Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1919-06-29
TOLEDO HOTELS
PLAN TO REAP
RICH HARVEST
Visitors for Willard Dempsey
Fight Will Pay $500 Each
for Beds.

Toledo, Ohio, June 22.-This city
must grapple with a different hous
ing problem in preparing for the en-
ormous crowd expected here to wit
ness the heavyweight championship
contest between Jess Willard and
Jack Dempsey, July A. With q seat
ing capacity estimated at about So,
600 in the arena, it is estimated that
at least $4,000 visitors will be in the
city over night.
Toledo itself is city of about 30O,-
900 population and even in normal
times the hotel accommodations are
inadequate. The city boasts of elev-
en- hotels of 100 or more rooms cap
acity, and ten of so or more rooms.
The two biggest hotels have been
"sold out" for the last six weeks.
Nearly all the other larger hotels
have reservations calling for their
full capacity. The smaller hotels
are filling more slowly, but unques-
tionably will be occupied to capacity
long before July 3.
All the hotels plan to install extra
beds in the rooms. A flat rate of five
dollars per bed, whether there are two
or half dozen beds in each room,
has been established as the minimum.
Only few newspapermen, who have
been on the scene a month or more,
will be permitted to occupy rooms al
one. Other guests will be obliged to
share their rooms with as many per-
sons as the management sees fit to
provide beds for.
Ec%;p,o%oe ,,1ooo Tho total boJl;,o.
accommodations in the hotels at a
discrepancy of $4,000 beds for the
number of persons expected to spend
the night of July 3, in Toledo.
AID @. Thatcher, a Toledo sports
man, is the leader in the enterprise
to provide sleeping accommodations
for this overflow. Thatcher and sew
eral associates have obtained leases
on number of vacant buildings in
the downtown district and for the last
month have been installing cots. The
two largest of these buildings, the
Terminal building and a five-story
structure formerly occupied by Tole-
dos largest department, will provide
room for 5000 and $500 cots respect
lively, while others will have room
probably for another 1000 beds.
Lodging houses are preparing to
do a land office business. Like many
other American cities, Toledo has out
grown it's housing accommodations for
the last few years due to the great
industrial growth and roomng quar-
tiers are none too plentiful even in
normal times. Keepers of lodging
houses are planning to double up their
regular guests to make room for the
expected influx of Visitors.
Toledo is within a short train dis
lance of many large cities and hun
dreds of persons will stop over night
in these cities, coming to Toledo on
ly in time for the contest. Hundreds,
perhaps thousands of persons will
stay all night in Chicago, Detroit, and
Cleveland, all within few hours ride
of Toledo. --..--e...
Pullman and steamer accommoda-
lions cannot be counted on. The I'm
tied States Railroad Administration
has ruled that it cannot permit the
boxing contest to interfere with train
movements, vital to the demobliza
ton of returning troops, and has al
| ready cancelled permits for many spe-
| cial trains which had been planned for
the contest. Persons who were plan
! ming to make the trip on these special
trains will therefore have to come to
Toledo before the bout and will add
| to the crowd of visitors here