Evening star., 1949-01-30
The 7 raveIer's Notebook
Sun Valley Has Ski.able Snow, as Usu

do Usual
taking a cue from that oldster in
transportation-the railroads. The
PA system is pretty general in cars
of de luxe trains produced since
the war.
c. r. Smith, American .AirlineG'
new president, Is quoted as saying:
THE neutrality-suspicious. speed of
the DC-6, plus the increase in the
number of passengers, has out
moded :he old way of supplying
information in writing or by word
Of mouth"
Coupled with the statement is the
disclosure that American has in
stalled public address equipment in
its entire feet OF so DC-6s. The
fact that American is emphasizing
the scenic beauty of the regions it
flies and is talking about flight
seeing along the way holds out
the hope that the routes script
writer" will give the captain and
the stewardess some real down-to-
earth lines and not technical pat
ter that Is as boring as a plumbers
catalogue.
Granted that the word "sightsee-
ing" generally conjures up visions of
a bus, with a glib guide, meandering
through city streets. the diversion is
not land-bound in the Miami area.
Visitors can depart from the usual
by taking to the water and the air.
The services and routes are price
tagged and merchandized, so one
doesn't have to dicker for price or
charter a boat or plane.
The marine version of the rubber
necking business in Miami is a
thriving novelty. It has been esti-
mated that If all the Miami boats
specializing in this trade set of at
once, the fleet could carry l,500 per-
sons. The trips total up to about
100000 passengers year. Most Of
the sightseeing docks are at the
south end of the Bayfront Park
yacht basin.
The feet offers several standard
choices, aboard scampering speed
boats or sturdier vessels carrying 100
or more each trip. From the blue
waters Of Biscayne Bay can be seen
the waterfront homes of some of
the Nations notables. AS for price.
the Miami Beach News Bureau
quotes one 2-hour trip Of 80 miles
for $3.50. Other trips out of Miami
include visit up the Miami River
to a Seminole Indian camp, a voy-
age through the Florida Inland
Waterway to Fort Lauderdale and
skirting the Everglades for several
hours
Charter planes are available for
aerial sightseeing, but one of the
more popular flights is aboard Pan
American Airways' Convair or DC-4
Clippers. These flights take off each
Sunday afternoon and cover Flori-
da's Gold Coast" between Fort Lau-
derdale and Homestead. island
dotted Biscayne Bay, Miami Beach's
string Of fabulous hotels and pala-
tial estates hidden from road trav-
elers.
Tickets for the half-hour flights
are $345, including tax. Children in
arms are carried free, but larger boys
and girls pay full fare. PAA sight
seeing flights were a prewar feature.
But in those days, the line used
flying boats. which took of from
Miami's Dinner Key base.
Il II
In making alterations in the New
York Office, the British Railways re-
Gently unearthed an old Baedeker
handbook to Great Britain by that
inveterate traveller. 1t so intrigued
the staff that these observations and
cautions about travel were CLEANED
from its 50-year-old pages to give
today's generations q glimpse at a
bygone era:
Expenses were calculated at from
s6 to SO per day for the best hotels
and f1rst-class travel. 1t was pointed
out. however, that this was extrava-
CANT and that a daily outlay of
81 to IS was nearer the mark.
Steamer rates were from $75 to
SITS for saloon" accommodations
on the Cunard Line, White Star
Line and American Line. One could
cross for approximately $50 on most
OF the lines II one travelled second
cabin"
The average crossing was from
six to nine days and passengers
were warned to wear heavy cloth
irg, "even in midsummer" Ladies
were adjured not to forget a heavy
veil. Baggage handling must have
been different, too, as intending
passengers were warned not to tip
their bedroom steward until he had
brought all the passengers small
baggage safely to the landing stage
or tender
AS would be expected, hints on
clothing read strangely. A large
umbrella was mentioned as a neces-
sity.