Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-08-26
HOW A GREAT MAN BATTLES.

Correspondents Philadelphia Press.

New York's Shapcly ex-senator at the
Mercy Of Briny Breakers.
Correspondents Philadelphia Press.
NEW YORK, August 19.-It was nv fortune to
behold at Manhattan beach few DAYS ago one
OF the most remarkable and beautiful spectacles
afforded by modern civilization Shall be for
given for reporting it? Say rather should be
forgiven for not reporting it? Mr.. Conkling has
been for several weeks guest at the Oriental
hotel. He spends the day In town hard at work
over the papers that come to him as one OF the
rising corporation lawyers Of the New York
bar. Then he runs and catches the crowded
A. 10 boat for Bay Ridge and the beach. He sits
on a stool i'm the bow Of the steamboat and re-
moves his hat, allowing the breezes of the bay
to toy with his chestnut and silver curls One
evening last week, half an hour before the sun
went down, there was q movement Of people
toward the place where the Oriental bathers en-
ter the water. The stir was SO unusual. and the
spectators so evidently interested in some OBJ
iect upon the sands, that 1 left comfortable
seat and made my way to the palings. The eyes
OF all spectators were directed not to the water,
but to a solitary figure that had Just emerged
from the bathing pavilion and was standing at
the edge OF the ocean in the attitude of Greek
god.
Shall describe his bathing suit ? He wore
c'ose-fitting tunic of diagonally striped blue
and white material. cut rather decolete, and
with short arms that left exposed fully one-half
OF the biceps. Brooches of the same striped
material came just below the knees; his calves
glIstened in the slanting sunlight; his pink
feet patted the warm sand one after the
other-shapely feet, which might well have
| made the Rev. DR.. Deems falter in his
belief that the feet Of the late Commodore Van
derbllt were the most beautiful ever SEEN In
the case of the Oriental bather perhaps the
heels were trifie long for the requirements Of
the severely classic standards; but they were
not excessively long, and as he stood erect upon
the sand they seemed to lend additional stability
to his pose guaranteeing to the eye, as it were.
| that he should not tumble backward. ridi-
culous straw bonnet covered his head, parti-
ally concealing the features from view. This
useless and disfguring appendage however
| was soon discarded. An Involuntary murmur
| of admiration ran through the crowd when the
straw hat was flung aside, and wealth of chest
nut and silver locks were abandoned to the
| amorous sOuth-sOuth-east wind.
We now saw the figure advance into the
water with superb march like that up-and-
down motion of the fore legs Of housekeeping
steed. which the French call pidfer. He paused
| when the cold water struck his ankles, and for
The spectators waited breathless. The faces
OF the bathers at the ropes were
all turned toward the newcomer What
would his decision be? Would he retreat, re-
sign, abandon the enterprise, or would he dis
| play physical courage equal to his physical
|
to his hips up to his chin, up to his curl If need
| be! Suspense was not of long duration. At
| that moment the sun flashed out from behind
| feecy cloud that had temporarily obscured it;
| GllnOres band, some hundred yards away.
struck up a lively march; cOmbing wave swept
| in and caught the hestating Apollo to it's
| bosom, rolling with him over and over on the
| sand, leaving him surprised, but not dscom-
fitted, stranded in two feet of water, his features
| set now with the determination to venture all,
his curl dank, but not demoraiiZed. Then, fol-
lowed by the partially suppressed applause of the
increasing crowd Of spectators. he slowly rose to
his hands and knees and finally to his feet, and
with movement quite as stately and little
more cautious than before, pushed his way
toward the nearest rope. 1t was a magnificent
exhibition of intrepidity-physical manhood in
| action battling with the element. Slowly and
more slowly he proceeded. as he got in deeper
and deeper. Every incoming wave he confronted
with weLl-squared breast pausing and care
| fully balancing himself for the encounter. His
| legs were out of sight now. and the proportions
| of his torso were not fully distinguishabIe; but
| even when nothing was visible but his head and
| shoulders, the dignity Of his carriage was still
| apparent. The graces Of his entire person
| seemed to have assembled In that part Of him
| which was still above water.
When he reached the rope he laid hold Of 1t
| with both hands, the bathers in possession re-
| specially making way for him. After q while
the boldest Of them approached and seemed to
| be giving him advice of some Sort probably in
| regard to bObbing. He heard them courteously
| but without encouraging further familiarity
and persisted in his own management Of the
| case. His method was to bob while the crest
| of the wave was still some yards away, and
thus he encountered the force of the water I'M
der disadvantageous conditions. In fact, he
brought up with kick, splash, and a splut-
ter every time. Before long it seemed to
strike him that he was probably in too deep.
little further to the east and little nearer the
thickest throng of spectators (many ladies had
by this time pressed their way to the brink Of
the bulkhead, at the risk OF a thorough wet
ting) there was another rope wholly unoccu-
pied. To gain this it was necessary to
venture across at least q dozen yards of
| fOaming brine, where the depth was fully
two feet and half; and the wind, which had
hauled off point to the eastward, was blowing
| with increased freshness. Nevertheless, the pas
sage from one rope to the other was courage
ously undertaken. The drum major Of the 22d
regiment could not have waded along in front
Of the spectators more majestically Orwth more
perfect selfpOssessiOn under the embarrassing
gaze of so many eyes, He had discovered by this
time what he must do to preserve his balance
when the waves struck his legs. The passage
no doubt, would have been accomplished In a
triumphantly successful manner had not the no.
tice of the adventurer been attracted by the we'll
meant but untimely salute of an acquaintance on
shore He paused to smile and to wave his
hand, and in fulfilling this social obligation he
relaxed for an instant his attention to the mat
ter Of physical equilibrium. 1t happened that
at the same instant there came rolling in from
the 5000 miles of ocean to the right of him a
ridge of water which might have been tidal
wave for its size and malignity. 1t struck him
just as he was smiling and waving his hand.
second later nothing was seen above the tur-
moil of water save pair OF legs partially in
cased in blue and white breeches wildly churn-
ing the air. Another brief interval of terrible
suspense, and there sat on the strip of sand at
the foot Of the bulkhead- blowing the ocean out
of his throat and nose and trying with his
knuckles to clear his eyes Of brine-One of the
most distinguished of American statesmen q
man whom Oscar Wilde mentioned by name to
Sam Ward as the finest specimen of manly
beauty to be found outside the Caucasus.
-----&~S--
Shilling the Waves with Oil.
In parliament recently, the Earl of Carnarvon
called attention to the effects said to be pro-
duced by pouring Oil upon the sea In tempestu-
Gus weather, and inquired what measures the
board Of trade had adopted to test the value of