Weekly journal-miner., 1922-01-04
Letters to the Editor
FROM THE OTHER SIDE
Congress Junction, Ariz.,

|esses, the highway commissions sur veyors who spent many days recon noitering in this section, do not know what they are talking about when they report this as the best route for a combination north and south road and then to reach Cali fornia. Mir Colvocoresses, represent ing special interest, the Humboldt smelter, should not accuse any one else of having a special interest.
 The best reason in the world for
 wanting the north and south road to
 follow this route lies in the fact that
 from Congress Junction to the Colo rado river is a stretch of country 90 miles wide and almost level No wonder he does not understand, as
 he admits that he does not, why road can be built for such small
 sum of money. The Santa Fe rail- way company, in spite of the fact that it had a good mountain road
 from Ash Fork to California, built read from near Wickenburg through
 to California across this stretch of country, making 1l0-mile run and
 a short line and line without heavy
 grades.
 If we are ever to have a practical
 link in the national highway, the plan of the present road commission
 of the county is a good one to fol-
 low out. The Black Canyon section
 is .sparsely populated, and leaving
 out two towns, just as Mir. Colvo-
 coresses does on this line, you have
 only a very small population to be helped. Deserted mining camps and
 inactive smelters for the most part
 make up the section the Black Can
 yon road would serve At Humboldt
 IS the shelter in charge of the gent
 leman himself, and at Mayer is the
 Big Ledge, and also there once was
 the Rigby Mining & Reduction com pany. The Blue Bell mine, dormant,
 and nearly all the rest, dormant, just 1 like Octave, the old Congress, the l Old Yarnell, the Placeritas, the $4,- lOO0,O00 placer camp of Rich Hill,
 the Vulture, the Leviathan, the Ava
 rado, and hundreds of others in this
 section, saying nothing about the upper Hassayampa near Prescott,
 every inch of which is held by min
 ing locations, either of placer or
 quartz.
 A district rich in possibilities and
 ready to pour a gold and silver
 wealth into the lap Of the commer-
 cial center of Yavapai county, Pres
 colt. To put that road through is
 the most nearly ideal proposition in
 the county. The fact that the people seemingly voted certain other routes.
 does not prevent 1t from being right to put the main north and south road in place where it can be made natural part of the national highway system.
 We deem that the attack on the present commission and the accusa-
 ton implied of incompetence or dis honesty of the engineers who made
 the survey, and offered their report as public servants, is uncalled for,
 and is not in good taste from the
 gentleman from Humboldt. In the
 first place the people of Congress
 Junction took no steps to do any thing in the way of spreading propa- ganda. A small delegation did wait on the county's representatives and present what appeared to be cursory facts. The engineers found a condi- ton that surprised even them, and would surprise the sage of Humboldt If he would go over the route and see the mile after mile of old road needing but slight repairs and im- provements to make a road up to | federal aid specifications The new county bridge across the Hassayampa ! river at Wickenburg is of type to show the seriousness of the road au- thorities of Maricopa county. To get to Wickenburg country is the job of the Yavapai county folks, and Mari copa will join up and can join up better than on the Black Canyon road.
 Then, nnrn to the west over 90 miles of level country, and you are up to California, and California has put Arizona in the rear in the mat ter of highway construction. It is impossible that Mir. Colvocoresses would overlook the fact that there must be business and social inter course between Arizona and Los An geles, a city of half million people. This rndcveloped country here with it's sparse population may soon be much more populous by reason of a good highway, especially if of the national system. This would give Phoenix people. Prescott people and