A PUSHING STATE

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 20, 19 October 1920, Page 7

A PUSHING STATE

CALIFORNIA FORGING AHEAD NEARLY 5000 MILES OF CONCRETE ROADS "Fifty years ago" said Sir James Hums yesterday, "San Francisco was a roughly-built wooden town, with plank pavements, and in wet weather almost impassable roads. To-day it is a miniature New York, with bidding skyscrapers, fifteen and seventeen stories in height, with perfect streets and fine mod- , era flocks. The' motor traffic over the thousands of miles of concrete or asphalt roads is enormous. There are over hall a million cars for the three millions ol peonle in the State. "For the information, of motorists here it wiTl be interesting to let you know s what they are doing to foster the traffic. The Automobile Club states that there are 4800 miles of concrete roads completed. I have motored over thousands of mites of them. There are no potholes, and tho going is wonderfully smooth and, comfortable. Another 1000 miles of roadway are under construction, aiui another contract for 1000 miles hat been mad*, which, in about twelve months' time will give the State a total of GBOO miles of concrete highway at a cost of something like one hundred million dollars. The cost per miles is, roughly estimated at 10,000 dollars, but recent inoreased costs and wages are likely to raise the contract jkTcc for such ' work. Travelling over ( these roads the traffic is an. eye-opener, fur everyone seems to .have his car, ajid ; sometimes three or four, whether it be For personal travel or for the conveyance of goods or produce to the markots, and the principal highways are simply two streams of cats, each moving in one SDecified direction, and each car following the other at n fairly high rate of speed. Th»re arc no holes or ruts, no dust, and very rarely are there burst tyres or accidents. .. . "Irrigation, cultivation, combination, and transportation have worked marvels for the State. One old resident informed" me fliat last year's crop of fruit and nuts in California was valued at 283,172,500 dollars, equal to 80.60 dollars per head for every man, woman, and child in tho State. . ' .„ . . "Gold was discovered in California in 1845, and in 181? * e value o£ R° ld vro ' . d'ncßcf was 10,000,000 dollars; m 1850. 41,0(50,000 dollars; in 1851, 76,000,000 dollars; and in 1852, 81,000,000 dollars, a total for four years of 208,000,000 dollars. So that the'fruit production of. 1919 was over 73,500,000 dollars greater than the first Tour years gold production (which at the time was considered one of the world's marvels). Again the fruit yield is a growing one, whilst tho gold field ' has been steadily decreasing for tho past fifty years. ' ; . "The three Pacific States of America, viz California, Oregon, and Washington, are'supposed to have about the same population as Australia, viz., five millions, which makes a comparison between the progress made on both' sides of the Pacific an interesting one, the more so as climatic conditions seem to be similar Tho climate of Southern California is akin to that of Queensland, whilst Washington and Oregon might compare fairly with that of Victoria and lasmania." _________ '