The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-08-11


Is beccmtnE . great tourist town
Some one has suggested that Il u
because - many peoDle want TO
see where their antos como from.
but anyway the city b always nIl-
ed with visitors. laden with cam
efas. umbrellAs. maps. milk choc-
olats and all the other parapher-
MALTA indispensable to sight-seelng.
People who used to bay round-trip
tickets to Niagara Falls now ex-
tend their journey to Detroit. man
aging to get here before the flrst
gorgeous. luster IL worn on their
wedding rings.
Everywhere you turn you 81 .
large yellow sightseeing bus. and
It Is always saeging under heavy
load. One OF these departs from
the sightseeing headquarters every
half-hour during the day. and ~
each passenger pays two dollars
for the trip. you can see that the
bus company likes tourists.
But all the facilities of Detroit
are equally OVER atronized. Every
ferryboat which leaves the Wood
ward avenue docks IL packed with
admiring tourists: every trolley car
carries its quota Of inquirins
strangers; every lunch room has
its party Of excursionists, while
the hotels do such . thriving bus
mess that an arriving guests ID
usually ushered to his room Just
as the baggage Of the former occu-
pant is going out the, door. In
deed. 1t is often necessary to. sit
patiently in the lobby waiting foz
. vacancy to occur. Provided you
can find q place to sit, that is, be-
cause the tourists also monopolize
the Hobbies. It is impossible to
walk about without humping into
one Of them. and as for the eleva-
tors, they fairly creak with them.
The Elevated Rebolled.
In fact, the elevator we were In
the other morning did more thar
that. It rebelled. One instant II
was floating rapidly upward, and
the next instant 1t had dropped
midway between two floors. I'm.
mediately historical giggling broke
forth among the feminine passen.
gers. who. were visiting school
teachers, while the only other &C.
cupant, a small. foreign-lookine
priest, Was obviously disturbed
Apparently he had not been accus.
toned to the dizzy activity Of
American elevators. Il shall have
to report this" he said when the
porter came with a ladder. "This
is what comes Of elevating whole
conventions at once"
One OF the reasons Detroit 1T
tracts so much tourist travel, o.
course, is the fact that it adver
tises itself SO extensively. No ont
will deny that Detroit is one Of thu
most attractive cities Of the med
die west. 1t has q personality anf
charm quite different from thu
rest, but this charm is appreciated
by none quite so much as by De
troit. In its own estimation, De
troit is perfect. Beautiful ani
Dynamic Detroit" is the modes,
term It has selected for itself. AND
the only way you can get 1t to I'D.
NIT any possible faults is by your.
self pretending q violent infatua.
ton for it.
We have discovered that II yol
want to be taken into the conf
dence OF city and given a private
view OF its closeted skeletons, yoy
have only to follow this method
Criticize 1t, and you will have ever.
citizen rising calamity to its de
tense; but praise it. and they will
point out its unpleasant features
just to be contrary. Even the loca
chamber of commerce will forge
itself under these circumstances
Thus it was from the Detroit cham
Der of commerce that we Learned
that while Detroit is beautiful ant
dynamic. It IL also unhealthfull,
overcrowded; that it is full Of petit,
graft; that the housing condition,