Evening star., 1948-05-02

ilOlludy III LIE Isles. buC uI1e war
forced many of the owners to forego
the care necessary to keep them at
their best, and only recently have
they felt them preSentable again.
During May, visitors to Bermuda
who wish to see some, of the out
standing gardens can call the gar
den club for a list of places cur
rently open.
| Several gardens in Warwick par
ish recently were made available
for early spring visitors. They in
cluded those of Mrs. A. B. Smith
of Harmony Hall, Mrs Ellen Ship
mans Ease House and Mr.. and Mrs.
]. Laken Baldridge's Burnt House
Later the gardens at Chelston,
home of Mr.. and Mrs. c. P. Dubbs,
and at Mangroville, home of Mrs
Bianchi Tompkins, were opened to
receive visitors each afternoon. Fol-
lowing, several other well-known
Bermudians threw open their gar
dens to the public, among them
Norwood, owned by Mr.. and Mrs.
Fred Aeschlimann; Mayfair, owned
by Mr.. and Mrs. Jerome Hilborn,
and Widdrington, the home of the
Mayor of Hamilton, H. st. George
Butterfield. Also included in this
group was Cedar Lodge, owned by
Mr.. and Mrs. r. S. Mclaughlin of
Toronto.
The rush to rent shore cottages
has begun. First major report of
activity along this summer vacation
line comes from Jerseys seacoast
around Atlantic City. The area in
cludes the residential suburbs of
Ventnor, Margate, Longport and
Brigantine. There are about Is 900
summer rental units. within these
five resorts, and the Atlantic City
Press Bureau estimates that ar
rangements for the rental of most
of these will be completed within
the next five weeks"
The report further says:
Tourist business this spring was
about 10 per cent below that of last
year, ,'but there appears to be no rea-
son to believe that this will result
in any vacant cottages during the
coming summer. There was Short
age last year. Rates seem to be
about the same as 1947, while the
rental periods with most are July ]
to September Is.
The hotels are looking forward
to what will be considered good
summer business, but operators of
several of the larger establishments
believe that it may be slightly be-
low that of last year. No reduction
in rates is indicated"
X y X II
A two-pronged drive to rehabili-
tate accommodations, facilities and
roads in the national parks has
been launched.
r. J. Schmunk, president OF the
American Automobile Association,
recently made a formal request that
Congress investigate tourist facili-
ties in the parks, which have be-
come "a matter of increasing con-
Germ to the travelling public" and
formulate progressive and realis-
tic nationla park policy" Almost
simultaneously, it was disclosed that
the National Park Service has
drawn up master plan calling for
an expenditure. of $50,000,000 over
several years Tin additional to an.
nual operational and maintenance
COSTS to- bring the parks up to ac-
cent a hle standards
| In presenting his request for ac-
ton, Mr.. Schmunk said:
Neglect in providing adequate
funds for national park services has
resulted in a steady deterioration
of present facilities available to
the travelling public. Accommoda-
tions are wholly inadequate to meet
the: demands of the ever-increasing
numbers Of visitors. In many cases
they are in such a bad state of
disrepair that replacement and
modernization are urgently needed.
National park roads have seri-
ously deteriorated to the point
where immediate and extensive re-
pair work becomes mandatory. New
construction, vitality needed to keep
pace with the needs of the motor
ing public, is conspicuous by its alb
Sence.'