The sea coast echo. [volume] (Bay Saint Louis, Miss.) 1892-current, 1920-10-30
SPANISH TRAIL HIGH
WAY COMMISSIONER
VISITS BAY ST. LOUIS
Harral B. Ayres, Managing Diree-
tor of the Old Spanish Trail
Visits Bay St. Louis-On
Trip Conferring With
Highway Leaders.
PLEASED WITH BAY ST. LOUIS
FERRY AS A LINK OF THE
Great Highway Project Connecting
the West With the East-En-
tertained by Mayor Webb
and Committee While
on Local Visit.


tertained by Mayor Webb
and Committee While
on Local Visit.
Harral B. Ayres, managing direc
co. of the Old Spanish Trail, was il
Bay st. Louis a few days ago on hi
way back to San Antonio from Mo
oile. He was met by Mayor R. W
Webb, City Attoreny r. L. Genir
and a committee of other represen
;ative citizens. Mr.. Ayres was con
ee2.ring with leaders in this great
highway project movement in Louis
ara, Mississippi and Alabama or
| his trip.
eve are arranging" he said, "te
pu5 our best field secretary in this
lection at once to build up all the
nj terests of the highway We have
)een swamped with work. If it
we're just matter with US of just
| marking route and encouraging
! ~oadbed building, as with most OF
| Ihese highway movements, it would
lot be so hard. But this Old Span
;sh Trail is arousing an interest in
he old historical associations. From
IL over the land come calls for in
tormation and photographs or some
Illustrated booklet. We have spent
d year digging out the old history
story of old Spanish days. Maya
zine writer's are now calling for data
and photos.
"'So while we are working out the
problem of highway and bridge
building, field secretaries have been
trained to work out for all commu-
nnities the old history story and
weave it into log-book so that ira
velers may be guided and instructed
as they travel along. These log
books will go all over the land and
they will bring people to the trail
by the thousands. They must also
work out the route marking, and
also the signing of old landmarks,
and arranging for campsites wherev-
er possible, also aero landing fields,
and sign all these. They will ap-
point county directors, and also local
cosuls in all towns The pa
rish Or county director will have gen.
eral oversight of all interests in his
county. The local consuls will be
whom travellers may turn for in
formation and courtesies while in
the city. All this will be listed in
the log book. 1t will be the most
complete tourist guide ever issued,
and the Mississippi Gulf Coast will
come in for considerable space.
'"Thee field secretaries will be in
sense personal secretary for eve
ry community" replied Mr.. Ayres to
query from Mayor Webb, ''for
they must study the community in
terest so that travellers will get eve
ry interesting thing out of the COM
munity when they reach it.
"They must photograph every
thing worth while. We are today
unable to supply the demand for
historical photos for feature and
magazine articles. They must work
out pictorial studies for the Old
Spanish Trail Magazine. We shall
publish this probably probably eve
ry two months. The next issue will
be an Old Louisiana Number. This
ma agazine has already been made
text for teaching in the public
SCI ools of one big city. The Geo
graphic Magazine pictures the hu-
ms story of the whole world. The
Old Spanish Trail Magazine will
pic ture the old and the new story
of this Spanish Borderland. Al
res dy we are moving away from a
mere highway project, and becoming
a historical association with a ma
ito on-wide membership devoted to
bringing back into life all this old
his tory and offering it to. the tra--
veiers of the world. The present
sir gle-line highway laid down across
the country is only the main arte-
ry. Roads will break from this main
line into all historical sections of
the southern borderland. People
who come South in winter have all
winter to play about.
The field secretary assigned to
louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama
has travelled the highways of the
Urited States 10000 miles in au-
tolnobile. He has been over the
noted highways of the North and
de Lined this kind of work North be-
cause of the fascination working out
the historical interests of the Old
Spanish Trail.
The old Spanish Trail reaches
from st. Augustine, Fla, to Los
Angeles, California. 1t commands
all the Southern resort territory.
Mr.. Ayres said to The Echo he
wss pleased with conditions in Mis-
sissippi. The chief problem he ad-
mi tied in this section are Mobile
Bay with an apology for a ferry and
the east Louisiana marshes. He vis-
tied the local ferry and express
ed great satisfaction at what he saw
and complimented the people here.
H. departed for New Orleans the
same afternoon of the day of his vis-
it, promising to soon return.