The Oregon daily journal., September 21, 1919, Page 51, Image 51

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SECTIONFIVE
AUTOMOBILES
GOOD ROADS
ALL MANNER OF VARIETY LENDS SPICE TO AUTOMOBILE
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ROAD PARTLY GOOD
PARTLY POOR BUT
SCENERY SUPREME
By Hlrich H. Brombcrg
Combine the two Ingredients of a
smooth running' car and a good, road
to jog along,' with enough Oregon sun
shine shining oh Oregon scenery, and
with ' just a suspicion . of sea breeze
stirred in. "Then put the combination
where some man in Portland or else
where can get" a good hiff, an d--we II,
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the road down the lower Columbia -River
highway will be jammed with machines.
And you will find, if the day is Satur
day, a big percentage of them bound
for Astoria.
That was the goal for The Journal
scout party last week when the new t
Moon, Victory model light six. piloted 1
by Bruce Bailey, salesman for the C. I
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H. S. company, left the Journal build-
ing and found the way out to the Linn
ton road.
So many requests had been received
in regard to the condition of the roads
between Portland and Astoria that that
route was picked for survey last Satur
day and Sunday. Qver half of the road
is paved, with hard surface "hot stuff"
going down at the rate of 100 feet each
day. The paving lasts as far as Scap
poose, and the early morning traveler
has the chance to get a good look at an
Oregon landscape opening its eyes after
its nap, and observe the things the
sleepy stay-at-home never has the
chance to observe. And last Saturday
morning was the acme of perfection in
made-to-order "sights - for sore eyes."
Bailey nearly forgot to keep the car in
the road, so engrossed was he in giving
the country the once-over
When it
was finally exolalned to him that nun
dry members of the party were, fond
PORTLAND, OREGON, SUNDAY
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of life, particularly on such ii day, he
settled down to the sole pastime of
singing ; lullabies to the engine.
afoujiTAnr beautiful
It was scarcely any time before the
graceful Moon rose over the last hill
east of Scappoose. and then started to
rise a few more times, over some of the
bumps on the stretch of rough macadam
the motorist meets after leaving that
town. The sight of . Mount St- Helens
lifting its cone ; above the dark base of
the woods made up a hundredfold for
the slight Inconvenience of getting a
little closer to Hood's little sister.
There is road construction . going on
at mileage 4.4 onChe new cut-off, and
the way continues to be rough to War
ren, and slightly beyond, and then it
smooths out the wrinkles and presents
a smooth brow to the passing traveler.
And also, one -might say, . that in re
sponse the driver presents a smooth
MORNING, SEPTEMBER
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brow to the road, for if there Is any
thing that induces more wrinkles than a
good rough road no one has ever heard
of it.
A turn to the left is made at mileage
9.3, and here there is evidence of more
road work, and what area few rough
spots when the motorist reflects that
next year about this time he can run
down to Astoria for lunch,'' or motor
over to Seaside while his wife is putting
on her hat to go to the movies. But
the bad stretch is after , all only for a
few yards, and then the going is quite
good to Hoi ton, where, just as a sort
of promise of the fun of having bard
surface all the way, there Is, a lKtle
segment of smooth traveling. Then
there is come more rough stuff, fust to
make one appreciate the glassy sur
face but lately, deserted.
At JL 4 there is evidence that the new
cut-off is almost completed, and when
this Is finished, most of the bad places
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In the way will be eliminated. Within
the next mile or two there is reason
for two detours, with some necessity
for travel over some dirt roads that
appear as if 'they would be rather try
ing to the patience during the rainy
season. Columbia City is skirted on
one of these detours, and the driver can
give an exhibition of the finer points
of his driving by dodging the chuck
holes that infest the way, and here one
may get in that old bromide "Tou miss
ed one." that someone said to Columbus
when he failed to kill one or two whales
on the first run of the lnter-continental
ferry. It may be said here, and to the
everlasting credit of all members of the
party, that no word -to that effect was
elicited from a single scout.
Mount Adams comes into view near
the 40-mile mark, and the pavement be
gins at the same time, and who is he
that can resist the spell of the com-
blnation? Deer Island is reached at 35.2, '
TWELVE PAGES
MOTOR TRUCKS
TRACTORS
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TRIP TO
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ASTORIA
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A FEW of the views among
the many which greeted
The Journal party which
made the trip from Portland
to Astoria last Sunday in a
new Liberty model Moon.
and a few people were around to see
the Moon pass, and all paused to ad-
jnire. The rock recently laid near the
end of the . paving at H Z is not as
rough' as It used to be, having been
worn fairly smooth, by the wheels of
machines which - have been giving the
lower highway the opportunity of being
of service. A bridge decided to leave
on Its vacation along this part of the
road not long ago. with the result that
motorists are using a detour that car
ries one but a short distance out of the
way. and, soon the party found them
selves back on the main highway, where
smooth sailing was enjoyed, with an
exception In the form of a little road
work at 40.3. where the rock has. failed
to become entirely sociable, being still
rather loose and having the tendency to
resent fast passage.
18 LIKE CHECKERBOAKD
As far as stretches of - pavement are
concerned, the highway along here pre
sents a remarkable resemblance to an
elongated checkerboard, for at 40.4 the
car rolls upon some more of the bard
stuff, and the party found that It was
not a bit hard to take. Ooble at 42.6
rests alongside this length, and a few
miles further on the town of Rainier is
entered. At 49.3 a detour to the right
is necessary. Here the party waved
farewell to the pavement, for awhile, at
least, though not foi long.
It seems
that another gang has slipped something
over on the society of rocks and bumps,
ASTORIA
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and some paving appears at the BO-mlle
grade, and as the car slides up this
hill, one can almost feel the promise of
good things at the top. And when the
summit is reached, there Is the whole
valley lying before the beholder, the
wide peaceful Columbia, hemmed In by
the green banks that border It. slipping
along in the glowing face of the sun,
seems to be a very guardian and pro
tector to the fertile fields along the
banks, and to the people who derive ,
their living and happiness from the care
of the soil the river has given them.
No wonder the call of the river sounds
so loudly to him of the wandering foot,
giving as it does the promise of bound
less opportunity and delightful adven
ture to be met just around the corner.
All life in the picture seemed to be at
its best on this fall morning, hot s
single harsh note entering to mar the
complete beauty of the spectacle.
PATIXG GOIXO DOWX FAST
If someone failed to sneese. or other
wise failed to deport themselves In an
unpoetlc manner, anyone might stand
there until the river ran up the hill to
meet them. . 5
At mileage &6.0 there is a mixture of
detour, loose rock and "hot stuff. and
the foreman of thegang says the pav
ing is going In at the rate of J000 feet
a day. six days out of the week, and
sees no reason for the highway not be
ing iu first-class shape by the advent
(Concluded on Pace Tw, This SeeUoe) -