Evening star., 1924-03-26
1924 Il. TRYING YEAR
FOR THE RAILWAYS
Travel Likely to Tax Trans
portation Facilities to
Utmost Capacity.
BY j. c. ROYLE.
Special Dispatch to The star.

| Special Dispatch TO The star.
NEW YORK. March 26.-The 100
Pullman sleeping cars now in service
can expect a rougher ride this spring
and summer than the horses of a
wild west rodeo. In addition to the
two great political conventions which
Will involve travel on the part of
hundreds of thousands of people, the
meeting of the Federation of Wom-
ems Clubs, the Shriners, Elks, Ro-
tarians and other commercial and
social bodies will entail a demand
for transportation facilities which is
expected to exceed any previous year.
| Besides the delegates to the conven-
tionS, an unusual crop of tourists is
expected. Railroad officials say that
the slogan. See America First" has
at last taken a real hold on the peo-
pie of the nation. The national parks
undoubtedly will draw a larger num-
ber of pilgrims than ever before and
! the dude" wranglers of the west are
perfecting organizations and laying
in enormous equipment TO take tray-
elers off the beaten paths.
Special Trains for Motor Cars.
Ralph Budd. president of the Great
Northern Railway, announced that his
iroad will run special automobile trains
this year to transport motor cars
| from the east so that visitors who de-
! sire to drive through the Glacier Ma
tional Park may do SO without driy-
| ing all the way. Present indications
point to a greatly increased amount of
2 - IiS
said today. And there were 100 per
cent more visitors in 1929 than in
1S22."
One of the outstanding features in
american passenger traffic" declared
Vice President |. NJ. Allen of the Rock
Island lines, today, has been the
Igrfat increase in travel to California
Formerly travel on our lines was sub
jectS to seasonal ups and downs, but
peop,e have learned that state is at
tractiSe in summer as well as in win
ter" :"
"FiIvyer" Admitted Connection.
The railway executives admit the
faithful fiivver. loaded with every
everything from pickles to mattresses
mas become not Insignificant
competitor of their roads. especially
for the shorter trips In this connec-
ton. W. ii. simpson. assistant general
passenger agent of the Santa Fe. said !:
Auto travel is heavy and Il is here to
stay, especially in summer seasons.
1t Is problem to be met, but at
present we are not worrying much.
While long trips are made by many
motorists, we find that they are us
ually content to make the trip but
once. OFTEN an automobile driven to
california returns home in box car
Railroad officials say that the tre-
mendouS expenditures made in late
months for new equipment and those
now planned Will enable them to meet
all requirements and that the supply
of Pullmans includes a surplus suf-
ficient TO care for the heavy demands
in June.
Ford as Logical Buyer.
Railroads now in financial difficult
ties are being pushed under the nose
of Henry Ford. The automobile man
ufacturer is declared by w. I. KEN
per, receiver of the Kansas City
Mexico and Orient railroad, to be the
most logical man to purchase that
property when it is offered for sale
at Wichita Thursday. He said that
while no direct effort had been made
to interest the manufacturer Ford and
his associates had put half "a million
into the road in 1902 and that by pur-
chasing it now, they would recover
this sum and make money besides. He
declared it his opinion that Mr.. Ford
could make the road pay after i'm
provements which he estimated at
s33. .000, 900, had made it united sys-
tenn.
Officials of the Atlanta, Birming-
ham and Atlantic railroad disclaim
any negotiations with Mr.. Ford for
that property now in receivership.
but point out that the line which runs
from Atlanta and Birmingham to
Brunswick. Ga, would give n
through route from Muscle Shoals to
deep water and could be connect ed
up with his Ironton road