Evening star., 1936-08-23

eral weeks" the national motoring.
body's midsummer touring report de-
clared. During the Spring and early
! Summer months travel between the
Atlantic and Pacific seaboards was at
an all-time record level but went into
sharp decline when great portions Of
the major transcontinental route were
beset with duststorms and tempera-
lures ranging between 100 and ia de-
grees.
simultaneously there was tre-
mendous increase in traffic bound for
cool vacation areas in northern re-
gions-in New England, the Pacific
Northwest, along the Great Lakes and
up into Canada. Mountain and lake
regions of New York and Pennsylvania
also report record-bre eaking business.
Most of the curtailed transcontinental
travel is now moving over the north
ern route, via Chicago, Ill; st. Paul,
Mimi, and Bismarck, N. Oak. AL
though drought conditions in this
area are bad, temperatures have low
= cred recently, and this Is now the
route suggested by travel counsellors
of many clubs for touring to Western
States.
Despite the break III transconti-
mental touring, the volume of motor
vacation travel Is still substantially
above last year, the previous high
water mark in touring history. This
has been accompanied by tremendous
gains in travel by other forms of
transportation-ra air and water.
Railroads report gains averaging around
25 per cent in passenger traffic over
last Summer; tranSoceanic and inter-
coastal steamship lines are practically
booked solid, while travel by air is
running more than 30 per cent above
the 1885 level. Foreign travel also is
on the upgrade, the total number of
passports issued during the first six
months of 1886 being l6 per cent over
the corresponding period OF last year.
Motor vacationing abroad, as re-
flected in the number of cars handled
by the A. A. AS foreign travel divi-
sion, is running far ahead of any pre-
vious record The foreign travel di-
vision, which handles the major por-
ton of all automobiles transported for
touring the highways of foreign lands,
reported gain of 81 per cent over the
1885 level when the previous high
record was established.
= indicators of domestic motor tour
ing point to a gain of between 10 and
Is per cent over the record breaking
volume of last year. Touring bureaus
!: of affiliated clubs in key tourist-origin
centers are unanimous in reporting
tremendous gains, in some instances
ranging as high as so per cent; gaso-
line consumption is running well above
- last year, while travel to many OF the
national parks is at an all-time high.
There is no question that the
= slump in transcontinental travel Is
Temporary. Autumn Is booming an
increasingly popular time for touring
and undoubtedly there will be another
upward surge in East-West motor
travel when weather conditions have
ameliorated."
EOR the first time in the 34-year
l. history of the American Road
Builders Association. the highway
industry and profession will hold its
next annual convention and exhibit
in the deep South. with New Orleans
selected as the convention city for the
highway conclave that will be held
during the week beginning next jan
uary II.
Announcement of the selection OF
New Orleans for the 1887 highway
meeting was made today by Charles
M. Upham, engineer director of the
American Road Builders Association,
following a series of conferences
among members of the associations
Joint Conventions Exhibit Committee.
MIR. Upham said the 1887 convention
program will be the most compre-
hensive in the associations history.
The program will not include a heavy
equipment road show, but there will
be booth exhibits of models of ma
chinery produced by manufacturers of
highway equipment and of highway
materials.
Many new factors have been in
jected into highway affairs during
recent months, including the prece-
dent-setting provision of the new
Hayden Cartwright highway act that
extends Federal aid to secondary and
farm-to-market roads. The conven-
tion program will include thorough
discussion of the most effective meth
r<dc of
of the Federal highway act.
Another subject that will receive
major attention at the New Orleans
meeting is highway safety. Col. Will
lard T. Chevalier, president of the A.
r. B. A., is engaged in a Nationwide
speaking tour, and in each of his ad-
dresses he is urging that highway Off
cials, engineers, contractors, traffic
directors and others directly interested
in highway construction and trans
portation bring to the 1887 conven-
ton specific recommendations as to
how the Nations motor vehicle traffic
toll can be reduced.
"The 1886 Convention and Road
Show of the American Road Builders
&AScoSAoeAOAA, AAClo AiA SACSCAoAo, 0CAAi-
onstrated that members of the high
way industry and profession are in a
highly receptive attitude toward all
= policies that will effect economies and
stability in road building" said Col.
: Chevalier. 1.-THE New Orleans con-
vention must supply all of the infor-
. nation that road builders desire In
e connection with highway transporta-
: tion. financing, engineering. construc-
= tion and maintenance. Also, it is alb
solutely necessary that the convention
serve as a clearing house for the very
latest information on highway safety
and other allied subjects that are an
integral part of highway transporta-
ton"
The 1867 highway program in
: wolves the expenditure of more than
: billion dollars-which brings further
support of statistics showing that the