, 1884-08-21
DECISIVE NEWPORT.
Tho Famous Resort Not What 1t Is
Represented To Be.
DanPness and Other Atmospheric
Defects-views of salt Water Much
misunderstanding Bath
era a Myth.

Newport Letter in Chicago Timesl
One reason among Others why tho hotels,
such as they are, are hardly half full in tho
latter part OF July Is that tho recent weather
has not been favorable 10 IA ~sojourn by the
seashore. The last fortnight has been any
thing but genial. II has been a good deal Of
the time cloudy, rainy, foggy, windy, de-
cidedly bad for outdoors, and at this season
and place no one wishes to be within walls
The climate Of Newport Is much praised, and
far beyond its deserts, as l think 1t is noto-
rious for fogs; Bellevue avenue IS afflicted
with dust, and many days, even In
midsummer, are disagreeable. Weather
Is ~ small consequence TO me as long as
it is cool can bear any kim of inclemency,
but most persons cannot, and amt acquainted
with many who dislike Newport at any sea
son. They do not find the grateful tonic 10
often mentioned, and its dampness gives them
uches and distemper. do not object to the
dampress nor TO many OF its atmospheric de-
fects. The fact that it is almost never hot or
snltry resigns me to the place, which, 30
-in'ly, Is the reverse Of what / should enjoy.
Bellevue avenue is but u p~rolongation of
Fifth avenue, with a change OF temperature,
ami, II one must be festal and dissipated,
winter is preferable to summer in point Of
time. The mental wear and physical fatigue
OF n nigh social campaign at Newport, only a
delicate, nervous American woman can en-
dnre without approach to exhaustion.
THE PLACE DISAPPOINTING.
Persons who nave formed their idea Of
Newport from what they have heard OF 1t
must be greatly disappointed, and many Of
them are. They imagine that Bellevue
avenue skirts the sea, or at least has IA grand
sea view. They are not prepared TO find it
almost inland. From one side Of the thor
oughfare the rear grounds run down to an
inlet Of N~arragansott bay, but from the
front the water Is hardly visible. And ON
the other side there is not a glimpse or sug-
gestion Of the ocean. To be at the seashore,
and to nave no vision OF the sea, is like read
ing a novel that is not interesting, or attend
ing IA ball where no one dances.
What a miFnomeris the name Of the Ocean
house, which is no more marine in surround
ing " outlook than II it were in the middle
OF Manhattan island. 1t is an ancient, old
fashioned, incongruous ineonvenient hostelry,
built nearly a generation ago-good for the
day, but now wofully behind the times. 1t
Is not modernized or improved, because it
has 10 competitition-the A~quidneck is a
modest inn without pretense-nor is it likely
to have; for no man would be so rash as to
put up u hotel where there is at best but a
small hotel patronage. The Ocean could not
nc hGRA OlIh - ~ . NO. Wv - - pr
prietor.
The only really pleasant part of this place,
as a seashore resort, is, 10 my mind, Marine
avenue, which has a view up the bay opening
into the Atlantic, and where you may see the
waves breaking on the cliffs. The cottages
there ara delightfully."- situated; but scarcely
any Of the others are. Many of them are, as
everybody knows, beautiful and most costly
they are really mansions-and yet they
are, SO to speak, out OF range Of the sea. l
am unacquainted with any resort abroad
that in any way equals this for what 1 may
call the sumptuousness and extravaganza OF
its domhl equipments. The one thing New
port needs is views OF salt water.
Even the ocean drive, of which so much is
said, is a delusion. The road is not good,
and it does not border the water only here
and there, and is at ines quite a distance
therefrom. 1t looks gay when all tue vehi-
cles Of an endless variety are rolling over it
on u radiant afternoon, but IL has very little
that is attractive or picturesque.
CHARMING BATHERs A MYTH.
The bathing is also of an inferior order,
The principal beach at the cove is good for
women and children, because it is shelving
and the breakers are mild, as if they had sub
dued themselves to agree with the widely
bruited gentility Of the place. But the water
is not very clean. The waves often bring in
straw, broke bottles, decayed vegetables,
old hats and fragments of certain garments,
d~enoting some marine connection with
boarding houses and junk shops. At certain
hours Of the day the water is comparatively
clear.
The character Of the bathing, however, is
of little import to the fashionable element
here, meaning the mimi portion particu-
larly. Correspondents are everlastingly de-
scribing the appearance. costume and man
IL. Of the charming young women In the
wsVes, but their accounts are usually imag
ind. Charming young women, even with a
much modified form OF charm, rarely Won
turs into the sea in public. They know that
whatever nature or art may nave done foI
them, 1t will all be lost in the surf. The love
lest girl that America ever produced shows
after the waves have rolled over her to nc
more personal advantage than the homeliest
dowdy. Every vestige OF beauty, every line
a. grace, every dainty fold of her costume,
/, for the nonce erased. Why should she
wreck herself and her fine effects for a sim.
Ole dip in the oceani She would be foolish
40 do it; and she is not foolish in that way.
Besides, it is not 20 be expected that she
would willingly look like a fright in tht
presence of any number of spectators. Ever
though nobody should recognize her in hel
dripping garments, it is unpleasant to be
an unidentified spectacle, when one is aware
that the spectacle is %uninviting, Here she
might battle in comparative privacy, fol
bathing is not part Of the show; but al
Coney island, Long Beach, Atlantic City
Long Branch, or Cape May, bathers arr
watched by hundreds from the shore, and
any mishap to them is greeted with derisivs
laughter. A woman must be bold as well a,
insensible to regard this with indifference.
The fashionables Of Newport are almosI
never seen in the surf Some of them, nota
bly, those who have hygenic theories, go Il
their private bathing grounds in the rear Of
their cottages, and have q brief tussle with
old Neptune. But they would not be oh
served on any account. They do not con
s''ier publicity at all proper; indeed, they
would rank it as a horrid and objectionable
vGlgarity. think it rather queer mysel
that refined women should make such an ex
hibition Of themselves, which, by the way
they seldom do. The bathers here and else
where are mostly Of the g~risette or rural or
der, who run down To the seaside for an aft
ernoon or a day.
The sugar Industry. .+