Page:Sunset Magazine vol. 31.pdf/532



he considers the world's blue-ribbon scenery, and here and there the work of road gangs on stretches of the Columbia river highway. At Maryhill Mr. Hill talked and talked and proudly displayed his seven varieties of highways, constructed at a personal expenditure of over $100,000, from Maryhill to the Columbia river, demonstration highways built to satisfy a whim and to prove the value of an enthusiast's deductions. Oregon's lawmakers were convinced. The state now has one of the most effective good-roads acts of any state in the Union.

Mr. Hill is one of the highest authorities in the United States on the subject of permanent road construction. It has been more than a hobby with him. It is on obsession. For years he has been traveling here, there and everywhere, studying highway construction, figuring out high 541