The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1922-02-09
BUILDER OF
HIGHWAY TALKS
S. C. LANCASTER THRILLS AUDIENCE
Columbia River Highway, He Says, Not
A Result of Chance Speaks
Word For Oak

did not result by chance, according t.
Samuel Z. Lancaster, builder of tht
Multnomah portion of the boulevard
who Sunday night thrilled Hood Rivel
folk with ashuman interest story of the
great road. Mr.. Lancaster, whose lee
ture was illustrated with many stere
optican pictures. talked here under
auspices of the Sunday Evening clul
of Riverside church.
Mr.. Lancaster, who came to notice
of road builders. and incidentally EN-
pire builders, because of stretches OF
beautifully practical highways he haC
constructed down in Madison county
| Tennessee, told his audience Sunday
night just how it happened that ht
came to the Pacific coast. His Madi.
son county roads came to the notice OF
James Wilson, then secretary of agri-
culture, who called him to Washington.
When the canny Scotchman found that
| Mr.. Lancaster was able to give him
exact figures on costs and other valu-
able data, he had him write an article
| for the 1904 Year Book of the Depart
ment of Agriculture. Mr.. Lancaste
was then engaged by the department
to visit all parts of the country and
1 tCCLuTC UH IOduS. IL was WIllG III tIls
capacity that he came in contact with
Samuel Hill. who, MIR. Lancaster says,
loves the great northwest as no other
man does.
Samuel Hill invited Mr.. Lane aster
to the Pacific coast for six months. He
secured his transfer here from the De-
partment of Agriculture, paying the
expenses of the road builder and his
family.
1--WE came west on that visit, say
Mr.. Lancaster, land we have made
our home here since. | have always
loved the mountain and the sea, gain
ing this love from hearing my mother
read the Scriptures. Not long agotl
was visiting my oldest daughter and
her family at Astoria, and as | watched
the sun set out over the bar, there
came back to me a Sunday afternoon
spent beneath great Elm tree back
in Tennessee, when my wife and /
were talking of where we would like
to be when we reached the evening
time of life. And we agreed that it
would be wonderful to be somewhere
with our back to the mountains and
our face to the sea, and my daughter
reminded me that we had very nearly
had our wish.
Mr.. Lancaster, following his visit
here with Mr.. Hill, received appoint
ment as a delegate to good roads
conference in Paris. Mr.. Hill made
possible his journey there, paying his
expenses and personally conducting a
tour through all of continental Europe.
where the road systems were studied.
at was while we were journeying
up the Rhine" said Mr.. Lancaster,
that Mr.. Hill said to me, Well have
something like that some day up and
down the Columbia. was looking at
an old castle. | thought he meant
that, but his mind was on the dry ma
sonry walls of vineyard terraces, and
he was dreaming of such walls along
great highway in the Columbia gorge.
Mr.. Lancaster recited how he had
been called to Portland to talk to a
party of prominent men at meeting
held at Chantcleer Tavern. 1t beg an
to dawn on him then, he said. that the
dream of a great highway along the
Columbia was about to become true.
He praised the scenic attractions of
the great gorge. declaring that no
place of the world held more beauties
of nature than did this mighty canyon
from Cello TO Portland. Mr.. Laneas-
ter declared that when the road was
first talked of he had fears that the
mighty canyon would be gashed and
disiigUred by little winding grade
that would mar the environs. he
finally told the MultnOmah county Off
cials that if such road were contem-
plated he would have nothing to do
with it.
81 went back from the Chanticleer
meeting to my family, then living IN
Seattle" said Mr.. Lancaster, over
joyed and yet praying that we wouldn' I
nave a road that was a little cash. |
told my wife and daughters all about
our meeting and they added their pray o
ers to mine.
Mr.. Lancaster loves the trees, the
wild shrubs, the oaks, the frs ana
pines with an intensity that must be
moving even to the calloused. practical
minded woods chopper. lie told of his
efforts to save the natural beauties all
along the great highway. He recalled
the Boston fern that his mother used
to care for in his boyhood home.
''We made our survey through that
40 acres on which the Figure Eight is
constructed, 4" said Mr.. Lancaster,
land in there we found ferns as tall as
man. determined that we would
lay out that road in such wise as to
leave every last one of them un-
harmed. You know the result, and
now we must save that wooded Figure
Eight and preserve it for future gener-
atoms in its wild grandeur.
81 want you TO see, continued Mr..
Lancaster, '.hat in all have to say
want TO convey that nothing ever hap
pens Just by chance. After beng
away from my home year and day,
| was destined to return home, and
had to detour around by way Of Ia
coma TO reach the journeys end, Just
when that sleet storm had covered the
country. | hurried right out on the
Highway, and | saw that the covering
of ice, of an astonishing thickness,
would destroy some Of the Highway II
action were not taken Immediately.
MIR. Lancaster was unable TO per
susde the MultnOmah- county eommis-
sioners that the road was in danger
Indeed. their engineer made an inspec-
ton and reported all danger past. IL
was then that Mr. Lancaster took the
matter Up with the Nv. X. & n. Go.
and showed them that the glacial ac-
tion OF the frozen and packed sleet was
pushing a visduct down on their line.
The railroad company set to work
snoring Up the visduct
Thus" said Mr.. Lancaster my
return at this particular time saved
from destruction this great piece Of
highway work and probably averted a
serious train wreck.
Mr. Lancaster expressed regret at
the destruction the storm had wrought
among the besutiful oaks along the
Highway. He showed pictures Of
SheppArd's Dell, where the silver thsw