Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1879-09-05
Letter from Martha's Vineyard.
OAK BLUFFS, Aug. %, 1879

OAK Bluffs, Aug. %, 1879.
To the Editor OF the Free Press and Times
The Island of Martha's Vineyard may b.
roughly described as a triangle who's
surface is not a plane and whose three side
have lost all scmhance TO straight lines. 1T
northern part which has made the island $
well known as a Summer resort. is som'
seven miles from the deeply indcn'cd mar
land which extends from Buzzard's Bay Il
the east toward the toe of Massachusetts III;
boot Two hours ride by steamboat iron
Martha's Vineyard is her twin sister
| Nantucket. famous in years gone by Tor In
uuantncss of her people, and nov
a formidable rival of Martha's Vine
yard rs popular Summer resort
of course she has not vet turned the currcn
of Summer travel away from her rival, no
is it probable that she will ever succeed
in doing 50 but am saving little and not ;
whit more than the truth when | say tina
her natural attractions are fully equal tC
those of her rival, and, furthermore, 1t is
great treat to those who rcvcl in the custom:
of the oldcn time, to hear the town-crier per
forming duty, to ride in Ia genteel way il
carts that are rough limitations of the vehicle
in use among our Canadian neighbors, ani
to study the quaint characteristics of tn
great whaling port of hy-gone days.
As the traveller approaches Martha's Vine
yard by steam boat from Woods Hall,
| one of the southern termini of the
Old Colony Railroad, he leaves Il
the right Vineyard Haven, "A large, salt
inlet in the north part OF the island where al
intcrminable forest of masts and an intricate
et-work of rigging can always he seen
Farther to the east are the Highlands with ;
PERCEPTIONS bluff fully forty feet high, anC
then extending back with slight rise Of
ground to the woodland city where the Bap
fists hold camp meetings. Oak Bluffs,
which 10y its own popularity first called the
attention of the public 10 the remarkable
attractions for Summer resort of all the
shores of Vineyard Sound, is third of q
mile to the east of the Highlands and is con
nected with it by wide plank walk which
is well patronizcd for promenading along
the waters edge The walk extends a third
of mile beyond the Oak Bluffs
wharf, leading past the long double line OF
houses on the shore, and overloOks for a
railway which creeps along, snail-like, over
the shifting sands. The principal hotels
the Pawncc. Central, Sca-Niew, and Island
are all within stones throw Of the wharf.
They are all vastly inferior, in the comforts
they Afford to first-class city hotels, being, in
fact, like ordinary mountain and sea-shorc
hotels and therefore barely endurable.
The best cottages the cottage city boasts
are situated on the avenue overlooking the sea,
Of which have Just spoken. Some of them
are models of architectural beauty, and cost
probably from 81 900 10 ST, 900. There is a
certain opcnness and roominess about them
which by contrast is made doubly pleasing
They are surrounded by well-kept lawns; plots
of flowers greet the eye and fill the air with
perfume many varieties of sea-shells are
tastcfully arranged about them; they are
approached by fine concrete walks and in
the concrete the name of the owner is often
seen marked out in designs with milky and
rose quartz pebbles. about half an inch in
diameter which have been pounded into the
concrete while it was vet soft. In front of
these cottages there is II fine concrete drive,
and indeed, with a few insignificant eXcep-
tons, all the drives and walks in the
cottage city" are of the same material.
This adds greatly to the neatncss of the
place, and the abundance of oak trees, small
lal L.. Al, L.
produce the same effect There are three or
four fields reserved for parks, too which of
course add to the airiness and pleasantness of
the little city But the curse of Oak Bluffs
is the bad, sitting air which results from the
proximity of the cheap block houses, as it
were, in which most of the cottagers live.
Where land is so cheap and fresh, cool air
has been provided by nature so abundantly,
il seems a great pity that through the greed
of Specializing landowners these thousands
of people should he led TO spend the
Summer months under poorer sanitary con.
ditions than they would had they remained
in the hot cities.
In the early days Of its prosperity Mar
tha's Vineyard was almost synonym for
sObriety and good order. Alas, that happy
condition of things exists no longer. At
every corner drug store and in the rear of
nearly every boarding house liquors flow
like water-provided they arc paid for.
While the Tabernacle is rcsounding with
songs of praise, a dozen bar-rooms within a
minutes walk echo the ficndish hawls of
drunken sOts. Ii would he well for the
Mcthodists to turn the mett0d of their ism
to the correction of this enormous evil which
is cinging TO their skirts. But if the people
have power to control the sale of liquors
al.
TO choose their transient visitors Ii is the
thousands of transient visitors who make
the Sabbath at Oak Bluffs anything hut
day of rest-who make the streets as disor-
derby Ms the sums of city on Saturday
night. Yesterday. for instance, seven or
eight large steamboats, landed thousands of
passengers from all the sea-board cities from
Boston to New York The largest of all was
the Granite State from Hartford. Then there
were the Island Home, MOnohansett, Martha's
Vineyard, River Queen, etc. every one packed
from bow 10 stern. Beside the steamboats,
there were some forty yachts anchored in
the harhor; most noticeable of which was
James Gordon Benefits famous racer Daunt-
less, two-masted yacht about 100 feet long,
narrow, and as perfect in beauty as she is in
speed She is painted in jet black. She
bears the flags of the nations on n long line
extending over the mast heads from fore
TO aft. But we were speaking of
the drunkenness and quarrelling which
disgrace Oak Bluffs on Sunday. Among
the passengcrs the steamboat y. 4. Stevens"
from Mcnanhant yesterday were some sixty
Marslfpee Indians, men, women and child |
rem. Our grandfathcrs declared the fondness |
IF the red man for ''firc-waicr - and appar
entity the nature of the red man has not |
=
Indian men eight got drunk. The Marsh |
pee Indians are the remnant of the Cape Cod |
tribes. They live on a reservation Of fertile, |
well waicred land ten miles east of BuZzards |
Bay. Here they support Il church and |
schools, till the land, cut lumber from the |
plains, and as the protcgcs OF |
he State enjoy nearly all the privileges of |
civilized life enjoyed by citizens. As look
ii upon their erect and comely forms and |
beard them talk among themselves in |
'ur mother tongue, apparently forgetful
hat their ancestors ever had distinct Ian
,uagc, and II dominant language, could not |
nut feel that thsy had suffered irrcparahlc
oss, that they had suffered wrongs for which
tensions could not atone. The vehicles in
which they came down To the wharf were
or the most part, old-top carriages: the
Iurscs were lean skinny remnants of horse
icslI; The men pulled their scanty garments
bout their nakcdncss, and the women took
'arbarian half-dclight in faded apparel Of
,audy cnlurs. In each dusky visagc, sad
liscontentment was written, and deeper than
ii else were the signs of life without great
nope and purpose. II. :. b.
PERSONAL AND POLITICAL.
This is the last week of the political
trugglr in Maine the election occurring
ext MONDAY. The Republicans intend To
make things lively during the wcck-two
throughout th,. STATE. Cen g. irirl1 and