The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1912-09-23
Gasoline Gossip
RESORTS CHARGE
EXORBITANT PRICES
Hotels and Road Houses Patronized
by Motorists Coming
Money.
THE FABLE OF THE GOOSE

Some years ago. according to the best
story-book information obtainable on the
subject, there lived most remarkable
goose.
This goose had a daily output Of one
egg. which fact, in itself, was In no
sense remarkable. Other geese Of the
period, and of later times. have been
able to boast of an equally great output,
and they haven't even excited the envy
of the cold storage magnates.
Legendary Goose Lnid Golden Egg.
But here's the point: This old bird Of
legendary fame laid golden eggs. Think
OF it! Bright, shining eggs OF pure. yell
low gold, and a continuous output OF one
egg a day.
II SO happened that tbs good fortune
OF owning such a fowl fell 10 the lot of
an avaricious old party whose foresight
extended in a direct line somewhat less
in length than the distance between the
corner OF his eft eye and the end of his
nose. 1t often transpires that some of
our luckiest citizens are able to pene-
trate the future about this far.
Every day the greedy old codger who
owned the wonderful goose slipped into
his carpet slippers and sailed forth to
the henhouse, full of expectation, and
emerged with another nugget This goose
was long on reliability and apparently
long on eggs: hence, the daily contribu
ton to the masters Golfers were as reg
ular as clockwork.
4 MORAL Cinch."
Gathering golden eggs is what might
readily be termed in twentieth century
vernacular a moral cinch.
Just think of having nothing to do all
day but follow around after a deliberate
old fowl and at the proper moment snare
hunk of precious metal out of a nest
and then retire TO the shade of your
veranda with nothing TO do Until to-
morrow.
But, as frequently happens when things
satisfied. He wanted all his golden eggs
in bunch. They weren't rolling in fast
enough to suit his parsimonious DISPOSE
ton. So one day he pulled of the prize
bonehead play of the allegorical league.
Gathering up the family ak. he pursued
the waddling old goose around the barn
lot. determined to effectively corner the
golden egg market by garnering all the
eggs of which the goose was possessed.
And We all know what happened.
The poor old boob deftly inserted the
blade of the ak into the clavicle of the
goose to the great discontinue of the
latter, and when it was all over and
poSt-mortem had been held. which yield
ed no eggs at all, the Mortified miser sud-
denly awakened to the fact that he would
have to go 10 work.
The Point of the Yarn.
The point of this yarn is just this: Our
old friend the miser. was only about
three jumps ahead of a class of caterers
who are doing business and apparently
enjoying life at the present time. They
conduct -oadhouses and hotels patronized
by motoring parties. At a great many
such places killing the goose that lays
the golden egg is the principal indoor
sport, according to the vigorous com
plant OF one car owner who was dis
cussing the matter the other day with
prominent automobile dealer of the city.
The prices charged at some of these
resorts are almost prohibitive." declared
this motorist. My experience has been
that the very minute an automobile
party enters the door things begin going
up. The motto seems TO be: Get the
money and get it quick Actually, 1t IS
almost impossible TO entertain four per-
sons at the most meager kind Of a din
ner for less than so or SIS. And every
other convenience and accommodation of
the place is charged for on an eXorbi-
tant basis. OF course, there is a GER
tain class OF tourists to whom the mat
ter or expense is or little account, out
this class is in the minority. And no
man, no matter how much he can AFFORD
10 spend If he feels so inclined, relishes
the idea of being 'stung.
Attitude of Innkeepers Wrong.
1T strikes me that the attitude OF
these innkeepers is entirely wrong and
that their policy has the effect Of dis
couraging extensive touring and motor
car entertainment. II. instead of en-
deavoring to corner all the money in
the world in few short months, they
would reduce their prices so the average
car owner could patronize them without
mortgaging the family jewelry to pay
the checks, l think their business would
show an immediate increase.
las the situation stands at the present
time. these resort keepers certainly are
giving a modern illustration of the fool
ish occupation Of killing the goose that
lays the golden egg. II they keep on
boosting prices It won't be long before
only the very wealthiest car owners will
be financially able to patronize these
resorts more than once or twice sea-
son II is simply n question of the vital