Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-08-25
NEW YORK NOTES.
THE BRITON ON HIS TRAVELS.
Something AbOuT His Earmarks-
WattersOnss "WIE and HumOr OF
the SOuIh''-A Romance OF Cera.
mIcs-COney Island Beach-Field
Junior.


WattersOnss "WIE and HumOr Ol
the SOuIh''-A Romance OF Cera.
mIes-COney Island Beach-Field
Junior.
New YORK, August 2S-English tourists con.
tinue to arrive by every incoming steamer.
The Englishman is an interesting animal to
study at any time, but he is especially so when
he is away from home among ''furriners. -
You can pick him out on the most densely
crowded pier, where all nationalities are
mingled, so strong is his personality. His
clothes are an infallible mark. If
you are asked to define the peculiarly
Of his dress you may be at a loss. He wears
his clothes differently. Then with all his Sc
dateness he often, almost always in fact has
them cut after the most juvenile fashions.
Again. he is fond of color, indulging his fancy
for greens, yellows and browns, all of which he
may have mingled in plaid or striped suit,
to the astonishment and horror of Americans.
His face is red, his whiskers
flow down at the sides Of his face
as did those Of the esteemed Lord
Dundreary, and he looks at the New World, Of
which he has heard so much and comprehended
so little, through a single eYeglass. Our Brit
i'her is solemn, and seldom laughs. He may
grunt and roar occasionally. but he does not
laugh. His ignorance OF our great and glorious
republic is startling; but he is anxious TO learn,
showing an especial fondness for statistical
facts. It you can ever get one of those animals
in your care, give him the dimensions Of every
thing weights, gallons, acreage, ,distances-and
he will praise you for your hospitality. The
English tourist, as l have said, has vague
ideas respecting this countrY-so vague, in
deco, that they are c 1mical, and make one laugh
in 10 fon0 hof n hS,nI- . -
all appearances rossessed of ordinary intelli-
gence, who blandly asked me the other day If
1 knew of a good house in Illinois that could be
rented for a few months? If one desires
to retain his reason, he should
not attempt to explain our system
of government to him. 1t is useless. The
young Englishmsn, with his short coat, tight
trousers sharp ointed shoes and curled,
brimmed Derby, is not so much of curiosity as
he would be If he did not have his dress and
manners so faithfully copied by our own youth
full snobs. 1t is surprising what good imita-
tion we have come to have. When the Ameri-
can young man is favored with a coarse.
ruddy complexion Favored, say
and is not engaged in conversation
he may deceive even the most practiced eye.
Most Of our English cousins, after seeing the
town, and visiting the various seaside resorts
hereabouts, take sail up the Hudson, go to
look upon the Falls of Niagara, and then go
on a journey through the great West. They
expect to find the Western country as Mar
tin Chuzzlewit and Mark Tapley saw it. But
they are willing to admit on their return that
they were mistaken.
met Mr. ]. G. Derby yesterday, who is con-
nee ed with the publishing house OF Houghton.
Mffiin & Co Mr.. Derby has been instrumental
in bringing out several works by Southern au-
thors, and at his suggestion Mr.. Wat erson. of
Louisville, Kentucky, il at work expanding his
article on "Wit and Humor of the South, I"
which appeared some months ago in the Cen.
tury Magazine, into a book. Without doubt
there is a large fund of material among the
Of fI1o GOr1fb Gfafa nd
from their writings woven together by Mr..
WatterSon's 8 narrative and comments will form
an interesting work. Georgia authors will oc
cupy the M 0St conspicuous position of all the
States-simply for the reason that it has pro-
duced greater number of authors than any
other whose writings come under the head of
wit and bumor Among them will be Col. w:
T. Thompson. the author of "Major Jones'
Courtship;" Judge Lcngstreet, who wrote
Georgia Scenes;' Col johnson, the
author of ''Dukesborough Tales" and J.
