The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1882-11-04
DOsORIs ISLAND.
The Summer Home of Charles
A. Dana..A Place Fit for a
Prince.
N. Y. Letter to Boston Herals

-. Do0assA EAacc Ell IOr u
Prince.
N. Y. Letter to Boston Herald.
Have you ever been to Dosoris
Island? Probably not. Have you
ever seen Dosoris Island? Possibly
you have got distant glimpse of it
while steaming up Long Island Sound
on Fall River boat. 1t is a lovely
island, some two miles in circumfer-
ence, near Gleucove, off the star
board bow as you sell eastward. 1t
is the summer home of Charles A.
Dana, editor and chief proprietor of
the San, and every day during the
warm months, he journeys to the
city, 20 miles off and back on a
steamboat in private apartments
elegantly fitted up for his exclusive
use. His residence is an antique
mansion, rambling and roomy ON an
eminence browning the island and
overlooking grounds laid out with a
consummate mastery OF the arts of
forestry, orchardry, vineyard and
Horticulture. There are acres of vine
festoonery, yielding harvests of the
richest grapes that can be grown
along this isothermal line. Fruit is
cultivated in abundance. There are
mushroom caves where the pale fungi
grow deep in the earth, approached
only by ladders aud seeing no other
light than torches. / doubt il any
body else in this country has any
thing like it; and, indeed, it is said
there are few mushroom caves, even
in France, that equal these for the
variety and excellence of the product
There are on Mr.. Dana's place
more than one hundred species of
pines. The needle bearing trees
seem to be his favorites. He has
japanese pines, pines from the eau
casus, the Andes and the Himalayas,
India and African pines. Besides
these there are singular exotics from
all parts of the world. He has an
expert in landscape gardening, and
pronounced by Prof c. s. Sargent, Of
Harvard, one of the most accom-
plised horticulturists in America.
On this romantic isle of Monte Girls
to, the commingling of the old trees
that shaded the Indians and Dutch
with the foliage resulting from mod
ern selection and cultivation makes
a beautiful display. Mr.. Danna is
also a chicken fancicr and pigeon
cultivator. Among the fowls the
u IN n ~, N 10 h;o "a vor;to anJ nou.ca
per readers have not forgotten what
tremendous numhcr Of them were
stolcn from his coops one night last
year. ] forget whether it was 600 or
6,000 or 100000, but / remember
that it was enough to stock half the
farms in the State. His choice breeds
of swine and sheep, neat cattle and
horses amply repay a days inspcc-
ton. His billiard house, standing q
little detached from the main resi-
dence, is museum Of itself The
tables are of best quality, surrounded
with antique furniture, and the
walls are hung with medieval armor
and tiger skins brought from Africa
by Du Chaillu. Mr.. Dana is an ex-
pert in billiards, and has sometimes
beaten the best professionals. The
residence is old Dutch built more than
a century ago. 1t has been enlarged
and modernized in some parts for
comforts sake and enriched with the
spoils of many a transatlantic jour-
ney. The taste and wealth lavished
on the parlor, DINING room and halls
in the way Of paintings, statuary
and other artistic decoration, have
produced unique effect. 1t is pref
ty generally known that Mr.. Dana is
an epicure-a gentleman who makes
dining a fine art and there are few
more delicate or richer tables in the
vicinity of this city than that spread
before the master Of Dosoris. He
pays his cook $4,000 a year, I am
told, a sum exceeding that paid the
great French cook, Trompette, who
drives through the streets Of Paris
in coach as splendid as that of
Louis XVI. / have heard Mr.. Dana's
name coupled with those Of Sam
Ward and Sam Barlow, as one Of the
most accomplished diners in town,
and certain il is that those who have
stretched their legs under his ma
hogany and partaken Of the viands
there served, know something Of
what the word Lucullus means. His
wine cellar is marvel, and contains
some vintage that are never sold, but
are made only for presents to royal
or noble personages. When Provost
Paradol died, Mr.. Dana managed to
get some of his choice wines from
the custom house.