The Oregon daily journal., April 30, 1916, Page 21, Image 21

THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL,. PORTLAND, SUNDAY MORNING, APRIL SO. .1916.
5
MERIT MUST GOVERN
THOSE IN CHARGE OF
ROAD ADMINISTRATION
Director of U, S. Office of
t Public Roads Says $50,
- 000,000 Wasted 'Annually.
INCOMPETENCE IS BLAMED
Competency of Ken Tp for Office Hot
Considered Places Looked
"Political E oil day'
On As
''The day has arrived for road ad-..-
n.inistration under men holding- office
solely upon merit." is the broad prin
ciple laid down by LoKitn Waller Page,
director of the I'nitfl Btates rfic '
public roads. "Speaking generally and
Of the eounlry at large, road toimtnic
tlori and road maintenance have been
largely committed to more or less
desirable political workers with the
result that not less than J50.000.000 is
.Masted annually by the carelessness
with the supervision and administra
tion of the public highways.
"han(fes in the political control of
states, counties and districts are fol
lowed by changes in the political com
plexion of road officials without re
gard to the competency of the new
men selected for this work or the ef
ficiency of the men displaced to make
a political holiday?"
Mostly on Political Grounds.
. Within the last 10 years arbitrary
changes on political grounds have been
. made in the control of the engineer
ing work in the state highway depart
ments of Arizona, Connecticut, Dela
ware. Mnine, Michigan. Maryland,
Missouri, New Hampshire. New Jer
sey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania,
Washington and West Virginia. In
the last 15 years nine changes have
been made in the control of the high
ways department of New York and the
:inost of these changes have been made
; on partisan political grounds.
' As the most effective way of pro
tecting the state highway departments
front the destructive influences of
partisan politics. Mr. Page suggests
that each department be placed under
the control of a non-partisan, unpaid
commission. partly ex-offieio and
partly appointed, and representative of
the education and scientific institu-
. lions of the respective states, the ap
pointed members of the commissions
to be selected exclusively from laymen
Of approved fitness for the work in
hand.
Would Eliminate Politics.
"Ile would entrust to hese commis
- sions the selection of the chief tech
nical road officers, their selection to
be made wholly on the ground of qual
r iflcation, Just as the officers of the
: government at Washington are select
ed for their fitness. He would take
i the roads of the country out of poli
ties, the banc of all well-directed and
successful administration of the most
Important service,. He would not . in
terfere with the initiative and voice
of the countries in the management of
their local affairs further than to re
quire that the men selected to direct
the country ro;ul work should be
Chosen only after passing such exami
nation as the state highway depart
ment, acting in cooperation with the
Civil service department of the state,
Xiught require-
Seattle Interested
; In Scenic Highway
Automobile Club Asks If Route Tip
H4ver Is Open to Spanish Hollow
Answer Is Zt Will Be By Tune 1.
3 The interest that Seattle and west
ern Washington has in the Columbia
river highway as an all year round
route to eastern Washington Is indi
cated in a letter received by J. C.
Potter, vice president of the Maryhill
(and company from the Automobile
ciub of Seattle, asking whether the
highway is now open from Portland
to Spanish Hollow and as to the con
dition of the roads between Maryhill
,nnd North Yakima. It is further
stated in the letter that the Snoqual
rnie pass route over the Cascade moun
tains will not be open for several
weeks and that many Inquiries are
coming in from motorists who wish to
reach the eastern part of the state.
It is suggested that If the road from
' Portland to Spanish Hollow and Mary-
PROMINENT WOMAN HANDLES : BIG CAR
........... r ... . I
T-frs. C. H. Wheeler of Irvington enjoys driving, her Winton.
hill is passable these will be routed
this way.
In reply to the inquiry Mr. Potter
has written that the highway will not
be open to travel until about June 1.
"i am Informed," said he, "by Iioad
rr aster Yeon there are about half a
dozen large slides covering the high
way. Some of them are from 12 to 16
feet high. Between the Hood River
county line and Hood Kiver I under
stand that 75 lineal feet of a new fill
has been entirely washed out. It is
expected to have this impaired at an
early date, by June 1 at the latest.
The road from Cascade Locks to
Spanish Hollow however is passable
row. It would be possible for motor
ists to ship their oars via boat from
Portland to Hood Kiver or The Dalles
and motor from there east at this
time.
"The road from Vancouver, Wash.,
to White Salmon, will net be open
this year. I am advised. It will pos
sibly be open later In the season from
Vancouver to Stevenson.
"The road from White Salmon to
Lyle and from JLyle to Goldendale on
the Washington side is not in a passa
ble condition as present. It should
however, as soon as the rainy season
is over be in fair shape for travel."
Big Motor Mileage
Is Sought This Year
Effort Will Be Made to Have Fourth
of July . Week Pigure as Maximum
Period.
