San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1893-01-12
STOVES AND RANGES
WHY DO THEY PAsSP
The Tourists are Giving San Antonio
the GO-By

Have you noticed that there are not
near so many tourists and visitors in this
CITY now as there were here this time last
year?'' asked a prominent real estate
dealer of reporter for the LIGHT this
morning. The realty man was asked
what was the cause of it. The reasons,
said he, ARE many, cOgent and strong
ones. In the first place the people OF this
city and section are doing nothing to at
tract them here. They are not spending
a cent to advertise this section and its at
fractions and advantages. The Board OF
Trade and the Chamber of Commerce
have both fallen into a state of innOcuOuS
dissuetude The only stop that has been
taken that may beOf beneftto San Antonio
this winter was that of entertaining the
ply siciaDS comprising the Health ASsoci-
alton on their visit here couple of
months ago. Outside of that nothing
whatever has been done. The Board Of
Trade is suffering from paralysis while
the chamber of commerce has been up
sci.
The railroads are not dOing anything to
bring people here or get them to stop
here They find it more profitable to
haul them TO California and TO Mexico
They do not consider San Antonio an OBJ
iective point and the people Of San AntO-
Mo do not offer the railroads any induce
mentS to bring the m here. There is no
organized effort 10 secure the visits OF in
ValidS tours 5 or capitalists.
The great trouble is that every one is
engroSsed too entirely by his own indiVd-
ual affairs and business to give heed to
the general advaLceH ent of the city.
Nobody wants to subscribe dollar to
any enterprise unless he can see where
he individually will realize ten from it
You NAV preach to him for an hour about
the general benefit il will be to the city
and the money it will put in circulation
but he will say: i don't see how that can
do me any good. | want you to show me
where ] will get money myself before |
will put any Of nv money in it," This
peSsimiSm " what is injuring San Antonio
more than anything else. and she is suf-
fering more from it now than ever before.
Unless a number of wealthy, progress
sive and liberal citizens organize
for such purpose soon. do not see how
matters will be mended. There is no
scarcity of that sort Of II aterial here.
The main trouble is 10 get it together and
after it has been collected 10 get the indi-
Vidual members To act in concert. The bus
iueSS men Of San Antonio will realize that
business is depreCiatng here instead of
increasing in nearly all lines of trade. and
that they individually are suffering from
the general decline, but there are so many
jealUusies and divisions among them that
Ii is difficult to get thu m to act in har-
mOny even TO secure their own advance
ment. They all are ready to admit the
shOrtSighte dness of such policy but they
still persist in it. If they would properly
act San Antonio could have a fair every
fall aud in the mean time offer many at
fractions 10 visitors. There is no trouble
to get capitalists 10 invest here after they
are once here for they appreciate the ad-
Vantages offered by San Antonio but
the main object is to get them here. The
railways might be induced to periodically
fix cheap rates for tourists tickets and ad-
vertise as they do their Californian and
Mexican rates and tours.
The newspapers here have all done
their duty and they have been worked by
the Merchants Exchange and CONNER
cial Exchange in great shape by those
bodies. Unfortunately, the latter have
not had the right kind of management
and have not known what the right sort
of advertising was needed. The local
papers were never paid for what they did,
and the right sort of matter was never
ordered printed by them or in other
papers. In this way San Antonio has lost
the visits of people to which she was en-
titled, and should and doubtless would
haxe secured and enjoyed, II the right
kind of efforts had been made.
Let some enterpriSing and energetic
hustler get up such an organization, and
let them pay him fair salary, and San
Antonio will get the tourists and CAPT.
talStS."