Evening star., 1934-03-04


been written upon highways
The greatest dramas Of man.
kind have followed trade
routes and caravan trails.
It is therefore of worldwide inter-
est that construction work is now
being pushed forward on the greatest
highway ever projected.
This is the International Pacific
Highway, which will start at Fair
banks, Alaska, and terminate at
Buenos Aires In the Argentine. Pre-
liminary work has been in progress
for several years. This year the big
shove" will be made.
President Roosevelt has approved
an appropriation of s500,000 to assist
in the survey of the road through
Central America and parts of South
America. Mexico has voted $4,000
900 pesos for its share of the work
Various countries in Central America
have laid sections Of the highway and
are arranging to finance the closing
Of the gaps. The great republics of
South America have been fired with
enthusiasm over the project. What
has been dream for years is crystal
lizing into reality.
Long Journey Soon Possible.
Soon it will be possible to step on the
starter on the tundras of the Arctic
rim and come to a final stop in the
pampas Of the Argentine
The road when completed will be
10000 to $4,000 miles long 1t will
cross II countries and traverse all
the zones of climate. 1t will be the
first major highway to cross the
Equator. Nearly all the great traffic
arteries Of the past have run from
east to west.
The sociological, political, military
industrial and tourist potentialities OF
this highway fairly stagger the imag-
ination.
Heretofore the countries Of South
America have been farther away from
the United States than from Europe
Some of the most productive regions
have been jungle-bound. There ha:
been no easy way for the peoples o1
Latin America and North America Il
learn and appreciate each others pSy'
chology and viewpoints.
To the modernized, progressive
countries, the opening of the new
highway will be like taking down &
fence. To the backward areas of tht
tropics it will be like the opening o
a gate to a strange, new era.
Work Begun During 1880.
Actual work on the international
Pacific Highway began in 1880, wher
the Automobile Club of Southern Cal
ifornia. the largest organization Of tht
kind in America. sent caravan o
scout cars to map a route over th'
first Mexican section Of the proposed
highway.
At that time there already existed
splendid highways running the length
of the Pacific Coast in the United
States-from Nogales, Ariz, to the
Canadian border. through Arizona,
California, Oregon and Washington.
With zeal that was prompt and
effective, the Canadian government
built a highway extending the paved
roads Of Washington State some 300
miles north to Hazelton. The United
States Government has completed
the survey for the Yukon Alaskan
section to Fairbanks.
The International Pacific Highway
is therefore an actuality from Hazel
ton, British Columbia, to the Mexican
border. with surveys completed to its
extreme northern end at Fairbanks.
Follows Historic Trail.
The highway enters Mexico at
Nogales and follows the historic and
romantic West Coast and trail of the
Conquistadores to Mexico City. The
n-American Highway, connecting
Central and Eastern United States
with Latin America, enters Mexico
at Laredo and traverses the spectac-
ular mountainous region of the Gulf
Coast states of Mexico and joins the
International Pacific Highway at
Mexico City. From Mexico City
south the two routes are identical
Thus the International Pacific High
way and the Pan-American connect
every section of the United States
with the traffic artery into South
America.
The route mapped bv the engineers
of the Automobile Club of Southern
California follows one of the Oldest
roads in the New World-that part of
Mexico where many of the early tradi-
tions of our own West were born. The
road machines are scraping the dirt
from old trails that have been trod
by the war horses of Francisco Vas
quez Coronado-the gallant young ex-
plorer who, in 1540, came north from
Compostella, seeking the mythical
Seven Golden Cities of Cibola and
found our Southwest.
One day automobiles will whiZZ over
ground that felt the footsteps OF
Cabeza de Vaca, the first man to cross
the American Continent; of Fra Klno
noted explorer in the early history of
Western America, and of the chival-
rous Juan Bautista de ANA. who
opened the trail to California and
founded the city of San Francisco.
Ancient Area Traversed.
Through the energy of the Mexican
government, the highway has been
built, wholly or in part. down through
the rich state of Sonora, through the
romantic land of the Yaqui Indians
through the country of the Maya In
dams, where tradition tells of for
gotten Aztec city hidden in the
mountain Businesses, through the
palm jungles of Sinaloa and across
the rugged mountains of Nayarit
Part of the way it follows the old
treasure road over which pack mules
carried the cargoes of the magnificent
Philippine galleons from the refuge
of San Bias, where they hid from
pirates, across the mountains to Vera
CruNthere to be put on other ships
and waited away to Spain.
The road touches the city Of Guada-
lajara, turns off through Michoacan,
where the wind blows the wheat fields
and passes through Mexico's great
pine forests, and finally leads trium-
phantly into Mexico City.
This part of the highway will con-
stitute giant loop whereby American
tourists can enter Mexico by way of
Laredo, visit the fascinating old cities
~ <y,A vrolIax, of NEovioo orL We