New-York tribune., 1867-08-15
ATLANTIC CITY.
TIIE JERSEY FLATS-HARDICANuTE IN TIL
SURF-THE HIGHT OF TIE SEASON.

From Our Special Correspondent
ATLANTIC CITY, August, 1867
II beinO considered necessary to the family
credit that some of us should 90 to a fashionable
watering place this Summer the next consideration
was what SPOT should we favor with our distlil-
ouisbed presence Long Branch is without douDt Il
dclcbtfil resort but we have frequently madc
trims there for day or longer thatit was regarded
~ too much like home. Some one suggested Atlantic
CITY. We caught at the idea. That was the spot
WHY the very name suggestive OF saltnesS ana
strength in the air, of foany bulows, ana T0lllng
waves and level stretches of clean, white sand!
And So on board the steamer Magenta WHICH, i
am sorry to say is not painted Gllnls0n-puIpe Dut
very inapprOpraely resembles all other steamboats,,
we cot our first shifts of the air. that made us tee
as ii we had each drank bottle of champagne ana
filled with the prOtoundeSt pity 1or All the
creatures twOlegged and fOuTlegged that were lett
to drag out existence in the huge hot furnace, whose
chinneys and spires grew thinner as we ghded
swiftly down the peaceful inner bay with It's nuner
Gus fishing boats and pretty sails. Then we were III
the NarOwS. with It's familiar forts and nights ana
villas. Then across the outer Bay, and actually be
yond Sandy Hook. that finger always crooked 10
beckon us ont of toll and trouble into the free limit
less ocean Sandy Hook is the end of the world 10
the New-YOrk mind, and always experience shock
at my own tementy whenever venture INTO inc uh-
known spaces beyond.
Nothing molested us, however, and we arr we'd IN
safety at Port Monmouth, where we took the cars
which took us over an exceedingly picturesque anu
interesting region, known as the jersey lls, CheHy
remarkable for the production of small blackDerly
greatly esteemed by the natives rs an article OF lOOu
Where are the trees Why in the name OF beauty
don't the inhabitants grub up those Stuntcd, diseased
bushes that stretch along the road for miles what
is the use of such vast array of pondsT on see
for the cultivation of water-lieS, winch lie thchly
the surface like great white Transparent cups
filled with fragrant nectar Or, possibly they are
for the purpose of raising frogs for the ew-lort
market. What queer looking stunps are dotted all
over the buShy pains-white blue, and green. Are
tnev the remains of ancient forests! How cunOusly
they are shaped convex on one side and round at the
top and nearly of the same hight No. there Is q
taller one and, upon my word, IT mas something III
the top that looks like bonnet; 1t is bonnet. a
light breaks in upon our minds. They are jersey
women picking hucklebcrries
Through such sights as these we sped upon our way
until we reached AtCO, Jackson Junction. 30 miles
from New-YOTk. There we changed cars and took
the Camden and Atlantic train and turned our faces
seaward again. Still the same Hat, bushy country
but with villages and country seats to enliyen IT.
Forty miles from AtcO to AbsecOm, where we leave
the continent and take TO the marshes, where the
rails stretch away the level green floor like two
dark threads. Then we whZzed through the
air for seven miles more and at the pensve twilight
hour we rushed INTO Atlantic City with bells llng-
ing and cOOrs flying.
The whole place turned out en- mdsse to welcome
us The bands of music tuned mp their pipes and
strings and played their merriest airs landlords,
| clerks and walters put their blandest smiles,
children shouted TO us and ladies and gentlemen III
their very hest clothes crowded around TO look at us
and perhaps shake hands For the train has the con-
! venient custom of going through the whole place,
| and leaving its passengers at the hotel piazzaS
| IL a
happy human beings can be under favorable clrcum-
stances. Everybody is comfortable, and pleased
| with himself and all the world What free-and-
easy, devil-may-caTe look they all have! If were
10 tell them their city houses were burned down,
doubt therbeing much disturbed. for they have all
! learned to feel sovereign contempt Tor cities ana
| work, and mOncy-making generally. Their defini-
| ton OF life now Is, " long holiday and plenty OF
! fun
And now the train stops at our hotel. No matter
which one 1t sthe best of course-they are all the
best prefer not TO give the name of the hotel for
see TRmUNEs plentifully spIinkled over the house
and after this letter appears should be stared at
and pointed at and celebrity is dsagreeable to one
of my modest and shrinking disposition.
