Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-08-18
SAINTS AND SINNERS AT THE SEASIDE.
Life at the Great Methodist Watering Place

chANonS IN FOUR YEARS+w0RLDLY INN0vA-
TIoSs-PLEAsUREs AND PAINS OF SURF BATHING
"A WASHER IN THE BRINE-GOING GRABBING
WITH THE GIRIs-How A WEST WASHINGTON
GIRL CAUGHT oNE-ON THE BEACH TO LONG
BRANcH-wA WASHINGTON ARCHITECTURE ALONG
! THE sEAsHoRE
special correspondence of THE EVENING STAR.
ocEAN GROVE, NJ, August L. 1881.
ocean Grove the great Methodist watering
place on the coast of New Jersey, has changed
In tone as well as improved in its general az
pearance and in the comforts of life. The change
OF tone can be indicated in few words. There
are not many tenters here now: formerly .'the
woods were full of them" The piano has taken
the place OF the organ as dispenser of music
ior hoteis and cottages; formerly q am speak
ing OF four years ago. the sound of the piano
was not to be heard in the land 1t was too
worldly. This does not imply that there is less
OF the religious element here now than for
merry The worldly innovations which have crept
in are due to the deeds and influence of the I'M
godly VINO have come to this religious city by the
sea TO enjoy some ofthe quiet pleasures the place
along With the righteous. The brethren do not
seem TO OBJECT in the least to the wayfarer who
is OF the world worldly. In fact, they rather
IKE ms coming He brings money, and the more
that come the more valuable becomes the prop
effy OF the good people who have invested here
ana the more plentiful are the ducats which find
their way into their Golfers. Perhaps. after all
neyond the mere fact of the observance of re-
llgious forms and the repeated visits to the
prayer meetings and church goinrs-in
ana comings-out-ther is not so much
difference between those of the world and those
OF the sanctuary. / do not find that the hotel
keeper IS any more accommodating. sets better
taDle. or is more ObliviOus to the acquisition of
filthy lucre because he has been ordained, or is
a pillar OF the church, or ex-circuit rider On
the contrary, find that wherever heather has
been permitted to set himself up in any business
here. you can get from him better and more of
IL Tor your money than from the elect. The
popular theory is that the latter class knows not
SO much OF the ways of bad world as the
former. Despite this presumed ignorance on
his part and the general look of sanctity which
pervades the brother-Ordained or Otherwise--I
would never think of attempting to take him
inf may write slang phrase almost under
the caves of
THE TABERNACLE.
That same tabernacle is great institution
here. 1t will seat any number of people. The
rest nang round its suburbs, and catch what
they can OF the services. They hold meetings in
the tabernacle all the time; and what strikes me
as being fact worthy of chronicng for future
history IN the columns of the best newspaper
tlat ever bought itself a fine new building is that
these meetings are always well attended Youwill
md there the man who sells candy and peanuts
on the corner, the man who takes care of your
bathing suit, the man who boards YOU and the
waiter who waits long time before he will bring
you anything to fill the craving emptiness of
your abdominal cavity. 1 had been writing so
much about President Gartield's condition before
coming here that drop naturally. and. perhaps
gracefully, into the medical terms of Drs. Bliss
and BaXter-nO. Drs Bliss and Hamilton BaX-
Ter wasn't on good terms with Bliss when | left
and don't suppose they have as yet made it
up. Where was | when l stumbled upon the
medical frateTnity-(a band of brOthersl) Oh.
yes was talking about the meetings at the
tabernacle: can't, for the life of me- tell
WHERE ALL THE PREACHERS COME FROM.
THERE'S only an interval of about half an hour be-
tween the meetings. but every time there are
different ministers conducting them. 1t takes
from three to four ministers to run meeting
The supply is simply enormous. There are a
good many old gentlemen who preach little
and give out the hymns, but notice that most
OF the gentlemen of the cloth are Young. fell
low heather from the ungodly city of New York
tells ME that Ocean Grove is a sort of dissecting-
room for young ministers who have not got their
hand in. They are given full rein here to prac-
tice before they take unto themselves congrega-
tons and become shepherds Of 1iocks OF their
own. With all due respect to the character of
the place, but at the same time with an even
stronger convicti0nfOr the truth it moves me in
sundry and divers places to say that the coming
DID. could not have better dissecting-roon.--
to use again the metaphor of my heather friend
from ungodly Gotham.
INTO THE FOAMING BREAKERS.
There are quite number of amusements to
be INDUCED in as the spirit moves. And the
greatest of these is bathing. The surf is as
good as any Neptune throws, like foaminr beer.
upon the Atlantic coast of the greatest country
ON the face Of Gods earth. The breakers are
bracing and buoyant The beach is sandy and
smooth. The water is almost always warm and
welcome in its touch and the bathing costumes.
nke the bathers are curious and to be counted
by thousands The bathing hours vary each
day. the tide governing the hour for the surf
When the bathing is at its height the surf
swarms with humanity from the bathing house.
at the lower terminus of Ocean Grove a way up
beyond Asbury Park. 1t is certainly a sight
that possesses every quality of interest. If one
had not an uncomfortable desire to plunge into
the buoyant salt water and swim out in
the full enjoyment of life, health and
strength, the mere act of watching others
do it gives tingle to healthy blood.
Very few people, however, watch-no matter
how many there may be who pray. The bath
ing is contagious. The church member who
rents bathing suits reaps unto himself much
worldly dross. There is not much STYLE here in
bathing suits. although there is good deal of
display-personal display. There are some OF
the most
HIDEOUs BATHING SUITS
together. There are, too. some very pretty cos
tunes. and some very pretty ladies in them.
Nobody looks well in bathing suit after it once
gets wet. This explains the reason why SO
many ladies walk along the beach or recline in
the sand before they take to the briny waves.
Most people pronounce the man the better look
ing in a bathing suit file protest He is bv
far the worse looking. Once get his suit wet
and the veriest masher that ever sat on hotel
verandah in all the bloom of gay apparel looks
a thousand per cent more hideOus when he
come out OF the water than the scrawniest
female or fattest forty year older that ever
emerged from the surf Perhaps it is unneces-
sary to say that the masher bathes but seldom
mean goes into the surf but at very unfreuuent
intervals-ard then only when there are few
people on the beach. AS long as some people
stay at the seaside and as often as they have
been here there are comparatively few who
know how
TO REALLY ENJOY THE ROLLING-IN BREAKERS
They take hold Of the life lines near the shore
and never let go. The surf breaks right over
them. tearing off the cutice by contact with the
ropes, and often making them perform somer
sauts exposing at the time to the eager gaze of
thousands pair Of legs Of more or less symme
try, surmOunted by pair of feet of greater mr.