, 1873-09-14
Decline Of Harmless Lunnttcs---
Daniel Pratt, the
G. A. Il.
The Lyric Drama...J journalists as Luna
tics.
From Our Opn Correspondent.

It is estimated that fully i00,0 600 persons have
exchanged tho country for tho town within
sovon or eight deyB, aud tho stream Ia atill
largely aud ntoaui1y flowing In. Autumn
Justified tho ALMANAC tls sonaon, n,-indced, M
ticipAtel 1t by fortnight. Cool and stormy
weather, continued day after day, will empty a
wntcring- place like tho smallpox. Saratoga,
Nevpore, Long Branch, and Capo May arc nearly
dosortcd, and moet Of tho hotels will oloHo
either this or tue coming woek. Tho SAND
noe OF dissatisfaction arises from al tho sum-
NOR hoatelrics. Not ono OF thom 80 fur ~ can
bo learned, las made auy money, and tho great
majority have Sustained serious loss. Tho nea-
son is declared to have been tho worst on
record, and tho out-of-town Donnifsce rockon1
up hia accounts with lugubrious visagc.
wATER1Na-rLAoE LOSSES.
Long Branch has suffered loast, aud
Cape Mny next. Then como saratoga
and Newport, which latter is diminishing
every yoar In hotel-patronage, whilo Its villa
population is augmenting. Atlantic City, &C.
corling to report, has nearly ruined its lhnd-
lords. The White Mountain inns arc far below
thoir Average receipts, md Mount Dosor:, Ryo,
Westerly, Watcl, Hill, Narragansott Pier, Cliff
ton, Sharon, and Richt1old Springs, with Mag
ara, Greanbrior, White Sulphur. and other re-
sorts. sllow I, lamenable falling OF in receipts.
Tho watoring-placo hotei-koopers had expected
an TN usually large patronage, and had made tho
nu1plost preparation therefor. Consequently,
their pecuniary detriment il creator thnn 1t
would have been otherwise, and thoy arc pos
seBscd of go littlo hope that many Of tho,n havo
not tho courage to contemplate another season.
An arithmetic man, rho claims to
spcak :da nm By By, y tho a. car card, avers that
cipal resorts during tho summon just past, At
least haIf-a-dozen failures Of prominent land-
lords arc bruited, and abundant talk Of COM
pounding with creditors floats Oh Northern and
Southern breezca
pEAnTn or EccESTn1cs.
The death OF Bent Hickman remindB me Of
how fow eccentric aud notorious characters
Manhattan has Mt present. I doubt II thore has
tcon any time in twenty years when tho city
haH had such paucity Of human oddness. We
used to hayo on hand h scole Of harmless luna
tics WAC furnished reporters with paragraphs
aud tho public with entertainment, tho yoar
round.
There was ariko Walsh, the Polish Count, tho
King Of Hungary. the Lime-lsiln Alan, tho Rat
Char1nor, the Congo Pirate, Stephen Il. Branch,
Inspector Hoolo Count JohannoB, tho Itinorant
Orator, tho Psalnl-singing Tailor. and + know
nut how many others. Some Of these aro still
haze ceased to attract attention, and might 10
veil ho doad for all that is known Of them.
Il,noB hayo changed. Now York has grown 30
large mud 80 busy TINT nothing less than an
earthquake will excite any general notice. Miio
Walsh was wunt'to draw crowd on every COR
ncr. and Mcdonald Clark, tho Mind poot, usually
had train Of itllors aud boys, and blocked up
the etroets when lie reolted his sorio-co1n,c
verses. Now the eccentrieB OF whole genera
ton combined would not mako a ripple whore
one Of them formerly made billow.
VINO IL DANIEL PRATT?
Almost the only fool honored BY occasional
L., 7N,x - t~mt
Traveller, aud hurdly anybody knows who ho la.
Flo waB fortnorly printer, I understand and,
naver having possessed much good aenBe WAS
nlnlca universal butt Of by his follow~craftsmen,
him with. He went to Liverpool once IN SAIL
iug-vosael, staid tl11eo Or four weoka in Eng
Eand, returned homo, aud talked 10 oopiously OF
what he had seen abroad that bis brorher-eom-
pu.itors dubbed Lin tho Great American Tray
eler. They ran all sorts Of saws on him, put
storics into his mouth Of hia wanderinga in
Aaia Minor, Greenland, Australia, aud Ethiopia !;
end 20 bewiidered tho poor doYil that ho
came to believe not only that he had
svd tllem but TINT he lad actually been in those
Countries. Since TINT time, ho haf never boen
moro than 3U0 miles from Now York; and yet he
ia positive monomanlao on the subject OF
travel. His acquaintance, aWnro Of this, keep
ont Of his way for fear Of the fute OF Narcissus.
Tlcy frequently acnd him to certain pereona by
toli!lg him that those persons arc dooply inter-
eAteu III foreign lauds, and would be delighted
to Lear Lila account thereof. Tlis is standing
5oltc among typo.s, md is put OIL upon any one
is 10 approach Q victim with the remark ~
should like 10 tell you tho story Of my travels II
mud, II the victim bo amiablo and patient,
nn m incohorent gallimatia for fully hali an hour,
wien the racounteur will apply for loan 1T 80
or rs cents. by tho wAy Of pareuthcsis The
victim will usually pay that prce on condition
tlat he shall hear no more. and Pratt will go of
in search Of new beiugs 10 immediate on tho altar
OF superlative prosiness. BY sucl, contributions
ho manages 10 live In miserable fashion, and.
Az he has vigorous oonstitution. and no bad
habits sH respects himself. there IL danger
OF his becoming contenarian. Tho only nd
vantagoous use to which Pratt might 10 put il
in the formation OF artesian wells. II ha wera
placed upon the spot to bo bored, and turned
round cerain number at times, ho would as.
suredly reach tue antpodos.
THE ITALIAN OPERA,
the coming yeaaon, promises to be really
frat class. Tho fact that there aro to be rlyal
companies, both with strong olajnls Oh the pub
lie patronage, IL likely to holp both. bttakoHch
fna nn1 easa a aes ss fp2lfp'e = e o e '1 5
these will be rendered aud mounted in q manner
superior 70 anything this country h0s boon ao-
customed to.
strukoreh begins ou tho 2ot'l, nt tho Academy
and. with the eyer-attraetiyo Niiason, the now
candidates for favur, Torriaui md Maresi, his
established artials, II aomplcte and well-dtillcd
chorus, and proper miKo-ou- -sceno, llo can hard
" fail to reap rich harvest. The novel.
Lies Of tho aoasou will DO "Aida 'sand "Lp-
hengrlu." tho Ettor Of which, though aoyoral
tin1eA prI,onted here in German, haB ney-
or been given in Itallan. Nilsson, apart from
her supreme morl! III an artist, haH su wle q
gociat reputation ana 6uch oasH OF friends, tint
predicted beforehand
1laretzek, at the Grand Opo1a-lIouEe; haa 4