Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-03-09

quarter Of a million dollars on park
roads and bridges and this and that.
He may be the only example of
diffident newspaper reporter on rec
ord.
MatAer and the Borax Trust.
He began as a reporter, after hav-
ing worked his way through college
by selling books. There are probably
people on the Pacific coast who are
paying installments on Mather's
books even yet. Because he was a
good reporter of business affairs he
was taken into the Office of what was
then the borax trust, and because
the borax trust had more borax than
brains it did not realize that young
men with something in their heads
besides a rattle are worth paying
regular salaries to. Mather trans
formed the trusts plan of advertis-
ing and distribution, but when he
asked for a little more money the
trust laughed heartily.
"Lookut the chance we're giving
you," said the trust. Were letting
you grow up with us"
So Mather quit growing up with
the trust right there. He had a little
neer, took options on lot of the
borax mines the owners of which
were drying up and blowing away
because the trust did not need their
borax and could not believe that any
one would ever dare fight the trust,
and started a borax company of his
own.
swept Out His Own once.
He wrote his own letters and swept
out his own Office for a time, while
his partner was jackassing through
all the deserts hunting for more bo-
rax. BY and by he reorganized the
borax trust on his own plan. Shortly
afterward he was ready to retire.
Because the national parks had al
ways been operated on tho birdseed
plan, a precedent against approprfa-
tons had grown up in Congress.
i. Each years appropriation bill is laid
out on tho general plan of that Of
the year before. During the years of
neglect the parks were compelled to
get along on next to nothing annu-
ally. When they were first CONSOLE
dated as a system, the totals of the
sums allotted the individual parks
created q precedent which has been
rather closely followed by Congress
in the years, that followed In other
words, money is being given to the
parks almost as sparingly as 1t was
given to them ten years ago. Although
since then travel to tho parks has
multiplied by six.
Decent Roads the Great Need.
But that multiplication has about
stopped, unless the parks get decent
| roads. Last year it was impossible
to put more cars on the roads OF
! some Of the parks. In the middle Of
the mountains traffic policemen con-
trolIed them on the one-way plan.
The roads are for the most part
lightly made, having been designed
I for horse and wagon traffic, and go
| to pieces annually under the joined
onslaughts Of the winter and pneu-
matte tires. The reason why Yellow
stone is the best known national park
is not merely because of its superb
scenic attractions, but because the
! War Department, in the days when
! the park was in the Army's hands,
spent enough money on its roads to
make driving over them a pleasure
| Since we have had parks-includins
s1,4s2,ooo spent by the Arny-only a
| little more than 100000 has been
spent on the roads.
That is three-eighths as much as
was spent in reoonditioning the Levi
athan last year. The case is submit
ted. The parks are starved.