SECTION 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.
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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. -
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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 $15,000 to Be Ex-
. pended on Grading and Graveling.
PROSSER, Wash., Nov. 20. (Spe
cial.) County Commissioner French
says approximately S15.000 will be ex
pended immediately in the better
ment of Prosser roads. One of the
roads to be- improved is the Rattle
snake hill road leading out from
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mMtm. , HARDING ASKED TD SPEAK
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A4-S Hr&i?$M ' I DRESS AUTOMOBILE BODY.
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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.