Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1916-03-20
Ashland, Ore, Monday, March 20, 10
HOT APPLICATIONS.
By Leonard Hinton.

According to Mark Daniels, super
intendent OF national parks, the
United States stands alone in its
dense ignorance of the commercial
value of scenic attractions. Con
gress," declares Mr.. Daniels in mag
azine article, "has long regarded our
national parks as liabilities, appropri-
ations for the development of which
must be made as sop to that part
of the public which is afflicted with
aesthetic tastes and idealistic tenden-
cies. However, we are the only ma
ton in the world which has not
turned these liabilities, so-called, into
salable assets of peculiar value, since
scenery is the one thing which may be
sold innumerable times without in
any way diminishing or damaging the
bulk of the original commodity" At
ter citing statistics which show that
from $5O,O00,00O to 100000 is
spent yearly by the American tourist
in search of European scenery, Mr..
Daniels says that the country badly
needs hot applications Of education to
the seat of the disease of ignorance.
Washington has already seen the need
of such treatment, and is preparing
to give it a thorough trial.
This article, it seems to me, con-
tains a sound bit of advice for any
community which is planning to adj
vertise its attractions to the outside
world. A little community catechism
would not be amss.
Question No. 1 might read: What |
do the home people think about it? |
What do the home people know about
it? Is every voter in the community
really familiar with the aspects of the
features to be advertised, or their
value in attracting the tickle, or is
this knowledge confined to few far
sighted individuals who are carrying
not only their own burden Of respon-
sibiity in the development work, but
the burden of public indifference as
well? If the latter is the case, and
the community really has something
TO market, the disease of ignorance is
pretty sure to be lurking somewhere,
and it is time for some hot applica-
tions.
Are the people preparing for the
results of the outside advertising?
Are they cleaning up the rubbish
piles, the unsightly vacant lots, learn
ing the how and why of the handling
of large tourist population, seeking
to anticipate the wants Of Brother
Tourist when he makes his appear
ance. Because If these things are
not being done and being done en-
Enthusiastically, your townspeople are
merely hoping for the best and pre-
pairing for the worst, and the worst
will be the thing to happen. Some
hot applications would soon relieve
this condition.
No community can over-value the
local spirit of cooperation as an asset
in an advertising campaign. No one
man or no group of men can hope to
accomplish by conscious effort frac-
tion of the advertising which can be
given as the free offering Of an en-
thusiastic population. For the great
est and best advertising is not that
for which you pay out money to the
space-sellers, valuable as that variety
has proven itself to be, but the adver-
tising which the visitor pays the COM
munity for, and takes away with him,
an indelible impression of progress,
enthusiasm and cooperation. More
hot applications, please!