Weekly commercial herald., 1885-09-18

The Mission ofths summer nossa-
en-.
Springfield Republican.
New England, long regarded "a Che
stepping Of the country. has hp
come to a large extent, It's summer
breathing place, particularly Il the
country is regarded as being lhe large
cities which compose It. The ever
increasing tide Of summer travel which
tends toward the little spot on the
map which the pilgrims pre-emptied,
coming from every other corner Of the
land, Is a potent element to materially
change the social customs Of beth
New England and America. Il Is not
an insight inssv the npliday existence At
Newport or the White mountains
which particularly interests the stu
dent Of social science; but It may be
worth bis while to inquire what results
attend the advent Of the city people Of
wealth and culture In rural communi-
Ties, where the same visitor comes for
a three,months' stay, year after year,
and takes pains to identify themselves
with their surroundings. AS Mr..
Curtis Is to Ashfeld, what may not
other metropolitan and cosmopolitan
people be to their summer homes?
All sorts Of estimates Of summer
boarders" prevail. A member Of the
Massachusetts senate, Capt. Howland
OF Plymouth, fer instance, says that
there is no money in keeping them.
And the old cottage at 'Sconset rises
up to remark with vigOr that she
THINKS THEM A NUISANCE,
that every quiet hamlet where they
bivouac is robbed Of its peace, and
that they tread its self respecting pe0-
pie under their heel. But each year
adds to the throng Of city folk who in
warm weather mingle in, and, for the
time, quite largely direct New Eng
land country life. The season Just
closing has brought many more than
have ever come before. What blessings
do they bring and what disadvantages
lurk in their train?
They increase the amount Of money
which circulates in the town where
they are, and make better demand
for local labor Of all sorts. Incidental
ly they enhance the value Of real es-
tate, not merely because boarding
houses are extemporized for their ac.
commodation, but as they become at
tached to place they incline to invest
in some old homestead or plot of land
for new one. The natives see how
much moderate use Of money will
do to beautify a lawn and improve a
house and the contagion spreads. They
quicken social life where It most needs
enlivening. The village pulpit speaks
with unwonted Yigor and unusual ex-
cellence when outsiders help Gil the
pews, and the village urchin learns
when to touch his hat and to take on
few
OUTWARD GRACEs.
The best of all is that the system
throws people together and begets mU-
tual respect. Hearts are etrumps, aside
from and in spite Of diamonds and
grammar. The citizen learns that
there is learning and refinement in the
hamlet, and the rustic that devotion,
loving kindness and religion are not
excluded from what the world calls So
ciety, par excellence. This .ebbing SUM
mer tide sweeps back with it many a
bright and eager boy to the city count
ing-house, and not a few blushing
country girls as mistresses Of city man
sions. 1t is, like all earthly things, BY
no means an unmixed good, for there
are envious hearts that ache be-
cause they can not lead as easy
an existence all the years as
do the city people while they
see them, and there are shall
low lives which the summer board
ers help to make utterly frivolous.
The summer boarder has mission.
He can give his lecture, she can sing
her song, and the appreciation win be
as ardent, the gratitude for pleasure
conferred even more sincere than can
be commanded in the town. The
visitors need not scruple to draw
books from the village library. and
they can remember to pay pew rent in
summer as well as winter. They can
remember also to observe Sunday in
the home Of the Pnritans and the same
proprieties in that temporary environ
ment as they would at home. The
intercourse between genuine peopleis
always wholesome, and where different
phases Of life react upon each other