The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-06-24
THE EXCURSIONS YESTERDAY.
How New Workers. Broke the Sabbath-A Fine
Day and Universal Ruralizing- the Hud-
son in the Sleepy Hollow Coney Island
and the Monte Nen-Sun-
day Life at Rockaway.

1t is scarcely necessary to say that it was great
deal too hot for any sensible man to remain In the
city yesterday. The heavens were like brazen
furnace and the houses reflected the heat with
terribly effective zeal, while the pavements almost
blisered the feet OF unhappy wayfarers. To travel
up Broadway for a couple OF hours past noon was
indeed pretty much as severe a test OF endurance
as that old Saxon ordeal OF walking over red-hOt
ploughshares. People gasped and painted
and groaned as they sped on their way
through the still, hot air, and cursed their
stupidity for not having arranged
flying visit without the city limits to the
beautiful shade of pleasant woodlands or to the
seaside, with its unceasng murmurs OF cool, plash-
ing waves. And now let the reporter OF the
HERALD. who was one among the 'Hevelheaded"
multitude who utilized the day OF rest by getting
sunburned in pure, wholesome country air. briefly
review the current OF yesterdays excursionzing.
The stream of outward-bound travel began early
and flowed to every point Of the compass. Unlike
last Sunday, the day dawned bright and clear with
an unobscured sun and an assured prospect of fair
weather. Early rising was, therefore, the order
of the occasion, and prospective ruralizers re-
allied with keen sense OF satisfaction that
they would have every opportunity OF enjoying a
'bully time" Breakfast was prepared and de-
spatched with cheerful haste, and then forthwith
began the business OF getting ready for the days
journey. And what business-unless you an
unencumbered bachelor-that "getting ready" Is |
Not all of US are married, but most OF have now
and then caught glimpse of the interior economy
OF small and growing family, and remember very
distinctly the time and trouble involved in making
a start for picnic-whether on Sunday or week day
makes, ofcourse, little matter One after another the
children are attired in their Sabbath raiment, and
fD1sCy 1l1f Tins onl ole aI..1
daughter, If she is old enough to be useful, then
surrender themselves to the Of their own in
divldua toilet. BY the time they have concluded
the younger excursonists have succeeded in max
| ing themselves utterly unpresentable in civilized
society, and, after scoldng for dirty frocks and
faces and ruined hair. have to he once more taken
In hand and rehabltated. Then the picnic baskets
are packed with the viands that have been
| placed waiting around the debris of the breakfast
| table. Vainly are the sandwiches and the pepper,
and the salt and the cold fowl again and again adj
usted; they still obstinatey refuse to settle down
comfortably within the limits OF the holiday pan
nier, and confusion Is worse COMPOUNDED by sud-
den catastrophe In the shape of q collapse
| trusive chicken drumstick. The assembled fam
lily, all eagerly watching the progress OF
of dismay, which rises in intensity as the paper Of
salt is found to have also 'busted,n and to have
scattered its contents with charming impartiality
among the cakes and strawberries. The havoc Is,
| however, speedily repaired, and viii be little
needed when the party, with appetites sharpened
fresh grass, dotted probably here and there with
Industrious nests Of ants and TAN to work upon the
provender. 1t will matter nothing then
even should the coacOanut pie have been
unexpectedly despatched with mustard and the
white meat of the toothsome cap0n saturated with
the escaped contents OF bottle OF Worcestershire
saucer wholesome attack OF rural hunger will
chase away with marvellous ease the fastidiOuS
scruples OF ordinary appetite, and mere neon
gruity OF flavor will be laughed away as the slight
| est OF inconsidercd tribes.
II is scarcely necessary to describe the dozen
or so Of false starts that mark the Sabbath
hegira of moderate-szed family such as
that alluded to- above. Wherever there
| is a lady in the case, though it may
to be constant succession ofpetty delays, and
the wisest man is he who under such circumstances
| initiates the example of the English philosopher
who composed history of British civilization In the
stray quarters OF hours passed In waiting while his
counsel on the doorstep to the friends upon whom
they had been visiting. Not, OF course that he
need pen the progress OF American arts and refine
ment, but he can at least, Quietly station him
self on :he 'front.' stoop and amuse himself with
page OF Tennyson, or, better still the HERALD Of
the day, until, after innumeable balks, the family
| column is announced IN readiness for final
march. Sometimes, perhaps, such stocal indiher-
ence to feminine procrastinaton may be difficult
for instance, when there Is only excursion boat
to the place you wish to visit and that leaves in
rapidly speeding twenty mnutes-but 1t may be
acquired with patient practice. And when &C
quired, the delightful absence OF fretting and
worry and il-temper which It confers is album
antly worth the pains involved in reaching SO sub
lime stage OF phiosophic calm.
Once In the street, the thousands Of little family
every point OF the horizon. Some wander to the
seashore, and seek an appetite by that best of all
tonics, pleasant swim In the salt waves while
others fit away to the groves OF Jersey or West
chester. The best way to form an idea of the
tent and the number Of these channels of Sabbath
travel Is to consult the excursion column Of
the Sunday HERALD. Almost hourly steamers were
yesterday advertised for Coney Island. Rockaway,
Fort Lee, High Bridge, Governors Island, Morris
ania, Glen Cove and EliZabethport, and there were
also trips to West Point and Newburg, the Fishing
Banks and Sandy Hook; and all OF Them according
TO uyn1I vnutr
we[S e Te onn
this torrid wilderness Of bricks and stone, seemed
to be the universal cry OF our citizens IL may also
be stated that much better order IS now
maintained on these weekly voyages and
at the various resorts which form their des-
tination than used formerly to be the case.
Only one crying abuse still remains to be swept
away in connection with this Sunday excursion
tralc, and that the unsafe character OF many OF
the boats which serve as the means Of transporta-
ton. While most OF them are reasonably secure,
there is q large minority OF worthless hulks, with
wornout boilers, still engaged in this playing fast
and loose with human life and among them ere the
summer has ended, we may hear OF some other
calamity as fatal, or perhaps even more so, than
that never to-be-orgoten disaster to the Westfed
Then pious people viii hold up their hands
in horror and place the mortality to the
account OF Divine Judgment on Sabbath breaking,
while the pulpts will resound with denunciations
Of the wickedness OF taking care OF your health by
Sunday iaunt. II the inspectors, however, will only
do their duty there need he no more danger In this
Sabbath traffic than In that Of the workaday week.
on an excursion to the Cholera Banks, on board
OF the steamboat Seth Low, John Lee, while sitting
on the buwarks was Frustrated by the heat OF the
sun and motion OF the vessel, and fell overheard
near Sandy Hook lighthouse. Richard Bevens man.
fully jumped into the water and attempted to rescue
him, but the distance was so great that Mr.. Bevens
soon became Frustrated. The steamboat Seth Low
Immediately returned to New York for medical as
sistance and in dying condition Lee was taken to
Bellevue Hospital.
Up the Hudson.
As specimen excursion, the trip OF the Sleepy