George Putnam Writes Of Good-Roads Fights
fEditors note: Ororce -Putnam,
editor emeritus of the Salem Capital-Journal
and one-time editor and
publisher of the Medford Mail Trib
une, is now writinr a column for
the Salem paper, much of it de
voted to remini&censes of earlier
i davi in Jackson county. He has
given the Mail Tribune permission
to quote from his column, and por
tions of his writings of interest in
southern Oreion will be printed
.here from time to time. The .first of
(Ikese articles appear below.)
By GEORGE PUTNAM
To appreciate what a magnifl
. cent highway system Oregon
has, one must travel over it. To
more fully appreciate it one
must have traveled the road in
the horse and wagon days of
half a century or more ago and
ooly octogenarians like the writ
er can do this.
Saving just returned from a
four-day trip with stops to visit
friends the world they know so
well dubs "old," old personally
in years, but not in spirit, in Eu
gene and Medford, thence home
via Crater Lake and Bend, the
writer feels qualified by past
rjtperiences to form judgment.
New Road
The only rough section tra
versed on Highway 99 between
Salem and Medford was on the
Myrtle .. Creek section, some
miles south of Roseburg, where
a new, wider road is under con
struction to eliminate angles and
sharp curves of the old. e
Between Medford and Crater
Lake, resurfacing in two small
sections only slows the speeders.
Between Crater Lake and Bend
resurfacing and some new con
struction nearing completion on
a few miles makes rough going.
Many long tangents make speedways.
All the region traversed seems
prosperous. The lumber boom
' continues in both Eugene and
Medford and in central Oregon,
supplemented . bys good crop
yields. Harvesting of the 3Vi
million box Medford pear crop
got underway late because a cold
spring delayed sizing but - the
quality is superior. A surplus of
potatoes looms in central Ore-
Long Fight
The fight for good roads was
a long one in Oregon lasting
many years against strong op
position from those they meant
most toA The battle for a road
to Crafr Lake was a fair ex
ample. In 1909 the writer and
the late Dr. J. M. Keane, form
erly of Salem representing Med
ford, spent nearly the entire
session of the 1909 legislature
lobbying through a Crater Lake
road bill. It provided that the
state of Oregon contribute $100,
000 and the counties of Jackson
and Klamath provide $50,000
each for starting such a road.
The bill was jockeyed about
at all sessions but was finally
passed in the closing hours. Gov
ernor Chamberlin . refilled to
sign it saying it was unconstitu
tional. Told that the attorney
general had approved it, he re
plied: "We call him 'Old Neces
sity' because he knows no law."
But he let it pass without sign
ing. Bill Enjoined
The bill was promptly en
joined by L. H. McMahon of
Salem and the supreme court
held it illegal because the con
stitution forbid counties to ex
ceed the sum of $5000 debt. This
necessitated a fight for amend
ments to the constitution. Initia
tive bills were passed in 1910
to allow counties to exceed the
95000 limit indebtedness when
approved by vote of the people
indebtedness to two per cent of
assessed values. In 1919 to six
per cerit.
These amendments opened the
way to highway development in
Oregon. Governor Oswald West
created a highway commission,
consisting of members of the
Board of Control to formulate a
program. H. L. Bowlby was ap
pointed first highway engineer.
Jackson -county was the first
county to start such a program.
Under County Judge Frank L
TouVelle a $500,000 bond issue
was voted and first contracts let
for the Pacific Highway 99, pav
ing from Central Point to Ash
land and grading a new high
way over the Siskiyou moun
tains to California to replace the
old toll road. Samuel Hill, who
In 1912 it was amended to limit had campaigned for the bond
Is That So?
Making long-range plans for
next year's vacation? Perhaps
including a cross-country trip,
visiting the national parks?
Custom, of course, decrees
that you elect the months of
June, July or August. And that's
a downright shame. Then, al-
0
By EUGENE BURNS
- Ranger-Naturalist
warm in September in fact,
along most of our seacoasts, the
seasonal peak of warmth is not
reached before early September.
However, because of their lim
ited size, inland lakes and ponds
tend to cool off somewhat in
September but even so, until
late in the month most of them
will still be above 65 degrees.
Farther north, along the Coast
of New England and Eastern
Canada, September days can be
chilly, admittedly but then,
in this area it is not so unusual,
either,- to find chilly days in
both July and August.
Highways Not Crowded
When these areas are chilly,
the air can be wonderfully brac
ing. And if nights are cold, days
can still be plenty warm; it is
not. unusual at all for Halifax
and Portland to report higher
temperatures than Atlantic City
and Cape Cod.
Besides and I don' mean to
keep belaboring this point in
September highways are not
crowded with teeming hordes
of vacationers many made short
tempered by the heat which
bothers ' children particularly,
travel may be cheaper because
many hotels and motels have re
duced their high summer vaca
tion rates; waitresses, less hur
ried and harried, can give bet
ter and quicker service; and
for me, best of all, trout fishing
has reached a new peak to
gether with the zest of oncoming
fall, and trees afire with color.
