From reports that have come west from the headquarters of the highway association in Detroit it appears that clear across the continent next Friday night will be a gala one. Cities, towns and villages have outlined programmes that include bonfires, band concerts and the aid of public speakers has been enlisted to tell of the advantages that will be gained by every district in the United States.

California, the western terminal State, should certainly take an active part in this national demonstration, for with the completion of the roadway this State will certainly reap a larger benefit than any other in the Union. To show that California is alive to the situation E. P. Brinegar, head of the Pioneer Automobile Company, who has been honored with the post of chief consul for the highway association in the West, has written to the various chambers of commerce, good road workers and municipal officials in a score of places, urging them to arrange suitable programmes, and from the number of responses he is confident that the dedication will be fittingly observed.

In San Francisco the celebration has been left to President J. A. Marsh of the Motor Car Dealers' Association to arrange, and while no definite plan has been outlined, a suggestion that has met with favor is to hold an entertainment in a local theater or pavilion and invite the public.

Another suggestion, and one that appears worthy of consideration, has been offered by Max Rosenfeld, president of the Auto Sales Company of this city. Rosenfeld's idea is that the San Francisco dedication should be in the form of an open-air demonstration. He suggests a huge parade of motor cars, and would even go so far as to invite owners of horse-drawn vehicles to participate. He further suggests that the parade should end at the civic center site and a small plat of ground be dedicated, where later a small monument should be erected that will designate the official terminus of the cross-continent highway.

Rosenfeld's suggestion for a monument, which need be no more than an artistic light pole bearing a suitable inscription, is most appropriate, and if it is looked on with favor by the committee in charge of the local celebration some action will have to be taken at the meeting of the Board of Supervisors tomorrow in order to have the necessary permit to carry out this plan.

San Francisco should have an elaborate celebration, for the completion of the ocean-to-ocean roadway will mean that thousands of motor car tourists will annually make the pilgrimage from the East to the West, and this city will in most cases be the objective point.

Originally published in the San Francisco Chronicle, Sunday, October 26, 1913.

Last modified on October 7, 1998 by James Lin