The Perils of the Road: Early Motorists Lament Terrible Conditions
Vacationing families return to Kennewick with horror stories of busted axles, tire troubles, and roads that are 'the worst on earth.'
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
One by one the vacationists are returning and within a short time Kennewick’s population will have assumed normal proportions. Some of those who spent their annual respite from business in a motor car do not bring back altogether flowery stories of the delights of motoring. Dr. and Mrs. L. G. Spaulding and son Gene and Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Yost returned last Friday from an 1100-mile trip across the Cascades to Seattle, Tacoma and down the Coast to Portland. In Seattle, Dr. Spaulding’s new Chalmers collided with a street car. As a result, the doctor purchased a new front wheel, a fender, and a wind shield. Fortunately, none of the occupants were injured. In Portland the doctor twisted off a rear axle. Mr. and Mrs. L. E. Johnson and sons Warde and Glenn, who started out with the Spaulding party, did not return until Sunday, having been delayed at Trout Lake to await the arrival of a new tire. On one of Seattle’s hills the Jeffrey sustained a broken rear axle in attempting to go up and down hill at the same time. According to the stories, the roads on either route are the worst on earth.
“Some of those who spent their annual respite from business in a motor car do not bring back altogether flowery stories of the delights of motoring.”
A century later, the 'good roads' movement of the 1910s has been realized through the massive infrastructure of the modern state highway system. While these early motorists cursed the lack of pavement and broken axles, modern travelers face their own set of frustrations with I-82 and local congestion, proving the civic demand for reliable transit has always been a cornerstone of life in the Tri-Cities.
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