The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-08-23
TOURIST TRAVEL
BREAKS RECORDS
Number Of Passengers Are Twice as
Great as Ever Before.
STILL MORE ARE COMING
LARGE PROPORTION ARE OF
MIDDLE CLASS.

Tourist travel over our lines this
year is fully 100 per cent greater than
it has ever been before, said I. A.
Benton, general agent Of the passenger
department. of the Rio Grande system
yesterday. The travel is unprecedent-
eddy heavy both ways, but the move
ment eastward is especially strong just
at present, 50 strong. in fact, that we
are taxed to the limit to handle il.
Train No. 4. our SCENERY train is
the popular one and is now being run
in two and sometimes three sections
each day"
All passenger business records on the
Oregon Short Line have been broken
this summer according to d. S.
Spencer, assistant general passenger
agent. The Yellowstone park travei
via the Short Line has been tremendous
this year. Every train contains extra
coaches and sleeping cars and en-
ployes of the operating department are
getting a correct idea of the strenuous
life intensified Ia addition TO the
park business. hundreds of Portland
fair visitors from the east, many OF
whom Travelled to the coast over the
northern lines, are returning TO their
homes via the Hartman lines.
The Salt Lake route, of course, has
no previous summers business TO use
for basis of comparison, but from the
fact that 1t is hauling two through
tourist cars each way daily 1t is-ap-
parent that the new road is sharing in
the general railroad prosperity. The
Salt Lake route receives from and de-
livers TO the Oregon Short Line and the
Rio Grande Western one car each day
These cars are always loaded to
capacity.
Honeseekers Are Coming.
There is no immediate prospect for
2-let-up in the work of the passenger
department. Colonist rates from the
east go into effect next month and il
is expected food of homeseekers will
take advantage of the favorable op-
portunity TO visit the west. Local rail-
road officials are making arrangements
to care for an even greater passenger
business next month.
In addition to the Portland fair the
large number of excursions to the coast
for conventions, etc, have helped to
swell the business of the local roads
A popular trip appears to be via the
Great Northern or Northern Pacific to
Portland, down the coast to San Fran
cisco or Los Angeles, and back via
Salt Lake over the Southern Pacific or
Salt Lake route. Other tickets that
pass through the hands of the local
passenger men show a heavy business
from the east TO the coast via the
Santa Fe. thence to Portland and home
via Salt Lake City. a large percentage
of the fair visitors appear to have
made it a point to include Salt Lake
City and the Colorado mountains in
their plans
Many OF Middle Class.
Il have been impressed by one fea-
ture of the travel this year, and that
is the presence of great many per
sens who belong TO the middle class
financially" said alocai passenger man
yesterday. From our talks with those
frlr re ma 10 !,
cred that dozens and dozens of family
parties that have passed through Salt
Lake City this year are making this the
one great trip of their lives. Some OF
them tell US that they have been econ
omizing for years in order to make a
trip TO the coast. Many OF them have
figured it out I'm SO close a margin
that they cannot afford to purchase
sleeping car tickets. but spend the
nights in the day coaches.
1T is a class OF business we like
They are all first-cIass people. easily
handled. easily satisfied and usually
OF high order of Intelligence We
know from the way they talk that
when they get home they viii tell their
neighbors all about the trip and viii
urge their friends to make the west
ern tour if possible. That means more
business. and a good class of business.
for as in future. In that respect, the
persons who have not been accustomed
to travel help our business wonder
fully. The wealthy globe-trotters view
a coast trip as merely an incident but
it is big event in the lives of the
others I have described. and through
them we get the best sort of adver-
Using"
kentucky President Here.
Atula Cox. president of the Louisville.
Henderson q st Louis railroad accom-
panied by his family and a party of
friends. reached Salt Lake over the Ore
gon Short Line in Mr.. Cox's private car
yesterday morning. The party had been
visiting the coast and northwest. Points
of interest about the city were visited
during the forenoon and in the afternoon
the kentuckiaus went to the lake. They
left over the Rio Grande system at
O'Clock in the evening.