Page:Motoring Magazine and Motor Life December 1913.djvu/7

 December, 1913.

��MOTORING MAGAZI^. :. AND MOTOR LIFE

��road to Pacheco Pass led the route, and shortly the pilot car and racer entered this well known road over the mountains. The party was somewhat startled to see how close Eib had been driving the night before to the edge of the precipice. The tracks of the pilot car was still fresh, as no traffic had passed since the trip. While Pacheco Pass is marked by sharp declivities along its side, yet it has easy grades and good turns, and when put in first class condition will be a mountain pass that even the novice can easily make with safety.

Once through the pass, Gilroy was soon reached; then began the triumphant entry of the victorious car into San Francisco, for from this point on it was a greeting to victory. This, however, is another story, and does not affect the Pacheco Pass.

A week later the same party with an- other car and driver went across the pass to meet the French car which B. S. St. Cheffery was in command. On their re- turn from Los Banos, the party had a bet- ter chance to appreciate the beautiful scenery of Pacheco Pass, having once been over it, the novelty of watching the route itself was gone, and there was time to pay attention to the scenic beauties of the road. There is no other pass in Cali- fornia that is more inviting than this one, especially when the summit is reached above San Felipe. Coming up through the pass, a sharp turn is made in the road at the summit, and at this point suddenly bursts into view the wonderful Santa Clara Valley.

We had been coming along at a fast clip with St. Chaffery driving the French car for all it was worth. As the summit was reached, a shouting in the French car attracted our attention, and we saw that they had come to a stop. Thinking that something had happened, we backed up, only to find that the wonderful beauty

���The easy grade after leavirtg San 1. .., . ..^ one enters Pacheco Pass.

��of the valley had held them spell-bound, and they wished to take in more of this wonderful picture.

One cannot appreciate the beauties of Santa Clara Valley without they see it on a March morning when the country is in bloom. Down on the floor of the val- ley were acre after acre of fruit trees be- decked in their white blossoms. Here and there was a large field of the California poppy, bright in its golden hue, standing out in all its glory of color. Then again were acres of the blue lupin and other wild flowers, massed together in a har- monious whole, that charmed the artistic mind of mankind. It was a picture painted by a masterhand — by the Great Creator of the world.

The picture on that March morning is one that will never fade from the mem- ory. While Pacheco Pass is but one of the several passes that are a part of the road from Yosemite-to-the-Sea, yet it will stand out the most prominent from its many attractions.

The completion of this road will mean that the motorists leaving San Francisco

���The open road on the Santa Clara side as one approaches Pacheco Pass.

��can tour down to Santa Cruz, then across this Yosemite to the Sea road, visit the great natural wonders of the valley, and thence proceed back by way of Stockton and over through Livermore, and thence through the beautiful Dublin Pass to San Francisco, making a loop out of San Francisco that will be well worth the journey.

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GoM Kmrt: M^® Oooi IRofiifls

It is universal experience that one mile of good road breeds another mile. Put a State-wide good road down anywhere in this country, and in ten years there will be dozens of good roads reaching it from all parts of the State. Put down a system of National highways, built and main- tained by the National Government, and the various State legislatures and county officials would soon see the advantages of connecting all parts of the States with those National roads.

There are 2,000,000 miles of roads in the United States, says the National Highway Association. The 50,000 miles of highway shown on the map is but a fraction over 2 per cent of this mileage. But improve these 50,000 miles into good roads, and keep them good roads by proper maintenance, and 50,000 miles more would grow almost over night, and then another 50,000 and another and an- other, until our great country, with its huge territory, would be crossed and re- crossed with good roads, as France is to- day.

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'Exlira 1S©K

By cutting out a square in the floor of the tonneau and attaching a proper-sized box underneath, you can have a very con- venient carrying receptable m space that is not otherwise taken up. It makes a good place to put a carbon foot-warmer in winter, and may be used for tools and jack at other times.

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