Washington. D. C, April 29. While
the road touring season reaches its
greatest ' height in the summer
months, an effort will be made again
this year to have the week in July
which includes the "glorious fourth"
figure as the maximum period, as was
the case, a year ago, when the Ameri
can Automobile association and the
National Automobile Chamber of Com
merce cooperated in accelerating mo
tor mileage by calling upon the clubs
of the owners' organization and the
dealers of the makers to encourage
every motorist to take to the high
way. At the April meeting of its .executive
board, the A. A. A. accepted a sugges
tion of the Ohio State association that
the plan be repeated, in the belief that
the two and one-half million motor car
owners will demonstrate In added de
gree the wonderful ability of the self
propelled vehicle in covering distance
and In making the people of the coun
ties and states better acquainted with
one another and thus solidifying a
national sentiment which is essential
to the adoption of an effective and
comprehensive scheme of war preparedness.
Motorcycles Make
Splendid Showing
Good Work in Carrying- Dispatches SCas
- Impressed General Bell; Pound to
Be Invaluable In This Iain.
Perhaps in no other kind of equip
ment now being used by the United
States army in the punitive expedition
into Mexico has there been greater In
terest than in the motorcycle equip
ment. Motorcycles have made good
wherever used, and in the carrying of
dispatches have proven invaluable.
Brigadier General George Bell has been
so impressed by the performance of
motorcycles in the Villa expedition
that he has recommended to the war
department that every infantry regi
ment of the United States army be
equipped with four motorcycles and
every cavalry regiment with not less
than six motorcycles. The chief dif
ficulty at present, according to the
general, is the lack of men who un
derstand their mounts, but this trouble
is rapidly being overcome.
Leading Citizens of
Clatsop Reimbursed
People Were Those Who Sad Ad
vanced 526,000 to Complete Columbia
Kiver Highway z,ast Season.
Clatsop county has reimbursed a
number of leading citizens of the
county who advanced the sum of
$26,000 to complete the Columbia
river highway in that county last
season.
The advance was made on the as
surance of the then State Highway
Engineer Cantine that the amount
added to the state appropriation, of
$35,000 would be sufficient to finish
grading the highway.
This expectation was not realized
land it was found at the close of the
season that the expenditures had
greatly exceeded the estimate.
Roseburg Men Will
Examine Highways
Unfavorable Reports of Conditions
Nearby That Town Aronse Citizens
to See Sow True They Are.
Owing to reports concerning the al
most impassable condition of the
Pacific highway In Douglas county
the business men of Roseburg are
planning to make a trip over the road
for the purpose of ascertaining what
is needed to Improve it. A great mud
hole is reported at Comstock and con
siderable bad road just north of
Oakland. The business men are much
aroused over the unfavorable reports
brought in by tourists and desire to
know the real situation.
May Hold Exhibit of
Road Construction
State Engineer Xiewls That Educa
tional Display Be One of Features
of lfext State Pair.
An educational feature of the next
state fair, if the suggestion of State
Engineer I,ewis is carried out, will be
an exhibit showing methods of modern
road construction. Samples of dif
ferent types of road will be shown and
explained.
In connection with the exhibit it
has been proposed by President Hol
man of the State association of county
Judges and commissioners, to have a
special meeting of the association on
a designated day . at which will be
discussed matters pertain! g to better
roads and also the recodification of
the state road laws. It is hoped by
this time that the committee which
has under way the drafting of a re
vised code will have its. work suf
ficiently advanced that there may be
something tangible and concrete to
discuss.
Remarkable Trip
Is Taken by Car
Stock Machine Under Its Own power
and Without Aid or Assistance,
Beaches take Tahoe.
A stock Maxwell touring car is
claimed to have made a new record in
the Sierras by reaching Tallac, on
Lake Tahoe. by traveling the Lincoln
highway, and without resorting to
ropes or tackle, and traveling every
foot of the way on its own power. A
telegram from the south says:
San Francisco, 'April 27.
Automobile Editor, Oregon Journal,
Portland, Or.
Maxwell 1916 stock touring car
reached Tallac on Lake Tahoe for new
record. It traveled every foot of the
way from Reno to Tallac over Lincoln
highway and entirely with motor and
efforts of crew, not resorting to ropes,
tows or outside assistance to . reach
lake. Established record by reaching
Tallac three weeks ahead ot earliest
arrival In other seasons. Snowfall in
Sierras reported by mountaineers heav
iest since '89. JACK GRIFFIN.
Meaning of Word - -"Horsepower"
Given
Zt Is to Show Amount of . Work Ao-1
coxnplished in Given Length of Time; -Erroneous
Pcrxnula.
