pass to Barstow on National Old Trails route. Completion of Imperial valley boulevard from San Bernardino. Closing gap between San Diego and El Centro. Building from El Centre to Arizona line tt kuma. - 1 1 A - it-' mj If II." bSs ' I i ll " " j .in yt,'ylt 111 . : --- 3""Z. ill I . Construction of Shore Line boul vard from Oxnard to San Juan Capi strano. Extension of National Old Trails from Barstow to Needles. BENTON COUNT; PLANS ROADS Approximately $15,000 to Be Ex- . pended on Grading and Graveling. PROSSER, Wash., Nov. 20. (Spe cial.) County Commissioner French says approximately S15.000 will be ex pended immediately in the better ment of Prosser roads. One of the roads to be- improved is the Rattle snake hill road leading out from -orm rroeaer 10 trie ou ana gas &SMl s&V&Atf mMtm. , HARDING ASKED TD SPEAK - 14 J?l j PRESIDEXT-ELECT MAV AD- A4-S Hr&i?$M ' I DRESS AUTOMOBILE BODY. Li " &v --r-w: s? 3 fields. The bridge across the canal will be moved to the section line and from $5000 to $7000 expended on grad ing and graveling. ' A number of feeders into the Grand view Irrigation district will also be improved, the work costing an addi tional $4000 or $5000. The - Horse Heaven and Byron roads will also be improved. Work has already com menced on the Euclid roadf CUT-OFF TO SHORTEN ROAD Improvement Proposed on Western Lane -County Highway. EUGENE, Or.. Nov. 20. (Special.) A cut through a low hill for a distance of 150 feet to a depth of about 50 feet will shorten the main road between Minerva and Pawn, in the western rart . of Lane county, a distance of about a mile, according to P. M- Morse, county engineer, who returned from there yesterday. He staked off the proposed new cut-off and it is prob able that it will be built early next year, he said. The present road encircles the hill and is in bad condition, lying close to the edge of the North Fork river. A much better road can be built by cut ting through the hill, says the en gineer. The new cut-off will necessitate the building of a new bridge across the Noith Fork, but the bridge on the old road is in bad repair and would need rebuilding, anyway. National Session Called to Meet With South. Carolina Motor Trades Association. . COLUMBIA, S. C, Nov.-20. Senator Warren G. Harding, president-elect of the United States, has been invited to deliver an address at the 'national automobile conference to be held in this city December 9-10 in connection with the annual meeting of the South Carolina Automobile Trades -association. United States Senator N. ' B. Dial of this state has also wired Sena tor Harding urging him to accept the invitation. Senator Harding is to. be in Virginia -December 6, and it is hoped that he will accept the invita tion to come to Columbia. , David Jamison, president of the American Automobile association, has also been invited to attend and speak on the subject, "WThat the Car Owner Expects of the Dealer." Harry B. Harper, president of the National Au,. mobile Dealers' association, has already accepted an invitation to at tend tne meeting, according to of ficials of the local association. A. Mason Gibbes, president of the association, says that the organiza tlon has several departments func tioning. One of the most important of these ia the trail ie department. which audits the freight bills of the members. The credit department is another feature worthy of mention. "We have not attempted to collect every bad account that our members had on their books, but we have succeeded in making a number of adjustments." says Gibbes. "We have also an em ployment bureau which seeks to fur nish our mem,bers with the class of help ineeded. We also have a general counsel who furnishes us with legal information of a general nature. "But the feature of our association to which we most desire to call atten tion is the grievance committee, whose business it is to see that our members deal fairly with the public. If any member of our association deals un fairly with the public we wish our attention called to it and we will see that the member either treats the public fairly or else gets out of the association." Grays Harbor Roads Good. ABERDEEN, Wash., Nov. 20. (Spe cial.) Roads between Grays Harbor and Puget sound points are now in better shape thar. they have been at any previous time this year, ac cording to motorists who have made the trip to the sound and return with in the past week. Especially good, they say. is the McCleary cut-off road. All paving is now open between Elma and Aberdeen, and all detours, even those at bridges, have been eliminated. The clutch pedal of the Ford car occasionally refuses to spring back after it has been pressed forward firmly. This is due to binding and may be remedied by screwing the ad justing screw on the opposite end of the pedal shaft a turn or two. WINTER COMFORT REASON Several Makers Plan as High as Half and Half Closed Cars -for the Coming Tear. DETROIT. Nov. 20. Inclosed mod els, -which have been increasing rap idly in favor the past few years, will be more in demand in 1921 than ever before in the opinion of automobile manufacturers. Practically