The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-08-12
Watering Place Repose.

One OF the advantages which writers on
divine subjects are fond of ascribing to heaven
is the opportunity it will give for indefinite
rest. There the earth-worn pilgrim is ex-
pected to stretch his wearied limbs and close
his sin-offended eyes without the possibility of
distraction. The abodes of bliss stretch
around him like Mohammed's paradise with
the hours left out and the white robes, the
golden crowns and the twanging harps COM
plete the idea Of spiritual voluptuousness. 1t
seems pity that something akin to this vision
cannot be realized to some small extent on
earth; but when people are so confident of an
eternity of repose in store for them they are
apt to despise the opportunities afforded them
by time. Take, for instance, the average
watering place, whore, if anywhere, we should
be justified in expecting ease, quiet and
breathing space, if prolonged experience
had not taught us the hooking flu
.tility of such hopes Who has not
heard the Summer vacation spoken of as the
time when tired humanity takes off its boots and
business coat and goes about in sack and slip
persP But do the watering places in reality
afford this sort of rest? Are not their de-
mands as imperative as those of the city in
up" on the man or woman who, during July,
August and September, drinks the waters Of
Saratoga or bathes in those of Long Branch?
Is she not, on the contrary, remorseless
jade, proclaiming every time and place
season in which she chooses to show herself
opd uOrkipo bar voto riao lilo oba in mann
Nowhere is her tyranny more strilkingly evil
denced than at our watering places, where
not only constant action, but that kind of
action which trenches on dissipation, is the
tribute she requires from those who enslave
themselves to her That the sterner sex
should be able to meet these demands and yet
harbor sufficient strength to go through the
remainder of the year respectfully is wonder
full enough, but that that other sex to which
the weaker and more delicate qualities are
commonly ascribed should be capable of
doing so is fact still more marvellous. One
is involuntarily reminded of Arthur Penden-
mis- brilliant epitome of the duties and
performances of the London women Of
fashion, and obliged to admit that she who
would maintain her place in modern society
is compelled to do on amount Of work before
which an antique Aspasia would have quailed.
The true principle upon which Summer rest
is to be enjoyed is not that of seeking it at the
average watering place, unless hotel life be alb
jured in favor of that of cottages. Perhaps
no other spot in the United States offers such
rich and varied opportunities in this respect
as Newport, combining, as it does in the
height of the season, the opportunities for ex-
element with all the quietness and seclusion
of isolated homes. Independent of cottage
life, however, the repose which the watering
place frequenter boasts that he is enjoying is
an exasperating myth. There is no more real
repose for you than there was for Noah's dove.
The very dining room with its regiment of
walters is distraction, and you cannot secure
nook to yourself upon the long piazza without
having your charity invoked for one-armed
men whom you never did anything to
injure or your ear troubled with
the Juvenile tickling of harp, in
hopes Of your remunerating which greasy
hat is presently thrust forward You cannot
retire to your room without the buzz and
clamor of the corridors floating to you through
the closed door, the quarrels of the bell-boys
and chambermaids accumulated by the clink
of the electric bell or the deeper diapason of
the gong. You cannot give o gratuity to
one waiter without exciting envy and compe-
tition in the half dozen others who dog
your footsteps and grow impertinently OBJ
trusive about the dates of your departure and
return. After breakfast you are obliged to
60 out Of sight of your hotel before you can
get out of sound of the inevitable band, and
after dinner and supper the same remedy has
to be applied. If you are Of nervous tenn
permanent, and easily kept awake, the frequent
hops render it impossible for you to get your
average amount Of sleep, and if you are with q
party of ladies the only thing possible for you
to do is to make your sacrifice complete and
60 to the ballroom, at the price of future
nervous prostration and general debility.
Amid all these demands upon you the absolute
repose you yearn after becomes an impossi-
bility, and your philosophy will be strong in
deed if it enables you to endure the strain
with equanimity.
Still there are quiet places where body and
soul alike may rest, and the temperament
become hushed beneath the spell of natures
anodynes. But such places are not to be
found at the average resort by lake or ocean.
Occasionally one comes across some spring,
once cultivated, perhaps, now fallen into desue-
tude, where 'the comforts of home may
be enjoyed with more of that quiet and leisure
than IRE generally feasible in a city household.
few exceptional farmers do not send quite
all their poultry, milk, eggs and butter to the
markets of New York, and we doubt not that,
we're patient inquiries to be made, not few
pleasant country homes might be found,
where pleasant rooms, good living, fair prices,
pretty scenery, pleasant drives, quietude and