automobiles

FORGET THE REDWOODS, LET’S ADMIRE PALM TREES

Jeff Elliott Leave a comment

Before there was a “Redwood Highway” there was a proposal for a grand boulevard running the length of Sonoma County, both sides of the road lined with those damned palm trees.

(RIGHT: Undated postcard, probably c. 1905-1910. Courtesy Larry Lepeere collection)

Such a plan was offered to the Board of Supervisors in 1911, and the Press Democrat reported the Supes were “charmed with [the] suggestion.” No surprise, really; landscapers all over California in that era loved palm trees, despite the drawbacks of them sucking up enormous amounts of water and that they made swell homes for rats (try a Google search for “palm tree rats:” About 1,170,000 results). Like many places, Santa Rosa lined some streets with them, as seen here, and homeowners in the early 20th century often planted one or a few in their yards. You can still spot a survivor or three on probably every block in the older parts of town.

It takes some doing to imagine driving the route we now call Old Redwood Highway from Marin to Mendocino and seeing shoulder-to-shoulder palm trees in the countryside. Combined with the “grand boulevard” mention in the article it sounds like they expected the highways would simply replace the old farm roads with something more like paved city streets, but no one really knew – no state had yet created a highway system for automobiles.*

These years around 1910 witnessed a swift and amazing leap into the modern world for Sonoma County. There were opportunities to watch hometown aviator Fred J. Wiseman and his associates fling themselves into the air, risking death in frequent crashes. Downtown Santa Rosa suddenly came alive with three (sometimes four) movie theaters and vaudeville houses. The Russian River resorts became the Bay Area hotspot after electricity came to the region and new trains made it easier to reach from San Francisco. And with one of those newly-affordable automobiles, anyone anywhere in the county could participate in these new adventures.

Autos themselves were both familiar and foreign; for example, there was still no convention on what to call the owner of the machine. Prior to 1908  anyone behind the steering wheel was called a “chauffeur” in the Press Democrat but in the 1911 article transcribed below the paper can be found experimenting with “automobilists” and “autoists.” While the state was preparing to spend an empire’s fortune building those highway-things there was no driver’s license exam to show an automobilist knew how to operate the vehicles using it. In a hilarious item below, the PD reported on its front page that 20 year-old Hilliard Comstock had purchased one of the finest handmade cars available in 1911 and drove it all the way back to Santa Rosa from Sausalito in high gear, apparently not knowing how to use a gearshift. “Although Mr. Comstock had had no previous experience in handling an automobile, he brought his new car up from San Francisco without difficulty and without assistance,” the paper noted kindly, “as the machine can be throttled down to four or five miles an hour without shifting the gears.”

It was also nice that the Sonoma County Automobile Association that year officially disapproved of running down pedestrians, even though some autoists apparently felt anyone on the streets was fair game:

…The Association placed itself squarely on record in the matter urging respect for all law and letting it be clearly understood that it does not stand for protecting the auto owner any more than for the protection of other people walking or driving along the highways, recognizing that each have equal rights. While many autoists do recognize these rights there are others who bring odium on the whole body by their disregard of the laws.

This was the final Association meeting with James Wyatt Oates as president, ending his two years of leadership. His retirement was announced with a cartoon in the Press Democrat shown here. In his hand is the ever-present cigar; his beady eyes glinted with the piercing gaze seen in all three known portraits. The cartoon is decorated with stock thumbnails of fishing and recreational motoring (both actual passions of Oates) but note in particular his “elevator” shoes. From the 1892 voter registration records we learn his distinguishing features were a scar on the left side of his head and that he was exactly five feet, seven and five-eights inches tall – the only voter to specify his height with such exact precision. As his shaving mirror in Comstock House seems designed for a person of somewhat shorter stature, we can presume he reached that particular altitude only with the boost of those remarkable heels.

*Voters in 1910 approved the State Highways Act with blind faith that a highway system could be built and would bring progress (and maybe palm trees). They also believed those roads would be coming, pronto. Alas, much to the frustration of Sonoma County boosters and dreamers of boulevards, it would be 1913 before Sonoma County saw its first few miles of highway construction and it would be over a dozen years more before the North Coast’s patchwork of old stagecoach turnpikes were improved and linked to become the Redwood Highway (“Redwood Empire” was coined in 1925, both springing from a regional civic association).

