Coronado Trail Between Nogales And Tombstone

ARIZONA HIGHWAYS Inching On State Highways

Approximately fifty per cent of the new service stations along the State highway systems have been built by strangers-newcomers within the state seeking health and wealth in Arizona's sunny clime. The small spot of land they purchase, lease or rent for a term years upon which they build automobile service stations, which sell oil, gasoline, tires and other accessories, and provide free air, water and information, usually is bounded on three sides by ground owned by others and on the foutrh side by the State highway.

These service stations seldom encroach on ground privately owned, but many of them, either through ignorance or the desire to locate as close to the road as possible, locate on the State highway right-of-way.

The highway must be sufficiently wide to include the road-bed, drain ditch and borrow pit, and it is important for maintenance purposes to keep this entire width unobstructed. In order that, the highway may be properly maintained, it is necessary that the drain ditches be open and the borrow pit free, so that the material for use in the building up of the road may be easily accessible.

Locations for service stations, along the many miles of desert stretches are numerous and many persons are taking advantage of this fact and entering this line of opportunity. A service station plays an important part in the development of the area that becomes tributary to its establishment, and several lone stations of several years ago are now large stores with garages, lunch counters, stations for stage lines, and some owners of stations have land under cultivation near their places of business. This develophas been brought about by the installaA few empty store buildings at Acre City, Van Buren St. at Tempe, about 15 feet on the highway rgiht-of-way.

-A station that has complied with Highway regulations. You see no signs obstructing any view ahead. Built on private property. Approaches, conform to the shoulder of highway.

Installation of a good, domestie water supply by the station owner.

In considering a suitable site for a service station, its many advantages and disadvantages must be investigated. From the highway point of view, the owner should no attempt to build the approach from the road to his station without first observing the proper procedure, which necessitates a permit from the Arizona Highway department.

In allowing a permit to build an approach from the highway to a station, provision must be made by the prospective station owner to furnish suitable pipe to allow drainage water to pass, and no building or part of a building is allowed to encroach on Arizona Highway property.

The Right of Way Department, with the aid of the Maintenance Department, endeavors to keep all obstructions adjacent to the road away from the right-of-way of the highway. Those who disregard boundary lines and construction rules are a constant menace to the trav-

Page Twelve ARIZONA HIGHWAYS DECEMBER, 1928

eling public and a source of annoyance to the Highway Department.

ing public and a source of annoyance to the Highway Department. A service station erected too close to the highway is a hazard and most travelThe Junction on the Buckeye Road with Van Buren Yuma Road. The sign on Highway right-of-way, placed to divert the traffic from U. S. 80 to another route-ordered destroyed recently. Not a State Highway marker.

An owner in regard to property lines causes the encroachment on the highway right-of-way. Instead of going to the Highway Department for information the service station owner accepts advise from uninformed persons.

Besides the service station a good many other things appear on the state highway right-of-way that tend to endanger safe travel and proper maintenance. Telephone, telegraph and power lines, with the proper permit to use the highway, will set their poles in our drainage ditches and borrow pits in order to maintain good alignment, thus interfering with proper drainage and getting material for road bulding. Waste ditches belonging to adjacent farms do not belong to the highway right of way; the growth on the banks obstruct the view as well as flood the road at times.

Signs on the right of way are a nuisance. A recent law prohibiting their existence on the highway enables the Maintenance Department to keep the road clear of such obstruction. The only signs allowed are those placed by the Highway Department for the information of the traveler.

Around Phoenix-along Van Buren street to Tempe, and on Grand avenue to Glendale, conditions are serious with regard to encroachments. Fruit stands inch a little at a time until they are just on the edge of the concrete slab. It keeps the Maintenance Department busy trying to keep them in line. Some move back and some rebel. Posts indicating the line are destroyed and moved to confuse the Highway Department in re-establishing lines. Houses, stores, fences and trees, allowed to remain on the right of way for years, are now a menace in view of the congestion of the traffic along the road and will interfere with future development and widening of the pavement.

The right of way is narrow, ranging from 60 to 100 feet, and during the lettuce and cantaloupe seasons, Sunday and holidays, traffic along these two high-Signs and trees obstruction to view any other display if such is off the right-of-way. If these signs, buildings, trees, eta., were on their own side of the line, the businesses along this road would be visible for over one-half mile. Van Buren St. to Tempe,ways is very heavy. The encroachments are numerous and create a dangerous condition.

