Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1857-08-05

uughfares, stretches his fancy with languid long
ing to the forest-eooed hills and shady streams h,
used to haunt, and tries to murmur, through
baked lips, LAS the hart panteth for the wate'
brooks, so panteth my soul for thee, o Massa
chusetts.''
| And vet complacent rustics of Worceste.
| County, We who sit under great elms upon tn,
| grass-plsts, and deepen your own luxurious re
| pose by stray thoughts of US, wretches. who, a.
| you love to fancy, are simmerinR in these caul
| drons of the SUM- know ye, that the genuine New
| Yorker scoTDs the comparison you would fair
| make between your condition and his, and re
/ turns your compassion with usury. The old sole
/ and unaduterated RficEer5ocker believes this city
/ the coolest place on the continent. He looks
| down with sovereign contempt upon that vagrant
and parvenu tribe of fashionahes, who scud away,
| every year, to be fretted and feeced at bad tav
erns, or to be food for mosquitoes and horse flies,
| on some shadeless beach. He sits, after dinner,
| in his ancient and spacious parors, deep and
| dark the windows whereof are shaded, in West
Indian fashion, by heavy screens of canvas, his
neckcoth ioosened and his right hand slowly
swaying a huge embroidered leaf whose odors,
dim and musky, hint of Ispahan, he will tell you
| of what he suffered once, when, in the wake of
fools, he left New York, IN August, for distant
and savage farm house among the Highlands,
| and was brought home, four days after, in rag
ing brain fever, "a sun stroke. sir, sun stroke,
| without question and every man out of New
| York is in danger of one"
| In the present state of the glass; will not en-
ter on heated discussion of this subject, but will
drop it with the remark, as old Plato, that the
| beat foil to the dog star is tranquil mind
Sunday excursions are, l believe institutions
known in New York, only, of all American cities.
| New Highlander, brought up with pretty strict
ideas as to the first day of the week, hardly
knows, at first, what to think olthese expeditions.
But, he finds, further examination, that
thousands, and, had almost said, tens of thou
sands, of quiet, well dressed, and well behaved
people, with their wives and children, participate
in them, he is generally inclined to give them
trial. Every Sunday morning, in Summer,
steamboats, OF large capacity leave different
wharves of the city for various points Of interest
within a circle of twenty or thirty miles. Some
go up the river, others seaward, some to Staten
Island, and some to Coney Island, and other
points on the shores of Long Island or New Jer-
sey. These boats are gaily hung with flags, are
arranged with canvas awnings, are generally
crowded with passengers, and present very live
| ly aud animated appearance. A few Sundays ago
Joined one of these excursion parties to Staten
| Island. The boat in which we went was one of
| the regular Staten Island ferry boats, which are
very lgrge and handsome. The fare was six cents,
| or, as everybody here says, sixpence, each way.
| There must have been several hundred persons
| on board, about equally divided as to sex, and
large part of them, should Judge, working peo-
! Pile There were good many Irishmen and
| Germans with their families, and almost all had
| a well-to-do look There was no noise or rowdy-
i ism on board the boat.
We started from New York, at four o'clock in
| the afternoon, flor the boats run several times
| day) and, sailing down the magnificent and
| mast-crowded harbOr, in less than half hour
| touched the first landing on Staten Island which
last, as everybody knows, is long, high, narrow
| ridge, some ten miles in length, dropped into the
very jaws of the Hudson river. 1t is by many,
| thought TO be the most beautiful spot in Amer-
| ca, Nature and art have combined to make it
another Calypso's isle If the town of Milton, in
| your State, could be dug up, bodily, and dropped
| down at the mouth of Boston halbor, it would
| be, to that city, what Staten Island is to New
| York. As every house has its skeleton, so, they
do say, that in spite of all its loneliness Staten
| Island has one drawback, which has emptied
wany prncely villa on its shore, and that is, the
| shakes
We touched at several points along the East
| side of the Island and finally landed, for an in
land stroll, its Southern extremity, and al
most opposite the frowning walls Of Fort Hamil
ton l found an omnibus marked "To the
Brewery" driven by Fuetonic youth, with lit
tie or no knowledge Of the English tongue and,
not having any exact idea of what the said Brew
cry was, / mounted the vehicle, and sat out on
voyage of discovery, up long hill, lined with
beautiful tree1, and leading to the interior of the
| island. II was studded with embowered villas !;
and we soon came to gateway, whose trees were
| placarded with announcements of lice creams, .
g sandwiches" oysters &c, but not the least
| hint of any less innocent refreshment half a
| mile further on, similar gateway, labeled,
| in huge printed letters, Roswell Park" and
the singular seclusion and beauty of the place
| induced me TO alight, and see what mysteries
"Roswell Park" might conceal
| Abandoning the 9 Brewery" which l after
| wards learned was extensive establishment at
which the exile from Fatherland might console
his sorrows by lager, pure from its native foun-
| tains, found deep wood with winding carriage
| at S nd font Put
iIg and recrossing, and alive with foot passen-
| gers and carriages. There seemed to be con-
Vengeance of the crowds towards point further
| into the grove, and to that directed my steps.
All at once, came upon a spot, from which all
| but the largest trees had been cut away, for the
| space of holt acre or more, and. under and
| among these, was scene which could hardly be
found elsewhere than in the suburbs of Paris or
the enviIons of Vienna. In the midst of this
open space, sort of drinking house or saloon
had been erected, having wide verandah run
ming around it, and all about. under the trees,
sitting at little tables scattered here and there,
| or lying about on the grass, were groups of men,
women, and children, mostly German and
| French, chatting, laughing, smoking, and drink
| ing lager beer, and other more potent fluids
Some swinging sloit in those large circular
| swings which turned with crank others
I had teams, with rather fast horses which ragged
Irish boys were holding in the shade, and, 10 tell
tAe truth, pervading the whole was general air
1
faction, which seemed something like desecra-
ton of the solemn twilight of the woods. Upon
nearer examination of the company, 1 was
forced to believe that it was not made up alto
gether, Of the reputable classes-or, to be more
| plain, it seemed to be composed, with few ex-
| ceptons, of rowdies, drunkards, jockeys, and
| gamblers, of both sexes. Where they came
| from. found it little difficult to conceive, as
the island itself certainly could not support such
| population, VAhd as it seemed to be quite diff
/ ierent class from that which came with me on the
| boat from New York. l have no doubt howev-
| er, that most of them were from the city.
| l wandered about, for half all hour, among the
| picturesque groups of Roswell Park and
| then stroled slowly back to the landing, re-
| volving in my mind the question, whether, after
ALL it might not be as well for tine evil classes to
| go out once week into the woods, as to stay,
forever fostering together, in the stived dens of a
crowded city. Perhaps the fresh wind of the sea
and the tranquility Of the forests may do some
thing towards mitigating, if it cannot extinguish
the guilty fever which burns at the hearts Of
| these savages of civilization.
| l am certain you will esteem it. favor, that
my letter makes no alluson TO the politics either
| Of New York or Massachusetts. ARCTURUs.
For the Spy.
WHAT THE MoRMoSs INTEND TO Do-Messrs.