WOULD MAKE ON GRAND BOULEVARD
Supervisors Charmed With Suggestion That Road Through Sonoma County Be Beautified

An endeavor was made Wednesday to interest members of the Board of Supervisors in a scheme to make the ride through Sonoma county, from the Marin to the Mendocino line, additionally attractive by the planting of date palms on either side of the county road at proper distances apart.

Mr. Lawrence, a landscape gardener, talked over the matter with individual members of the board, and his description of the pleasure such a boulevard would be quite fascinating. In other sections of the state Arbor Leagues have been formed and are being formed to plant shade trees along the county roads and something very picturesque has resulted.

It is understood that the palms and the planting, etc., would probably cost $5,000, if the Supervisors should carry out the suggestions made by Mr. Lawrence.

– Press Democrat, April 6, 1911
HILLYARD COMSTOCK HAS FINE NEW KLINE-KAR

Hillyard [sic] Comstock has purchased a handsome 1911 fore-door [sic] Kine touring car, similar to the one on exhibition at the Press Democrat office. It is a classy machine, and attracts much attention.

In every respect Mr. Comstock’s beautiful car is a duplicate of the one to be given away by the Press Democrat on May 20 to the most popular lady contestant, and he is a beauty and runs like a top. Although Mr. Comstock had had no previous experience in handling an automobile, he brought his new car up from San Francisco without difficulty and without assistance. He did not find it necessary to shift his gears once on the trip, but made the entire distance from Sausalito to this city on the “high.” The construction and ease of control make this entirely feasible with the Kline, as the machine can be throttled down to four or five miles an hour without shifting the gears.

– Press Democrat, March 25, 1911

RETURNED WITH HUP FOR COLONEL OATES

Colonel James W. Oates and Shirley D. Burris went to San Francisco on the morning train Friday, and they returned to this city in a pretty Hupmobile, which has been purchased by Colonel Oates from the Santa Rosa garage. Colonel Oates will use this machine for short trips and personal pleasure for himself and Mrs. Oates, and with his large machine will entertain their friends with delightful trips about the country. The Hup is a royal blue, for two passengers only, is fully equipped and has twenty horse power engines. It is capable of splendid speed and will make a nice roadster for Colonel Oates.

– Santa Rosa Republican, March, 17, 1911
AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION CONDEMNS SPEEDING
Annual Outing Held in Knights Valley on Sunday

In the beautiful sunshine of a June day over two hundred people members of the Sonoma County Automobile Association and friends and many others gathered amid all the picturesqueness of the Knights Valley Ranch formerly owned by the late Calvin H. Holmes and now the property of his heirs, the site most favored for the location of the new State Trades and Training School, to enjoy the annual outing and picnic of the Association on Sunday. The day was ideal for such an event, and into its pleasures all entered with zest.

The shady trees, the waterfalls, the vineyards, the valley and mountain scenery and the other delights of the open air at this time of the year, lent much attraction to the outing. Well filled luncheon baskets were brought by the automobilists, and the contents enjoyed at noon in one of the loveliest spots imaginable. An additional attraction was the presence and music by the Healdsburg band, accompanying the large delegation from that city and sections. All part of Sonoma county were represented and the entire outing, unmarred by any accident, was voted a splendid success.

His Excellency Governor Hiram W. Johnson was invited to be present, but many engagements following his southern trip prevented his acceptance of the courtesy. He sent a neat acknowledgement of the invitation.

