Imperial Valley press., 1936-03-06

entering by way of Yermo, which
latter station checks in the heavy
traffic OF Highway U. S. 81 CT the
Salt Lake City route into Califor-
MIA.
In addition to the passenger
cars, 1926 stages entered Impe-
rial Valley over Highway U. S.
80 from the East, and carried 81
l82 passengers. Thus. about one
sixth Of all the people who came
TO California last year came by
way of Imperial Valley This
takes into account the heavier
travelled northern gateWayS into
California from Oregon and those
routes east of Sacramento and San
Francisco.
This showing, in view of the
heavy competition We have from
other routes is most remarkable
said Harris. Besides about twenty
lesser gateWays into California
from the East and North, We have
in competition with us the great
routes such as Highway U. S. so,
or the Blythe road; Highway U.
S. Sc, or the Santa Fe Trail or
Grand Canyon route; Highway U.
S. 81, the Salt Lake City or Ar
rowhead Trail route; the two gate
ways in Northern California which
bring traffic into the state from
Oregon via Highway U. S. SO and
U. S. 10l; and the several routes
crossing the border east of Sacra-
mento, the Truckee route being
the most important.
Here we are, just a few miles
from the Mexican Border" Harris
said. "and yet we were able to get
nearly one-siXth of the total. De-
spite the fact that people are, per-
haps, travelling less than they did
in mere prosperous times, and the
competition of the recently COM
pleted road between Phoenix and
Blythe, We were able to attract
over the Broadway of America,
Highway u S. so, into Imperial
Valley rom the East. nearly one
sixth of all the traffic entering
the state, and this volume almost
equals the high record Of 1ll,O00
cars, recorded at Ft. Yuma in a
year before the Blythe read was
entirely paved
Harris and other members Of
his committees believe that with
the surfacing of the Willcox-Ben-
son-Lordsburg road, travel through
Imperial Valley by way Of the
Yuma gateway will be much in
creased, as this read when finish
ed will be in all ways the most
practical and serviceable road en-
tering California from the East,
and the only all-year, all-Weather
route passable every day in the
year. and the only route which re-
quires no snow ploWs to keep it
open.
Tourist travel means much 10
Imperial Valley Compilation made
lately by the FL Centre chamber o.
commerce reveals the fact that
one-siXth of all the property in
vestment in FL Centro is depen-
dent upon the flow of motor traV-
ell. The same general situation pre-
walls throughout the United States
which has become a nation Of
highway travellers.
Roger Babson. statistician, esti-
mates that the tourist business in
the United States consisted OF
four billion dollars last year. Ac-
cording to his calculations, the
tourist trade is:
Eleven per cent greater than
clothing business, forty-fiye per
cent greater than printing and
publishing, sixty per cent greater
than the lumber business, Cne hun
dred eighty-five per cent greater
than the baking industry, two hun
dred twenty-five greater than the
shoe industry, five hundred eigh-
teen per cent greater than the cot
ton crop OF 1888, and equal to the
Giant steel and iron industry.
While the tourist dollar which
enters FL Centre is collected in
the first instance by those who
come most directly in contact with
the car driver, such as the hotels
and gas stations, figures compiled
throughout the country and re-
elased by the United States de-
partment Cf commerce show that
the retail merchant is actually
getting the lions share Of the
tourist dollar. According TO this
nationwide compilation, it Is dis
tributed as follows:
Retail merchant ..........- S .26
Restaurant and cafes ... 81
Hotels and camps .........-..- IT
Gasoline and oil ............... II
Theatres, amusements ...... .O9
Transportation rail, - taxi OF
ConfectiOneries .....-.-.-...... %
Incidentals Observation-Disclosures. .O5
S1.OO
In view Of traffic arriving on the
great Broadway Of America, the
route which last year brought IN
through Imperial Valley nearly
one-sixth Of all the 100000 per-
sons entering the state, tourist
travel in Ell Centro is an industry
-