Carmel Magazine

now plying the waters between San Pedro and San Francisco, carrying 49 passengers, 36 crew and mixed cargo. What should have been a rou- tine passage was interrupted when a naviga- tional miscalculation put the ship on the rocks, ironically within sight of the newly commis- sioned Point Sur Light Station. As the only physician around, Dr. Roberts has- tened to the scene to lend aid to survivors. He made it by horse and buggy in 3 ½ hours, aston- ishing given the fact that the only path led around the unbridged rivers, creeks and canyons that define the Big Sur shore. According to a report in the July 1937 issue of California Highways and Public Works, "There was a narrow, winding, steep road from Carmel south… approximately 35 miles to the Big Sur River. From that point south to San Simeon, it could only be traveled by horseback or on foot." A light bulb lit above Rober ts' head (Ed- ison had patented that mar vel just 15 years 106 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • H O L I D A Y 2 0 1 4 I t's no secret that convict labor was used in con- structing California Highway 1. By law, skilled tasks were to be performed only by free men, leaving the back- breaking, rock-schlepping toil to the jailbirds. Although this was hard, soul-numbing work done in sometimes appalling conditions, it was perhaps preferable to idling away in a stuffy San Quentin cell. This practice dated back to 1915. There was no compensation for the prisoner laborers until legislators passed a bill granting wages. The pay for work on Highway 1 was $2.10 per day (equivalent to less than $30 in 2014). Meals, clothing, transportation, medical and dental care, camp management, tools—even their own guards' salaries—were deducted. Of that $2.10, each man was allowed to pocket a princely maximum of $.75, "provided he could save that much." Tough to do, especially considering that upon arrival, each prisoner was issued clothing, bedding and tools—immediately putting him $30-40 in debt. Work on CA Highway 1 is ongoing: brutal winter storms regularly cause landslides, causing Blaze Allen's mountains to "shake a road right off their back and toss it into the sea." Lengthy road closures are a nearly annual event. Workin' on the Chain Gang

• Cover