The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1921-01-11
sunny SOUTH BECkONs
TO THE FROZEN NORTH
.NN11AL WINTER EXODUS is
I'M FILL BLAST. GROWN
TO HUGE NUMBERS.
HOTELS REAP HARVEST
Four Hundred Thousand Tourists
Now Patronize the Winter Resorts
IS Florida, the Carolinas and Cuba.
snend Many Millions.

of Florida, inc NaA oAiAio'
Spend Many Millions.
The Golden migration to the Caro-
,,aos and Sunny Florida from the win
49,. ,v;nds OF the north again is under
,,.a,, and this year bids fair to break
oll records for money spent tor rec
~oo+;on and amusements. Crops and
t.,,;ts for which Florida is note0r
take second place as a source OF reVe-
20 10 the millions spent by tourists
IN Florida's balmy cline.
To enjoy life amid southern breezes
,,h;le the north shivers under blank
Of Of snow costs money, how much
- one can ever know. 1t used to be
ss;d that SlOO,OO0,000 was spent by
tourists in Florida every winter, Dut
~ vas before the war and the cost
~ C,i't touring had gone up. Now it is reck-
oaeJ at close to a quarter billion dol
Travel Started Early.
Some concentration Of the facts can
Ia attained, however, by search among
t5o ra;Iroad records. Passenger agents
his wear are expecting a greater travel
ta,2 by,ard than ever before. Travel
S Sou.lr earlier than usual this season
~ nronoises to break all records. The
season lasts for about Is weeks ana
during that time it is estimated that
100000 tourists will wend their way
TO the sunny south.
II is estimated that 100000 will trav,,
81 bv rail. 10000 by automobile and
at least $4,000 by boat, private cars
and Yachts Of this total number 1t is
sst;mated that about 100000 persons
snrnd their vacations at the better
known hotels, while the other lZO,0O0
fnd their wav to the smaller places and
to bungalows, cottages and boarding
houses.
Tourists Not Spendthrifts.
The great majority of the people
who 20 to Florida are neither enor-
mously wealthy nor great spendthri1tss;
Bungalow colonies are growing up all
over Florida, built by persons OF mod
crate means, who go south tor their
health. These are the ones who con-
tribute the majority of the largess to
the southland. The people of wealth,
whose names associated with Palm
Beach have made it one of the most
famous places in the world, are very
few in number, but make up for that
by the vast amounts they spend Tor
entertainment.
These varying pocketbooks have
caused a great variety in the decora-
ton and cost of the hostelries, which
seem to have sprung up all over Flor
ida. There are places for the rich man,
the poor man, and the man who has
a large family and the money and dis
position to give them a good time.
There are places like The Breakers,
where one can spend $40 a day and
up" to modest little hotels, where IS
and 81 day is charged for meals and
room. A fair average charge tor the
hundreds of hotels from Ashev1lle, N.
C.. south is So day.
Hotel Charges Enormous.
Even this amounts to an enormous
sum, for if each of the 100000 persons
stays on an average of two weeks that
brings the total hotel charges to $44,-
100000 Just how much wealthy per-
sons spend, who take FIVE or six
guests with maids and Wallets, can best
be imagined, and yet their contribu-
ton is comparatively small
That can be shown by an examina-
ton of the great chain of hotels run
by the Florida East Coast Hotel COM
pany which manages The Breakers
and the Royal Poinciana, the two best
known hotels in Florida. Their hotels,
the first of which opened on Dec. Is,
beginning the Florida season, will hold
$500 persons. If they are filled to ca
paclty, and they always are during the
10 weeks season, at an average charge
OF SlZ day, their own estimate, the
income is little more than $6,000,000-
The charges will probably run a little
higher, as $50 to SIS day is not an
unusual charge in many of these hotels
Tor the better rooms.
Homes Not Expensive.
The homes also are not all of mag
hlhcent pretension. Colonies of reason
ably priced homes have grown up
around St, Petersburg, Miami, West
RAIN Beach and other Florida cities.
II IS estimated that ten per cent of the
tourists who go to Florida own their
own homes there, which gives a real
estate valuation of $320000,000 owned
py northerners. The tax on this is big
source OF profit to the state.
II Is estimated that the railroads will
G9erlYe an income of about $20,000,000
from passenger fares to the southland
lnlS season. What is spent for amuse-
ian only be guessed at, for it is sum
Illat varies according to the means
ana habits of the individual. 1t is 'esti-
n mated however, that at least $4,000,
OoO Is paid by northerners for amuse-
n nE during their sojourn in southern
lI,lles' exclusive of the amounts dropp-
eu al certain gambling meccas, known
only to the chosen few.
Havana a Lure.
NO account of winter resorts would
NC complete these days without refer
rnCe 10 Havana, where a man can
s%ise thirst and crafty it. The Hav-
b S,ia season runs from late in Novem-
1eL until the end of February, and dur
Ing an that time there is a steady mi
sla5lon OF sport and pleasure seekers
~ CoOa. How many millions of dol
iii Iii are spent in Havana each season
''i never be known and no one seems
d. care SO long as the Volstead law
O9 NOT become applicable there