Payette enterprise. (Payette, Canyon Co., Idaho) 1909-1935, 1919-10-30
THE EVERGREEN
HIGHWAY

National evergreen highway WHlcl
was held in Tacoma, Washington, ol
the 18th. This meeting was well at
tended by the board members from
British Columbia as well as from
the States. A complete report Of
the work of the past year was read
and many things of interest and
directly bearing on the Highway
were shown. Mr.. Ben Hill of Walla
Walla, Wash, sent in a report OF
that more people had used their
Camp Ground during the 1918 sea
son than the population of their en-
tire county, including the city of
Walla Walla. careful estimate
shows that these tourists spend on
an average of "a per day. 1t is
readily seen that the auto traffic is
a source of an immense revenue to
the counties fortunate enough to
have one of the great continental
highways.
In the address by. President Sweet
land of the National Evergreen High
way Association, he declared that
the business of caring for the auto
tourists is rapidly becoming the
leading business of any town or
county which makes an effort to
care for them, and it pays the larg
est dividend for the money invested.
Plans for the 1920 work was dis
cussed at length, and a careful
and complete program was agreed
upon. A subject discussed at length
and one that is of interest to the
people of Payette County, was the
amount of travel on the Evergreen
Highway this year, and the. amount
of travel already assured for 1920,
and the. class of road needed for
this travel. Careful estimates of the
tourist travel together with the
use of this route by the people of
Payette County shows that there
will be approximately 1000 cars
and trucks each "a hours using that
part of the Highway between Pay
ette, Fruitland and New Plymouth.
The subject of the truck was taken
up for consideration in connection
with the class of road needed. The
different amount of travel was dis
cussed at length by experts OF this
subject, and it was shown that
gravel surfaced road subjected to
such heavy travel would cost, at the
end of five years, including con-
struction and maintenance, as much
as a paved road, and that at the
end of five years all~that would be
left would be worn out gravel
road. The efforts of the board for
1920 will include the taking of a
careful census of the autos and
trucks going over the road, the
tonnage of freight, and the class
of road that is the cheapest to build
considering the traffic; and to en-
courage the different towns and
counties to maintain suitable Auto
Camps. The truck question is one
we are forced to take into consider,
alton and the N-lad-
alton. The following letter from
George A. Waddle, Director of Deal |
er Relations, may be interesting:
Mr.. Bernard Eastman,
Director, Evergreen
National Highway Assn
Payette. Idaho.
My dear Mr. Eastman:
l had hoped that l might work
out my schedule of travelling SO that
l could be in your city October 23d,
but find that it will be absolutely i'm
possible for me to make any change
that will permit my coming.
am however, interested in your
getting clearly before the gentlemen
you are to meet with on .he:f 23d,
the Importance of all our road i'm
provements from now on in this
country in figuring the possibilities
of the truck and its use of the
road.
Some states and some counties of
states have endeavored to solve the
problem of the use of the road by
the truck on the basis of passing dis
eliminating regulations to drive the
truck off the road, but it is as logi-
cal to go at the problem in that
way, as it would be to burn down
all the orchards Of Idaho for the
purpose of preventing the inroad of
some insect which, when we come
to study it, is beneficial rather than