St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1937-06-11
HERE and
THERE
By W. II. smitA

housed in a modern One-stOry stone
building owned by the Minneapolis
Park Board. 1t is financed by the
Minneapolis Civic and Commerce
Association.
Here day after day and month
after month, throughout the en-
tire year a force of expert clerks,
five in winter, three in summer,
give information of utmost value
to the citizens of the Twin Cities
and to a veritable host of people,
who come from every state in the
Union, from every province of Can
ada, Mexico, and from twenty or
twenty-five foreign tries
throughout the world
While most of the inquirers seek
information concerning the. won
derful 10000 lakes of Minnesota
and its unexcelled hunting and
fishing grounds, these by no means
exhaust the questions propounded
to those in charge.
The Twin Cities are the gateway
to the great Northwest with its
vast expanse of beautiful rolling
prairies, superb scenery, magnifi-
cent forests, awe inspiring noun
tain peaks and ranges; the Yellow
stone National Park, where the
original endowment of Americas
beauty of fauna and flora and ter
rain has been so marvelously pre-
served and protected.
All of these are the eager quest
of the more than half a million
travellers, who annually storm these
portals to the great Northwest
over the broad, well constructed
roads that intersect each mile of
its intriguing extent.
The Twin Cities themselves are
a continuing source of amaZement
and wonder to the hundreds of
thousands of visitors. Their clean
cut appearance, modern buildings,
commodious hotels and caf es s,
amusement resorts, show houses
and the like; the modern facilities
of the many railroads leading to
the vast territory beyond; these,
I and a thousand other details of sig
nihcant Importance become the
source of inquiry that test the
knowledge of the Bureaus clerical
force. 1t seems never to sound the
depth of the available information,
nor disturb the serene courtesy
with which each applicant is sup
piled. He may be a home town
product, a stranger from afar in
a modest flivver; traveller de luxe
in Rolls Royce, or just a plain
citizen who wants to be directed to
the famous falls of Minnehaha, the
ball park or some other place to be
reached by street car. In either
case he gets what he wants; gets
it quickly and accurately.
Have you ever, in a movie pic
ture house, seen a map thrown
upon the screen with a pencil of
light rapidly pointing the way to
some desired location? You will
be reminded of it as any one of the
Bureaus clerks takes a pencil and
marks with almost equal speed and
certainty on map of the United
States, of Canada or Mexico,
route from the Twin Cities to the
Golden Gate of California, the Gulf
of Mexico, the cities in the st.
Lawrence basin or any other place
to which the traveller would wish
to go.
Not the least surprising thought
is that the wide awake business
men of this community provide this
wide field of essential service free
of cost to all and sundry. The only
things sold at this bureau are pic
ture post card views of the Twin
Cities beauty spots of the
Northwest and certain maps not
available for free, distribution; also
fishing licenses. There are other
travel bureaus throughout the land
but none so large as this that
stands as the gateway to the
Golden West"
The Travellers Bureau is a very
reliable index of the cOuntry's
business health. During the de-
pressive years from 80 to '35 it
reflected the general state of low
economics. In 1886 as the country
began to emerge from the slough
of falling business it rose in vol
ume. For the months of the pres
ent year it has shown such steady
advance that it may reasonably be
expected that the facilities of this