New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-11-09
an OCTOBER VISIT.
LAST DAYS AT THE WATER GAP.

NV OOIOOEH FlOiL'
LAST DAYS AT THE WATER GAP.
THE EMPTY HoTEL-THE AUTUMSAL SCENERY
SIGHTS, SOUNDS AND sUGGEsHoNs-IhE
AMERICAN HURRY TO GET HOME AGAIN.
IrRoM A STAFF CORRESPONDENT OF TIE TRIBUNE.1
DELAWARE WATER GAP, Penn, Oct. 25.-When
the summer which is just dead and gone and joined
to the others was in the full flush OF its green ana
glorious earniture, sent to THE TRIBUNE an IN
adeouate letter concerning the Delaware Water
Gan. with rather a dull catalogue, fear, OF It's
valleys stretching in pensive quletness between
its walks its waters and its woods, its hills rocK
ribbed and ancient as the SUM-" with all It's mon
tame magnifcence. l sand then, II remember
Alright that the Gap, more than any other place Oh
summer resort with which L was acquainted lent
itself kindly to solitude and silence, spite OF the
hundreds in the hotels. To this l should have
added, and perhaps l did, that these sojourners
were wonderfully quiet folk, .minding their own
business. and permitting their fellow-creatures TO
do the same wholesome thing. But all through my
too short July visit, was haunted by suspicion
hat. as a man loving lonesomeness was not get
ting the best possible out OF the Water Cap albeit
might have been considered curmudgeon IL hau
then and there suggested so much to my fellow
soiourners, who were, TO man, woman ana chlu'
in love with the locality. They might have forgiven
Sidney Smiths Irascible person who damned
the Equator and even spoke disrespectfully OF the
North Pole; they would not have tolerated Tor
an instant the least depreciation OF Mount Mlhsl
and its green garnlture. But when our luggage was
actually upon the coach and the porter impress
svery saying good-by" to us, it must have been by
positive inspiration that begged Mr.. Brodhead to
let me know when the ountains should be making
absolute Josephs of themselves by putting on their
coats of many colors lie kindly complied with my
request and he did it by telegraph. lest the glory
should be gone ere we could. even with railway
haste, get there to see the sight
So we went back, just our old little PARTY, to
find the great hotel with only e handful
left lingering there, and we arc our trst meal
in the wide and long dinng-room. costly cornered,
with n majority of the tables and chairs
ore info yvntet quarters at the other end of it in
bind of oberaur-de frise 1t was like entering into
the possession of palace. We were in a castle in
stead of cave and heTmts without the lean and
lenten fare / myself made the opposite remark
between the soup and the fish, that LOUIS the
Fourteenth himself never dned more maJesticalIyi
and if His Majesty had been there could nave
insured him an appetite, which he did not always
have. and knew how to value. For my part,
found the quiet the large sense OF space within
answering to the large of space without thee
approximation to something like solitude, exceed
ingly soothing There were no heavy footballs
mon the starcases or the floors of the corridors.
There was none of the hustle inevitable in the
auietest house when il is full. The doors were
closed and there was the cosiness CT blazing hrc-
side. As for walking, everything conspired to make
it to the last degree exharating We had found
at last the luxurious October, which this year did
not seem TO come to the city. We knew il by the
pure cold air which it was Joy to breathe by the
splendtr of the decaying woods; by the simmer
ing light which thrilled through the variegatcd
foliage and svered the now sluggish and shallow
river by the calls of the the sharp, earnest
dialogue of the locusts and the fitting sight of the
squirrels still foraging, fancIed, and running in
plain view across the now naked boughs at some
risk, too, as the frequent sound of the sportsmans
gun testified When we opened the DOORS the
poor dead leaves came whrling in, as if they were
not quite dead and wanted shelter. We could
stroll over soft carpet Of their companions. resting
where they fell and rivalling yet in their brilliancy
the prsmatic products of Eastern looms, The in
visible artists of the air had been busy in their
staining; and the great red sweep of the oaks was
broken here and tbere by the yellow magnihcence
of the birches and by the still persistent green OF
the aurels There was on all sides that profuse
prodigality of color which our eyes will not believe
in as natural when they see it upon the canvas of
the painter who has right TO complain if our
shallow criticism proves that his memory and his
sense Of beauty arc stronger than ours.
Thus we went over the well-remembeTed walks
of last summer, missing something and finding
something to replace what was missing. Those who
then shared with us these Injuries had gone mainly
away: we no longer heard their merry calls echoing
through the mountains; caught no glimpse of
them creeping over the bridges; nor did we en-
countar them unon the narrow mathis which SKIRT
the ridges In the place of their laughter we were
welcomed by the sociable call of the cat-brd. IL
was so still that we could hear the acOrns dropping
and the whrl of the descending leaves. Even the
watercourses had lost their babblc and their falls
fell almost noiselessly. Yet everywhere was that
sense of life which nature in her stillest moods
never loses-that susurras which is not quite
silence but next to it, and more soothing than the
most absolute noselessness. Mr.. Bryant, who
must hundred times have wandered through the
autumnal panorama, as have been wandering to-
day. found something melancholy in such a scene
and pronounced these October days " the saddest
of the year." Sad tsey are, perhaps. but after all
there is nothing of gloom in the sadness which they
bring. There is feeling that nature has gained in
her serene repose what she may have lost in
strength. She is resting from the summer actiyi-
ties and is moro beautiful in her half-slumber as
the twilight is moro beautiful than the MONDAY
These ale the remarks which l addressed to q small
and select circle, seated upon messy rock, with
the Caldeno Falls furnishing subdued accompan-
ment. There was, thank the Lord no reporter
present: and so / have reported them myself After
this we went home to dinner, which was much
better than the remarks.
BY this time / suppose, all the summer sojourners
and tourists and boarders have returned to their
homes and the bonny blink OF their own fircsides
l have the advantage of many of them in this last
sight of the loneliness Of the earth before the rigid
and memorable winter has made. Communion with
nature business too much like labor for the
majority. Are we not always in too much of a
hurry to get back to our town sophistcations and
routnesi These final October days are so pscu-
liary beautiful and suggestive that 1T seems pity
10 nass them all AWAY from the scenls IN which