Evening star., 1916-07-23
Best Season Ever in Washing
ton, According to
Hotel Men.
GOOD SUMMER TRADE Z
F.. REPORTED BY MERCHANTS
Pestmasters' Convention Expects to
Come Again-Sightseeing Trips
Popular All Over Country.

WASHINGTON has broken all records
this summer in entertaining visitors
From all parts of the country people
are 1ocking to Washington and when
leaving are expressing the intention to
come again soon.
Railroad. and steamship lines have
been doing an unusually brisk business
Washington hotels are well filled. Some
of them have been unable to care for
all the patrons that have applied for
reservations.
Not only in convention gatherings
and by special excursions are these
visitors thronging in Washington, but
the individual tourist is here in larger
numbers than ever before to see the
sights of the National Capital at his
or her leisure and pay homage at the
historic shrines in this neighborhood.
, Chris ]. Gockeler, chairman of the
! Joint conventions committee Of the
{; trade organizations of Washington. is
F., enthusiastic over the number of con-
ventions that are coming to the capital.
( This is easily the best summer we
! have ever had and my correspondence
shows that interest in the nations cap
! ital is growing throughout the states
| and that Washington is coming to be
, recognized as the real convention city
of the country
! Secretaries of all trade organizations
who each week receive hundreds of re-
quests for information about Washing
ton and it's hotel accommodations from
1 all parts of the country report that this
season has been an unusually busy one
along this line. They find that most of
the people want to come to the capital
| some time during the summer, and that
there is growing disposition to make up
! large vacation parties from certain To-
calities who will come together to visit
the beauties of the National Capital
They also find that those who come once
on such parties find they cannot exhaust
the attractions of Washington and its en-
vironments on one trip and that they
return again and again.
Charles J. Columbus, secretary of the
: Retail Merchants Association, says:
"One of the best evidences we have of
the constant stream of visitors is the
transient trade among the retail mer-
chants. All stores have been doing bet
ter business this summer than ever be-
fore. I receive daily reports showing
that most of this trade is from visitors
who are spending few days here"
Postmasters Coming Again.
Washington has just been entertaining
the convention of the postmasters of
the United States. Eugene S. Shannon,
secretary of that association, whose
home is IN Nashville, Tenn, is enthusi-
ast1c over Washington as convention
city and the hospitality OF the people
here.
"The best evidence of how the post
masters like it, he said, "is that we
keep coming back. 1t seems to be the
disposition of our officers to make WASH
ington our rallying place each year.
''Our convention brought more than 500
postmasters, and, with their guests. more
than 1000 persons came to Washington
because we selected it for our conven-
tion. Some of these came several days
before the convention and quite a few
are remaining over for several days.
I'VE all like Washington and have en-
toyed our stay thoroughly. l believe that
most Of the postmasters Will go to their
home cities as boomers for Washington
and will encourage many other persons
to make the trip here.
Independent of our own convention,
! have met many persons here from
here / happened to meet two large par
ties of visitors from Tennessee. one Of
them a party of twenty-four young
women women who who ,h won the iI., trip in beauty oy
forty conducted by Nashville man and
his wife, who got together number
of their friends who were ambitious to
see the capital. They all say they
never had a better trip in their lives"
Besides the conventions that como
direct to Washington, the capital gets
the advantage in summer visitors OF
places. such as Baltimore, Philadelphia,
Norfolk or Atlantic City. The recent
Practically every Elk that visited Bal
timore spent at least two days in Wash
ington.
oficials of the Washington Terminal
Company say that the tourist and ex-
cursion traffic on all lines has been
heavy this summer and is constantly
increasing. Every day large excur
sions from distant states come here.
The weekend excursions are proving
more popular than ever before and the
tourist travellers are seen about the
station in ever increasing numbers.
The See America First movement
is growing fast, the railroad officials
say. and the National Capital with
its own beauties enhanced by it's his
toric setting is aliuring thousands this
summer who never before visited the
seat of government
Not only by rail but by water route
as well are the visitors swarming into
Washington. D J. Callahan, president
of the Norfolk and Washington Steam
thlp COMPANY. says: AT the present
from all parts of the south and west
coming here on what we call variable
routes tickets Our own line is bring
ing to Washington daily many persons
who have feen visiting in New York,
Boston and Norfolk. These SUNNI er
visitors just now are from Wisconsin,
Railroads Bring Crowds.
They are coming to Washington over
the Pennsylvania. Baltimore and Ohio,
Chesapeake and Ohio railroads and we
are getting them on the Norfolk and
Washington line from the Old Domin-
lon steamship line from New York
the Merchants and Miners from Bos-
ton and Norfolk and the Chesapeake