Morning journal and courier., 1882-08-25

BLOCK ks1nnu-UOOu AOVlCe 10 People w tho
 Have Pleasant Homes-DisaGreea
 Features of the Place-Its Attractions
 -How Visitors Enjoy ThemseIves-
 Transformation Scenes-The Cliffs, etc.,
 etc.
 BLOCK ISLAND, Aug. 23. To the Editor of the JOURNAL COURIER:
 o, ye unsatisfed people of the city of shade casting elms who are anxious to test the climate of distant places think twice be- fore you decide to make change. But few days ago I chanced to walk your shady streets and to day wonder that people can be so unwise as to leave them, imagining that they going to find a more comforta- ble and cooler place. Does the change from beneath the green canopy of graceful elms which rustic with the almost ever-present breeze, the large and airy room and the bed which knows every aching bone, to barren dusty, sunbeaten isle, like this for instance a room which will just admit you and your baggage in an over-crowded summer hotel bed which takes no account of aching bones, etc., pay? At four dollars day, not includ ing the satisfying of many itching palms which are constantly stretched forth, again we say, does it pay? In the fact that it helps one to appreciate his home and know good thing when he has it, it certainly does. Ones first days experience at place of this kind, after having been led to believe that there was no place equal to it Tapped by old oceans fringe, is not apt to be very sncoura- ging, and now, the midnight sentinels are gradually being shut ont by an inky pail, and the staid old fog horn ever and anon sends forth it's dismal howl of warning, is doubly reminded of home and would give a weeks board to be once more in his own snug quarters.
 It must be admitted, however, that there are great attractions as we'll disagreeabe features belonging to this place. The air is undoubtedly the purest of genuine sea air, and to many this in itself is worth coming for. Many people who live in the West and South spend season here year after year and derive great enjoyment and undoubted benefits from their stay. close investiga- | ton shows Block Island to be nothing but ! mass of clay and sand, and a birds eye view I of it from the highest point reveals lot of rolling mounds, like ant hills, covering space of about nine by four miles. peculiar foo l ture is that of numerous springs which bub- 1 ble forth with sweet water, forming in some | instances quite good-sized ponds between the hills. Hotels all commanding a view of l the ocean, are numerous and at the present time are packed full. There seems to be i very little ambition wasted in keeping things | in proper condition here either by the gov, ! ernment or the natives. The streets are bad, \ the docks In miserable condition, and the ! ! sirable promenade for the guest, often | robbed of their beauty by load of waste 1 truck, tin cans, etc, which has been dumped down their sides, there to lie until a winters ! storm rt moves 1t and once more makes the place decent. It is disgrace to all connect l cd with the island that the practice of mak- | ing this most attractive spot a dumping | ground is allowed. The government, how | ever, we are informed will soon make re
 pairs along the cliffs, building stone-work 1 and so forth, and thsn one of the most ob | jectionable features of the place will be done l away with.
 | A great part and perhaps the majority of
 the time of the guests is spent in lolline | about the piazzas of the hotels keeping the l lungs busy inhalng the bracing air. The
 bathing, however, is freely indulged in and
 the scenes at the beach are gay in the ex
 treme. About ten o'clock vehicles begin to 1 drive up to the hotels and for ten cents you
 are conveyed to the bathing grounds, which | are about half a mile distant. The transfor
 nation scenes which occur here are wonder
 ful and full of information Here the Miss l Smith, who Is the angel of the piazza, is an
 unrecognizable rag of slouchiness, which dis pels all thoughts of sentiment that have been
 lurking about the manly bosom. Miss Brown
 reveals pair of appendages which are the
 envy of the college athlete, and it is not in
 frequent that they are seen to fly along the ! smooth beach in competition with others ot
 various qualities. Good time is made
 Fishing forms another important branch oi
 the amusements, but fish, particularly blue
 fish, are scarce This would hardly be be
 1ieved until experience had taught it, fol
 fish" stories are told in the most Christian
 like manner. These are told by the native
 Block Islanders while they are mending thei1
 nets, handling sort of bobbin and line a.
 expertly as an old lady does her knitting nee
 dles. One says: ''Did you ever see a DOT
 poise catch his dinner? We'll, I seed two