Following the luncheon the business meeting was called to order by the President Colonel James W. Oates of this city. Colonel Oates Spoke of the work of the past year, and of the great help the automobilists represented in such organizations the Sonoma County Automobile Association could be the campaign for good roads. He welcomed everybody to the gathering on Sunday…

…The by-laws were amended so as to make women eligible for membership in the Association. This was a wise move as there are scores of enthusiastic women automobilists in Sonoma County who are deeply interesting in the aims of such an organization…The Association also passed resolutions upholding the laws and ordinances against “speed burning…”

…The Association placed itself squarely on record in the matter urging respect for all law and letting it be clearly understood that it does not stand for protecting the auto owner any more than for the protection of other people walking or driving along the highways, recognizing that each have equal rights. While many autoists do recognize these rights there are others who bring odium on the whole body by their disregard of the laws. It is the latter type that The Association does not uphold. At the same time a gentle reminder is also given to drivers or vehicles who sometimes pre-empt more of the highway than they require to be more generous and aid in bringing about a better feeling all the way around…

– Press Democrat, June 6, 1911

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THE RULES OF THE ROAD ARE RELATIVE

Jeff Elliott Leave a comment

There was no driver’s license exam in 1911, which was probably just as well; few people would have passed it.

(RIGHT: Fourth street, looking east from between B and A streets. The white building with the red and white awning on the left is currently labeled the “Zap building”. Image courtesy Larry Lapeere collection)

Automobiles had claimed Santa Rosa’s downtown streets by that year – in the postcard shown to the right there is not a single horse-drawn buggy or cart, nor a telltale plop of manure (but note the guy toodling down the wrong side of the street).

There were more cars to be seen simply because more households had cars, and that was because they were now far more affordable. The basic Ford model “T” had been recently introduced to Northern California and it cost $695, or about the same as the town’s average household annual income (and by 1915, a new Ford would cost only half as much). Better still, Studebaker dealerships began offering a revolutionary new thing called an “auto loan.” Press Democrat editor Ernest Finley did journalistic backflips of joy announcing the news, introducing it as dialog between characters from a series of popular humorous short stories: “Cheer up. You’ll get one yet. Automobiles are to be sold on the installment plan from now on. It’s a fine day Mawruss! Can you beat it?” (“Mawruss” was the name “Morris” spoken in Eastern European dialect.)

Each of those new cars was supposed to be registered with the state (two dollars a year, please) but until 1914 there was no requirement that Mr. or Ms. Reckless Driver have a license, much less any knowhow on how to operate the machine safely. The exceptions were “chauffeurs,” which in that era meant any driver-for-hire. A chauffeur had to be 21, personally registered with California’s Secretary of State along with the make and horsepower of the vehicle, and wear at all times while driving a numbered aluminum badge “upon his clothing in a conspicuous place.” But while the applicant had to swear an oath that he had at least three months experience behind the wheel and “was familiar with the mechanism of motor vehicles,” there was no provision for revoking the license should the person prove incompetent. Most of the law concerned instead the description and treatment of the badge.

But even if drivers were required to pass some sort of written state test, it would have been so short as to fit on a postcard (unless it included questions about that damn badge). California motor vehicle laws were few and rudimentary – don’t endanger people or property, be careful while passing horses, operate at a reasonable speed, and that sort of thing. It wasn’t until 1911 that the state even required drivers to stop after a collision and made drunk driving a serious offense.

Instead, California relied upon cities and counties to set their own rules of the road, which ended up creating a crazy quilt of inconsistent laws. In Petaluma motorcycles were required to have mufflers; not so in Santa Rosa (many bikers apparently believe this is still the case). Santa Rosa drivers were required to toot their horns near intersections. Lake County required motorists to pull off the road and turn off their engine if a horse was approaching.

Worst of all were the inconsistent speed limits. Santa Rosa had set a single speed limit of 10 MPH in 1908 (amid much griping from car owners that it was so slow that engines might stall) which was about the speed of a bicyclist – an important comparison point to know, as many cars did not have speedometers. But Oakland had a speed limit of 18 MPH in residential areas while L.A. traffic ordinances set the speed limits of 12 MPH downtown, 8 MPH in tunnels and 20 MPH otherwise, except for track crossings when 6 MPH was the max. Driving over 30 MPH in Los Angeles was a mandatory ten days or more in jail.

Before radar guns, policemen learned to use stopwatches – and thus was born the speed trap.

