Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1919-08-08
Pacific Highwayii
Torn up with Paving

blue basalt for the Pacific highway,
says John W. Kelly, correspondent to
the Portland Oregonian. Like thin
spider web, wire stretches from the
perched quarry across the mountain
slopes, until It is lost in the distance
This wire. attached to rugged pipes,
continues on and on for seven miles,
leaving the quarry plant in Oregon
and terminating in power plant at
Hit, Cal.
Fuel is scarce and costly to de-
liver at the Siskiyou summit. so
Qskar Huber, who has the contract
for paving the Pacific highway from
Ashland to the California line. oper'
ates his crusher with electric power,
drawn from HIT. This is the most
southern outfit working on the Pa
cific highway. From this summit
400 feet In the air, trucks loaded
with rock for the pavement base roll
down toward the state line, five
miles away, southwark, while the
same plant furnishes rock for the
northern section rs we'll,
A better position for distributing
the rock could not be desired In
mountainous country. The rock for
the base Is now being spread; sup,
piles of asphaltum are being deliv-
cred by the railroad. and within
few weeks the hot stuff will start.
Il Is the intention Of the contractor
to finish paving this high part OF
the highway before severe weather
comes. 80 that when winter ap-
proaches he can continue operating
in the mllder climate OF Ashland.
Poor Year for Touring
This Sisklyou section Is the first
road construction work that the mo-
tor tourist from California strikes.
From this point on as far north as
the Multnomah county line there are
contractors engaged In improving
the main traffic artery.
No more unfavorable year for mo-
tor travel on the Pacific highway
could be selected than thi' Last
year the roads we're not so torn un.
and next year the improvement will
be so far advanced that there will
be little inconvenience.
Just now, however. traffic en-
counters one detour or piece of con-
struction after another for nearly
800 miles. Notwithstanding these
difficulties and handicaps. the Pa
cific highway is speckled with n
continuous string OF automobiles,
moving north or south. SO great is
the tourist travel that 1t is impos-
sible to obtain hotel accommodations
in such towns as Ashland, Medford,
Grants Pass or Roseburg unless res
ervations are made In advance.
A step in the right direction is
the establishment of camp grounds
In towns along the highway SThe
better these camps are equipped the
more popular they will become. for
not all the tourists wtsh to patron
lie hotels. Camps where there is
good water supply. comfort stations.
fuel and stoves will soon be known
from one end of the coast to the
other. In one such camp there are
gas stoves. where a slot machine
provides the fuel.
Another thing needed along the
highway lis service stations. There
are such stations now, in the larger
towns, but there Is good business
opportunity for competent motor me-
chanics in almost any Of the towns
and they should he men who under.
stand all makes of cars
Oskar Huber on the Job
Reverting to the Oskar Huber
job, which is a trifle more than 90
miles. SO miles heing the Ashland
Green Springs mountain and 14.6
miles being the Green Springs noun
tain to the state line. It will be next
year before the contractor completes
this work. When finished It will
connect with the present hard sur.
face, extending from Ashland to Med
ford and thence to Central Point.
Everything from Grants Pass to
the state line has been contracted
for paving.
. From Central Point to Gold Hill
there is an SO mile paving contract
on which the Clark-Henery com
pany y working This will cost
Ss31,63s, and will be laid on an
asphaltic concrete base.
The base, as examined by State
Highway Engineer Num- and R. A
Booth, highway commissioner, on
their tour of ofinspection few days
ago, looked particularly, good. 1t is
referred to in the vernacular as
black base" Not only is the base
being laid, but the top Is olso being