The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-07-28
Three Hundred and Seventy-ive Islands.
and the Man Who Sat Up All
Night to Name Them.
Prospect Mountain and the View
from the Summit.
The People at Lake George and the Laws
Against Those Who Take the Innoc.
uOus Moose and the In0fIen-
sive ,Maskinonge.
The Pocahontas of the Period and
Her Favorite Waterfall.

LAKE GEORGE. July 90, 1879.
Mr.. Cough says he never rises to make speech
without feeling to some extent embarrassed. To
compare small things with great. might say the
same with respect to letter writing I never sit
down to prepare an epistle for publication without
feeling overwhelmed with the importance Of my
subject. I frankly admit 1t without humbug or
regeneration. This watering place life is too
much for me. 1t preys upon my spirit When I
retire for the night say, "Have seen all that I
ought to have seenP' When send letter on by
mail l exclam, "Have / mentioned all that
ought to mentlonrn 1t Is a great RESPONSE
bility, l assure you, this having so many
hotels and people to look after. To keep hotel is
one thing, requiring, as we all know, and as the
prOverb tells US, considerable cleverness but to
keep writing about them, iniict TOO much putting
here or too much disparagement there, Ia quite
another 1t requires so high o moral courage to
choose the middle course and stick to 1t. For in
stance, II my breakfast disagrees with me, If the
soup have for dinner possesses name which
neither nor Francatelli ever heard Of, how strong
are the inducements to scandalize the hotel and
abuse the proprietor What world OF prejudces
have to overcome in restraining my wrath What
herOism there is in my conduct when l
sit down afterwards and date my letter with cool
dispassonateness. 1t is the same with bedrooms
Suppose l want room facing Lake George, and
am accommodated with one looking In the oppo.
site direction, have i not Q right to be speenful
and morosef Certainly have. But heaven forbid
j should allow such feelings to influence my
respondence No, mol iatter myself the princI-
pies OF early newspaper piety are too strong in me
for that WHAT allow a personal prejudice to
warp me in the performance Of public duty
Perish the thought l abandon that to Smith,
Jones and Robinson, and such small Jour
nalistic deer, who, were they permitted
TO. would pen column OF abuse
Of Fort william Henry Hotel itself
because the waiter happened to bring them beef
steak instead Of muttonchop. Believe me, there
Is nothing like cutivating an even serenity Of
temper when you are newspaper correspondent
Being part OF virtue of course 1t is its own re-
ward, but the reward is so sweet you care for no
other. YOu see I know all about it. regard the
discipline which the conscientious correspondent
Is put through as OF high moral value. He is ac-
cused OF selhshness, prejudice, misrepresenta-
ton, and / do not say there are not corre-
spondents who possess all these vices. But
then there plenty who extirpate self and
prepOssession in order to arrive at truth and
Its lucidties. Besides, to omit, from prudent
or kindly purpose, to represent at all Is not
to misrepresent, but should rather come under the
head OF the humanities. those gentle considera-
tons for others which are the best bloom and bios
som of good manners.
LAKE GEORGE
were to say that Lake George is situated in
the upper portion Of the State OF New York,
should be adding nothing to your geographical
knowledge. If | said that it was thirty-six miles
long and surrounded by hills and mountains, 1
should be telling nothing that the most meagre
gazetteer does not contain. II l mentioned any
locality within visiting distance, and gave the
Il he
volunteering such information as may be
obtained from any guidebook purchasable for
Hfty cents. But, then, why should have mentioned
guidebooks at all 2 might have copied page after
page OF these veracous chronicles and saved NY
self the trouble Of personal observation and recol-
lection. But scorn such articles. There is a
secondhand navor about every epistle so COM
piled and the nostrl OF the professional tby which
Imean the journalistic) reader detects the spurl-
Gus bouquet at once. When one of his friends up
braided him for taking such pains to visit the
various scenes he intended to describe did not
Walter Scott explain that he who trusted to his
fancy or to secondhand narration would always
hnd his descriptions OF nature marked with GER
tain vagueness and and that in order TO be
forcibe and pointed the describer must go directly
TO Nature; see with mis- own eyes, hear with his
own ears. Sir Walter was right. His strong com
mon sense prevented the errors into which his
NlVlu imagination anu tue FACILITY WIN WHICH ne
wrote might have betrayed him. Distrust corre-
spondents whose style smacks OF the guide book.
Depend upon 1t they have not gone to nature and
Photographed her accents. But since so much
that invites Itself to be said OF Lake George exists
already In the gazetteer and guide book, what re-
mains 70 be said that is not found thereS Much.
SO let us come 10 the point at once
In the first place the, society at Lake George has
character OF its own, which may be hard to define
but is not diicut to feel It contrasts widely with
Cape May, Long Branch, Saratoga, Newport, West
Point, Mahopac, Water Gap and two or three
others. IL seems to unite some OF the elements
OF more than two OF these places. l suppose the
scenery acts upon the visitors and the visitors re-
act upon the spirit in which the scenery is in
terpreted. You VIII md snoddy here, but shoddy
Is not the prevailing characteristic. 1t exists
faint as q secondary rainbow without any OF It's
beauty. You observe 1t in the over-dress and
small assumption OF certain young married ladies
who imagine themselves beautiful and elegant
and make use OF the spacious piazza Of the prln-
cipal hotel in which to haunt their self-opnion
Again, you will find true elegance and
good-breedipg here, but this is as far from giving
tone to the company OF the place as the other ex-
treme have mentioned. The quiet family element
prevails 10 very large extent There are numerous
instruments Of good solid people who have enough
money to enjoy themselves very comfortably with
without dazzling the eye with gorgeous equipage
and dress. Then there are quantities OF solitary
tourists, gentlemen Of education and good breed.
ing, travelling alone and willing to make the
pieasantest use Of such congenal companions as fall
in their way. Physicians, lawyers, divnes and
merchants come In this category and personal ex-
perence permits me TO say that they oer agreeable
society. At intervals you meet with an escaped
clerk VINO Is spending heaven knows how many
weeks salary for the prestige ordering claret and
Champagne In the face OF an admirinp dining