Santa Rosa’s historian and humorist Tom Gregory joked that the city streets were a potential “gold mine” if only the city were to crack down on speeders. (Five years earlier, he proposed a similar idea to profit on bicyclists riding on sidewalks.) “The streets out in the vicinity of Grace Brothers Park [intersection of College and Fourth] would yield a rich monthly revenue, and Mendocino avenue north of Cherry street would pay the salary of the plain-clothes man stationed in that locality,” he suggested. Everyone would benefit, Gregory teased; the ticket-writing officer in the police force – “each man of it stacks up like a Greek god” – would ride like a king in splendor down to the station where the offender would pay the speeding ticket. And besides, the tickets would be like a badge of honor for many car owners: “The sporty driver would like nothing better than several notches on his steering wheel, recording the number of fines he had paid. Such would prove his mettle and establish his standing as an up-to-date car buster.”

AUTO DRIVER MUST NOT IMBIBE NOW
New Law Passed by Legislature Will Be Bar to Future Careless Driving

A check to intemperance on the part of a driver of an automobile, or other motor vehicle is placed by a law just enacted by the Legislature. The danger of an intoxicated driver having been very apparent on many occasions in different parts of the State, a law was introduced and passed. It provides as follows:

[..]

– Press Democrat, April 8, 1911

AUTOS ARE TO BE SOLD ON CREDIT
Important Innovation in Selling Methods Now Being Inaugurated by Studebaker Corporation

Cheer up. You’ll get one yet. Automobiles are to be sold on the installment plan from now on. It’s a fine day Mawruss! Can you beat it?

The Studebaker Corporation, the $45,000,000 concern which manufactures the “E. M. F.” and “Flanders” cars, is about to inaugurate an entirely new policy in the matter of selling its product, and one that will in all probability revolutionize automobile salesmanship. Notices are now being sent out to agents of the company in references to the matter.

In brief, the company’s plan is to accept part cash with notes for the balance from responsible parties. Of course, to a concern in a position to finance such commercial paper, notes from the right parties are as good as the cash. But heretofore the purchase of an automobile has been a cash proposition, that is, as far as the manufacturing company was concerned. If an agent here and there found himself in a position to accommodate a customer and did so, it was his own business. When the machine was shipped from the factory the money had to be there to pay for it.

It is generally conceded that the new plan of selling now being inaugurated by the Studebaker Corporation is the most important innovation that has for years developed in connection with the automobile industry. It means that the automobile has ceased to be a luxury and has become a recognized necessity, and as such takes its place on the same plane with other necessities of business life, practically all of which with the exception of the auto has been sold “on terms to suit.”

[..]

– Press Democrat, December 9, 1911
WARNING NOTE TO AUTO DRIVERS

Chief J. M. Boyes desires to call the special attention of all automobile owners and drivers to the law which requires machines to be equipped with two bright lights in front and a red light in the rear, showing to the opposite direction. Also to the fact that the law requires drivers to sound a warning with a horn as they approach corners. Orders have been issued calling for a strict compliance with the law as it is equally important as that limiting the speed.

Three more speed burners were arrested Sunday by the police for exceeding the speed limits within the city limits. Each put up $15 which City Recorder Bagley declared forfeited Monday when he called court.

– Press Democrat, May 30, 1911
TOM GREGORY DISCOVERS RICH GOLD MINES IN SANTA ROSA

Editor the Press Democrat: Touching the “matter of rights on the streets or public highways, and the general rights of vehicles thereon,” in this locality as ably referred to in your issue of Wednesday morning, I desire to add a paragraph. I am not reflecting on the financial foresight of our city governors when I say that this municipality has here, within its limits, a mine, and the good yellow metal–free gold, and oodles of it, is not utilized. O, the shame of it! The mother lode stretches along Fourth street from the railroad on the west to the cityline on the east. The outcroppings of paying ore show well all along the way, increasing in value as it nears McDonald avenue. East of that point the rock will assay pure gold, 24-carats fine. A branch ledge runs north along Mendocino avenue, growing stronger in the indications as it approaches and passes College avenue, when it abruptly shows free gold. Another branch ledge swings off at right angles from the main lode, running down Main street to the creek. Across the bridge the outcrop is so rich that it is practically minted and ready for circulation.

