, 1874-10-04
Lively Bathing Scenes.

AN EYs1uM'oF coCKNkYs,-
Londonera Of very moderate means, who have
saved and pinched 1t home, who have
scrimped the joints and mada the gravies thin,
who have worn seedy ra1ment aud shuf1ed
sbout ul-shod ever since the last summer Ut the
Sea, that these scrimpings and savings may
pay for gorgeous summe1-attre, for nobby
hats, startling costumes. and elegant lodgings
on the esplanade OF in some OF the swell
crescenta at Ramsgate or Margate- One needs
not to be told this Who walks upon tbs cliffs and
the sands or who rests upon tho stone copings
of the famous pier 1t Ramagats; for his per-
cept1on must be blunt indeed who could not at
onco discern, in the faces OF the crowd about
him, in the cheap and SNOWY rsiment, in the TN
cultured voices and coa1se laughter that Thrust
strident noise in amid the music OF the solemn
sea. the truth that affluence, with its refining
influence Of leisure, travel, and society. is not
the atmosphere in which Ramagate habitues live
in their homes and that neither high birth no1
fine breeding has como to them in fate'a allot-
ment OF benefits.
Fashion, therefore, aan hardly be tho supreme
power which
FILLS RAMs0AIE TO OVERLOOKING
SIMMER after summer; which crowds the Sands
til to looke1-on from the cliffs above. it
EeSiu5 NJ II puE pE16uH 0oEb a0Gcu u <Ao 4AheS
ct human beings below would be iammed
into su1focaton; which covers the pier with
hnunting misses and meretricious swels;
which packs lodging houses from basement to
roof; which makes the white waves to coll upon
the shore dotted black with the heads OF count
leas bathers every day from the last Of June to
the last Of September. Hardly fashion. unless
it be the fashion Of cheap and vulgar sphere
1-t; t,,o,r and QrArhnt,or1h
which reigns not in the German spas, and has
no reach of the sceptre to the famoualy-radiant
watering places on tho French coast--no realm
except in the dingier portions OF London, and in
Ramsgate aud oIsrsate-
But il fashion does not thronS Ramsgate
each year. it is B.iu not without reason tuat the
festive Lonloner cllngs to this placo year af,er
wear, and almost decade after decade.
ITS SEARSEss 10 TIE METROPOLIS
is ono eecFet of its popularity, as eass OF
access to London is = paramount essential to
the brcad-*inner, whose journeys to aud fro
must be numerous while the homo in the city is
closed, and Mamma and the ba1na are galopng
On the cliffs, OF building castles in the sand, in
the 1nTigornting breezes which sweep in from
rha Channel upon the coast of kent- Much
money or time must not be consumed IN these
transits, for Mamma must haze many 8hoxIy-
trimmed dresses; the girls must blossom out
into NJ oHeTyeecence of color and br7Lianty Of
costume the children must have new quits for
dinner, for bath, for promenade, and for eveli-
ing the family must fare more sumptuously
every day on the best the market affords. or be
subject to the wltho1ing contempt OF the lodg-
ing-house mistress; 10, take it altogether, It ls
clearly Impossible that large travelling expenses
should be added to the already haEassng outlay,
aud the nearest seaslde place aosorbS the festive
family.
Rarosgatc in situated where two small hills ron
down to the chalk precipices bordering tho south
side OF
THh IsLE OF THASET.
This Isle Of Thanet is q slight projection Of the
coast of Kent, stretching out into the Chxnnel
from the east, aud is made al Island, on three
sides Of tho yea, aud On one side by tiny river
which cuts it off from the mainland From Lon
don it is reached By the London, Chatham i
Dover Railroad (or London, Smaahum i Turn
over Railroad, it is called in London parlanc",
by reason of the frequency Of it's accidents), by
the Southeastern Railroad, or By Sea In small
steamers that make the trip each day, consuming
about six hours in the voyage to and through
the Thames to this city. The town is between 20
and 80 miles from the metropolis and has its
life only in the annual overflow OF London tides.
sinking with every yearly ebb into stagnatlon
of being that lasts till the streams OF city-hfe
flood it xgain.
To the south Of the town, At 9 distance OF Il
miles, lies Dover. Nearer is Deal Aa1gate Ii
miles around tha other SIDE of the little is1e
while famous old Canterbnry-whero Thomas r
Beckett WAS slain. and where tho grand old
cathedral draws daily, with the foToeful magnet
ism Of its history its associations and its archi-
tectn1ni u3agni6cance, numerous e1curs'onlsta
from far and near--liea II miles inland 1
Ramegate has Il
4 G1on1ors sKA-g1Kw.
Looking acrosa the ocean-Whlch here, IN tho
Channel, has the peculiar opalesc eot tlots OF :
lake which mirrors = brilliant sky, radiance OF
eyer-ya1ying hue, continually shifting from tho
loyelicst palest-green, that one might fancy to
be tha color OF Undines eyes. to the vivid lapts-
lazul, blue thai il seldom seen. seen save ave
q a clear day one can clearly see, without q
glass, low, DIM shadow, like cr.yon.l1ne on
the soft purple Of the horizon, which 1s tbs coast
OF France. Looking more intently than with 3 I
casual glance, one will sec, cleaning Ia tne SUD-
the white cliffs OF Calais. Al low tide, miles
out between England and France, may hs seen
the Goodwin Sands; more to the south- the
Downa,-ths most famous anchorage IN tne
world with it's forests Of masts writing the story
Of q natiou's commercial prosperity upon the sky
Tho Channel is the gzoat highway OF nations |
aud between tho North Foreland and the
Downs, between which kamsGate stands passes
tha vholo oceaa-trafc Of Northern Europe and |
thu Thames.-pass1ng 30 near tho shores OF |
Kent that the whole zen Is alive "ath shipe o'
every flag, making most interesting ana nc"'-
siful !icture. /
are ,1noueationablv the great attraction Of tho
nlace At low lido they extend nearl: $50 feet.
and tho slope Ii 10 gradual into the rea that one
can walk out till the sacr reaches to Ills uecA.
without danger These sands are ~ miles IN
length. from uhezo white cliffs jGtdng out iuto
he nea bound them on either end Upon theHe
eands, il, the forenoon. is concentrated all the
life OF the town: and it is no unusual occ'1r- !
renee for 4,0o people, yonng and old, to be con-
rrzeatsd there 1t one time amusing themselves
a. best rui.s the bent Of their inclination. At |
these t:met, tie beach takes on almost the ap- |
rearaIcc of colossal anaE}iitheatre, where IN
Immense audience sits and gazes At the Eas1
sc.ne OF SUNNI siy and azure or iride.ccnt sea-
acrope which white ringed naesnengers fiji on
their way from, cline to CLINE. humorous
t:r,c-dcGpoiled females dH'e
a brisI. business on tue san.ts in the forenoon
b; letting out meats a. penny an hour. An i'm
port.nt portion Of the shore is thus enclrcied
with benches 4pd chairs. a.-sorn. eu'hIoned auu |