Los Angeles herald., 1908-02-09
AUTOMOBILES
ARE STALLED
ROADS BEYOND CITY LIMITS ARE
ALMOST IMPAssABLE
HORSES ARE PRESSED INTO SER.
VICE TO HELP
Hollywood Has Its Share of Deep Mud
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. for Good
Roads Often Result In
Worse Conditions

The road conditions of Southern Cali
fornia during and after rainy spell
are enough to drive the motoring tour
lists away to stay forever, and even the
enthusiastic booster who lives here and
has a lot or two to sell breaks out In
strong language when he has to make
a trip over the execrable highways that
are encountered in any direction that
one may have to drive. The streets
within the limits of a number of the
cities of Southern California are very
good and reflect credit on the street
departments that have them in charge,
but in other places they are snare
and a delusion.
Hollywood. with it's claims of beauty
boasts of o Sunset boulevard that Is
sea of mud after rain that invariably
allows the unwary motorist chance
to have all the conceit of his ability to
drive forced from his mind after trying
conclusions with that roadway.
Auto Party Stalled in 'Dobe
1t was the misfortune of a party last
Sunday to get stuck in the mud on Sun
set boulevard within a few blocks of
the center of the beautiful hillside
suburb and all of the efforts of the
party were unavailing, and a team of
horses was finally called into requisi-
ton before they could get out. 1t was
not q lack of power or poor driving
that was at fault as the machine was
White steamer and that pioneer drtv-
err, Capt. FL. d. Ryus, was at the wheel.
The slippery adobe mud allowed the
car to slip sidewise into the gutter, and
brakes or chains or words had not eff
feet on stopping the slide. The car
finally eased itself up against the curb,
with one side about twelve inches high
er than the other and in some danger
of turning over. The soft, Shiny sur
face on the road would not allow the
front wheels any hold on the road, and
it was impossible to steer the car up to
the crown of the street.
When it was finally gotten out and
started on its way again IL was with
the greatest difficulty that 1t was kept
In the road, as the back wheels showed
a strong tendency to get in front of the
car, and after coming toward Los An
geles for mile or more farther there
were several places that the passengers
had to get out and give the car
shove, as the mud was so greasy that
the back wheels spun around until they
dug holes that the machine had to be
pushed out of.
cahuenga Pass Has Sink Hole
Another bad place was found coming
out of the Cahuenga pass into Holly
wood, where the new car line has been
put in. The roadway was left In such
condition there that 1t seemed impossi-
BILE to prevent the tires being pulled off
as the car skidded against the rails
time after time.
Nowhere on the road between Los
Angeles and the Soledad was the road
condition found so bad as 1t was IN the
limits OF Hollywood.
There is another bad piece of road
within the limits OF Los Angeles that
ia very much Travelled that rivals the
hollywood boulevard, and that is the
short strip that lies between the end of
the new Huntington boulevard and
Eastlake park, especially that part at
the upper end of the pond. The city
chain gang hauled load after load of
adobe to put on the surface of the road,
and when the rain came not one ma
chine but many we're unable to pillow
their way through. Now the street de-
partment is putting some gravel on the
crown of the road but the manner In
which the work Is being done will do
little to better the conditions.
There Is work enough done on the |
highways to give the travelling public |
good roads. but the energy is so misdi- !