This is not a guessing contest, and the point appears: Every day of the year, and many nights of the year, at the east, west, north and south localities of the thoroughfares given in the foregoing, automobiles and motorcycles are driven at a rate of speed regardless of the “matter of rights on the streets and public highways, and the general rights or vehicles thereon.” Not only are these machines turned loose to burn up the miles at these points remote from the policeman’s sight, but around the plaza and in the central portion of the city they rush along the streets with no regard for the rules-of-the-road, right side, left side, any old side–whirling the corners, cutting the segment of the curb, endangering life and motor, hurrying to get somewhere, anywhere, under the drive of the speed-fiend that roosts on the steering wheel of these rushing machines. Occasionally the slow-moving and harmless bicyclist is picked up on the sidewalk, but the autoist, hurling his ponderous mass of wood and steel among pedestrians and other vehicles, goes free. Why? I have seen women and small children in the streets of Santa Rosa spring frantically from before a speeding automobile, whose driver should have been arrested and fined. I saw a young fellow in his big car the size of a locomotive, drive as close to a lady scrambling across the street as he could without hitting her, and he whizzed past highly amused at her fright.

The city needs money, and here is the gold mine. Let measures be taken to check and regulate this rush of motors in the crowded streets. Let measures be taken to watch the thoroughfares beyond the police beats. The streets out in the vicinity of Grace Brothers Park would yield a rich monthly revenue, and Mendocino avenue north of Cherry street would pay the salary of the plain-clothes man stationed in that locality. And the gleanings from Petaluma and Sebastopol avenues and the ordinary pick-ups in the vicinity of the court house would sweep the streets. The auto folks wont [sic] mind it. The sporty driver would like nothing better than several notches on his steering wheel, recording the number of fines he had paid. Such would prove his mettle and establish his standing as an up-to-date car buster. Moreover, every conscientious autoist would be glad to have him “run in” at lightning speed, and much good money burned out of him. The summer is coming–and so are the hosts of automobiles. The town does not need them, but it needs the coin of the speed breakers–domestic and foreign. We have a fine police force. Each man of it stacks up like  a Greek god. The blue of his uniform is as deep in dye as the royal purple of Tyre, and the gleam of his buttons makes the noonday look twilightish. How fitting his personal splendor would be a grand auto-car and he aboard it like a king enthroned, on his way to the police station–for the purpose of observing the owner of the machine donate a bunch of dollars to this needy municipality. That would be a parade worth while, and the grand cop would be making money, and history for the town.

Tom Gregory.

– Press Democrat, May 26, 1911
WANTS MUFFLERS PUT ON MOTORCYCLES

A prominent Santa Rosa woman is much enthused over the fact that in the city of Petaluma they have adopted a new ordinance, which compels riders of motorcycles to put mufflers on their machines and thus stop the distracting noise that often frightens and annoys people and startles horses. She is heartily in favor of the Santa Rosa city council adopting a similar ordinance, and so expressed her sentiments when she called for that purpose at the Press Democrat office. The city dads may be applied to later on.

– Press Democrat, July 21, 1911

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ON THE ROAD TO MORE ROAD

Jeff Elliott Leave a comment

It’s election day, 1910: Will you vote for California to create a state highway system? It’s not an easy decision.

Another use for the modern automobile: Dressing it up as a parade float. Florence Edwards, wife of Santa Rosa mayor James Edwards, and her sister Katherine Rockwell driving their entry in the 1910 Santa Rosa Rose Carnival. Underneath all those blossoms was a 1909 or 1910 model Buick Model 10 Runabout, which was a 22.5 horsepower three-seater (there was a “mother-in-law” seat in the rear not visible in this image). The local Buick dealer was Santa Rosa Garage at 216 B Street. Photo courtesy Rockwell family archives 

There were now three auto dealerships in downtown Santa Rosa and judging by the large, expensive ads crowding the pages of both local papers in 1910, the town was more car crazy than ever. Buying a car was usually no longer a newsworthy item, but the gossip columns kept track of whom was driving where for whatever. The first auto fatality was also recorded that year; a nine-year old boy was killed by an auto at the corner of Third and B. The coroner’s jury found the driver blameless – the child simply dashed in front of the car without looking.

