El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-10-12

have promised to keep it good all the
year round Not much work is needed.
state cOnvictS are now at work on the
road between Bisbee and Tombstone
chuaca siding The road is then fairly
good, without work, to the Pima
county line, about seven miles this
side of Empire ranch which is mid
Considerable repair work is necessary
over that stretch of road to within a
few miles of Vail, which is % miles
this side of Tucson. The state highway
Empire and Tucson, is in fine shape
and Will stay that way If given a
little attention at intervals, as il was
built right at the beginning.
Tucson Through -CRctus Belt,
From Vail through Tucson to the
Pinal county line, north of Tucson.
very little work is needed, but some
ought to be done Through Pinal
county to Florence, the state convicts
are putting the state highway into
condition and il should afford some fast
running for the race. This road runs
for 40 miles through a forest of giant
desert cacti and in this respect is the
most unique section of the entire road
for tourists.
From Florence to Mesa. some work
is needed and the Florence people have
promised to do it Very little work
will make most of the sixty odd miles
into Phoenix from Florence very fast.
Little can be done to the roads from
Mesa to Phoenix unless they are
paved, which Phoenix is preparing to
do within the next few months. This
will not be done before the race, how
ever The road from Mesa to Phoenix
IS through a valley, where the soil is
easily cut into chuck holes and where
the dust becomes very disagreeable.
Ell PasO-Deming Section
There is some disagreeably crooked
road between the top of the Canutillo
hill and Lanark, 80 miles west of Ell
PasO, which the FL PaSo Automobile
club will straighten out shortly. From
Lanark west to the Luna county line,
the road is fairly good and 1t is also
fairly good all the way into Deming.
Out OF Deming west the new Border
land road is good almost to Mongolia
station, 16 miles out, but some work
should be done just this side of Mon
COLA and more work is needed west of
Mongolia for a mile or so. Then the
road is in fine condition west to the
Grant county line, where the Grant
county people have taken up the work
of building the new road.
Tony Workman. who is to drive a
Chalmers go roadster in the race, has
just returned from a trip over the road
and he declares that il is even now in
good shape for a country road and be-
lieVeS that when the repairs now in
progress are finished. the racers can
easily average 81 miles an hour and
make the run to Phoenix in II hours.
he IOunO InaI the signs Wnlch our
party put up last week enabled him
to make the road without difficulty.
An Attractive Road.
The entire road. II kept in repair,
would be one of the finest stretches of
country road in the United States and
should become very popular 500 mile
drive for tourists. Most of the scenery
is rugged and beautiful beyond de-
scription.
The country around Mesa and Phoe-
nix is different from any of the other
ton fields, Observation-Disclosures lemons,
oranges and almonds-ostrich farms
and herds of fine blooded cattle are
the attractions. Tho Egyptian cotton
grows as high as a mans head and is
A revelation to westerners, unaccus-
crop for the southwest and is doing
wonderfully well in the irrigated Salt
river valley.
A Newspaper Booster.
That Tucson means to make repairs
TO its section of the road is certain.
The people of Tucson are taking a deep
interest in the coming race and they
understand FULLY the value of overland
travel that can be brought this way
over the Borderland route if it is put
in good condition and kept that way
The Tucson Star has started a cam
paiSn for good roads and promises to
keep 1t up Commenting on my criti-
cism in the Ell Paso Herald of the Pima
county road between Empire and Vail,
the Star says;
when a booster knocks there is
something radically wrong and it is
time to sit up and take notice. The
pathfinders of the Ell Paso-to-PhoeniX
race over the Borderland route de-
clared the worst stretch of road on