CONTRACT AWARDED

PHOENIX-YUMA HIGHWAY (Hassayampa Bridge) Federal Aid Project No. 71-Reo. Bids openedl 11,26-'28 CONTRACT AWARDED TO STRONG & GRANT, DEC. 4, 1928.

Speed Demon Whispers "Step On The Gas" As Motorists Traveling Good Roads Plunge to Death or Serious Injuries By JOSEPH O'CEATHAIGH

THE roaring of an exhaust, the whiplike crack of a burst tire, a sharp veer of the wheels, a crash and screams of agony or the stillness of death. Another automobile has gone over an embankment.

Passing motorists arrive at the scene of terror. At once they jump to the rescue work. The injured, some fatally, are removed from the wreck and given first aid treatment; the dead are placed along the roadside to await the coming of the undertaker's wagon.

A siren screams and a bell clangs. The ambulance has arrived to take the injured to the nearest hospital. A doctor's car stops. He has come in response to an emergency call. He alleviates the suffering, the blind agony, of the pain wracked victims. But far out on the highway where there is no telephone within miles, the passing motorists drive the victims to the nearest place where medical aid is obtainable.

A husband, a wife, a father, a mother, a brother, a sister or a son or a daughter, stand by white-faced as the victim is taken into the operating room of the hospital. There is a bustle as white-garbed surgeons and nurses hurry to and fro. A son passes, then comes the verdict from the operating room, sometimes cheering, sometimes hopeless.

FATE OF VICTIM

Sometimes the victim recovers, sometimes he is maimed for life. But sometimes relatives and friends, in a mortuary chapel, laden with the perfume of countless flowers, pass by the bier to look for the last time on the face of a beloved one, a face now placid in repose, the marks of agony, the cuts and bruises placed there by that archdevil, The Speed Demon, wiped away by the mortician's art.

Many follow in slow procession behind the hearse to the burial plot. Services are held there. Then, if the victim has been a war veteran, three volleys are fired by his comrades and the bugle calls Taps, lights out, good night, as the grief-stricken relatives weep silently or audibly while the beloved one is lowered into the earth from whence he came.

This is painting a gruesome picture

and many who chance to see it may exclaim:

'What bunk! That will not happen to me. I have driven thousands of miles without an accident and drive a car expertly. The roads are in good shape and I can step on the gas and make time without any fear of trouble."

SPEED DEMON WHISPERS

And The Speed Demon whispers in his ear: 'Of course you can. Step on it. Let 'er roar. Why be afraid of a little fast driving when you can cut the time in half?'"

No one can convince a man against his will. But when admiring listeners applaud his tales of how he made the journey from Tucson to Phoenix going over sixty-five miles an hour and from Phoenix to Yuma at seventy-five, let him remember the words of the immortal Grey: "Can storied urn or animated bust Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?

Can honor's voice provoke the silent dust, Or flattery soothe the dull, cold ear of death?"

A puncture, a cracked wheel, a skid in the crown of the road, and flattery will fail to soothe the ear of him whose speed roused his listeners to great awe at his daring driving.

A summary of accidents to travelers reported to the motor vehicle division of the Arizona Highway Department shows that the total number of accidents for the period from January 1 to October 15 was 716, resulting in 15 deaths, 60 serious injuries and 74 minor injuries. The remainder fortunately escaped with slight injuries or were unharmed. Of the total of 716 accidents for the period, 158 were attributed to reckless driving, 450 to careless driving and 16 to drunken driving. Of the 88 licenses revoked 77 were taken up on charges of drunken driving.

Of the 716 accidents for the period, 306 took place at intersections, 146 between intersections, 106 on the straight highway, 39 on highway curves, 21 on highway dips and 16 on bridges.

One thousand, four hundred and eleven cars were involved in crashes. Seventy-two were overturned, 12 were de stroyed by fire, and 765 were involved in property damage.

SUCCUMB TO INJURIES

Although only 15 deaths were reported, it is likely that many of those reported seriously injured later succumbed to their injuries. The report is not as complete as desired because of failure of the authorities in many cases to report to accidents to the motor vehicle division as required by the code. Also the final result of the injuries has not been reported.

Since the period covered by the report, October 15 to December 10, numerous accidents with fatalities and serious injuries have been recorded.

