Evening star., 1951-12-02
Traveller $ Notebook
Reserve Airline Seats to Weeks Ahead
By Jacques FutreIIe
The Stor's Trovel Editor

serving Florida. Eastern's winter
selection of flights goes into effect
in two weeks; National stepped
up its flights yesterday, a full
month before last winters ef-
fective dates.
Nationals winter schedule Is
adding 100 seats a day between
Washington and Florida points
this season. An announcement OF
it's added service says seven "red
carpet" star flights - featuring
flowers. music and beverage serv-
ice in the planes-will depart from
Washington each day to such
Florida resort areas as Miami.
West Palm Beach, Tampa and
Jacksonville, and to Havana, Cuba.
Entirely new flights out of
Washington include a DC-4 morn
ing departure serving New Bern
and Wilmington. N. c.; Charles
ton, S. c., and Jacksonville. An
other new DC-4 morning flight
leaves several hours later. nom
stop to Charleston. and then con-
tinues on to Savannah. Ca: Jack
sonville, Orlando. st. Petersburg
and Miami.
Not counting extra sections,
which will be run as the occasion
demands, Nationals improved
service brings an increase Of 40
per cent on the daily seating Ca
pacity.
New Railroad Meals - Those
Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad
passengers between Washington
and Charlottesville who partici-
pated in a recent dining car ex-
pertinent learned last week that
the airline-style tray meals are a
success.
C. g. o. Vice President Thomas
]. Deegan, jr.. has disclosed that
nine out of 10 passengers who
wrote their reactions liked the So
called "Chessie-Tray" meals Of
pre-cooked frozen food for flavor,
speed of service and lower price.
Price. said Mr.. Deegan, was the
crux of the experiment. Still, a
few travellers expressed a prefer
ence for traditional dining-car
service.
The frozen food, of the same
type served on airliner fights to
foreign countries. is packaged for
the road by a Philadelphia con-
Germ. Individual servings, delivered
to the line in an aluminium platter
and sealed under foil. are heated
in an electric oven when the meal
is ordered. Fortified by soup. salad,
roll and butter, dessert and a
beverage, the meal is served on a
compartmented tray.
The range of prices for complete
meals runs from 95 cents to $2.20.
which the line says is about 40
per cent less than standard dining
car prices for similar items. En-
trees available now, with a wider
choice forecast as the experiment
continues, are chicken pot pie,
spaghetti and meat balls, braised
beef. Swordf1sh and Swiss steak.
After being operated between
Washington and Charlottesville
for about six weeks, the stream
lined lounge diner with special
ovens was shifted to the C. g. o.
run between Cincinnati and Ash
land. KY, for another trial run of
three weeks.
From a railroading standpoint,
the meals were gratifying to
c. & o. officials. They halted the
deficits the line was having to pay
over and above the income from
dining car service. According to
Mr.. Deegan. it cost the line 81 So
for every 81 patrons paid for
SGoiI0d1O O1lIlliS CdI GCJ VIC III
1850. For all the Nations rail
lines, the loss in this department
last year amounted TO nearly $27
million.
Car0nia'S New Cruises - The
Cunard Lines cruise liner Caronia
has been scheduled for three
special cruises for next String
and summer. Announcement was
made yesterday that the popular
Caronia will sail from New York
in late April on a 41-day voyage
to North Africa, Spain, Sicily,
Italy, the French Riviera, Po1tu-
gal, Ireland, Sweden, Norway,
France and England. Passengers
may disembark at Havre or South
ampton for springtime tours of
Britain and the continent. return
ing to New York in later Cunard
sailing.