Well, as | said before, our hotel Is the best and
the band is the finest and the guests who crowd
around the train when it stops are the bestOoking
and the O!licst Among the walters every one re-
marks hne-looklng mulatto. strong as Hercules
and with face as full Of gOOd-humOT and happiness
as that of the Happy Man who had no shirt famed
classic history. That Is Hardicanutc and if YOU
don't know who HardCanute is yOu have never been
to Atlantic City, for he Is an institution of the place
and be II known to you, he is the bathcr at our hotel
80 cordial and gracious was his welcome TO that
feared that my fame had preceded, and that the dis
| tlngulshed Deborah Dunn was expected. But since
then have seen him welcome scores of Others lust
"a cordially. and have come 10 the conclusion that
! IlaIdicanutes SMILES are generously bestowed.
We have now fairly entered upon all the delights
OF Atlantic CITY, The most prominent of these is the
bathing; Miles and miles of splendid surf rolling i'm
! over sloping shingle' almost as hard floor
DO you want TO get into deep water quick II Won
do, battle over there ladies'" says HaTdicanute But
almost everywhere the beach shoals off little by lit
tie far into the sea- Nearly as far as YOU can see tbe
white caps dancing in the sunlght-a very long dis
tance-the water is shallow, and Just the thing for
safe bathing But the undeT-tOw is very strong some
times and Ilardicanutes services very necessary
lie is the bather for the women and children and is
in constant demand. His name rings on all sides at
The bathing houses Hardicanpte come here Just
dress u 'Hardicanute is the water cold to-day
Any danger, Hardcanutef viii yOu take good care
of us HardicanuteW
Al
ladies' at your service i'll minute" " Here it is
maam" Water very fine to-day, ladies'" IL can
take care OF you all" Miss, you must 90 in to-day
not wholesome, to break your regular bathing"
And off he strides over the beach with his arms
full of babies And children in baggy fannels, and
women in their magnificent toilcttes, a Ia BlOOmer
and slouched straw hats flock after him. until all 90
plunging and shrieking into the Now he "swims"
one of US; now two now he forms us into dipping
circle" hands half round;~ now he carries off a
screaming child to duck" then back again for
another swimmer, and so. dd inJinitu1n.
This. Hardicanute does hours every day, and he
has been doing it for years. But he is an amphbous
Dped, and does not mind it, Like his hlustTiOus
nanesake, he has no fear of the mighty ocean, and
no doubt there is lurking III his secret heart belief
that the waves are subject to his control
Twice day is HaTdicanute's kingdom invaded by
an army OF batheTs, and the on the beach and
III the water is lively and fantastic enough for the
guests from the numerous hotels occupy the surf for
a couple OF miles. Then we have a splendid drive
along the beach ten miles in length. And we also
have hghthOuse-AbsecOm light. We went yester-
day TO see what manner OF thing it was After gong
up, and up and round, and rOHnd we found ourselves
at the top of tower $50 feet high, from which we
had extensive view of the raging ocean: also of
the jersey Flats; The illumnatOr, or whatever the
thing may be called, is wonderful affair of its kind
am told by those learned in such matters 1t con
sists OF cylinder of the finest cut glass six feet i'm
diameter and eight or ten feet in hight. The outer
surface is cut deeply into prismatc ridges and con
yex and eoneave faces which throw off a mass of
iniSnSe llght that must be visible far ont Mt sea.
we nave weekly hop at our hotel, bnt they are
so moch ike all other things of the same kind that
reay IL Is not worth writing about. The same round
dances ana everlasting Lancers the same nonsense