Milwaukie High School - Maroon Yearbook (Milwaukie, OR)

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CLACKAMAS COUNTY WAGON ROADS, PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE. T Clackamas County wagon roads of the past! It is hard to find words to express the poor condition in which Clackamas County roads have been. Per- haps a short, true story told about a year agof by Frank Terrace, Good Roads Advocate for the state of Washingtcin, will best show what a deplorable condi- tion they have been in. The incident related happened several years ago. A Seattle firm received a large order for a certain kind of apples to be shipped to Australia. In filling out the order it wasf found they lacked one thousand boxes of the required number. lt happened fhat Portland could furnish that many boxes of the right kind of apples, so the thousand boxes were shipped from that city to Seattle and the consignment of fruit was taken to Australia. On arriving there it was found that all the apples,f except a thousand boxes, were in perfect condition, but these were completely rotten. On investigation it was founo that they were the apples sent from Portlandy. In seeking the cause for their decay it was discovered that the apples, when taken to Portland, had passed over five miles of rough roads thereby bruising the fruit to such an extent that it decayed. Each box of apples on reaching Australia was valued at ten dollars, so five miles of poor road caused a total loss of ten thousand dollars. lt is not certain that the road the apples passed over was in Clackamas county, but as it is an established fact that her roads have been poorer than those of other counties about Portland, the same result would have happened. Clackamas County at present has very few good roads. We might say there are but three: the Mt. Hood road, the road along the east bank of the Willamette from New Era to Oregon City and the road ,from Oregon City to llffilwaukie. Practically all the rest are very poor indeed at times-almost impassable. Ask any tourist what he thinks of Clackamas County roads. Generally words fail him or else they come in a gush. But is anything good said? Indeed not. After riding over miles of rough, muddy roads one would not feel like scattering com- pliments about them. ' Clackamas County is fairly large and though not very thickly populated is traversed very much by people, not only from the county itself, but from other counties also. So not only the people of Clackamas County suffer for want of good roads, but those of other counties. Practically all people, especially thosu that own automobiles, want good roads. Therefore a county with poor roads does not offer much of an inducement to them to live in. Good roads, on the other hand, would not only benefit the people already living in the county, but would lead others to make their homes in it thus boosting the county. But what is the cause of the deplorable condition of our roads? Read the road laws of our state. They are entirely lacking in a definite plan for the con-- struction or repair of roads. The same situation exists with the counties as with the state. The county courts have charge of county roads and the county funds are to be expended on these. A supervisor is at the head of the district and local roads. As there is no well defined system of main county roads as distinguished from the district and local roads, it often happens that county and district funds are expended for the same job. Then in case of poor work it is hard to place the blame on either the court or supervisor and this condition would naturally lead to the neglect of the duties of the offices they hold. When a court of, say three men, as is geperally the case, lay out a definite plan for road work extending over a period of several years, it is almost impos- sible to adhere to it for some influential person or committee will come asking for a certain piece of work to be done. lrfvariably the court surrenders, the planned work is not done and only short stdetches of roads here and there, of practically no benefit to the community, show lfor the effort and money expended. 19

