OCR Text |
Show i Spotlighting UTAH j The Sign Of The Cross A soaring traffic toll in Utah brings to the Front the importance import-ance of supporting the current drive of the American Red Cross. "Give today" is the plea of this great organization, and every Utahn should make a special ef fort to fully support the Red Cross cause; he should also make a vow to do his part in reducing traffic accidents m I'tah. The twenty-six Red CrOM emergency first aid stations on Utah highways, plainly marked by the "sign ol the cross" in the past has proved to be an excellent excel-lent damper on "step on the gas" motorists. Not only are these first aid stations safeguarding accident victims, but they tend to cut down accidents The Red Cross emergency first aid signs serves as a visual warning to careless motorists. In a number of eases where operators of service stations, highway stores, restaurants, and tourist inns have been trained in Red Cross aid and equipped with supplies including a sign out front, the number of accidents acci-dents have fallen off. With the stepped up use of Utah highways, high-ways, Red Cross chapters are increasing the number of highway high-way first aid stations and giving refresher courses to existing sta- i ions. Stati ;tics so far for !!4(i reveal re-veal a marked increase in a void - I able traffic accidents in Utah. Last year's statistics revealed ; Utah's typical driver involved in fatal accidents, to be a male urban ur-ban resident within 25 miles of I home and a licensed driver. He averaged 1 1 years of driving ex- perience, which apparently did not teach him safety - he was Violating traffic laws at the time of the accident. While the urban areas have I the availability of hospitals and ' physicians in case of traffic accidents, ac-cidents, the rural areas m many cases must rely on the Red Cross first aid stations. To bring first aid care into districts where there are fewer medical resources, resour-ces, mobile units have been organized or-ganized by the Red' Cross. In Utah, there are three mobile units operating with a fleet of twenty vehicles. A number of these units are operated in twenty four states by state highway high-way patrolmen. Other mobile unitl are operated by commercial commer-cial concerns and by Red Cross first aid instructors. The Red Cross nation-wide network of Red Cross highway first aid stations now totals 2,177 and is expected to increase as new roadside places open to serve the increased traffic this summer. sum-mer. That is one reason why motorists mo-torists and highway men have a special interest in the work of th- Red Cross, and in supporting support-ing the March Fund drive to raise 1100,000,000.00. Other reasons rea-sons why, are to carry on the services for the troops of occupation, occu-pation, the aids to veterans and their families and the help for I hospitalized servicemen. The j Red Cross not only serves our men in uniform, it also carries on an extensive program of health and safety education at home, I and stands as a safety bulwark against disasterous floods, fn I and accidents. Travel Tips This is the time of year when the Utahn, tired of the long winter, win-ter, gets "itchy feet" for green pastures and longs to "take off" for the west coast. Before leaving, leav-ing, however, those who can't wait for spring should ponder over some of the changes which have occurred in the past few years. According to reports from travelers tra-velers to the coast, the cost of ! touring has gone up c'onsider-j c'onsider-j ably The former two-dollar-a-! night California motor court j ! rooms are now three to four dol-j dol-j lars a night. None of the better bet-ter class motor courts will accept ac-cept reservations without being i paid in advance and they have a five-da? limit They no longer ; change the sheets daily where I the same party occupies the same ! room for five days on day rates anil on Sunday, you get no fresh I towels. All California motor j courts have "no vacancy" sign I displayed prominently. The eating situation has also I changed on the west coast. The old pre-war 35 cent breakfast now costs 75 cents, with orange ; juice 15 cents extra. The former i 60 cent lunch is now a dollar and j dinner runs around $ 1 .50. A Utah visitor to the famous i "Famer's Market" in Los Angeles, Angel-es, was astounded when charged 40 cents each for big lucious-appcaring lucious-appcaring cream puffs, which would normally sell for five cents. At the beach resorts, concessions con-cessions are getting twenty-five cents each for oversized ice cream cones. "You can charge any price here and get away with it," one concessionaire, a former Utahn boasted. Utahns who before the war made occasional trips to California Cali-fornia and who remember the irritation of being subject to baggage inspection and search at Yermo just inside the California Une, will bo unhappy to know that California still irks ail motor mo-tor tourists by subjecting them to a careful search of the automobile auto-mobile and all baggage. Upon being questioned, the inspectors grow irritable and mumble something some-thing about looking for a small bug which might injure California's Califor-nia's crops. The entire procedure is silly and ridiculous, for only a mile distance, twenty railroad trains daily, carry thousands of passengers into California who are. not subjected to the baggage search experienced by those who prefer to travel by automobile. As far as can be ascertained, the automobile and baggage search program at Yermo is designed to embarrass the automobile traveler travel-er and discourage his entrance into that state In Utah, spring is just around the corner Utah communities are planning clean-up, paint-up and main street face-lifting campaigns. They are getting ready to welcome all tourists and travelers coming this way. The state has no embarrassing blockades, and tourists traveling by automobile are especially welcome. In fact, the state is planning a number of port-of-entry stations, where motorists will be met with a smile, handed I literature and urged to visit Utah's scenic attractions. Utahns who feel the urge to travel, would do better to wait and see Utah first, for the state's wide variety of splendid attrac- tlrtnc , trill ....-.H U.. .. : 1 1 1 i ! liwiio win auuii ue aauaoie l(J all who wish to travel. Modern tourist courts are now going up in many of Utah's major cities. Prices are still reasonable both for accommodations and food, j and Utah offers its own residents a long list of major scenic play- ' grounds comparable to none in the nation, and not nearly as expensive to visit as out-of-state attractions. |