The general meaning of the word 1
horsepower is not generally under
stood, according to II. A. Minturn,
technical advertising manager of the ;
Sun Motor Car company.
"Horsepower is a unit of work Just
as the pound is a unit of weight. To
be exact, a horsepower is the equiva
lent of the work required to lift 33,000
pounds a distance of one foot in one
minute. From this it will readily be
seen that horsepower means so much
work accomplished in a certain length
of time. ,
"The horsepower of a gasoline en-.
gine is dependent upon the following
things: Number of cylinders, area of
piston heads, average number of
pounds per square inch exerted upon
the piston during the working strokes,
and the revolutions ' per minute of the
motor.
"The S. A. E. and other rules for
ascertaining horsepower are highly in
accurate, as they do not take into con
sideration two of the most Important
determining factors, namely: the pres
sure per square Inch and the revolu
tions per minute. When the S. A. E.
formula was devised it was assumed
that the pressure was the same in
every motor. This pressure depends
upon the explosive force which In turn
is dependent upon the compression of
the motor, and as practically every
manufacturer is using a different com
pression the inaccuracy of the form
ula Is evident.
"The same is true of motor speed;
tho formula assumes that all motors
are of the slow speed type such as
prevailed eight or 10 years ago and
does not take Into consideration the
fact that at the "present day and time
models capable of very high speed are
prevalent."
Harrisburg Wants
Bridge Over River
Bulletin Complains That Auto Travel
Is Going Over West Side Bonte and
Dodging Padflo Sighway.
There is -an agitation at Harrisburg
for a bridge across the Willamette
i river at that place to replace the.
f nrGsnt forrv
The Harrisburg Bulletin complains
that the auto travel is gittg over the
west side route and dodging the Pa
cific highway between Eugene and Al
bany, "where the roads are better and
where there is no antiquated ferry to
contend with.''
The cause for this condition of
things is laid by the Bulletin at the
door of the Linn county court, which
Is declared to be non-progressive..
'Just think of it." says the Bulletin,
"the Pacific highway has been estab
lished th'rough this county for five or
six years and it is only now that the
county court has made any move of
consequence to make this route de
cently passable. In the meantime our
enterprising neighbor on the south
has built a macadam road not only the
entire length of the Pacific highway
through their county but side roads
have, been macadamized to tfie im
portant places. And now, many of her
people not satisfied with this, are
clamoring for a hard surfaced road
over the Pacific highway at a cost of
$700,000.
A re You Lp o k in g at Th is
Automobile Question
From the Right Angle?
Are you using your own judgment by comparing
the statements and claims being made?
Are you considering the reliability of those making
these statements?
If you are doing this before deciding on a car, then
you are going to get full value for the money you
invest.
Accessibility means low
cost of upkeep the Reo
is by far the most acces
sible, car on the market
today.
Proper weight and ma
terials mean durability
and long life the Reo is
as light as any car can be
made and still be dur
able. A tried and proven
power plant assures you
against paying for exper
iments the Reo engine
has been used unchanged,
.except for minor refine
ments, for five years, and
is in the cars of over one
hundred thousand satis
fied users.
The use of distillate
protects against the ris
ing cost of gasoline
gives three times the
mileage for the same cost
and prevents carbon trou
ble. The Reo is the only
car that may be equipped
with the Reo distillate
Adapter without pre
venting the use of either
fuel at will without
change or adjustment.
The Northwest Auto
Co. has installed a tank
and contracted for 80,
000 gallons of distillate
to be sold at about cost.
The Reo is the only standard car not yet advanced
in price The Four $875, the Six $1250 Factory
Northwest Auto Co.
F. W. Vogler, President
C. M. Menzies, Sales Mgr.
Broadway
At Couch
I-M-P-O-R-T-A-N-T
A-N-N-O-U-N-G-E-M-E-N-T
E. BOONE & CO.
,,,1, -"nL i!m9 ,., .mn i u..n. - . I
- '' J I ' "WM,Miw
Appointed Agents
for
CHEWR0tef7
LZZZJ
MOTOR CARS
for Multnomah
County
v -
There is no guess-work about the
OS
It has done everything claimed for it. Its records are on file. They are open to all. It holds
the championship. Let others do as well or better before they talk about "challenges."
Under similar conditions the Super-Six records never have been approached There is a
flaw in every claim to the contrary.
C BOSS &. CO.
615-617 Washington Street
Portland. Oregon
We intend to make 1916 a big year for the new Chevrolet car.
Quality counts the whole world over and the demand for Chevrolet cars
is rapidly growing larger.
What more could you ask? A fully equipped and elegantly finished au
tomobile for $650, f. o. b. Portland.
T-E-R-M-S
$200 Down Balance $37.50 per Month
Get your order in now for immediate delivery-
BEN J. E. BOONE & CO.
514 ALDER STREET
Main 3966