The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1916-12-21
CHEAP TOURS N .
EUROPE ARE NOW
Thing OF PAST
Travel After the War Will
Be Much More Expen-
sive.
HOTELS ARE CROWDED
!: Taxi Fares are Now Four,
Times the Former
Prices

) VIENNA, Dec 81. - Cheap tours
through Europe are considered over
for ever by men qualified to speak on
the subject. The days in which dol.
lar doubled and trebled in value by
icrossing border are considered gone
3The increase In tho cost Of labor, taxa.
.tion due to the war, the wear and tear
on all means of travel, augmented by
the neglect which the war brought
about, and the great and general eco.
nomic loss and waste incident to the
present times have removed Central
Europe from the list Of places where
one could spend a few weeks in great
comfort and still save the price OF a
first class steamer ticket. Travel aft.
er the war will be as expensive in Eu-
rope as in the United States, il not
more SO, some believe.
+ At the present time such thing as
an empty room in a Vienna hotel has
ceased to be. Nowadays room worth
having in a Vienna hotel can be OBJ.
tanned only by getting ones name on
the waiting list, and even this is I'M.
possible II the would.be patron is un.
known to the management. Visitors
still under tho impression that Wen
ma hotels are run on the old basis usual
1y spend hours after their arrival try
ing to find room and then end up by
sleeping in some hotel corridor on a
cot at a price which formerly would
give them u good room. Those un.
lucky enough to reach Vienna with Il
might train may spend their first night
in the station. At one of the best Wen.
ma hotels the price for a suite OF two
rooms and bath went up by IS crowns
q few days ago, this increase being i'll.
cident to general rise which added
from two to five crowns to even the
plainest rooms. In Budapest condi
lions are possibly a triflo worse. Even
Sofia Is seeing a rise in prices in hotel
accommodation which is unpreCedent.
ed in the Balkans, and Constantnoplc.
boosting OF but two first-Class, and
three sGeonkrlass hotels, has become
altogether impossible for the ordinary
traveller.
The cause for this is the same every
where. The war prevents people from
going to the wintering places III the
South, and amusement is therefore
sought in the large cities. Refugees
from districts in the war zones, and the
many officers on leave of absence OF
convalescence, not to mention innum-
cradle government agents and pur-
chasers, also make heavy demands on
transient living quarters.
Vienna has opened tow large hotels
since the outbreak OF the war, and is
about to open still larger one. III
Budapest high class hotel was on the
verge OF going into bankruptcy owing
to lack of business, when the war
s:.rted II is now running full blast
End making money.
IaIgGb sins may also be mentioned.
g.a,:gh most Of them run on "mCChaEi.
Lal" tires OF litue or no shock.abSOrb
ing qualities and have not been reno.
waited internally since August 1914,
their drivers want just four times what
they charged before the war. Higher
cost of fuel and living is the answer
The same factors caused slight 'in-
\ crease in Vienna street car fares re.
Gently.
at is Vcritable financial absurd.
ity," says the Tribune dc GcnCYc con-
menting on the low price Of the dollar
in Switzerland, which is now worth
, five francs fourteen confines, whereas
the normal price is five francs egh-
teen confines, while Swiss money is
1T a great premium i'll Paris, London
and New York. In Paris, for example,
a 100 franc Swiss note is worth IA to
1888 francs today. Americans living III
Switzerland are losing by the OK.
change rates. The Tribune adds that
the situation is extraordinary because,
whereas America is full OF gold and
lending millions to the belligerCnt ma
lions, Switzerland is surrounded by
fighting nations and has contracted Il
debt, since the war, of over 7O0.000,000
francs, but its credit is increasing as
the war progresses. The Swiss govern
ment intends shortly to raise another
loan of 100,OOO,0OO francs for mobilizu
ton and other purposes.
-E%