Evening star., 1915-02-28
MOST BEAUTIFUL ROAD
IN WORLD EXPECTED
Columbia River Highway Is Certain.
Autos May Enter Vel
lowstone.

Two iiapelling attractions soon may
be added to the scenic assets of the Pa
cifc northwest and serve to accelerate
road travel in that part of the country
One of these is certain-the Columbia
river highway: the other is possible
the opening Of, the Yellowstone Won
derland to motor -driven vehicles.
Samuel Hill, the well known roads
enthusiast. thus informs Chairman
Frank X. Mudd of the A. A. ~ touring
board as to the great thoroughfare
which will begin at Portland and skirt
the majestic river of the northwest:
You may say authoritatively that
the Columbia highway will be open
for travel July l. although hard sur
faced only in part. In my opinion the
Columbia highway will surpass in
scenic beauty any road anywhere else
in the world
The effort to secure admission of au-
tomobiIes into Yellowstone Park is not
of recent origin, and President John A.
Wilson of the American Automobile
Association is continuing the policy of
his predecessors in urging that this
national recreation area should be
4&ailable to the modern form of trans
ppStation.
Summarizes Situation.
q communication to the A. y. A. head
from f. Il. Mathewson, president OF It's
Montana state body, concisely sum-
marizes the situation in these words:
&yve of Montana have telt for some
Years past that the stage lines in YET
nw stone Park were not progressive. and
We're not looking to their own best IN
terests in working against th@ iit. o
duction of automobiles as q rune. the
visitor to the park nowadays takes the
tive-day trip. People who are not pnys-
ically nit are extremely weary a.tet q
long ride in the stage cuacn. and many
people who would otnei Wise visit the
park will not 20 on account OF the pooL
arrangements for transportation. II
the good people running the stage
lines would substitute the modern
sightseeing automobiles they wcuid
have twice the number OF passengers
and could charge larger lee. IN au-
dition to this they would lie IDlc "
take much more extended route
through the park, visiting points OF
interest that are never seen by the
ordinary visitor.
Senators Are Active.
1t was natural that the United States
senators from the Pacific northwest
would take an interest in the yellow
stone matter, and Senator James H.
Brady OF ludho anu SeIistloi I L. W -
rem of Wyoming have been especially
active In letter just directed to Ste
phen T. Ma ther, assistant to the Secre-
tary of the Interior and in charge of
the national parks, Senator Brady thus
refers to the subject:
Conferences had with your prede-
cessor in relation to certain improve
nIents and changes in the park roads
cause me to express the hope thai 1t
is now possible for the people en- route
to the Panama-Pacific exposition to
enjoy the advantage which automobile
service in Yellowstone would afford. 1t
would be a splendid thing and of much
benefit to the travelling public, and
am hopeful that the 1915 interstate
travellers will have opportunity of us
ing their own vehicles in the park
Possible Routes.
Admission into Yellowstone Park will
result in considerable travel over the
Park-to-park road connecting with
Glacier National Park. and use of the
new Snoaualmie Pass road over the
Cascades. with Seattle as the destina
tion. Then would come the use of the
Pacific highway through Oregon south
ward to California. For those who
would emerge from Yellowstone at the
western gate there would be offered
the Idaho route, which would include
Shoshone falls. deservedly known as
fully competing with the great cata
ract in its picturesque grandeur.
UnQuestionably the western country
is going to make an irresistible appeal
to a large percentage of the 1.750090
motor car road travellers.