The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-08-21

| ueplcting the great spiritual destitltion that
obtains on Chincoteague. ask for aid to build
church. he may safely be put down as a
Jraad. I regret to learn that, the member
sup OF the churches is small in proportion
TO the population. There was q great camp
| meeting on the Island in 1869, at which
many were converted. The Methodist Epis-
| Sopai church grew out of this revival, the
hev: Vaughn Smith being the principal
WofSef.~~IEheFe will be another canp-meet-
my next week, and | should be glad ii my
e"SaSeulents permitted me to attend.
AssATEAGUE.
Yesterday, in company with three friends.
| | went over to ASsateague. We crossed the
dividing inlet in small row-boat. First we
passed through a very crooked and yery
shallow canal or channel. which wound it's
way through a labyrinth of salt marshes
covered with coarse grass, and then we
crossed swift, clear channel, and were
landed on the Assateague shore. There was
pony "penning" going on, but the Incl
dents did not differ from those witnessed the
preceding day ut Chincoteague.
The chief object Of interest on Assateague
is the fine lighthouse, known TO all coast
wise navisators. 1t stands on a sand.bank
twcnty-nine feet above the level of the sea,
and the shaft is 12l feet from the foundation
to the lantern, which places the light $50
feet abo:e tie level of the sea. Through
the courtesy of the keeper we were permit
ted to ascend the iron stairway, and to seat
ourselves on the little iron gallery that sur
rounds the upper turret. Nothing could be
finer than the view from this elevated look
out. TO the east is the blue ocean. that be-
gins with white surtline on the ASSateague
beach, and meltS into the horizon when the
eye searches for some other boundary to its
mighty eXpanse. ChincoteaSue and Assa-
league lie at your feet, and you can look
down upon the root Of every cottage on
| both islands A sand ridge winds iongitu-
| dinallv through Chincoteague, which is for
| the most part covered with pine trees.
Long, sharp points, covered with grass,
| which look like the arms and legs of some
| marine monster. push themselves out from
| the shores of both islands, and if it were not
for these the race of wild ponies would soon
become extinct. The grass which grows
upon these marshes furnishes them their
| food in winter.
| THE ISLAND GRAVEYARD.
On our way back, as we crossed the ridge
| on Chincoteague, we passed the cemetery in
which the first coloniSts were buried more
| IL
| tucn followed them to this quiet resting
place. 1t occupies the highest ground on
| the island. From the earliest times the peo.
pie seem to have dreaded the encroachmeuts
| of the sea-, and this spot WAS selected us the
one that would longest resist the action of
| the waves and the tide. The subsequent
| history Of the island has shown that these
| fears were not found on mere supersti-
| tiouS tancieS. In 1921 Il tidal-Wave swept
| over the island, drowned many of the
ponies, and changed the conformation of the
shore. In 1866 another tidaEwave covered
| il portion of the island and swept off some
| of the ponies, but it was not so destructive
as its predecessor. The first settlers no doubt
anticipated such yisitatons as these when
| they carried their dead to the summit Of
Rattlesnake ridge for burial. This is Il most
extraordinary cemetery for the reason that
it has no mcmorial-stoneS. There Is not a
name or date or any other inscription that
| ] could see. '.Thc silence Of the grave" is
| no mere figure OF speech when applied to
| these neglected mounds. Whatever of vir-
| tue vi genius or piety or heroiSm made these
| unconscious sleeperS honored among men is
no more remembered on the face of the
earth il they were beloved in life, atfec-
| ton has forgotten to record even their names.
| Yet, after all, there is something sublime in
| this unbrOken silence. Oblivion is better
than fal>ehood. "Thc storied urn" " too
| often tells of virtues which had no existence
aud sends naue down through the ages
as honorable which was base enough until
| carved on marble.
GOODBYE TO Cn1ECoTEAGUE.
| regret to leave these uncultured island
crs 50 soon. There are some original char.
acters among them with whom should like
| 10 become better acquainted. No person
ever complains of the heat the sunshine
blisters the skin, but it does not iuf1ame the
blood; the cool sea breezes are q perpetual
JOY, and the moonlight reflected from the
water is almost enchanting. Both Chinco'
| league and ASsatcaguc sounds are filed With
the finest fish that can be found on the At.
lantic coast; the saltwater trout, highly
priced by Baltimore cpicures, and served up
in our best saloons at thirty cents each, are so
abundant that they sell for ten cents dozeu
| \ corpuleut "shccpshead." that weighs five
or six pounds, brings twenty-five cents. Yes.
| terday saw rather seepy-looking young
man fishing from boat which he had tied
to one of the piles Of an abandoned pier,
He used no rod. but merely dropped baited
| hook. attached to Il short line, over the edge
Of his boat. Every five or six minutes the
water would be violently stirred the young
man would slowly draw up his line, and the
bright scales of Il :. shcepshead" would gilt.
ter in the sun for an instant, and then the
struggling fish would drop to the bottom Of
his boat with heavy thud. l saw five oil
these noble tish hauled from the water within
an hour. When they were strung together
Il man of moderate muscular development
did not care to carry them very far. 8
There is an excellent hotel here (the At
| lantic). which is well patronized. Not many
tourists come this way, but the large oyster
trade brings dealers from Philadelphia ant
New York at all times in the year, anC
scarely week goes by that pony-buyers dc
not cross the sound. Two of our city artists
mir. Charles II. Sauerwen and Mr.. George
b. Way (son of A. }. Way. are now soJourn
| ing here, and sketching such pieces of the sea
and sky and land as they think will be mosl
admirable when hung up in their Baltimore
studios. The younger of these gentlemen
was the hero of the adventure with the I'm
tanned pony, related in Il former letter.
THE Lips OF B0TTLEs.-A correspondent
of the Cincinnati Gazette takes Herbert
Spenccr TO task for his recent observations
| in regard to lack Of thought about little
things. especially with reference to the want
OF adaptation of the lips of bottles for "drop'
ping" medicines. The critic says:
II Mr.. Spcucer would serve week in an
anotbecarv's shop he might, if observant,
find out several facts, as. that the drop Is, or
ought to be, obsolete us a measure, because
it Is no more definite than lump oil
chalk" '.i =, -
Its Size varies with the viscidity OF the
liquid, and its weight from ether to castor