The Oregon daily journal., January 21, 1917, Page 51, Image 51

THE OREGON ! SUNDAYS JOURNAL. - PCTLAND, : SUNDAY MORNING, JANUARY 21, 1917:
O
MONEY USED TO BUILD
ROADS HAS TAKEN BIG
IN 15 YEARS
More Spent Understate Sup
ervision Alone in 1915
Than Total in 1904.
BETTER HIGHWAYS BUILT
Development XS Attributed Largely to
Immcut Growth la Humber of
Motor Car.
The total length of public roads In
the United 8tates outside the limits of
incorporated towns and cities wa
about 2.452 000 miles January 1. 191
Of thia about 277.000 miles, or 11.1 per
c-nt were improved with some form
of surfacing. The mileage of surfaced
roads has been Increasing at the rat
of about 16,000 miles a year and In 1915
approximately one half of this Increase
was made under the supervision of
state highway department, according to
Motor Age. In addition these depart
ments superTlsed the maintenance of
nearly 62,000 miles of main and trunk
line roads.
The Increase In expenditures for roa1
and bridge work' In the United States
has been from approximately $80,000,
000 a year In 1904 to about $282,000,000
In 1915, an increase of more than 250
per cent. The expenditure of state
funds during this same period Increased
from about $2,650,000 to more than
$53,000,000. In addition, more than
$27,000,000 of local funds was spent
under state supervision in 1915, bring
ing the total road and bridge expendi
tures managed by the states to $80.
614,699. This amount is greater than
the total expenditures for roads from
all sources in 1904.
Growth Zs Great.
The growth In Importance of the
state highway departments has been
rapid. The first of these agencies was
created in 1891 in New Jersey and now
' ome form of highway department ex
ists in every state except Indiana, South
' Carolina and Texas. Since their in
ception these departments had expend
ed up to January 1, 1916, and aggre
gate of $265,250,825 in state funds for
road and bridge construction, mainte
nance and administration. They had
constructed over 50.000 miles of roads
in cooperation with the states. More
than 40,000 miles of these roads were
surfaced.
The falling off in the value of road
work performed by statute and convict
labor was from $20,000,000 in lsru
when the total road expenditures were
8U, ooo.ooo. to about $15,000,000 in 1915
when the total expenditures had grown
to $282,000,000. This was a reduction
from 25 per cen of the total to
per cent of the total in 1915.
Motors Bring Better Boads.
An increase in the use of better and
more expensive types of road also Is
shown by the recently compiled sta
tistics. The development has been due.
in large part to the increase In motor
car irarnc. it is estimated that there
are now approximately 2,600,000 cars
In use on the roads of the country, or
one j:ar for every mile of road.
IP
I PORTLAND GIRL TOURS COUNTRY I
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Above Miss Ruby Archambeaa,
Below The map of her route.
With about 12,000 miles to her
credit, Miss Ruby Archambeau, Port
land girl, who last August started on
a tour of the United States, is passing
through the southern part of the
country en route to an extensive
tour of California.
Miss Archambeau is driving her
Marmon 34, the big red car with wire
wheels, one of the very first of the
special Jobs introduced by the North
west Auto Co. This woman has been
at the wheel of the car every mile and
much of the distance she traveled
alone.
She left here with two friends and
V fj" . V, ; jfoxmmu
lyN x owl 1 "Ijyi
and her RIarmon 34, In which she
She is now near Ixs Angeles after
baggage and took the Columbia river
highway east to Spokane. From there
she visited Glacier National park and
the Yellowstone, spending a month In
that country. Prom the parks she
returned to the north trail, and went
through the Dakotas and Minnesota.
She arrived in Chicago in due time
and after a short visit went on to
New York. There her companions
left her, and with friends whom she
visited, she made her map of New
England look like a city plat. Miles
and miles of that section were vis
ited. Then she started down the coast,
going to Washington, D. C, this time
left Portland some months ago.
having circled the country.
alone. There another young woman,
formerly of Portland, Joined her and
the two continued down to Florida,
where they spent some time.
In. all this distance, the plucky girl
driver encountered all kinds of
weather and all kinds of roads, but
she never lost a minute because of
trouble. The car proved an easy one
to handle and so when her visit in
the south was over, she started west
ward across the southern states. She
will spend some time in and around
Ixs Angeles before starting op the
coast.
According to her present plana, she
will he In Portland about April 1.
HALF-CENTURY SHOYS
REMARKABLE
STRIDES
IN LAND CONVEYANCE
Introduction of Auto Revolu
tionizes Methods of High
way Traffic of Centuries.
GASOLINE ENGINE FACTOR
Xmsortant X&Tsntlon Solve Problsm
That Affects Maid of Industry
aad STnmaa gxpedlency.
By J. N. Studebaker.
Honorary President of the Stndtbaker Ctor
Dorstkm. Time works changes in its own pe
culiar fashion, and perhaps nothing has
had so much to do with the advance of
civilization as transportation. It has
affected economics in almost every
branch. The feeding of nations, the
s-rowth of business, civilisation ltsslf
really rest upon the fundamentals of
quick and easy transportation the
kind of transportation that nas been
evolved within the last 60 years. Civil
lxation rodo smoothly on animal drawn
! wheels for several thousand years. The
the traffic of the twentieth century
When it seemed that nothlnjr farther
could be developed on land, man turned
to the sea. First he moved his sail!
to tack with the wind, then he in
vented Instruments that brought him
safe to port, although he sailed far out
of sight of land.
Patient Horse Serves Its rurpose.
Wind -and wave at sea. and on land
the patient horse tolled onward with
civ ilixation's burdens, till little over
century ago man put steam to work.
