ALONG THE HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS

A flood of sunshine will make you a worshipper of the Valley of the Sun." Which just about says everything!

AN OLD AUTOMOBILE IS IDENTIFIED: Considerable interest was aroused by the picture of the old automobile which appeared at the top of page three of November ARIZONA HIGHWAYS. Mr. Fred Wilson, executive vice-president, Grand Canyon-Boulder Dam Tours, Inc., writes: "Your November issue is extremely interesting to me, particularly the cut of the old automobile which appears at the top of page three. I was in that business from 1901 until 1926 and I feel certain that the vehicle pictured is an old Orient Buckboard."

Orient Buckboard! Sounds dashing, doesn't it?

TRAILERISTS TO MEET IN PHOENIX

Phoenix will play host next March to the members of the Automobile Tourists' association, when it holds its first annual convention in this city, called by Tom A. Keene, of San Antonio, Texas, president of the Southwestern Division of the organization, which is nation-wide in scope and comprises a membership of thousands who travel in coach trailers.

The Arizona gathering will bring to Phoenix several hundred trailerites for the seven-day meet, which is to be packed full with various forms of entertainment. El Grande Courts, on East Van Buren, will be general headquarters for the delegates.

A COUPLE OF BIG SHOWS We wish to report in passing that the Fiesta del Sol in Phoenix and Helzapopin in Buckeye were two grand successes. Both shows drew record attendances, and provided first rank entertainment. While an active December and January program is planned the next big events in the state will be the championship rodeo in Phoenix and the Fiesta de los Vaqueros in Tucson, both February events.

Ride 'em, Cowboy!

A WORD OR TWO ABOUT REGISTRATION OF VEHICLES Vernon G. Davis, superintendent of the Motor Vehicle division, Arizona highway department, issues the following information regarding registration of motor vehicles for 1939: "The Statutes of Arizona require that every motor vehicle, trailer and semi-trailer must be properly registered. If the vehicle is owned by a resident of this state, it must be registered in this state and as soon as a person becomes a resident of this state he must change to Arizona registration. If it is owned by a non-resident of this state such as tourists or persons simply passing through the state, proper registration in any other state of country is sufficient unless the vehicle carries property other than the owner's personal effects, or if it carries pay passengers it must be registered in this state. A provision is made in the statutes, however, whereby when a vehicle carries the owner's proper-ty, instead of also being registered in this state, the owner may secure a one, two or three month permit at nominal fees."

trailer must be properly registered. If the vehicle is owned by a resident of this state, it must be registered in this state and as soon as a person becomes a resident of this state he must change to Arizona registration. If it is owned by a non-resident of this state such as tourists or persons simply passing through the state, proper registration in any other state of country is sufficient unless the vehicle carries property other than the owner's personal effects, or if it carries pay passengers it must be registered in this state. A provision is made in the statutes, however, whereby when a vehicle carries the owner's property, instead of also being registered in this state, the owner may secure a one, two or three month permit at nominal fees.

"The prime reason for registration is identification of the vehicle. A registration card is issued with number plates showing the name of the owner of the vehicle, a description of the vehicle, and the serial number of the plates assigned to that vehicle. These number plates also show that the vehicle has been registered and that the registration fees have been paid. The registration card must be carried on the vehicle."

"In this state and in most other states the legal use of 1938 number plates expires December 31. Each person in this state is required to apply for 1939 registration by January 1. If registration for 1939 is not procured prior to February 1, county assessors who issue plates on presentation of title to the vehicle must under mandatory provisions of the statutes charge double the registration fees. This applies even though the vehicle was not used after December 31. This penalty fee can not be waived by any authority under the statutes. Provision is made in the statutes, however, whereby after such penalty has been paid the owner of the vehicle may secure refund of the penalty on proof satisfactory to the vehicle superintendent that the vehicle was not used after December 31 before 1939 plates were secured. To make it possible for each owner of a vehicle to procure 1939 registration before the penalty date a person may secure 1939 plates at his county assessor's of-fice beginning December 1. It is urged that each owner procure his plates during December or January to avoid payment of the penalty fee. "Registration fees on each vehicle is $3.50. This is not a revenue producing fee, but a service charge to identify each Arizona owned vehicle. No charge is made for identification plates themselves. Each owner of a commercial vehicle in addition to registration fee of $3.50 is required to pay an unladen weight fee depending upon the unladen weight of the vehicle and the number of axles. This is a revenue fee. It is used for constructions and maintenance of highways.