Begin to see why I like
September? But then, don't tip
off to many that would clut
ter up the highways and beaches
and hotels and cafes, and rivers
thundershowers are concerned for all of us who cherish Sep-
there is no argument Septem- tember vacations.
ber has far fewer. (Released by
For swimming, the sea is still McClure Newspaper Syndicate)
most half the population is on
wheels and this means danger
ous highway travel, overcrowd
ed accommodations, the bother
with reservations, often inflated
hotel and motel prices. To say
nothing of bad weather.
This is by way of extolling
a sadly neglected month Sep
tember. Not only is September
one of the choicest months of
the year, but, from the stand
point of cooler temperature, rain
fall, wind and all-around agree
able weather, September is the
best in over three-fourths of the
provinces and states. And, hap
pily, not so many people know
it.
Although September can be
hot and humid, it is rarely hot
ter or more humid than July
and August. It can be rainy,
too, but the chances are it will
be as dry as the two earlier
months and certainly as far as
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STORES
issue turned the first shovel of
earth at Ashland.
Eill Passed
Largely through the efforts
of Oregon congressional delega
tion a bill was passed in 1912
for the construction of roads in
Crater Lake park, which started
a systematic construction pro
gram which materialized through
the years since with the exist
ing highway 'network, while
state and county were construct
ing, with federal aid entrance
highways. What had been Indian
trails, then roundabout steep zig
zag country roads were trans
formed into a paved boulevard,
days with horse drawn vehicle
with easy grades and curves.
Fifty years ago it took three
to reach the rim of Crater Lake
from Medford. Today it takes
less than 3 hours by auto over
a paved highway. ,
TOOK WITNESS, TOO .
Newport, Tenn. U.R) Police
were looking for jailer Dave
McGaha today. They said he
took $50, a sheriff's pistol and
Leona Wardrup, 27, of Ashe
ville, N.C. a prisoner being held
as a material witness in a rob
bery trial, and disappeared.
Dead line for Sunday Classified Is
at noon Saturday. -
Snake River Dam
Permits Requested
Washington (U.R) Pacific
Northwest Power company ap
plied yesterday to the Federal
Power commission for licenses
to build two new dams on the
Snake river.
The firm, a combination of
four Northwest utility compa
nies, asked permission to build
dams at Mountain Sheep and
Pleasant Valley on the middle
Snake on the Idaho-Oregon
boundary.
The two dams would cost a
total of $210,000,000 and would
produce 1,446,000 kilowatts of
power. Plans submitted with the
application said construction
would begin next March with the
first power to be made available
in 1959.
Pacific Northwest Power is
composed of Washington Water
Power Co., Pacific Power and
Light, Montana Power and Light,
and Portland General Electric
company. . '
NAMED MANAGER'S AIDE
New York U.R) Thomas R.
Curran, vice-president in charge
of South American operations
for the United Press for the past
12 years, was today named as
sistant general manager.
Wednesday, September 7, 1953
MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRfBUNE THREE
A Nichol's Worth of ...
Comment On This and That
By HARMAN W. NICHOLS
United Proas Feefar. Writer
Atlantic City, N. J. (U.PJ
Miss Texas, June Prichard, stole
the show in the annual Miss
America parade Tuesday night
on a borrowed
horse.
The 23-year-old
beauty
from Seymour.
Tex., brought
down the
house, which
was consider
ab le, adding
up to 250,000,
when she rode
a palomino
Herman NichcU down the
famed boardwalk. , The white
tail, she said later with a blush,
was on lend-lease from a farm
near Camden, N. J.
June is a specialist at strad
dling a pony. The 5-foot 6-inch
cutie claims- she was born
aboard a bronc, and maybe she
was. Any how, she grew up to
be a right fine looking blonde
with' a bust of 37 inches, 37
hips that's just about right
with a 23-inch middle to match.
At any rate, June grew up to
become known as Miss Texas in
the Miss America Pageant,
which gets under way here to
day. You can hardly ignore the
young lady from the Lone Star
State. Don't be surprised if she
is right up there.
Today the kids will compete
in three categories swim suit,
evening gown and talent. In
evening gown will be Miss Can
ada, Miss Chicago, Miss Connec
ticut, Miss Delaware, Miss Dis
trict of Columbia, Miss Florida,
Miss Indiana, Miss Kansas, Miss
Mississippi, Miss Nevada, Miss
North Carolina, Miss North Da
kota, Miss Oregon, Miss South
Carolina and Miss Texas.
In talent we will have Misses
Alabama, California, Colorado,
Georgia, Maine, Michigan, New
Jersey, New York, Ohio, Okla
homa, Pennsylvania, Rhode Is
land, Vermont, Virginia, West
Virginia, and Wisconsin.
In the swim suit there will
be Misses Arkansas, Arizona, Ha
waii, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Maryland, Massachu
setts, Minnesota, Missouri, 'Mon
tana, Nebraska, New Hamp
shire, South Dakota, Tennessee
and Utah.
There is only one winner. The
10 finalists will be announced
Saturday night From them five
will be selected. And there xpu
will find the kid who will pick
up a $5,000 scholarship, a hat
full of glory and a lot of other
things.
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