Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-06-27
All. THE PITY OF 1T.

Many years ago L made a stay, eX-
tending over a period Of months, ut a
small, obscure watering place on the
southeast coast. l had Just finished my
course as a student at Guys Hospital,
and, under the combined strain of Sc
we're and not over pleasant work in the
wards and dissecting room, and of a
sharp and e%xhausting examination, my
health had given way. I was ordered
to take rest, and with it any mild form
of recreation that pleased me best, and
being at that time much straitened in
pocket, and having no inclination to
tax the hospitality of friends, l went
down alone to the little seaside town of
Southbeach. l took small rooms in an
unambitious street, from which, when
the tide was unusually high, [ obtained
an uninterrupted view of about a dozen
yards of sea. 1t was the middle of
september, and the season was waning.
The place was crowded, and the Wis
itors, of both sexes and all ages,
thronged the beach ''from morn till
dewY eve" Although without friends,
acquaintance or companions, I was not
in the least degree lonely. Ientered
thoroughly into the life Of the place,
and took q lively interest in the sports
OF the children on the sands; in the
tlirtations, jealousies and little quarrel
ings and peace-makings of the young
people of seventeen. twenty and twenty
two; in the confabs of the aunts, mann
mas and grandmammas; and in the
discomforts and trials, more or less
stoically borne, of the papas. As the
month closed in the holiday population
hnuon 1oyaiI1vr 10 +1;., M, ,,o,...
train to town was crowded each day;
and the loiterers on the beach dwindled
like the sheep of Wordsworth's north
ern shepherd. The brass band per-
formed its last tune on the terrace,
and dissolved amid a crash of big
drum and cymbals; the negro min
strels washed their faces and re-
'sumed conventional habiliments: the
itinerant preacher disappeared on
the same morning that the donkeys
We're driven Off the cliff; the perambu-
lators, which had INSTRUCTED the beach
Tor fourteen weeks, were hoisted- on the
luggage train; and the bathing ma
chimes were drawn far out ofthe wash
OF the " BY and by the sands wore
he esolate look which the banks of the
Red Sea might have worn on the morn
ing after the humiliation of Pharaoh
and his host; and on such days as were
bright enough and warm enough for an
early dip l had the whole wide sea to
myself. Those who like the seaside
only as it appears in mid July or Au-
gust, when the seasons brief fever is at
its height, will connect a sense of the
dismal with this description; but let
me hasten to say that for my part l
found nothing dismal or depressing in
the emptiness of the town or the bar
renness of the shore. The little place
quickly settled down to the life which
1t led during eight months of the year,
and this in its turn had a gentle charm
for me. | had a feeling Of Importance
as walked through the High Street,
the sole remaining visitor, and on the
beach of an eveningI had full liberty
to regard myself as a new Alexander
Selkirk, and to indulge imaginings as
[ looked across the never ending sea
''that l was monarchof all I surveyed"
The barber began to take a personal in
terest in me; the policeman would halt
on his u%neven1ful beat to inquire kindly
after the effect of the new tonic I was
trying; the tobacconist and stationer,
an ardent amateur sportsman, took
pains to cultivave in me an affection
for the turf, and the young lady at the
postoi1ice was never in a hurry to retire
behind the screen after she had served
me with a shilling's worth of postage
stamps. | had another set of friends
along the beach, where the fishermen
told me yarns which, ignoring the .too,
TOO solid"evidenceso of their a%pocryphal
character, Iaccepted as unimpeachable
gospel; the coast guards unbent SO far
as to touch their caps; and the pier
master more than once invited me into
his snuggery at the end of the pier,
where he kept a bottle or two of double
extra proof spirits, of the existence of
which the coast guards above men
toned We're discreetly ignorant. I had
more friends now, in short, than l had
when the town was packed and the beach
swarmed with visitors; moreover, being
of solitary babit, I took pleasure in
day-long rambles in the country which
stretched away almost from the waters
edge, and amid fields still verdant and
hedges yet teeming with life and color,
l renewed the botanical pastimes OF
boyhood.
A striking (indeed the most striking)
feature Of %Southbeach was. its pier. 1t
was an old, sturdy wooden structure,
only a few yards short of a mile IN
length, which had resisted wind and
wave for nearly a hundred years.
Rugged Of aspect, its height, length and
massy build invested it with a character
almost of grandeur; and it gave one an
idea OF strength well-nigh %invincible to
note the steadfastness OF the piles when
the waves rushed against them, and the
storm winds smote them with a giants
blows. In all weathers and at all times
found the pier a delightful promenade.
1t was restful and quieting beyond ex-
preston to sit there on q still after
noon
What time the splendor of the setting sun
Lay beautiful
upon the waters. 1t early morning