The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1910-10-13
For San Francisco

many dear TRENDS IN both cities and re-
quests that his name be omitted
The two cities in which | have
speuI he vi asarte.i wear OF NY
life are nov cuutendln9 lor The hon
or of holding the Panama Pacific
Exposition. When nv friends ask
me which ofthese two cities I think is
the logical site for the Fair that will
signaliz,' one of the greatest achieve
ments OF history. eau truthfully
say that am absolutely unbiased lin
the matte L of sentiment.
Few pleasanter things have come
into my life than the rare courtesy
Of the charming old southern city oil
New Orleans. The Inhabitants are
d gracious people whose greatest
pleasure seems to be to make the
stranger within their gates feel that
his presence there is the highest
honor that could be bestowed upon
his hosts. But how the level headed
business men of New Orleans con-
ceived the idea that they could cope
with an international Worlds Fair
of the magnitude of the PaEama-Pa-
cific is beyond me, particularly in
view of the manifestly superior ad-
vantages of San Francisco as site.
The finest southern hospitality
will not supply hotel Accommodations,
which are primary essential to Q
city that expects to hold successful
Worlds Fair. Outside of the three
or four hotels that could be describ.
ed as modern, though they cannot
be compared to the best of San
Francisco, New Orleans has practi-
cally no Accommodations for large
influx OF visitors. The plumbing in
the streets is open, there are(though
this seems astonishing To people
who have never been in New Or
leans) practically no bath tubs in
the city, and in the few buildings
that have bathtubs. namely, the
largest hotels, the water comes out
of the tap black. Of course one is in
formed that this is the finest kind of
water. and eventually one becomes
used to it and is even inclined to ac-
quicsce in that statement; but it is
impossible to convince a traveller
tina he is going to emerge from one
of those TUBS cleaner than when he
went into it.
There are several resta urants that
are delight to the epicure and a
ioy to the man in search of color
but any one of them would be hard
put to accommodate large indi
vidual party; while the arrival of a
crowd such as one may see in any
large restaurant of San Francisco
any evening would be viewed by
the combined restauranteurs OF New
Orleans as calamity.
As for The drinking water, even
the most patriotic citizen of the old
city would hardly describe it as bev-
erage. Moreover the general con-
ditions of sanitation are not very
good; and the climate during the
summer months, through which the
Fair would probably extend if il
started in January, is so hot and
generally disagreea5le as to keeI
tourists from visiting Louisiana
during that part of the year.
Briefly. though there are no points
of important scenic interest within
a great distance of the city, New
Orleans itself is pleasant enough te
a traveller who visits there during
the winter and has an opportunity
to meet the old families of the city
Even the objections have mention
ed do not bother one very mucf
after residence of some length il
this interes ting community. 10 The
average stranger, however, most o.
them are unpleasant in the extreme
and so far as the Lack of accOmmOda
tions is concerned, it seems to me
that this alone puts New Orleans
out of the running unless that city
intends to embark upon gi2ai Tic
task OF rebuilding to meet the re-
uuiremeE is of ;. Worlds Fair.
In striking contradistinclion to
the manisfest disadvan tages of New
Orleans as the thtater Of an utrr-
national exposition are the obvious
quail flea tions of San Francisco.
The trip West is the journey
which every American is eager 10
make sooner or later AS in the old
days when the frontier was gradual
~ being forced back To lh,, Pacific
The ina. nation of the nation has
been lured across the continent by
the vision Of Destiny, al d V sud!fz IS
the future along the sweep of cuast
that forms the line of demirkation
between tn civil cations of Occident
and Orient.