But the most significant event of the year was the upcoming vote on the State Highways Act. California voters were being asked to approve a state bond for a jaw-dropping $18 million that would last until the futuristic year of 1961. The bond would pay for the construction of two highways running north-south. One would follow the the Central Valley through Sacramento, becoming more-or-less the route of today’s I-5; the other highway route would be “along the Pacific coast,” although it was left undetermined if that would be a true coastal road such as modern highway 1 or follow the trail of El Camino Real, becoming highway 101. “Several county seats lying east and west” of each highway were promised connections via new branch roads.

At this point, Gentle Reader’s mouse finger is probably getting twitchy; reading about old state bond measures sounds just about as boring as, well, reading about old state bond measures. But there is a point to be made and hopefully you’ll stick around for a few more paragraphs.

James Wyatt Oates, president of the Sonoma County Automobile Association, wrote a lengthy defense of the Act in the Santa Rosa Republican. He argued the new system would probably be more cost-effective (while admitting he didn’t know how much was currently being spent on county roads) and that the system would end the haphazard local maintenance (while overlooking it would be up to the same locals to maintain any new state road construction, and doing so without state financial help).

There were loopholes and other unsavory details in the Act that Oates neglected to mention but were being hotly debated in newspapers around the state. Warnings were sounded over the politically-appointed advisory board that determined the exact locations of the new roads; they would be wielding enormous political power – a sensitive issue in California, which was still trying to wriggle out from under the cloven hoof of the Southern Pacific Railroad.

There was particular concern over the repayment demands. Whenever any bond money was spent in a county, it was required to pay four percent back to the state (the amount of interest paid on the bonds). That sounds fair on paper, but consider that neither highway would cross through bridge-less San Francisco County – the wealthiest part of California – so the region most likely to profit from the new intrastate road system would pay little or nothing. Counties in the path of the highways might gain an income windfall for turning county roads over to state ownership, but that would create holy hell in Los Angeles County, which had recently sold $3.5 million in road bonds; paying the state its four percent for roadwork plus the interest due from those earlier bonds meant that Los Angelenos would be double-taxed. There were many poor, eastern counties such as Amador complaining they would see no benefit at all because they were too far away from the action. For these reasons and more, opposition was stiff. The popular California Good Roads Association and the Automobile club of Southern California campaigned against approval.

With all that it mind, let’s pretend it’s the morning of November 8, 1910, and you are an average Santa Rosa voter (meaning, you are male and have a receipt showing you’ve paid the poll tax). How will you vote?

Before marking the ballot yes or no, further consider this: You and yours can’t expect to personally ever enjoy the new road system. The average household income in 1910 Santa Rosa was around $600, which meant that a car big enough to seat your family would cost around two full years’ pay. Even the tiny Buick runabout shown in the picture above was out of reach (it sold for $900). Yes, the situation would change in the near future, thanks to Henry Ford; five years later, a new Ford would cost as low as $360, making autos affordable to nearly everyone – but 1910 voters couldn’t see into the future. So while the new highways might offer local advantages in trucking crops to market and such, cruising around the Golden State on those endless miles of beautiful fresh pavement was a pleasure reserved for the wealthy. People like James Wyatt Oates, relentless crusader for more roads.

Come election day, Los Angeles voted against it 3 to 1. It won 55 percent approval in Sonoma County and passed statewide.

Passage of the State Highways Act bond was a turning point in California’s history; it’s impossible to imagine the state would have experienced its later decades of explosive growth and agricultural development without those major north-south arteries. Sure, had it failed to pass, the WPA might well have built similar highways 25 years later – or just maybe we would have been stuck with a fractious system of county toll roads that evolved in its absence.

