84 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



fostering the insidious habit of exaggeration, aided and 

 abetted therein by an instinctive predilection of the Ameri- 

 can people for over-statement. Perhaps it is the knowl- 

 edge of this national weakness that has prompted the rail- 

 roads to juggle with our geography, for they mould the 

 country to suit the whim, fancy or conceit of a board of 

 directors as if the land itself, as well as the government 

 that runs it, were clay in the hands of the corporations. 



The average American of today reads while running 

 and if, in his mad pursuit of the elusive cartwheel of 

 commerce, he may have occasion to study the map of 

 the United States in a railroad folder, he will, in all like- 

 lihood, come to think of the country as being about the 

 shape and proportions shown upon the railroad map. As 

 a result there are important railroads in them. To prove 

 this contention ask several friends how much farther it 

 is from San Francisco to New York than from Chicago 

 to New Orleans, or how far west of New York is the 

 Panama Canal. 



There is no 

 occasion to ex- 

 aggerate the 

 scenery of this 

 country. In 

 fact it is, in 

 most cases, im- 

 possible to do 

 so. N o t h ing 

 but the valor 

 of ignorance 

 would fire a 

 writer to the 

 task of serious- 

 ly describing 

 the Grand Can- 

 yon or Crater 

 Lake, for ex- 

 ample. Infinite 

 in its variety, 

 each type is su- 

 preme in its 

 class, yet, until 

 the doors of 

 European trav- 

 el were closed with a bang, as it were, our scenic 

 areas received but a modicum of attention from the 

 traveling public. Since this avenue of escape has 

 been closed to the tourist evidences of his import- 

 ance as an economic factor spring up on every side, 

 most particularly in the west. Hotel corridors where 

 once the resounding footsteps of a lone guest awakened 

 the sleeping bellboy to a mild surprise now are humming 

 with a throng of tourists. Even in interior towns of Cali- 

 fornia, Oregon and Washington the likelihood of secur- 

 ing a bed in a hotel these days cannot be assured. In 

 Arizona the little lodge at Roosevelt one night recently 

 accommodated fourteen guests with cots in the halls. 

 They laughed about being warned in advance. 



Why, therefore, attempt to tout the tourist? In addi- 



YELLOWSTONE EXCELSIOR UEYSfcK 



Nothing is as good as the best and we have the best. In Yellowstone we explode a crater every day for 

 the benefit of the tourist and here is one of our finest in action. 



tion to being, in nine cases out of ten, incompetent, ir- 

 relevant and immaterial, the literature of those seeking 

 to lure the tourist from beaten paths of travel frequently 

 defeats its own end. A frank statement of conditions 

 of travel, accommodations and what may be seen would 

 result in a steadily increasing travel with few complaints. 

 To the lovers of antiquity the great southwest of- 

 fers the ruins of the Toltecs and Aztecs and the ancient 

 villages of the cliff-dwellers, but the summer is no time 

 to see them. In the autumn, winter and spring months a 

 more wonderful land than Arizona would be difficult to 

 find and the cliff dwellings, perched high up in the precipi- 

 tous walls of a mighty chasm possess the added attrac- 

 tion of a magnificent setting. You do not need to wear 

 high boots nor carry a gun and knife. Just get acomfortable 

 pair of stout old shoes, if you are going to do any walk- 

 ing, and wear some old clothes. Above all, be prepared to 

 forego welch rarebits, grand operas, taxi-cabs and other 



luxuries. After 

 a few days you 

 will cease to 

 miss them. 



If you pre- 

 fer forests, 

 lakes and 

 sparkling gla- 

 c i e r s , the 

 north west is 

 your field, but 

 not in the win- 

 ter. It is not 

 n e c e s sary to 

 bring a north 

 pole outfit with 

 bundles of furs 

 and alpine 

 stocks. Just a 

 suit of heavy 

 underwear 

 added to the 

 old suit and 

 shoes and your 

 outfit will be 

 about right. 



No matter what you want in scenery, we have it. You 

 do not need to accept a substitute with the statement that 

 "it is just as good." Nothing is just as good as the best 

 and we have the best. Deep blues and pale jade greens 

 are your favorite summer colors. Step this way, please, 

 second isle to the Northwest. Forward, Crater Lake. 

 Romance. Madam ? Yes, we carry it, all wool and a yard 

 wide. You will find it in the department of antiquity, 

 southwest wing. 



We can offer everything in season : lurid desert sun- 

 sets in winter ; ruins of a forgotten race flooded with the 

 light of an autumn moon ; sparkling, thundering water- 

 falls that waft their sprays to acres of spring blooms and 

 towering glaciers that glitter in the summer sun. But 

 like all fruits of Nature they must be taken in season. 



