Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-08-06

| IN progress. we suppose the water
ing places are already busy and gay
with their sojourners, beaches and
hilltops and springs transformed,
and, many quiet place assuming a
temporary and alien gayety.
| 1t is good to note, as natures wide
welcome is renewed. how gratefully
it is taken advantage of. The Amer
can people have not been lectured,
this generation past, in vain; they
begin to appreciate the fatal strain
of life at high pressure, that drives
so many into the grave before their
time, or breaks them down in mid
die life to fret out years of chronic
invaidism. So that the custom of
vacation half grown within these
half dozen years past, from the priv
ilege of the few to the pre- ctice of
the many. Wealth no longer mo-
nopolizes the blessings of rest in
summer heats, and, as natural con-
sequence, the great baths and beach
es are losing tt cir old distinction
and lessening their prosperity. Not
to them belong the bounteous bloom
and green light, and myriad voices
of the brooks and woods and dells,
the unvexed majesty of the hills,
the soft inland zephyrs, the salt
strength of ocean breezes, the innu
merous murmur and serge of waves.
They have a wider habitude, and
are seen to better advantage with
out the accompaniment of crowds
and fashion. And while that orna-
mental element of the community,
fashinable society is spelling the
precious days in hotel discomfort,
and frittering and dancing away the
serene twilights, there are thousands
of hardworking peope, ministers and
bankers merchants and clerks, law
yers and mechanics, with their wives
and children, if they fortunately have
them, resting in the simple and and
inexpensive country, or on some
coast yet unfrequented.
We are glad to see this luxury
of rest getting to be recognized as a
necessity. There was never any
blessing in the world in the re-
sorts of fashion, but in these mod
est unpretentious retirements there
is abundant treasures TO be gained.
Nothing SO good to- eE9
Clean the bosom of that penlous stuff
which weighs upon the heart
som of that per1lous stuff which
weighs upon the heart
as to absorb the wholesome medi-
cine of unspoiled nature. just to
let the tired brain utterly rest; to
forget that there is a church or a
client, or book or job upon ones
hands, to be-. for delightful week
or so, quite irresponsible, to forget
slavery in freedom, and if the liber-
alton were not measured but infinite
this Is to recreate and rebuild
soul and body at once. At sunrise
out of the sea, at sunset across a
lake, a matin concert from the rob-
bins and orioles, day along a trout
stream, are better remedies than any
the pharmacopoeia tells of, and
cheaper.
It is in connection with this ten
dency to vacations that the great
camp meeting grounds have grown
to their importance. The religious
impulse that made camp meetings a
necessity in times when the sparsely
settled country gave no other op-
portunity for the communion of
great bodies of believers, and the
hearing Of mighty preachers, has
passed; and yet the camps hold their
own, because of the social element.
The religious characteristics has be-
come really a secondary one; occu-
pying but few weeks, usually not
more than two, often less, during
the warm months wherein city peo-
pie rest in their pretty cottages, hY-
ing very much all fresco, in content
ed quiet simplicity. Martha's Vine
ward, and Ocean Grove have become
summer villages and Shelter Island
and other camps have been pattern
ed after their fashion. The same
transformation is coming in degree
upon our neighboring Northampton
camp ground; for some of our city
Methodists make summer residen-
ces of their cottages now, and the
tendency is growing. Of course,
the town, with it's bustling activities
and keen competitions, is inevitable,
but the man of business whose fami-
ly draws him to the rural shades. to
keep Sunday in the meaning of its
name, has gained far more thereby
than he can measure with a rule, or
estimate by a bank bill.
---.- an 80 Sprtlgtfeld Republicans.