Union County star and Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1859-1864, 1863-10-20

A MAMMOTH PIc-NIc-lf proof 20
desired Of the extent to which New York
enterprise carries ont its purpose, the Wit.
nesses Of . picnic excursion Of the em.
ployees of J. W. BRADLEY's Hoop-Skir,
factories 90 Friday last, to 'Dudley's Grove,
q few miles above Yonkers, on the east
side Of the Hudson, had satisfactorily
demonstrated it. Nearly 100 girls and
800 young men employed 10 the establish.
ment, the one with their lovers aud the
others with their sweethesrts, numbering
nearly 5000 persons. To carry this
crowd, nearly oil young and full Of fun
and frolic, three Of the largest barges in
our hsrbor we're required, and two steam
ers were needed to do the towing. By 9
o'clock the whole party had massed At the
foot Of Spring Street, North River, and
amid the playing Of Wallaee's Band num-
bering thirty pieces, and the active move.
mests displayed 10 . hundred and fifty
guadrille sets, the barges swung out into
the stream and moved up the North
River. At l2& o'clock, the boats reached
Dudley's Grove, where party and proven
der we're landed, and accordingly as per-
sonal tastes, sffiliation, or relationship dic.
tsted, the immense crowd divided into
little circles Of from half . dozen to Q
score or two each, making abou. 300 knots
of people scattered over about so acres Of
land embraced in the grove. Table-slotbs
were quickly spread, eatables we're dis
played, only to rapidly vanish, and then
walks, talks, qusdrilles, waltEes, polkas
soups and races, and the usual hilarity Of
pic-uics followed. The band divided
itself into three-one for each dancing
platform, and the dance continued with
out interruption during the entire after
noon. Ooe picnic is very much like
aue,her in its general characteristics.
This fact that 1900 of those who partici.
pated in il were the employees of one in
dustrial establishment, and 1.700 of them
girls of from Is years Of age and upward
all we'll dressed, many attired in silks and
laces, serupulously neat iu their sppear-
aDce and each one enjoying the sstisfac-
tion Of . material independence BY means
of an honorable pureuit, and each one We
may add though not at al remarkable in
these days, steel clad (for it is not to be
presumed that they make hoop skirts
without wearing them aud invulnerable
except to the light artillery Of love, and
all bent on having = jolly time. The
Messrs. West and Bradley, the proprietors,
accompanied the party. They forgot their
mercantile dignity, and shared the gene
raj bilarity Of their employees. At half
past six the party again vent on board Of
the barges and dancing was resumed until
dark, When singing became the order Of
the evening, which was continued until
the barges reached the dock at 10 o'clock.
Our reporter (his modest pen bushes as
he records the fact) attempted by an arith-
metieal calculation, mind you,to get st the
amount of crinoline that was concealed
under the drapery Of that immense crowd
of girlisb gsyety:as the result of bis COM
putation, be has come to the conclusion
that If all the crinolius on that occasion
we're put into continuous wire, it would
make line Of nearly forty miles in length.
The rise Of J. W. Bradley's skirt factory
is remarkable. Everybody knows that
about eight years ago, when Mrs. Louis
Napoleon Bonaparte rsvampsd hoop
skirts after they bad been in disuss for
tbree-quarters Of . century, the female
world was seized with an irrepressible
desire 10 be ooopered. Yankee genius set
itself to work to make improvements, and
increased demand followed Improvements
in quality and increased facilities Of man
ufac,ure. J. W. Bradley's factory was
begun in 1859, with six employees,
against 1900 now employed. Six thous.
and skirts are daily manufactured, in
which 100 miles of steel wire is used
and all this because an empress, for perso.
nal reasons, took it into her head that one
petticoat, if j. could bs made to give rs
much spread, Was better than half-s-dosen.
VanU