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This was too much for the girls. They felt that something had to be done, but what could they do? The doctor had done everything that could possibly help her and all they could do was to hope. Just as the girls were leaving the yard the nurse called Ellen. She hurried back and was told that Miss Marling wanted to talk to her. When Ellen entered the room she saw Aunty lying with her eyes half closed. She didn't open them until Ellen came close to her bed and then she said, Dear, I have a little secret I want to tell you while I am able to talk. Bring a chair close to my bed for I can't speak very loudlyfy Ellen was too startled to answer and when she brought her chair close to Aunty's bed she waited for her to begin. With a deep sigh Aunty began her story: Many years ago I was engaged to be married. The wedding had been planned and we were very happy, but one day we quarreled. I was so angry that I told my finance to leave my house and never return until I sent for him. This man, Ellen was no other than your uncle of whom you were speaking to the girls. I have lived all alone these years because I was too proud to send for him. I wear lavender for him because he thought I was beautiful in it. Dear, I wanted to tell you this little secret for I know you can understand, although Dr. Stewart can't, and now it is too latef' Ellen was bewildered and it was several minutes before she could speak. U0h! Aunty it isn't too late. Uncle is coming home today and I know he will gladly forgive you. Please, please, let me tell him. Aunty was touched by Ellen's words but told her it was all over and she must not speak to her uncle of her. By this time Ellen was sobbing and had to leave the room. At first she couldn't think what should be done, but finally decided it would be best to tell her uncle. It seemed hours before it was time for her uncle to come and impatiently she looked and listened for the train. At last she heard the whistle of the train and ran quickly to the station. Ellen hardly greeted her uncle until she began to tell of Aunty Marling's ill- ness. She noticed that Dr. Stewart became very nervous and knew that It wasn't too late. When she told him that Aunty Marling wanted to see him, he immediately started toward Lawndale Cottage. Dr. Stewart found Miss Marling to be very ill and after a close examination he knew that he could do nothing for her so he hurriedly wrote a telegram which he gave to Ellen and told her to send at once. This telegram was sent to the best specialist in Chicago. Day and night Dr. Stewart sat by Aunty's bedside and watched every change for the better or worse. For three days she lay unconscious and every hour he was afraid would be her last. To him it seemed ages before the specialist arrived. After an examination the specialist said that an operation was the only thing that would save her. That evening she was operated on and breathlessly the two doctors watched for a change. Toward morning she showed some signs of life and gradually, little by little, she became conscious. Miss Marling had been too ill to remember what had taken place. She didn't know that Dr. Stewart had been with her, that it was he who had saved her life. It was almost a week after the opeartion before Dr. Stewart was allowed to visit Miss lVIarling. He had been in the room for about half an hour when he asked for Ellen. 'When Ellen entered the room Aunty smiled and said: You were rightg it isn't too latef' ' ' - Ellen understood and exclaimed: And you are going to be my real Aunty after all! -Evelyn WaZke1-. 18

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Each county has a county surveyor. In all but two counties he is paid, when he works, by the day. Of course, he cannot be kept busy all the time so some- times in order to get work he has some influential person start a petition for opening a new road. It is done, the county court orders a View and survey, the surveyor goes to work and gets his pay. Such roads are rarely constructed and the loss of thousands of dollars has resulted through useless surveys. There are other defects of the present system but I shall not go into the details of these. The county bond issuescannot be expended with the highest economy or efficiency, no engineering records are kept, the supervisory system is disliked, friction exists among the many officials of limited power, and organiza- tion is impossible under the present system. We cannot profit by past experience. If one county has learned a valuable lesson on the road question through bitter experience, other counties cannot profit by it for no records are published. Great corporations and department stores find that system and records pay. Other states and countries have proved the efficiency of highly developed road organizations after years of trial. So why should not our state and counties adopt a similar method? But the roads of Clackamas county or any other county are not without pos- sibilities. The future holds out wonderful opportunities for the advancement of good roads. The topography of Clackamas county favors road construction and the people are demanding. good roads more and more. There are many improve- ments that might be made on our present system, but I consider the following one best. , Our roads should be divided into three classes: state, county and district. The state routes should connect the different county seats. In planning them the needs of the state should be considered. The routes should be selected by the legisla- ture and the number prescribed by law. On these routes alone should state and government funds be expended. The legislature only should have power to amend a plan. The state routes should be classed as primary and secondary so that the great- est effort would be given to those considered of most benefit to the state. Work on the primary, or most important roads should be given first consideration. Work on the secondary routes should not be prohibited while the construction of the primary routes is going on. Any route, either primary or secondary, after it has been constructed and the maintenance thereof undertaken by the state, should then be known as a state road, the county should make and maintain such roads as are needed, The routes planned by the legislature should be briefly but specifically des- cribed by law, for example: John Day Highway, from Portland across the mountains south of Mt. Hood, thence up the John Day Valley across Baker and Malheur counties to the Idaho line near Ontario. Such a detailed description should be made only after complete surveys have been made and based on engineering reasoning. A detailed description by the law will do away with any possible dispute about the route planned. The above plan if followed out would do away with the spasmodic efforts exerted now, would eliminate friction among numerous petty officials and would insure the construction and maintenance of good roads. Therefore Clackamas county has splendid possibilities for the construction of roads equal in excellence to the best in our country. -Lily Koenig, '17, 20