Morning journal and courier., 1885-08-26

"The competition has been sharper this season than ever before. Both of the princl pal lines declared early for @ rate of % cents on the round trip and $1 for season ticket three weeks of the assembly. This rate is unprecedented in the history of the lake. h order to do this we have had to refuse issu- ing passes"
 'sWere there many of these issued in past years?'
 Hundreds. We offered them freely to all newspaper correspondents and representa- tives of common carriers. Now nobody is favored, and I have even bought season tick cts for the members of my own family"
 ''I notice some boats with new names and familiar outlines. There goes the Hiawatha, and l noticed the Cincinnati and City of Buffalo a little way back"
 Most of the boats are simply the ones used years ago little rejuvenated and re- ehristened. The old four decked excursion boat Jamestown, the sidewheel steamer May vile, the two-funneled Moulton, the Vincent and several other old standbys are as they were number of years back'
 'How has Chautauqua been pstroaized this seasona''
 fall such as exceeds all precedent in the his. tory of Chautauqua, A year ago the Hotel Atheneum had sixty hands and about thirt V guests. The hotel is packed now, and two cottages which had been hired in connection with the hotel are also full, making a total of nearly four hundred guests. The same is true of nearly all the hotels up and down the lake. At many points it is really impossible to get accommodations"
 Isn't it curious that this unparalleled pros perlty of Chautauqua and the recent unparal- leied success of the assembly at Lakeside should have attended a season of such ex- treme financial depression?
 After the usual stops at delightful lake side retreats on the way, the steamer came up alongside of the assembly grounds wharf and the three or four hundred passengers sWarmed across the gang-plank, paid their forty cents apiece, and passed through the gates. I followed leisurely, still only half aroused to the attractions of the place. Pas sing the $5, 800 chime of bells, and the large model of Jerusalem, I entered Palestine Park which is laid on a scale of two feet to the mile, in exact representation of the various features of the Holy Land. The park has evidently not been repaired during the last four years, and seems to be getting 8 little dilapidated. PastsHebron, Bethlehem, Shi- loh, Shekem and Samaria I wandered, till I reached point near the headwaters of the Jordan, where two faultlessly dressed clergy men stood, their hands thrust between the buttons of their severely clerical coats, while one said to the other, very gravely:
 ''Here is a serious error. The Plain of Els draelon is represented as extending clear to the coast, whereas it is well known that it is a small tract of land, right here,-not ap- preaching within fifteen or twenty miles of the coast.''
 "Oh, yes, replied the other, ''there are some glaring inaccuracies of that sort, I notice, but suppose those who laid it out did as we'll as they could with the data which they had at command"
 I smiled as I left the dainty divines behind me, and wished they could have stood with me glorious morning a year ago last June, as I stood on the bluffs overlooking this great plain, and cast my eyes over it's broad acres extending from the very coast line of the Mediterranean to the valley ot the Jordan Well, Chautauqua would not be complete without all kinds, suppose. passed up by the postoffice and smiled agair yards long for the last half of the alphabet and the other somewhat shorter for the frs half, consisting of anxious candidates fol epistolary favors. There were also those who had received their letters standing around under trees to read them, walking along slowly, to bump ever and anon against lamp-post There were the other people writing letters against every available incl of solid wall or bulletin board or tree surface in the vicinity, nor did I fail to notice the old time crowd posting up notices about tickets for sale to St. Louis, New York Chicago, Cleveland etc., at great discount Everybody goes to Chautauqua intending to stay week or so, buying a limited ticket Of course they can't think of going when the week is up, and hence the large amount of ticket selling. I found the mammoth audi torium packed with an audience of 7 ,000 people who were listening eagerly to the words of wisdom from that queen among women, Mrs. Livermore. The sight of that magnificent audience stirred me still more, and when in response to Dr. Vincent's re quest, 'Let the white lilies of Chautauqus bloom for Mrs. Livermore," 1000 handker chiefs leaped into the air, making the amphi theater resemble a vast field of waving this tle-down,-then I could no longer resist the infection that seems to turk in the very ail here. indiscreetly allowed myself to grow enthusiastic.
 corner, on the back seat. Whom did I dis cover to be my nearest neighbor on the left but Rev. Wilber Davidson, formerly of the Broadway M E. church, Cleveland.
 When the lecture was over an old college chrn came putting up to me with the re- mark:
 .'Oh recognized you the moment you came in, and you've got to come right down to our cottage, and we're going to Mayville this very afternoon on an excursion, and oh dear, Pm so glad you've come?"
 We started away from the amphitheater, but had only gone about ten yards, when an old friend from a town where 1 used to live came rushing up and accosted me with
 "Hulloal Well, this is lucky, wouldn't have missed you for anything. Now we won't take no for an answer; you see we are tentlng it seven of us do VII in St. PauFs grove and it's been dreadfully awkward at times because we did't have an even octette. Come right along this minute, dinners ready now, and after dinner we've arranged for s row down towards Remus Point to see ii there are any water-i1lIes left HOW long are you going to stay?'
 tCan't stay but three or four days"
 ooh, pshaw," with ineffable contempt '.That isn't worth while coming for. We've got some grand excursions planned for th' leisure of every day during the coming week if we can manage to find any leisure" Then succumbed. altogether. There wal no use of trying to resist the Chautauqu' spirit any longer in the face of such odds. I have been thus minute in personal ey periences for the reason that once in while we are more interested in personal experi ences than in reports of lectures, ands for thu added reason, to convey some notion as to th' atmosphere of resistless enthusiasm that Il so eminently characteristic of Chautauqua Such experiences as mine are typical here Doubtless there are some who come her without acquaintances, and, not knowing | how to sift out Of the multitude of exercis e those which are likely to prove the most ill 1 tensely interesting, get lonely and go away unenthused. But such cases are rare. takes a very morose, self-centered nature tc 1 fail of finding agreeable companionships her and very cold, sluggish nature not to b l stimulated by the universal atmosphere o | progress.
 It is amusing but tantalizing to witDes the adventures of people who set out flo | some point way at the further end of tn l grounds You are sure in the course of an. extended search to stumble upon a dozel crowds of from one hundred to four thou sand people gathered in some corner havln! | an enjoyable convention of some sort by themselves. It is more than probable tha you will stop and waste about three hour eh eIav sIn modelling. s Kindergarten work, pinmak | ing or something else interesting.
 The annual ''illuminated feet' came off few evenings ago. The vast fleet of row boats, tugs and regular steamers presented spectacle which seemed nothing short of
 revelation from fairvland; but. as compare l ..1 .f 1SSf ,rb;.l> ,-rIi ,,,