The Coconino sun., 1920-07-16
THIS TOURIST TELLS
 US THE PLAIN TRUTH

It is desirable to be able to see our selves as others see us; especially when the person through whose eyes we look is capable judge and when what he tells us is not all for the pur- pose of flattery, but is sincere pre- sentation of both our advantages and our shortcomings.
 The following contribution was brought to The Sun office Monday morning by a prominent Los Angeles physician who has grown to love our climate and scenery, but who rightly deplores the shortsightedness of our people in not capitalizing onp them, both because of the pecuniary gains lost and because of the way the tour Iists are cheated here through not be- ing given the proper conception of the magnificent sights within easy dis tance all around us.
 Editor Sun:
 l am stranger in a strange land. I am a resident of Los Angeles, where the greatest crop is the tourist crop" and the harvest is all year.
 l have been sojourning here in your hills for the past few weeks and I wish to say that you have more wonderful climate and nature has giv- en you more glorious views than the city of the Angeles, yet your citizens neglect to harvest that crop which would bring your merchants greater returns than any industry you have.
 For the past fifteen years, I have spent part of each summer wandering up and down the Pacific coast and have visited nearly all of the summer resorts from Mexico to Canada, and wish to say that you have the making of as beautiful resort as any have seen.
 It is here in the rough, waiting only for the master hand to improve it. Yet you are doing nothing along that line.
 There is on an average fifty auto mobiles touring through FlaSstaff each day from early sprlng ihM fall and this number will increase each year as the roads improve. Each ma chine will average four people and each day, even as it is, there are sew eral hundred dollars left in your city by these tourists.
 Occasionally few come in by train.
 These tourists do not see the beau- ties of the hills and the granduer that is here, but they pass, calling it only a wide place in the road-just as there are hundreds of other places on their transcontinental trip.
 They, forget Flagstaff as soon as they are out of sight,
 The average auto tourist is out for a summers pleasure, coming from the east, they are headed for California going east they want to see the old home or are returning home after seeing the beauties of the west.
 As a rule they are not in a hurry, but do want to get out of the dust and on to good roads.
 They intend to camp somewhere all summer. Why not stop in Flagstaff? Los Angeles has grown within few years from village to city of over half a million, principally by catering to the tourists. Yosemite Valley is visited by tens of thousands each sum- mer; Lake Tahoe, Mount Shasta, Cra- ter Lake, Bear Valley, Mt. Rainer, The Big Trees, Yellowstone and . hundred other places attract their thousands of summer visitors and none have more wonders and beauties than are around Flagstaff.
 The uppermost questions to the auto tourist are, how are the roads? What kind of q camping place did you find?
 Coming from Los Angeles there is not a single. decent camp ground after leaving Cajon.
 l have talked with scores of tourists who have been compelled to stop at