every fac tory will increase its closed autorao- . b;le output. As a rule, the percentage, of closed cars is much smaller among1 the lower-priced machines, although this rule does not hold good in every instance. Figures obtained from sales repre sentatives of various factories ehow that the Cadillac and Franklin ead the list with approximately 50 per cent closed cars, -with the Pierce-Arrow and Lincoln Motor comp'any turning out about 40 per cent. The best fig ures obtainable show that the Buxck production schedule includes from 30 to 35 per cent closed cars, while the Hudson builds 30 per cent of the cloyed style and the Reo comes next vith 28 per cent. Fonrtli Are Cloned Can, Of all the Packard tw'n sixea built thi year every fourth one, or 25 per cent, will be of the inclosed type. This is an increase of 10 per cent over t year and the total will be in creased to 40 per cent of the la-st schedule. The Packard single six, which was recently placed on the market, has found so much favor among closed car users it is said that 46 per cent of the single eix produc tion is of the closed type. The Oakland Motor Car company is building about 28 per cent of its prod uct with closed bodies, which com pares with Vz per cent last year, and is an indication of the increasing pop ularity of the inclosed automobile. The Paige and the Liberty work on a enkafliil. onnrnvitna t.tv 9 rial rant and the Hupp Motor Car corporation closed car sales would approximate 30 per cent of its factory production if ii could meet the demand. LTp to the present time the output of Hupp closed automobiles has ben limited by the inability of plant facilities to meet the requirements of the busi ness. However, the company recently has taken over a body factory in the eas-t, and as soon as the new plant has bfceimsyeewiatiied according to Hupp production methods it will be in a po sition to supply the demand for closed ca rs. This year's production of Ford au tomobiles will include 18 per cent of the inclosed, and the ratio is increased every year. The Columbia Motors company is building 14 per cent closed cars and is planning to increase this to 18 per cent in 1921. Dodge Brothers are working on a schedule of 15 per cent closed models, which is 5 pr cent higher than last year and will be increased again next season. The Studebaker corporation estimates the number of closed cars built throughout the year at 8 per cent of its production, but it is build ing approximately 20 per cent at present. Dody Makers Show Increane. Inquiry at plants which build auto mobile bodies brought forth the same figure 25 per cent as probably the correct percentage of closed bodies now required to meet the demands of the motoring public. The production of closed-car bodies is, of course, much increased at this time of the year. It is not unlikely that the average year's production of bodies of this type will increase annually. - Complete reports of automobile pro duction for September are not ready, but are likely to show a decrease of 15 or 20 per cent from August records. During the first eight months of the year, from January to the end of Au gust, the total number of automobiles shipped or driven away from 124 fac tories was 1,079.067, according to fig vres compiled by J. S. Marvin, traffic manager of the national automobile chamber of commerce. October, it is stated, is likely to show an increase over the September figures. While there was a slackened output at many plants in September, the situation is believed to have improved materially last month. AGNESS CITIZENS PLAN" ROAD Rivers and Trails Are Only Out let for Isolated Town. MARSHFiELD, Or., Nov. 20. (Spe cial.) Agness, situated at the junc tion of the Illinois river with the Rogue, has no transportation faciil tties excepting by boat up and down the streams or by horseback on trails. The people are desirous of getting a highway from that settlement to a point several miles up the Illinois, to the Josephine county line and hope there to connect with a highway which would give the man outlet to the Pacific highway. In view of this urgent need the citi zens financed a survey by County Surveyor Dennis Cunniff of Curry county, who says the eight miles of highway necessary can be constructed at 'comparatively light cost, the big gest item being a Driage across in digo creek. The citizens of Agness will aid -in financing the road and expect to get county and government aid to put it through. TOURIST PARK IS ADVOCATED President Interstate Realty Asso . elation Cites Boise's Experience. ABERDEEN, Wash., Nov. 20. (Spe cial.) Opposition to creation of a tourist, park in the res'dential district of the city was discounted at the realty board in an address by Ira E. realty board In an address by Ire E. High, president of the Interstate Realty association. Mr. High cited the experience of Boise, Idaho, with tourist park, and declared that tho benefits to be obtained from such a park when properly administered, could not be overestimated. The Grays Harbor realty board some time ago purchased a residence tract which it is proposed to turn into a tourist park.