G. Harris (Uncle Remus). One OF the
cisterns from which the author will draw will
be Harp of Thousand Strings" by an Va
bama writer, and another, Flush Times"
by Judge Baldwin, of Virginia. Nothing at all
could be squeezed from South Carolina.
George D. Prentice and j. Proct r Knott will
represent Kentucky. Knotts famous Duluth
speech will be printed in full. have not men
toned all OF the authors, or the sources from
which the material is to be drawn, but only
enough to indicate what the work is to be.
General Beauregard is also engaged in writing
a book (surely this is an additional sign of in
tellecual activity in the Southl, but of this new
literary venture l will speak at another time.
On street car yesterday l met woman
who was carrying two small vases IN a basket.
She was elegantly dressed. and had the grace
and bearing of a lady Of refinement, Beside
the vases she had two numbers of the Century
magazine and a beautiful bouquet Of flowers,
Under ordinary circumstances there would be
nothing in these articles, reposing, as they WERE
peacefully in the lady's lap to suggest history
or romance. There was one thing forgot to
mention, and this was the fact that on one of
the vases (both of which had been decorated
by hand) was the black mark of a mans
thumb. The story is in that black mark The
lady's account was that finding that she had
little to do at her time of life (three score) she
had learned to decorate china artistically, to
the great surprise of her family and friends
She was engaged at present on a full set of
china for her son that would REQUIRE
ten years to complete But the
workmen in the potteries were hostile to anna
teurs, and used every means In their power to
discourage them. That was the secret Of the
thumb mark Some workman had put it
there when no one was looking to dishearten
her. 1t was disheartening, as she bad spent days
in painting the vase. When l asked this gray
haired amateur what could be done to rep air
the injury, she said she could only try again,
this time taking the precaution of bribing the
workmen By paying them MONEY? No, by win
ming their friendship with kind attentions and
smiles. The flowers in the basket we're to be
given to one of the men in the pottery where
she had her work done, and the maya zines
were for him to read ia his leisure hours. This
experiment, she ssid, had always proved sue
cessful. Worse things happened than the
ugly thumb marks, the lady said; sometimes
the piece was shattered in a thousand frag-
ments When, by whom, how, was always a
mystery. Nobody did it, nobody could tell
how it happened. Only the other day she
found a woman at the pottery crying
as if her heart would break. On inquiry Ahe
learned that large dish which the disconso
late lady had spent months in decorating had
agency She lived away out in Ohio and
thought SO much Of her work of art that she
came all the way to New York with it herself,
being afraid to trust it with any one else. This
was the bitter end. So she cried. All this was
a revelation to me, as it doubtless will be to
many hard-hearted man who never dreams
what sacrifices women go through to be able
to place some little painted dish on his table
Who would have thought that such pathetic
story was enclosed in the little basket, which
contained the bouquet, the magazines and the
vase with the black thumb mark on it?
The beach at Coney Island is fast coming
into bad repute at Manhattan Beach, where
people went into the surf by thousands two
years ago the bathers do not now reach hum
dreds. The surf bathing has been practically de-
stroyed by the encroachment of the ocean
Brighton fares better, but yet badly enough
The contour of the beach at this
point has also changed, and when the tide
is high it is impossible for women to get into
the surf from the wooden footway by which
they go from their bath rooms to the water
1t is the intention of the company to move the
bathing pavilion next season back on line
with the hotel. OF late many New York peo-
pie have resorted to West Brighton for the
sake Of the surf bathing at that point OF the
Coney Island beach. Here the sands have
shifted less, but the waters appear to be treach-
erous, and swimmers are in great danger Of
being swept down by the undertow or dashed
against the iron piles of the PIERS There have
been two deaths by drowning within the past
two days. Both of the victims were good
INN ARai6anfc NJ ia ind
der beach unpopular, and unless the winds
and tides make it what it once was.
Coney Island will. without doubt 20
into a decline. The fact is this
great resort-and it is still greats not as
popular as it was two or three years ago.