Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1909-11-05
FRIDAY. NOVEMBER S, 1900
Sum mer Hotel Business.

had occasion to years before, f1attering
comments concerning the profits of sum-
mer hotel business in various news
papers, probably by an editor. Doubt
less these editors are tolerably CONVEX
cant with the expenses and profits, or
want of profits, of the newspaper bust
ness. But we have become satisfied
that they know little or nothing what
ever, accurately, in regard to the profits
of summer hotels, or what are natural
attractions for guests.
With an experience of over 40 years
in the business, we are easily able to
detect the errors in all such articles.
Quite recently an editorial in the Bur-
lington Free Press enlarged upon the
profits of some hotel (name not men
tioned) in Bennington County, obtained
from automobiles that were passing
through; and suggested that this was
the right way for building up summer
hotels in Vermont, and that the best
way to obtain the automobiles was to
build roads for them. The amount of
money mentioned in this case, thus taken
in, wouldn't pay one-quarter of the eX-
penses of a successful summer hotel
carrying one hundred guests.
- AS a matter of fact automobiles
leave but little money at a summer
hotel, as their stay, generally at least,
is short, and the profits connected with
the livery is entirely lost. So far as
building roads for them is concerned, as
a financial proposition, the roads, any
roads of the kind and character that our
present highway commissioner is max
ing, will cost the citizens of the State
ten times more than all the money that
the automobiles attracted by them
would bring in; and indeed a hundred
times if the commissioner was given
full rope.
AS an illustration of these expenses
we will take the piece of road built in
Middlebury this season for the automo-
biles, under the management of State
Commissioner Gates and County Com
missioner Buttolph. This piece of road
is about half a mile southeast of the
village limits, on the straight road to
East Middlebury, nearly four miles of
which was thoroughly rebuilt few years
since of stone and gravel and is for the
most part in very good repair. The pres
ent commissioner however thought best
to rebuild so rods of this road, the object
especially being to reduce it to uniform
grade for the benefit of automobiles.
In doing this the stone foundation laid
within few years for quite distance
was removed, and again laid at lower
grade. The result is the changing of so
rods OF road to a more even grade.
This is a well built road but the expense
laid out was entirely unnecessary for
teams, which are the principal users of
the highway. That this highway as it
was, was in very good condition for the
use of those who built the road and
maintain it, or any other legitimate use;
but was not quite level enough to sat
isfy the desire of those who use auto
mobiles.
Moreover the new road will undoubt-
eddy prove very unsatisfactory for win
ter use as the snow will blow off from
that part that is raised up and, too,
this latter is very dangerous.
Three to five hundred dollars at the
outside would have put this whole high
way in very excellent condition. But
these commissioners saw fit to expend,
as we are informed, $500 on this road,
$500 of state money and $1,000 from the
town. 1t is easy to see that if such
expense was made throughout the
State, it would be paying pretty large
price to attract automobiles not to
mention the tremendously increased cost
of keeping highways in repair, when
used by these machines. To undertake,
TO make the great body of our citizens
who do not use automobiles, build roads
for those who do, is a great outrage.
But that is precisely what this law, which
was foisted upon the State four years
ago, is designed to do; what it was in
tended to do and what it is doing, and
practically all that its doing, outside of
possible accidents from building narrow
roads with high entertainments.
Again, as a matter of fact, if the
roads of the State were kept free from
automobiles, the State would be filled
with summer guests. For the great
majority of these, and far the most de-
sirable for profits, prefer to go where
there are no automobiles.
We notice something said in the Free
Fress about the large number of sum-
mer tourists this year in Nova Scotia.
Unquestionably this is largely the result
of its very stringent laws for regulat-
ing automobiles. In Prince Edwards
Island they do not admit them at all. |