The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-08-28

VALcB or 4 WATE1N0 pLkC1-GoOD FOR
- something peculiarly
gratifying o us In tie evidence furnished
by an ext act from enc Of the Newport jour
nal which We pull b IN our columns to-
cay. The xtract IN gu st on is neither more
nor less than staa ment Of the valuation OF
assessed properly within tn Municipality OF
Newport for the current yrar. But the plea
sure which we derive f. ON IL consist.in the fast
that thi- years estIm te exceeds by some six-
teen per cent that Of 1853. To be more explicit,
it appears that whereas the total amoaat Of
real and .. rsonal properly was last year es,i-
mated at 81 726. 100, the estimate for the pre-
sent year is S., 220 500, or al increase Of nearly
million and q half of dollars. We may here
remark thet a considerable portion of the real
estate appears to be owned BY some dozen per-
sons having their permanent city residences in
New York, and their country villas at Newport
One or two residents Of Boston are also real
estate owners to pretty high figure. The
names Of come of those non residents who are
assessed on their properly at Newport are
given in the extract to which we refer
Among them we notice that Of Mr. Bancroft,
the historian, set down at Sl4,00O, Sydney
Brooks at $4,000, Prescott Hall, late U. s.
District Attorney Of New York, at s56, 900, and
Major George T. Downing, colofed man, and
vendor Of tat Shrewsbury oysters, cooked in
every style, at $l4 900.
This evidence Of prosperity is encouraging
and gratifying and notwithstanding the exist
ence Of thu Maine Liquor law there, we rejoice
that Newport is looking up. The time was, and
that not century ago, when its harbor was
sought by vessels from every cline; and when
in the homes of Its merchants and wealthy men,
visitors from the highest literary, fashionable
and aristocratic circles of Europe found plea
can't and hospitable reception. Then was New
pert the social and commercial capital Of the
New World. The ships Of her merchants visited
every port whore trade invited them, and the au-
cestors Of many of the old families of the place
amassed their wealth from the lucrative traffic
which they carried on in African slaves and
West India rum. But times have sadly changed
since then. The. glory OF Newport has been
long extinguished and those two profitable
commodities are now contraband within her
gates.
IN the midst Of her prosperity the revolution
came. Trade was. paraly 2ed, if not wholly des-
troyed; and the close of the struggle saw the
population of the town reduced to about
third OF what it had been. From that blow
Newport never made an effort to recover
Though favored with one of the finest harbors
in the country, and nearer than New York is to
Europe by some thirty-stx hours sailing, still,
IS it had not the advantage Of water communi-
cation with the interior of the country, it could
not retain its position of prosperity. Had rail-
roads been known, or had canals been in ope-
ration in those days, the story might have
been different, and Newport might have been
still the greatest commercial mart, instead Of
as 1t is, the pleasantest watering place Of the
United States. But railroads were unknown
and canals were undug, and Newport had not
the advantage of Hudson or Mississippi to
bring the produce of the interior to her docks.
Tie natural consequence was, that her com
merce could never recover the effects of the
revolution. The shock it received was dea'h
blow, from which it could not rally; and the
Importance of Newport is now among the
things thathave been. We see, however, that
an effort is about being made to revive bust
ness in it by the establishment of line Of
steamers between that port and Brest.
Newport is one of the very few monuments
that We have appealing to our sympathies in
the name Of the venerable past. Our interest
in it is caused more by what it has been than
by what 1t ia. Its deserted docks and dilapidat-
ed warehouses give 1t an appearance Of age
and decay, and convey q lesson on the muta
bility Of fortune, while, on the other hand, the
thousands Of fashionable people who throng its
hotels in the summer season, and occupy the
villas along the beach, proclaim it to be the
pleasantest watering place in the Union. It is
gratifying, too, to reflect that If it's former
greatness sank before the growing Importance
of New York and Boston, it owes much Of its
present prosperity to the people Of those cities,
who constitute perhaps two-thirds Of its sum-
mer population. Thus
Time at length sets all things even.
We have not before MS the like estimates for
other fashionable resorts in this country. to
enable us to compare their relative prosperity.
1t appears to US, however, that the increased
value Of real and personal estate at
Niagara equals, If 1t does not exceed,
that to which we have called attention In the
case Of Newport. But then the attractions of
Niagara are not confined simply to tourists or
fashionable people. Its position, It's stupendous
water power, (Which is being made available)
the fertility gifts soil and the salubrity Of it's c
mate, all conspire to induce settlement there;
so that Niagara bids fair soon to become a town
of Importance. Not so Saratoga. There Is mo-
thing in lite position or soil to induce men either
to become permanent or transient residents
there; and were II not for the acknowledged
virtue OF its waters we think that few who have
been there once would subject themselves Sc
cond time to the misery of boarding, or rather
starving, O week at one Of Its hotels.