With the steamboat and the railway
train perfected, the limit apparently
! had been reached. What was there
i left to do? Civilization was now trav
! ellne rapidly by steam on land and sea.
j Travel de luxe was demanded and the
I gasoline engine was invented to satisfy
the demand. The gasoline engine mad
1 possible the automobile the latest
I word in democracy. The automobile
Is the great leveller. Practically every
one can secure the same great enjoy
ment that -comes from rapid locomo
tion directed whither one wills, and de
pendent for stops and starts only upon
the whim of the car's occupants. No
rushing through dinner to adhere to
the iron schedule of a train.
Difficult Trip Across Plains.
I well remember what a" difficult
time we had of it back in 1853, when.
with a party of pioneers, I made the
overland trip to California. The fllgh.
of time the passing of 64 years has
not dimmed the Importance of tht
memorable pioneering Journey which
took us across the continent in quent
Of gold. I was the youngest man in
the party and owned a wagon made by
myself and ironed by my brothers.
Henry and Clem. I gave this wagon
and my services for the privilege of
Joining the party. There were many
hardships endured by our Uttle party.
and many tests of courage as the cara
van drew Its slow length along over
the sandy deserts of the far west, over
the crests of the mountains and
through ta defiles and valleys that
lay la our course. Finally, after five
months and sight days of travel, we
reached our destination, poor la parse,
worn with the hardships of onr trip,
but still hopeful of accomplishing the
object la view.
Tike's Teak or Bast.
Why, in the middle of the last cen
tury it was no unusual thing to meet
a lumbering prairie schooner westward
bound with the startling Information
painted on the canvas cover that the
owner was going to reach "Pike's Peak
or Bust, This past year there has
been another and a far different west
ward trek. Were there to be a para
phrase of the .old words. It would be
The Pad rVo Coast and Back on gay
pennants decorating thousands of auto.
mobiles. Trails to the setting sun
have been crowded with the machines
of countless vacationists. "The Pa-
clflo Coast and Back" Is a phrase
coined with all the confidence In the
world. The science of transportation
has been mastered, and today there Is
no rear at all of "busting. The con
tinuous hardships endured by the
prairie schooner trail makers are not
suffered by the continental travelers
today. Even the desert stretches are
not dangeroua now, unless the motor
ist Is foolish In the extreme.
The automobile has had as mnci to
do with the advance of modern civil
ization as has any form of transporta
tion. The automobile has brourht the
city and country closer together. It
" .i"" ii in ii in " -r I :-a i :"- " - . 2 . 1
.vi ir?v ryfx ymMimy t
Tv 11 s MOTOR CAR REPAIRING a :.3,i:.r.vi i I
SAU5 MACHINE WORK 1
The largest ind best equipped repair plant on the lr'ioA IX.'''
V V? YJ ' IV Pacific Coast ' I k sA
nt-str- it. 1 ANY MOTOR PAR PART ItoV VvJ
PrZwrl MAnp to onnPR lAVSJl. :
&r&at&A All Work Guaranteed. fmk
jUv fcfMtv PORTLANDrOREGON It;
H k 7A v-'Jiii V I SEE MY EXHIBIT AT THE AUTO SHOW
i XlhH AT THE ARMORY, JAN. 27 -FEB. 3 Jl&?tS P ?:
Xr i & ws-issa-sB-- -8-sBBSBB-sss 1 A . ;J-
has brought comfort and contentment
to the fanner, who, before the day of
automobiles, was Isolated on his dis
tant farm. It "has even advanced the
cause of education. Today. In the mid
dle west, fine schools are built at cen
tral points and automobiles are use 4
to carry children from surrounding
districts to school. Tet tS years age
roads In Indiana were situated every
where without regard to lines. Now,
due to the advent of the automobile,
the farmer Is one of the nation's most
enthusiastio of rood roeda boosters.
The automobile has mitigated the fttor
rors of war. Think bow Impossible It
would be to feed the millions of fight
ing men In Europe If It were not for
motor trucks and lorries that operate
on the edge of the far flung battle
lines.
aas Tranrportatioa Xterolatloalaed.
And all this tremendous Impetus
toward transportation and consequent
civilization has been the outcome of
less than two decades. Twenty years
ago the automobile Industry la this
country amounted to nothing. Today
the automobile Industry represents, a
business investment of over $600,000.
900 a year. And even this Immense
sum does not tell the whole story, be
cause It does not cover the millions
used In the manufacture of automo
bile parts and accessories. I am nat
urally proud of the part Studebaker
has played in the evolution of trans
portation and the development of the
automobile Industry. .
Before Himself
City Marshal Ha ugh ton, of the Sa
lem, Mass., police department, has
evolved a novel method of getting after
ar1rla t tsi rf t sts ftMi- M-mUtlAna aVs
let their cars stay too long oa streets.'
He has furnished his policemen with
stickers, and when they ' find a car
Dreaaing in taw ana id owner is not
In it a sticker is placed on the wind
shield requesting the person to appear
at police headquarters and explain why
he did It. One or the first owners
who found a sticker on bis ear was
Jndge Sears, who passes oa motor
esses. His car was outside the court
house unattended when Marshal
Haughton came alone. The eagle eye
of the chief saw it aad he plaoed a
aucser on ii oeiore n reaitseu umli in
judge would be summoned to appear la
court before himself. If that were
First Government Aid.
California will have the distinction
or Deing me xirsi siaic in wnicq ac
tual work will be started la road
building under the federal aid act.
Plaas for construction In co-operatl7a
with the national government on a SO
per cent' basis have gone forward to
the secretary of agriculture for ap
proval. '
II