Evening star., 1950-02-19
By Paul K. Hoque

one Of the Nations 10 largest
cities is suffering so severely from
trafic congestion. it is held, al
though not reliably surveyed, that
they are failing to attract many
prospective visitors. Leading the
jam are Los Angeles, Boston and
New York. followed by Baltimore,
Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Phil
adelphia, Pittsburgh and st. Louis.
Among plans to ease the situation
are an increased number of one
way streets and construction of
underground garages, but real So
luton is still far away.
X X X
A disgruntled observer of Amer
leans, knowledge of United States
geography points out that very
few persons realize Reno is far
ther west than Los Angeles; that
the extreme southern point of
Canada is south of Boston and
that the northernmost part of
Mexico is farther north than Sa-
Vannah, Ga.
Although 10 international air
lines will provide nearly 100
flights a week to Europe this year
and transatlantic steamship lines
are adding substantially to their
services, any one who plans to
visit Europe during 1850 should
make arrangements noW-imme-
diately. American Express re-
ports that transportation officials
foresee an all-time high in trans
Atlantic crossings not only due to
the Holy Year but also because of
above-normal travel in general,
and special events such as the
Passion Play" at Oberammergau,
the Edinburgh Festival, the 1000
year anniversary Of the founding
of Paris and the Holland Three
City Festival.
Legend, intrigue, and even war
have revolved around the Pom
tine Marshes. which for 1900 years
defied scores Of attempts at
drainage until Mussolini won Sue
cess shortly before the last war.
Lying some 80 miles from Rome
and covering 100000 acres af ex-
traordinary fertile land, the Pom
tine region was an extremely pro-
ductive area in the fourth and
nth centuries BIC. Then about
800 BIC. something happened to
flood 1t that has never been un-
derstood. The first in long series
Of unsuccessful drainage attempts
began.
In the ancient past. too, %
towns were supposed to have ex-
listed In the area but today there
is not a single trace of them. 1t
Is believed that since the entire
region is alluvial ground, with no
stones in a 10-mile area, every
piece of the old buildings was
used for construction by later
civilizations.
Perhaps the first mention of
the Pontine region was made by
the Greek poet, Homer, who lived
about 900 BIC. He spoke Of the
Pontine's Mount Circeo, in the
Odyssey" as the scene of the
legendary encounter between
Odysseus and Circe, the sorceress
who changed his followers into
pigs.
Even lawsuits began as a result
OF the interminable squabbles over
the Marshes. The longest on rec
ord lasted $50 years-from 1880 to
1890.
This is the year to visit Florida.
Late estimates place the number
Of visitors 10 per cent below last
year and indications point to little
difficulty in obtaining hotel ac-
commodations throughout the rest
of the winter season. AS every
one should know by this tirne-in
view of the States massive propa-
ganda machine - Florida offers
sights to satisfy nearly every taste
and prices to match just about
everyone's pocketbook.
X
Nine entire railroads were OFF,
cially abandoned during 1949 but
the record Is not as dark, as it
might seem. Some had been out
Of service for several years and
the number Of miles involved to-
tailed only 848. However, this is
the top abandonment since 1943
when the total reached 1895
miles. The two largest roads to
lose their identity last year were
the Missouri & Arkansas and the
Rio Grande & Eagle Pass.
The United States transporta-