Yet it’s also hard to see California voters approving something like the State Highways Act today. That $18 million might not sound like much to our ears, but it was an enormous sum at the time; with inflation it works out to $8.6 billion in modern dollars, equal to about three-fourths of all California state bonds sold last year. Every special interest in the state would now fiercely lobby against such a proposition simply because it would suck all the air out of the investor’s bank vaults.

Still believe the Act would be approved by modern-day voters? Compare criticism against it in 1910 to recent arguments against funding the SMART trains. Just as then, SMART opponents charged the project is a boondoggle, that it will benefit only a privileged few, that the choices for the route (train stops) will be decided on political favoritism, that it can’t be completed as promised without additional rounds of future funding. It took two attempts to gain voter approval for SMART and it nearly faced a recall. Think back over all those years of heated struggle on SMART funding, then realize that cockfight was squabbling about two percent the relative size of the State Highways Act bond.

The 1910 Act passed because it won approval in counties that expected to gain state highway status – Los Angeles excepted – with a big boost from San Francisco, which at the time had a quarter of the state population. It should be noted, too, that 1910 was near the peak of the Progressive Era, when many people eyed civic betterment as more important than “what was in it for them.”

Skeptics were right, however, in predicting the State Highways Act bond would fall short on money. Additional bonds were passed in 1915 and 1919 to complete the work. Over the course of that decade Sonoma County built roads in a frenzy; by 1913, Santa Rosa was spending over $28,000 a year for highways – among the highest of California cities of its size – and the county was spending almost as much on new roads as larger Alameda County and far more than Marin. For better or ill, Sonoma County was among the vanguard in subsidizing the car culture using public funds.

GOOD NEWS FOR AUTOMOBILE MEN
Roads in Marin County From San Rafael to Sausalito Are to be Improved Soon

Santa Rosa autoists as well as those on all sides of the bay will be glad to know that through the efforts of the automobile owners of San Francisco and Marin county, aided by the proper authorities, steps are to be taken very soon to improve the roads in Marin county, particularly from San  Rafael to Sausalito, a road much used but in a very bad condition.

The Sonoma County Automobile Association, of which Colonel James W. Oates is president, will shortly take up some active work for the improvement of certain roads in the county. The Ukiah Good Roads Association, as has been stated heretofore, is doing fine work on the roads from the Sonoma county line northward to Ukiah. Already they have held two “good roads” days, and the members of the club have turned out in full force to help in the repair work on the roads.

– Press Democrat, April 29, 1910
AUTO BREAKFAST A GREAT EVENT TODAY
Splendid Time in Prospect–Anyone Favoring Good Roads Can Join the Association

Today the much anticipated outing, annual meeting and bull’s head breakfast under the auspices of the Sonoma County Automobile Association of which Colonel Jas. W. Oates is president, occurs in Bosworth’s Grove at Geyserville.

All members of the Association and their families are expected to be present as well as all others who become members of the Association prior to twelve o’clock noon–you can join on the field–when the big feast will commence. Anyone interested in good roads, whether he or she be owner of an automobile or not, may become a member of the Association, a prime move of which is to encourage the building of good roads throughout the state.

There will be all kinds of good things on hand for the breakfast menu. The Bismark Cafe proprietors, Bertolani Brothers, have charge of the feast, and they have secured the services of a special Spanish cook of note who will superintend affairs. Saturday night a staff of seven men left here for Bosworth’s Grove so as to get everything in readiness, for the grand breakfast will be enjoyed under the shade trees. The thoughts of that perfectly good feed should be an inspiration to membership in the Association, let alone the splendid object that is to be the strong feature of the meeting following the breakfast, that of boosting good roads.

– Press Democrat, June 5, 1910

COLONEL OATES EXPLAINS ACT
Synopsis of “State Highway Act” Now Pending

Santa Rosa, Oct. 19, 1910

I have been requested to give a synopsis of the “State Highway Act,” now pending and to be voted on by the people at the November election.

This act, speaking generally, provides:

1–For the issuing by the state of eighteen million dollars of bonds in serials, to fall due in equal amounts each year until 1961.

2–The funds raised from the sale of these bonds are to be for the construction of two main highways, one to run through the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, and from the Mexican line to the Oregon line; the other to run through the coast counties, both running north and south, and to connect every shire, or country town in the state.

