The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-07-07

nnthina Ia the Surf LIkened by Her to TAX
Ing n Ride In ~ Third Avenue Car.


Things reccde from the centre.
Long Branch is one Of the cNtrcmltcs. and IL
Is there that have reccded for the moment-on
the current
Long Branch Ne you know. Is 70 q. Of sand
with shelf Of hotels upon Whit l,oplo nro
set to cool.
a few years ago Long Branch wis ~ piquant
with American life as broadway or n Western
mclodrnma. Politicians. gamblers. horse
jockeys. diplomats. and dcmi- monde made its
one monOtonous avenue picturesque. Railroad
magnates ordered up champagne In the hotel
corridors. English blondes rode out in Eng
lish drags that belonged to Americans, Crowds
Of curbstone brokers and ticket spectators.
idle sports and entry clerks rushed down with
the afternoon bont to look on" There were
always two or three handsome and rather
pottly Jewesses Mt the West End who were
written up rs bellies. and the ornamcntcd sheds
on the cifr offered safe refuge for summer
correspondents who had to invent seasonable
stories about the sea and the female bathers
Out of this rank summer vegetation there
projected two or three golden gourds. like Fisk
and Helmbold. who amazed everybody by the
simple celebrity Of their growth and the rapdity
OF their decay. They were American princes
half Humpty Dumpty-contcnt to make money.
and amuse the world in the endeavor to spend it.
u
that time. 1t isn't as loud. RS lusty. or luxu-
riops. Its great dependence was the crowd
that ebbed and flowed between the beach and
Broad street Most OF the fellows were fastened
to business by an elastic duty that would not
stretch over night and always snapped them
back to sobriety and cent per cent before their
white vests were soiled
Manhattan beach now woos that crowd, and
Long Branch is moderately genteel. Away
back in its history John Hoey. who Is tied to
the dramatic profession by silken cord. erect
ed his palace from out glossy bower OF cool
est foliage musical with BIRDS and no. II would
seem. directed the dramatic current to the place
AT one time you could count the stars OF tho
dramatic profession by counting the roofs OF
the cottages For five or six years there was no
| place on the continent like Long Branch for a
man who had made money ON the stage. The
| popular pots Struggled in among the cedars in
| all kinds OF picturesque nests. and at 8 o'clock
in the afternoon. when the procession OF We
hicles came down tho avenue. any habituo OF
the place could point out to you from the hotel
veranda the eminent tragedian;" the dis
tineuished." the rising" the celebrated"
tho renowned" comedian. Fdnchon used to
smile languidly from her basket phaeton at the
platoon OF fellows on the West End portico.
EnOch arden waved his broad brimmcd Pana-
! luh III you from "a lhinll1 chnTlOlti. III which
were children aud skye terriers. Hamlet rode
gloomily by. Rosedae and his sons were there.
and HdlsidF and " The Man o'Airlie." and Ca
mile and the Queen Of the Amazons and Ma
1eDpd and Mt.
This fantastic pageant has faded out You
don't see 1t any more at the Branch. The place
| Is trying to assume sober airs. The procession
OF carriages is not so much like n stage spec
tacle. The bathing has lost the Black Crook "
glamour. The chidren-always trying TO bury
themselves in the sand and never succeeding
have multiplied. These midges OF midsummer
hutter through all the hours. The afternoon
air is full Of flakes of lawn and wings OF muslin
and scarlet ankles twinkle on the white sand
the liveong day.
always felt in those festive days that Long
Branch was lit by gas. and that n rehearsal was
going on: that n continual struggle was raging
between Nature and Artiflce and that one was
always in danger OF having the curtain fall sud
denly leaving him in daVp. dark parduette.
while all the fairies were trooping out Of the
stage entrance in waterproois.
But there Is a sparkle Of society here now.
You can detect the head OF &" Life" on the full
hotel hagon. There is a genuine belle at How
lands. and over at the Ocean is n coduette of
the purest water. one OF the kind you read
about.
iktt inls lnlormhton from One OF tnelT own
sex sit here In a summer house built ON the
brink for the breeze to whistle through. She
sits there. with every ribbon and gontalon fiut-
tering. She holds parasol "a fan. a lorgnette
and a deep orange flower Of the tromp0ohun in
one hand thow does she do IL Bless your soul
can man tell how ~ and in the other Hre the
gathered folds OF her dress. A sea-shell lustre
burns family on her cheeks. | do not know il
Neptune laid 1t on with his salt brush. or her
own artistic hand wrought the picture. l am
not an expert. Besides. dare not examine /,
close enough 10 decide. The brown convolu-
tons of hair on her Hellenic forehead dance
magnetically. and her eyes sparkle. She is in
a culver OF mild excitement from head to foot
For the wanton breeze takes liberties that nc
other admirer dares 10 think Of
She looked at me suspiciously out OF the cor
ner OF her eye.
Whenever you see pretty woman trying to
enjoy nature. pity takes possession OF you. O
course you learned when you went to schoo
that there wasn't any love or mercy in nature
only wisdom and justice. Now fancy woman
submitting. even in the season. to anything like
wisdom and justice
Nature persecutes her The sun makes tar
get Of her to shoot his freckles at. The vino
toughs her and tans her The sen Bullets hei
and chokes her. Surf bathing" said the Real
Aumlrhl 5 daughter the Otner uay, Is more
like riding in Third avenue car than anything
else. Faugh! l don't wonder that Aphrodit,
rose from it. l always rise us far from it as
possible"
Here society avoids the sea because IT is no
feminine. Down at Coney Island the womer
seek 1t because they believe 1t to be masculine.
But it isn't masculine. Nothing in Nature Is
so womanly AZ the ocean. Its moods come anC
go.hnd cannot be predicated. 1t gets all its colol
from the sky. all ats animation from tho air
Its existence is a continual Irritation with thu
elements ii defes but depends on. II YOU Hssai
it, it treats you with scorn and pitiless con
tempt; il you caress it with skill. it carries yol
on its bosom lovingly, like mother.
SO beauty sits here in a summer house
breathing words OF admiration for the water
but wishing in her soul that she was safe at Sar
atoga. where she could control il in Il dipper.
] don't think man. in his long. unceas ms
search for beauty. will ever succeed in finding
those GrecaD pictures Of the sea revived Mt
fashionable watering place. Outside Of the tanl
at the Aquarium wo have no water sprites, an'
II We have. flannel bathing dresses are fatal t.