Three sections of road which are the most dangerous in the state as to accidents are the Yuma-Phoenix, the Phoenix-Florence Junction and the Florence Junction-Tucson highways. These roads are dangerous to the motorist due to the fact that they are always in good condition and are typical all-the-year roads. They have long stretches of straight highway and the motorist speeds along at a rate of from 40 to 70 miles an hour. The riding is easy on these excellent roads of the gravel surface and concrete paving types and Speed is King. A punctured tire, a broken wheel, defective brakes, defective vision due to a dustcloud, and the motorist pays the toll.

Should the motorist use the same care in driving these roads that he exercises on the Apache Trail or the Miami-Superior highway or any of the roads that he knows requires cautious handling of the wheel, the accidents on the highway from Yuma to Tucson would be reduced, it is safe to say, about 90 per cent.

There are fewer accidents on the paved section than on the gravel surfaced sections. Several reasons may be advanced for this. There is no dust menace and there are no dips. Also, a pavement gives the motorist a better chance to regain control of his car.

The real menace to the motorist, however, is speed. Let him cut down his mania for speed and the number of accidents on the highways will be reduced automatically.

Bringing The Farmer To The Market By VINCENT J. KEATING

Good rodas, canals and navigable rivers, by diminishing the expenses of carriage, put the remote parts of a country nearly on the level with those in the neighborhood of a town; they are, upon that account, the greatest of all improvements. Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations."

BACK in the nineties, in the wee hours of the morn, so the tale is told, a suburbanite left his train at the home station. Entering the telegraph office, he sent this message: "Will not be at office today. Am not home yesterday yet." Such is descriptive of times nearly 40 years ago in New York, when thee goats, instead of the night clubs, inhabited Harlem; when the elevated was one of seven wonders of the age and the subway was undreamed of; when the wealth of the city rode in victorias, hansom cabs or behind a gaited horse or a spanking tandem; when the horse cars were driven through the streets and the mention of "horseless carriag In these days in Arizona the romantic old stages drove from points along the railroad to points in the interior. They carried passengers, bullion and mails, and the grizzled drivers and armed guards were continually on the lookout for desperadoes who lurked a'ong the roads. The Indians were not entirely subdued and United States cavalrymen kept guard in the territory.

The old "Buckets of Blood" flourished and gunmen were in their hey day. Great herds of cattle and sheep grazed on the open ranges and the cattlemen and sheepmen, waged their private wars along routes that are now state highways. Many of the now improved highways were either cow trails or Indian war paths.

All this was back in the nineties. A great waste of desert has been transformed through the precious gift of water and the skill of the engineer into a veritable Eden. As the fences of the farmers came, the great herds gradually disappeared. Upon the once open ranges towns have arisen and the surrounding country is dotted with ranches, with their alfalfa and cotton fields, their citrus and olive groves, their truck gardens and registered dairy herds.

As the small rancher moved into the irrigated districts the need of better roads became more and more apparent. Then the horseless carriage became a reality, developing from an ungainly vehicle with one cylinder to the modern type of high powered speed machine with six or eight cylinders. With greater production and the assistance of Mr. Ford the price soon came down to the rancher's pocketbook, until today more than 90,000 automobiles are owned by Arizonans, with hundreds of thousands of tourists traversing the state each year.

The truck with the trailer, an outgrowth of the development of the motor car, which virtually brought the shipping center to the farmer's door, brought about more and better highways, until now in Arizona there are 545 miles of concrete highways, with 368 miles of this total in Maricopa county, the heart of the famous Salt River Valley.

A main line railroad brought the farmer's market still closer to his door and provided him with shipping facilities to eastern and western trade centers. This took care of his lettuce, cantaloupes, citrus fruits and other products, but something further was needed - an agency to take care of his surplus.

As one drives along the highways in Maricopa county he notices various signs at the farmer's gate proclaiming that the farmer has for sale watermelons, grape fruit, oranges, lemons, poultry and other products, with the price placed after each commodity. Country stores connected with automobile service stations also sell foodstuffs from the farm, but these are insufficient to dispose of the surplus crops, for they are widely scattered and their sales are not in great quantities.

As a solution to this problem a group of Arizona business men have organized The United Farmers' City Market, which will provide buildings containing stores, and stalls which the farmer may rent for display and sale of his products. The revenues accruing to the market will be derived from rentals only and the management will not engage in the buying and selling of any commodity.

