Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1872-09-09
Es w AA n AOAsGs
Publisher and Proprietor.
The Close of the London Season
The PeriIs of WaterIng-Place

The Close of the London season
The PeriIs of WaterIng-Place
Life. AA h9A
Parliament is not in session, and all
the London world is out of town, upon
which the London Times of August l4th
says: ,r
Z A week ago the West End Of this me-
tropolis was thickly inhabited city.
To-day it is desolate. A week ago
there was still the rattle of carriages in
our streets, and the gay crowd in the
park. To-day the only signs of life are
the cabs, carts and vans conveying fam
lilies and their belongings to the ter
minus. Already shutters are closed
and blinds down. A break-out OF the
yellow fever, or the near approach OF
a hostile army could not have emptied
the town more quickly. But where are
they all gone and what are they doing
with themselves? This is a question Of
ten asked, because, for one reason or
another, neither the taste nor the COM
mon sense of the world is ever quite
satisfied with the answer. The ordinary
Englishman does not seem to make the
best use Of his holiday--so say shrewd
observers, and so, too, the Englishman
himself confesses in many ways. de
takes his pleasures sadly" His heart
is always home-bound. Wherever he
goes his first inquiry is for letters and
the news; his next for somebody who
will talk about home things and old ac-
ouaintances. 1t is notorious that the
real traveler-the man who wishes to
throw himself into a new world, and be
himself part of every new scene of life
and phase of existence-has everywhere
to break through charmed circle of
semi-attached countrymen, all dragging
him back to the home he would forget
for passing hour. Nine out of ten are
simply trees torn up by the roots, pining
for the dear, familiar soil. Of course it
may be said that even if the long-suffer-
ing father of the family finds his holiday
one more burden, his awife and children
see in it the only mitigation of their ex-
istence. No doubt it is they who drag
him far away from his haunts and occu-
pations, and what they do with such
power Of compulsion they do with good
heart. 1t may be admitted, too, in
good many instances, that the
watering-place is healthier and pleas
anter than London in the late
summer and early autumn. If the place
will be well chosen, the lodging airy and
clean, the weather favorable, the drains
all in good order, and everything else as
it should be, then the children, and per
haps the mother too, will bring back that
sometimes aeeting and treacherous COM
modify, a stock of good health, the rose
soon to fade, and the tap, soon to be
washed away. But many a sad expe-
rience warns us that the summer holiday
is the greatest risk Of the year. Not
only the place and circumstances, but
the whole manner of life is changed.
In the midst of unusual dangers, every
salutary precaution and every rule of the
British nursery is neglected. Wet sands,
dry cliffs, muddy pools, hot suns, even
ing chills, irregular meals, and other
things utterly prohibited in the home
rule, are braved as if there was a charm
in the air, or the spot, or the salt water
and sea-weed. superior to all ordinary
Influences. Yet experience repeats the
lesson every day. 1t is quite as neces-
sary to leok closely after the health of
delicate women and children at the sea-
side, or on the open Down, as in third
rate quarter of the West End or fash
ionable or questionable suburb.