The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-07-22


Rsvolry OF the Season Begins-A Grand
Hop at the "SurC AOuse" TranspIrss-
The Charms of the ocean and the
Dance.
SURF HOUSE, ATLANTIC CITY, N. j.
July q, 1867. (
The English language albeit good in its way
is nevertheless detective in some respects. To
express an entire surrender of body, soul, and
spirit, with the single object of recreation in
view. there is no better or more available word
than that which we have borrowed from the
French, in the awkward term abandon, and
even this is open to objection, as it conveys an
idea of recklessness which is no means char
acteristic of the American people.
The nearest approach to It we are able to
make is at the seaside. If anything is calcu-
lated to unnerve thorough-g going, money
grasping, practical man of the world it is as
suredly the sultry heat of the July sun. Under
its baleful influence the days are a burden and
the nights too wearisome for rest; stocks lose
their absorbing interest and the premium on
gold Its wonted Importance; the fate of Maxi
milan is regarded as less melancholy than our
own, and the military commanders of the five
divisions become as obnoxious To us, sound Re-
publtcans though we are, as to his prosecuted
Excellency, A. j. In this detected mood we
seek the ocean, and feeling OF content creeps
over us as its whitened spray breaks at our very
feet and then recedes into The vast eXpanse.
These wide and turbulent waters pos
that will not be exercised, he whirls aud tosses
them about in his wrath. He heaps them up
in mimic mountains, he caps their submits
with foam, he hurls them thick and fast upon
| the shore. And there they are shattered in
| Weakness as II in mockeTy of his strength.
! We marvel not that the baffied giant roars and
| groans at defeat as he gathers fresh waters for
another onset to end all purposeless like the first.
! Shall not we, too, dispute his power? Shall not
| we too, muster our waning strength? There is
| lite and health and vigor in the contest. There
! is surcease of care and sorrow in his arms. He
| ~ 10 do a
! he is he gloats in it, and the bed of his briny
abode is thickly strewn with the bones of hfs
| unwary victims. But If we have O care that he
| grasps us not too rudely, we are his equals in
| the struggle; and If we toll with him, even to
! Jacob wrestled. he will not let us go without
! his blessing
But this Everyday attire Of ours, with all its
! senseless superfuities, is no fitting garb for
| such contest And here, at the very outset
| of our sea side recreation. the ocean brings us
| all upon level. Merchant prince and accom-
modating waiter, chambermaid and leader in
the fashionable world, all alike must enter
! these rough little pens which line the shore,
and emerge therefrom in the most outlandlsh
and ungainly outfit that ever man devised
! The bathing dress is the nearest approach to
| yet forced its way into popularity in civilized
community. Simplicity is its predominant
feature, and simplicity IN this connection sig
mines Two oaggy garments into which the
human form is thrust
With their loose, coarse folds dangling about
our limbs, we tread dRintily with our naked
| feet upon the sand, avoiding broken shells and
| knots OF seaWeed, as though they were instinct
| with Venomous life, until shiver runs through
| our whole frame, as the lusty demon of the sea
sends us his familiar greeting by whirling the
| spray suddenly about our knees. There Is,
| then, but the one alternative--we must escape
| in all haste from his chilling grasp, or we must
| plunge and dive into the very bosom of the
! turbulent waters, and do battle right maufully
| for their sway. Faint hearts sometimes
lack courage and retreat foohardy men and
women sometimes defy his wrath, and
| venture out into those treacherous depths
| where the demon has them at his mercy. But
! people who are blessed with grain OF wisdom
! take the middle ground, and soon their blood is
| quickened, and their whole body infused with
| anew life, Then comes tumbling rolling
| rollicRing, but wtthal a watchful abandonment
| TO the most entictng OF earthly sports, and at
| last we come up out of the waters, glowing, ana
| vigorous, as II endowed with perpetual YOUTH
| Is IL matter of surprise that, with such foun-
tain Of vitality at hand, the sojourners by the
| sea should be amoug the gayesJ of the gay, anu
experience an irresistible desire to trip their
| Toes llghCy In the dance, and grow merry Dy
| night as we'll as by day?
| In truth, the season at the sea. side is never
| fully inauguIated until the first grand hop has
| been numbered with the recollections of the
| past. Atlantic City, as / foretold in letter
| Wnuen early In June, now enjoys larger ana
| so early In The summer The hotels have all Q
| goodly number Of patrons now present. and
| IIeSn arrivals are adding daily to the throng OF
| pleasure seekers. With such favorable auspices
| for an encouragement Mr.. William Il. Caleb
the genial proprietor OF the SURF House, on sat"
| urday evening opened the festivities OF the sea,
| son by the nrst complimentary hop week
was aevosea TO preparations for the notaDtte
| an untoward fate brought with IL clouds ana
| rain. During the afternoon the showers
assumed the dimensions of storm, anu
| those who had been counting on one OF the most
| enjoyable episodes in their seaside experience,
| looked as gloomy as the weather itself Two OF
/ face on all again; but such the uncertainties
! OF life IN All It's bearings, that the sun went
rain, which continued at intervals Throughout