The United Farmers' City Market is to be ereated in Phoenix on a plot of ground 300 feet square at the southwest corner of Jefferson and Ninth streets, and will contain the most modern market features.

The purpose of the market is to promote and encourage the raising of diversified crops, to provide a place where Arizona produce can be assembled, graded and packed for local retail and wholesale trade and where outside buyers may find in quality and quantity the supply to meet their demands.

The establishment of a market of this kind will prove of great advantage to Arizona farmers. It is in line with the idea which has established markets in the larger cities of the United States, notably New York and Baltimore. New York has its famous Fulton Fish Market, while Baltimore has several large markets, the most notable of which is the Lexington market. One of the sights of Paris is a tour at dawn of the markets where chef and housewife make their daily purchases. Arizona's prosperity is on the wave and the establishment of a farmer's market in Phoenix on the order of tho in the large cities of the country will add further impetus. Soon, it may safely be predicted, that one of the sights of Phoenix will be an early morning visit to the farmers' market.

"Give me a sentence with the word celery."

"Every time he goes down celery takes a drink."

Page Fourteen DECEMBER, 1928 ARIZONA HIGHWAYS DECEMBER, 1928 ARIZONA HIGHWAYS Page Fifteen MILES WITH SMILES

By A. H. GARDNER, Tombstone Commercial Club I have not seen, during the last few months, a tourist without a smile, traveling over the state highways in Cochise county, or for that matter in Santa Cruz county. Of course, like the much advertised commercial product, "there's a reason" and that is what This article will deal with the REASON.

Some of our mileage at times is a little rough, but the fact that the eastern tourist, no matter where he hails from, having found the state highways of other states either very rough, chucky, muddy or narrow, that when he gets to Arizona-and by that is meant the state roads of Cochise and Santa Cruz he is so relieved, that a perpetual smile lights up his face and for the most part remains thereon during his trip anywhere in the state on the state highways.

As I pen these lines the state highways of Santa Cruz and Cochise counties are in excellent condition, for the reason that since we have had the Commission form of management, the maintenance crews have been raised in standard of work and the method under which the maintenance crews are now working is giving the best results of any time in the history of the state highway department.

We now know who is to blame when a piece of road goes down.

The improved maintenance machinery new in use is also a great help. Starting near Rodeo, at the New Mexico state lines, the road is in good shape, all gravelled and much of it widened by the maintenance crews to San Bernardino. From San Bernardino 25 miles of new road, eliminating grade crossings, with more width and better alignment is under construction, the first 12 miles now nearing completion with the award of contract on the balance foreseen in the near future.

From Douglas to Bisbee the road is paved, and the next 10 miles has just been resurfaced from Bisbee over the Divide to the beginning of the next section of paving. The Divide has had new cable fencing erected.

After leaving the gravel we then have 16.3 miles of asphaltic pavement into Tombstone, the town that is much in the public prints and has just had two delightfully interesting books written about it the one by Burns entitled "TOMBSTONE-An Iliad of the Southwest" and the latest by Col. William Breakenridge, entitled "HELDORADO-- the true story of Tombstone."

Thence the road is gravelled from Tombstone to St. David, where seven and one-half miles of new road is being built together with a fine steel bridge over the San Pedro river. This project will make a fine road into Benson, giving us a road of standard construction and a bridge of the same class. At present a well maintained detour is used for traffic.

From Benson to the Pima county line about 11 miles northwesterly, a fine gravelled highway is to be found.

The foregoing is a correct log of the Broadway of America United States Route No. 80-across Cochise county.

At Douglas the beautiful new Gadsden Hotel probably will be opened on the anniversary of the burning of the old hotel, the opening date being set for February 7, 1929.

State Highway No. 81 from Douglas, running north through McNeal to Pearce, is a fine gravelled roadway. At Pearce it intersects the Coronado Trail and continues to Cochise as State Route No. 81. From Cochise to BowieSafford Junction, the road has but recently been taken over for maintenance and construction by the State Highway Department.

From the junction to the Graham county line the road is very fine. Between Cochise and Willcox this route crosses a dry lake that has wonderful mirages.

From Tombstone, or to be more correct, Benson-Nogales Junction to Nogales over State Route No. 82, one of the best gravelled roads in all Arizona is to be travelled. Not only is it a good gravelled road, but it is scientifically beautiful all the way. On this line a concrete bridge over the San Pedro riv-

DRAGOONS NEAR TOMBSTONE