The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1929-09-11
The Tourist Melting Pot

Bismarck residents who have been east on vacation
rips BY car this summer must have been impressed by
he front lawn signs through Minnesota. Wlaconsin.
! llinois-in fact all the states cas;-bcarins the an
.ounccmcnt that there we're Rooms fer Tourists" TO be
lad.
These signs, as thick almost as dandclions amid the
.rass slopes linin. the streets Of all the trails, arc a new
cature Of the social life Of the United States. They arc
IN important institution. in fact, they are the new melt
nc not or tho nation, where the people from widely sep
rated sections are brought together and into CONTACTS
hat result in acquaintance. often OF q lasting cnar-
icter. Thus the people OF these widely separated Sec
ions form vacation relationships as Of ~ncighbors. Inc
,ast cxpansc of the national domain is made to shrink
ind persons Of diverse community character arc brought
nto social contact and cooperation.
II even is conceivable that at one Of the Tourist
homes q new Waysidc Inn series Of tales to be reduced to
-hythm and rhyme by another L%ongfcllow may be await
no some gifted auditor who can convert them into liter
Azure. And the wayside rooms for tourists" likewise may
come day be the inspiration Of a best seller, perhaps a
oew Main Street" or a modern "Pickwick Club A
rood deal Of modern America could be preserved out Of
shcse tourist rooms.
The tourists homo is a cross between a hotcl ana inc
nome Of . ~hospitablc, but distant relative. You drive up
10 It, usually just after dusk, park your car behind the
house, 60 inside and arc shown TO q bedroom. Gen.
orally the room is old fashioned; the Victorian age seems
TO U0gcf WlLnln TIC Walls y tiiOSC VIII
The motorist. And. In the vast majority Of cases. It IS
extremely comfortable and homclike.
what q strange institution it is, when you stop to think
about II.
You reach some town you have never seen before and
will never see again. You spend the night In tho home
Of people OF whose existence you never dreamed. At
breakfast, rs like as not, you rub elbows for a brief mo-
ment with Z scattering Of wandcrcrs-an elderly couple
from Iowa, q woman and two small children from Mis-
sissippi and q pair Of young men from Mainland then
after . little while. you go on your way again. never ia
encounter any of these people again. Or possibly you
form 1 lasting acquaintance.
The experience may mean little or nothing to you. But
Il you are wise, 1t can mean q great deal.
This tourists home is . slice Of democracy. It is also a
cross.section of the human race. You can't stop In one
without getting q new glimpse at your native country and
ct your fellow men.
And the chief thing that will stick in your mind, Il
you visit very many Of these places. will be this: That
mast people are pretty lkable. pretty admirable. pretty
easy to get along with, after all.
Perhaps that doesn't sound like much Of q discovery
Yet some people go through their entire lives without
making 1t.
Very. very rarely will the proprietor of a tourist room
In house try to "gyp' you. or show you any dbcourtesy
very. very rarely will any Of the other guests leave you
with anything but pleasant memories of your encounter
with them.
And that sort Of thing Is worth knowing. It helps
even II only In . small degree, to bolster up your faith
and confidence In the human race.