Huge culverts were built on U. S. 60 "Before a person may properly register a vehicle he must secure a certificate of title from the Motor Vehicle Division, for which a service charge of $1.00 is made. This certificate of title, as stated before, must be presented to the county assessor of the county in which the owner resides with application for registration (number plates).

"The color of 1939 pleasure vehicle number plates will be copper background with black characters. Across the top of the plate will be 'Arizona,' across the bottom of the plate will be 'Marcos de Niza.' On the left side of the plate will be the year 1539 and on the right side of the plate will be the year 1939. The identifying numbers appear in large characters across the center of the plate. The name of the county in which issued will not appear on 1939 plates as in former years. The county identification is made by a letter which precedes the numbers on the plate.. County designations will be as follows: Maricopa Pima Cochise Yavapai Yuma Gila Pinal Coconino Navajo Graham Mohave Santa Cruz Apache Greenlee A B C D E F G H J K L N P R "With each set of plates a history of Marcos de Niza is to be supplied. "The color of commercial vehicle plates will be federal yellow background and black characters. The same county designation is used as on the pleasure vehicle plates, except that the letter appears after the last number. The same designations is also used for trailers and semi-trailers except that the letter DRAWN BY LARRY SMITH "Pop! If they call an Indian a chief, do they call his wife mischief?"

appears next to the last number. County, municipal and state plates do not carry individual county designations, but preceding the figures on county plates appear in a circle the letter 'c.' Such designation for municipal plates is the letter 'm,' and for state plates the designation is either 'h' or 's' in a diamond preceding the number."

ROAD WORTHY SAYINGS BY HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT ENGINEERS: "I have always compared asphalt to the operatic stars, because I have always considered both to be highly temperamental, and if you can find any other product which is as temperamental as the asphalts I will be glad to hear of them." -W. R. Hutchins, district engineer.

"In highway construction, every effort is made to place culverts and bridges at the natural stream crossing, natural swale, over irrigation and drainage ditches and low places in the profile of the road. In highway maintenance every effort is made to concentrate the water in the channels that are bridged or covered by a structure. In concentrating the water, care is taken to prevent erosion, protect the banks from cutting, to guard against channel changes by the proper placing of deflectors, bank protectors, velocity checks, plugs, dikes and other devices to insure a consistent flow of water in the proper channel."-Harry Duberstein, assistant district engineer."Roadside improvement can be defined in a broad general way as the fusion of the highway into its natural surroundings in the most logical, easy and natural manner possible Roadside improvement is an integral part in the design and maintainance of any highway rather than something that is tacked on after construction is completed." F. M. Guirey, Landscape engineer.

ARIZONA HIGHWAY COMMISSION NOTES

The Arizona Highway Commission met in special session in its offices in the Highway Building at 10:00 A. М., October 24, 1938. Those present were: Chairman Dowell, Vice-Chairman Angle, Commissioners Langmade, Scott and Seale, also the Secretary, M. L. Wheeler, the State Highway Engineer, Howard S. Reed, and Assistant Attorney General A. R. Lynch.

The Tentative Minutes of September 20, 1938, were approved as read.

The awarding of the contract on the Showlow-Holbrook Highway F. A. 136A (1) (1939) A. F. E. 7704.

Upon recommendation of the State Engineer, who had received concurrence from the Bureau of Public Roads, it was moved by Commissioner Seale, seconded by Commissioner Angle, and carried, Commissioner Scott absent from the room that the recommendation of the State Engineer be accepted and the con-tract on the Showlow-Holbrook highway -F. A. 136-A (1) (1939) A. F. E. 7704, to be awarded to the low bidder, N. G. Hill and Company, in the amount of $237,813,41.