3–These highways are to be constructed under the management and control of a state engineer.

4–The state pays the principal of these bonds by general taxation.

5–These bonds are to bear interest at a rate not over four per cent per annum, and each county in which any part of such highway is constructed is to pay the interest on the bonds represented by the amount of such highway fund expended in constructing such highway in such county.

6–After the construction of any highway inside a county, the management and control of the same is to be turned over by the state to the county in which it lies.

There are other provisions in the act, but they, in the main, deal with mere methods of procedure in putting the act into operation and for paying the bonds.

The way this act would operate in this country would be about this:

The only roads we have that would come under the operation of this act are the present ones from the Marin county line through Petaluma and Santa Rosa to the Mendocino county line, that from Santa Rosa through Sonoma to the Napa county line, and possibly from Cloverdale to the Lake county line.

These roads are now and have been for many years, county highways in more or less good condition, but never, within my knowledge, have they ever been in good condition throughout at the same time.

The construction of the state highway along these routes would be in all probability, by no means the same or as costly as the construction of new roads. In many places they would require much less work than in a new construction so that much of the expense of constructing new roads could be saved. All this, however, would depend upon whether the roads would be entirely reconstructed, and this is a matter of detail to be determined later by the proper authority.

To illustrate, we will say such construction within our county should cost $100,000 of this highway fund. When completed the roads would be turned over to the county government, and the latter would thenceforward have to pay the interest on $100,000 of the bonds, which would not be over $4000 per year at first, and would gradually grow less as the state paid off the principal of the bonds, till in the end the amount would be very small. The county, however, would have to keep up the roads.

From the Marin line to the Mendocino line, and from Santa Rosa by Sonoma to the Napa line is approximately 86 miles of road.

I have tried to find out how much money is spent each year on these roads, but from the present system it is almost impossible to do so. It would not, however, be far from the mark to say that such expenditure is annually not far from $4000 each year, which is the amount we would have to pay at first as interest on the bonds. Under the present system the results are by no means satisfactory. It is not much more than mere patchwork, at best. The system in inefficient and wasteful. Once a good road is constructed, the keeping of it in repair in a good system would not be very costly. Most of the nations of Europe have solved the trouble by letting a good road out to the lowest bidder for a term of years to keep it in good condition, and putting the contractor under bonds. One having a contract say on twelve miles of road, could watch it and by proper care keep it in complete repair at a nominal cost to him and make the upkeep to the county also much less than is expended now in patchwork, with the result of good roads all the time, instead of bad ones most of the time.

The economic advantages of better roads than we have had in America is just now attracting the attention of the people all over the Union; in fact the good roads movement is now on and will continue until a better system of construction and preservation is attained.

Some object to this “State Highway Act” because it is thought it might be better to have such portions of those highways constructed under county control. There are some advantages that might result from county construction, but the disadvantages greatly outweigh them. Inder that idea each county would have its own system of construction, and we would have nearly as many kinds of roads as we have counties. It would result in a huge piece of patchwork, and much of it, no doubt, would be a failure. Constructed under state control we would have at least uniformity of plan, construction and result; and it strikes me we can get that result in no other way. That this is a controlling consideration is obvious.

This plan is intended and will operate as an entering wedge for an improved road system in this state. With such highways through a county lie benefits and economic worth will soon be so manifest as to lead to similar treatment of all other roads in the county, from time to time, as the county can get at them. No one can rationally expect any system of good roads to be adopted and applied to all roads at once. A beginning must be made somewhere on some road, while other roads must wait their turn. In this way those fortunate enough to live on or near the first ones improved would reap an advantage, but under any system such would be the case. Unless some main roads are used for a beginning, all the roads will continue to be as they are.

The people vote in November on this “State Highway Act”; they can vote it up or vote it down; if they vote it up we have taken a long step towards bettering road conditions in the entire state. If they vote it down, we will have to continue to do the best we can with the road system as we have it.

JAMES W. OATES.

– Santa Rosa Republican, October 21, 1910

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