Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-08-14
waves. murmured Sabbath anthem that

waves, murmured Sabbath anthem that
came softly up to the listening ear.
Let us be honest There are three
churches in the village of Highland Falls
Episcopal, Presbyterian and Catholic
Each has q sweet bell and each at II
o'clock made its appeal, to which many
of the guests at Cranston's Especially the
ladies' promptly responded; but L sat in
the rear piazza, near the room which Gen
Scott always occupied when he visited
West Point, and listened to the CONVEX.
sation Of a gentleman who knows great
many things about great many
people in every part of the United
States. Richmond included. This
was Mr.. Joseph r. Curtis. who
CHANGED to come up on the Mary Powell
for brief holiday at Cranston's. He
had been joint lessee with Boyden when
the Exchange was first built, knew
Mayor Joseph Mayo and many other
gentlemen of the time in Richmond. and
had rare fund of anecdotes about
prominent Yirginians who have passed
away. We talked about them and about
West Point in FillmOre's time. when Mr..
Curtis was one of the Board of Visitors.
He said the puritanical rule of General
Howard, of Freedman's Bureau motto,
riety, was very distasteful alike to the
cadets and to the people, and that all
were glad that his place as superintend. /
ent will soon be filled by General Mer.
Iitt, of the Fifth Cavalry. cit will
hardly pay you," said he, 'to 90
up there this afternoon, for there will
be no dress parade. which constitutes
the great attraction" | asked him how
Cranstons happened to be built. He
told me that the elder Cozzens was pur-
veyor for many years at West Point. and
out of the profits arising from his lucra
tive position built the old hotel which
still stands on the Academy grounds.
When he left West Point to engage in
business in New York he presented the
hotel to what is called the Post Fund.
Prospering greatly in the city, his love
for his old home was such that he was
not content until in 1860 he erected the
hotel which bore his name, and which is
now called CranstOn's. 1t is very solid
affair, capable of accommodating four
hundred guests, and possessing attrac.
tiOns in its scenery and
surroundings which DEFY com.
petition. Originally well built
expended about $4,000 and $50 600 in
improving it, having added no less than
eight miles of iron tubing to perfect its
drainage. There can be no healthier
spot. A frst-class house in the full
sense of the term, its patrons are also
frst-class. One meets only the best PEG.
ple-the wives and daughters of gentle
men who live in the city, and who find
at Cranston's the social atmosphere to
which they are accustomed. Many
families spend the summer here. 1t is a
favOrite stopping place to and from Sara
toga. The piazzas and grounds are en-
livened by merry troops of children with
their nurses. 1t is a veritable summer
home for gentlefolks.
From Cranston's our talk wandered
off to other times and places to Cali
fornia in its early days, to Panama, to
Europe, to Long Island and its many re.
Sorts Insensibly the day wore on till
dinner time. As we rose to go to the ia
BILE interrupted Mr.. Curtis for a mo-
ment to ask question or two about our
host. Judge my surprise when he told
me that Henry Cranston had been COM
paratively few years in the hotel bust
ness, that he was model farmer. and
the best judge of horse in New York
State. had supposed that he had been
trained almost from boyhood Under his
Uncle Hiram, so well known for
his ardent Southern proclivities
" No." SAID Mr.. Curtis, Cranston
simply has an aptitude for business of
any kinda fitness growing out of in
dustrY and personal attention to details
He is the only hotel keeper in New York
city who is his own caterer and does his
own marketing. He succeeds because
he deserves to succeed, and he is destined
to become one of the historic landlords
of America. The lease of the New
York Hotel will expire in a few years.
1t will then be torn down to make room
for stores, and Cranston is already nego-
tiatlng for site near the park on which
to erect a hotel which shall have no
equal on the continent The site alone
will cost a million of dollars, the build
ing as much more; and it will be when
completed, what no other New York
hotel is, absolutely fire-proof
When the declining sun began to throw
shadows across the road that leads
to the academy / strolled thither,
pausing again and again to look
and at the hills beyond. Forty years
had passed since l last visited West
Point, in company with my schOOlmates
from Princeton. Many new buildings
have been added since that day, but in
essential features the place is unchanged.
Once upon the parade ground every
thing seemed familiar. The corps of
cadets was in its summer encampment
not far from the river bank, and except
few sentinels passing to and fro none
of them seemed to be stirring. A Sab
bath TRANQUILITY rested on the scene,
broken only by the swift wheels of the
carriages filled with Cranston's guests,
who were enjoying their evening drive
Throwing myself upon the grass, near
the mortars and guns at the upper edge
of the parade-ground, l saw the sun 60
down in golden mist far up beyond the
Catskills. G. w. B.