Upon recommendation of the State Engineer, who had received concurrence from the Bureau of Public Roads, it was moved by Commissioner Seale, seconded by Commissioner Angle, and unanimously carried, that the recommendation of the State Engineer be accepted and the con-tract on the Douglas-Safford Highway F. A. S. 114-F (1) (1939) A. F. E. 8113, be awarded to the low bidder, Packard Contracting Company, in the amount of $59,639.63.

Awarding of the contract on the Douglas-Safford Highway, F. A. 130-C (1) (1939) A. F. E. 8608.

Upon recommendation of the State Engineer, who had received concurrence from the Bureau of Public Roads, it was moved by Commissioner Scott, seconded by Commissioner Angle, and unanimous-ly carried, that the recommendation of State Engineer be accepted, and the con-tract on the Douglas-Safford Highway, F. A. 130-C (1) (1939) A. F. E. 8608, be awarded to the low bidder, the Tanner Construction Company, in the amount of $125,322.20.

Robert. W. West of Parker, appeared before the Commission seeking permission to move approximately 15 houses from the State Line into Parker. The houses range from a width of 12 feet to 24 feet, and the Secretary informed the Commission that District Engineer Van Horn had said that in the event the request is granted, he will see the houses are moved with the necessary safety measures being taken. It was moved by Commissioner Angle, seconded by Commissioner Seale, and unanimously carried, that the re-quest of Robert W. West be granted, provided, the necessary safety precautions are taken in the moving of the houses, and that they are moved under the supervision of the Engineering Di-vision.

The Secretary read a letter addressed to Commissioner Angle by Dr. C. J. Wilkerson, President of the Concrete Products Company, asking that the Highway Commission classify Concrete Block Layers as a separate and distinct field of work and set a minimum wage scale for this classification at $1.00 per hour. In the discussion which followed, it was brought out that the Highway Department has no classification comparable to that of concrete laying and, according to law, the Commission has no authority to fix a minimum wage for a classification of employment not being used by the Highway Department, or by contractors doing work under contract with the Commission. A motion was made by Commissioner Angle, seconded by Commissioner Seale, and unanimously carried, that Attorney Lynch answer the communication in the proper manner, advising Dr. Wilkerson that this matter is out of the juridiction of the Highway Commission.

The Secretary read two resolutions from the Coconino County Board of Supervisors. In the first one, the Board favored a resurvey of Highway 64, where it joins U. S. Highway 66, approximately one mile east of the Town of Williams, for the purpose of moving the junction to a point near the underpass at the east of the Town of Williams. In the second resolution the Board favored the survey of a possible alternate route through Schultz Pass for the purpose of determ-ining construction costs and other necessary data toward the end that the present junction may be changed and the proposed alternate route ultimately constructed. Concerning the first resolution, it was recalled that the Commission, on September 20th, upheld the State Engineer in his statement addressed to W. C. Rittenhouse, Mayor of Williams, that the road would not be changed. Both resolutions were referred to the State Engineer, who said he would give the Commission a report on the second one.

It was moved by Commissioner Seale, seconded by Commissioner Angle, and unanimously carried, that the following resolution authorizing the State Engineer to make application for withdrawal of alcohol free of tax, for use in the Department's testing laboratory and to sign all papers in connection therewith, be adopted.

The Secretary read a resolution from the Mayor and Common Council of Benson asking that a bridge crossing the San Pedro river on the Benson-Steins Pass Highway be investigated as to whether or not it is capable of bearing a load limit of six tons or more, and that if it is not capable of carrying a load of six tons, it be repaired without delay. The State Engineer informed the Commission that a new floor and stringers have been estimated at a cost of $6,000. Also, the Department's Engineers believe it to be unsafe to increase the load limit over this bridge more than six tons, however, persons, at their own risk and by going carefully and slowly over the bridge, might carry a load up to seven tons. It will be necessary to make a transfer of funds if the bridge is to be repaired as, also, it will be necessary to make a transfer of