Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1885-07-31
WICHITA LADY IN NEW YORK.
sumner Life In The CITY and Day q
csHsS Ssisad. 7~ =

To the Editor OF the Eagle.
To escape the boiling heat and Try Ii,
effect of salt watsr besssss on my TITLE in
valid, I boardsd one Of the handsoms sxcur
sion boais that runs between New York AMI
Consy hland. not long ago, and vent down
to that famous pleasure resort. I hAd beer
advised to 90 on one Of the early boAts q
avoid the crowd, but I have obsavsd TIA,
,here is no way to avoid the crowd on stree
cars, omni-busses or excursion boats, 81
though the papers do sey New York is de
serted. At least i've or SIX hundred people
went on the early boat ITO avoid the crowd,
: but we had lovely sail, and It seemed ..lik'
it would be . pleasure to "sail on forever.
For several blocks we were in . maze o.
ferry boats, tug boats, freight boats and
other excursion boats, all - full - ours
some more crowded, but there seemed Z
place for everybody. From the North
river we soon were in the New York bay
and then the lovliest panorama view spread
out before US.
On our left lay the lower part of New York,
the lofty spires Of ST. Psul's and Trinity
churches pointing upward from the very
midst Of the busiest part of this vast com.
mercial mart, Battery Row, Castle Garden.
the Mecca of all the poor foreigners, Brook
Ign in the distance and the new Brooklyn
bridge, which, since the fatal leap of poor
Prof. Odlum has been the scene of 90 many
attempted suicides. Ten years ago / knew
Robert Odlum in ST. Louis, young man Of
considerable literary promise, but desire
to attain fame. The same fame or notoriety
of Sam Patch led him to believe he could
jump from the Brooklyn bridge in safety,
but seeing the police running to interfere he
jumped before he had prepared and jumped
to his death.
To the right lay the Jersey Heights, COW
cred with the most elegant country resi-
dences, and the Bergen Heights in the dis
tance, and around us everywhere ships
steamers, yachts, and boats of every size
and description known to American waters.
Imagining every tree in our own forest city,
denuded of leaves and hung with every
yard of muslin in its stores aud It would
only convey q faint idea Of the forests Of
mssts" with sails spread to be seen on the
waters of New York harbor and bay.
Down past Governors Island, fortified by
Gen. Putnam in l777, but now the quarters
of Gen. Hancock. the walls covered with i'm
| ,,o.,.o oo,no,, C..,la U;il;.,,, th,o,uh sh,
narrows guarded on one side by Fort WAds-
worth and on the other by Forts Hamilton
and Lafayette, where the rebel prisoners
were guarded during the civil war. The
stars and stripes floating above and the can
non on the walls were the only military OBJ
jects in view. On down past Bedloe's Is
land the home of the liberty statue, we OBJ
tain a fine view of the pedestal, which is
only partially completed, but it looked like
it might be as large as our Wichita opera
house
We passed large open bost-open on all
sides, covered on top-called "The floating
hospital of St. Johns Guild" both decks Of
which were covered with sick children. and
their mothers, out for days airing at the
expense Of one of these noble bands. The
very sick are taken to farm houses for few
weeks, but this handsome boat is on the
water all day, furnishing fresh sea breezes
and healthful food TO weary mothers and
miserable little sick children, sitting other
wise in hot tenement houses.
Just before we reached Coney Island ian
hour and half from New York; we saw
the novel sight of shoal Of porpoises, swim
ming and jumping up out Of the water
They looked like immense shiny black hogs
At ConeY Island the throng poured of the
boat, scattering to the thousand and one
places Of amusement. The most curious OBJ
ject to us was o vast hotel called Jumbo, .
wooden hotel built in the exact shape Of an
elephant, painted and finished SO thai miles
away up and down the beach it looks like
an immense elephant
After q short stay there we returned to
the city, and on stepping on to the pier felt
as if we must have faced an open furnace,
the heat was so much greater than on the
water.
A few days later and another hot day, and
the doctor said, 60 to West Point" So we
set out FOR that famous place. A sail up the
Hudson, fifty miles of the most beautiful
scenery. This time we went on an immense
excursion steamer that makes this trip every
day, called the Plymouth Rock. Leaving
the dock at 10 q. m, with 1900 hundred
persons aboard. On our right for more
than six miles up lay the city, and
on our left, Jersey City, with its
population of 100000. Then Hoboken
with 10000; little farther on Castle Hill,
the site of the old Stevens mansion. Then
on the summit of high ridge the monastery
of the Psssimist Fathers; then Weehawken.
the scene of the Hamilton and Burr duel in
1904. On the other side we saw the Bloom
ingdale Insane asylum where the great actor
John Mccullough was taken week or two
ago; then Carmsnsville, the home Of A ldu-
bon the great naturalist, and Trinity ceme-
terry near by where Audubon is buried.
At Fort Lee-abandoned in 1776-the
Palisades begin, an unbroken wall Of col
umnar trap rock extending fifteen miles,
and varying in height from 800 to 500 feet
above the river. Opposite is Fort WASH
ington; near by is James Gordon Benefits
fine residence, made conspicuous by gilded
dome. Then the beautiful convent OF
Mount St. Vincent, and attached TO it Fort
Hill built by Edwin Forrest, now used as
chapel, past Yonkers, Hastings on-the-Hud-
son, Nyack, Dobbs Ferry, until we come
to Irvington, named in honor of the great
author Washington Irving. whose pen has
given SO much of the traditionary history of
the Hudson river. Near BY is Sunnyside,
the last home Of Irving. The original
"Wolfoorts Roost" and near by Tarrytown
is the cemetery where he lies buried in the
very "Slaeferich Haven" or "Sleepy Hollow"
he wrote about.
The next poin. Of particular interest was
Sing Sing with its state prison built Of white
marble, Treasure Hill, where Arnold met
Andre, Strong Point, Teller's Point, all rev.
dictionary historical places.
Donderburg, or Thunder Mountain. 1,09S
feet high, on one side and on the othe other
Anthony's Nose, ], 220 feet high. Just here
we saw what TO us was a novel sight. On
the eastern shore ran the Hudson River rail-
road track, and q rapid express train few by
suddenly lost TO sight in q long tunnel
through Anthony's Nose, freight train Of
forty-seven cars crawling after il, and COM
ing down the river large beautiful steamer
from which hundreds of handkerchief were
flying as salute to our boat. Behind it q
feet Of lumber and brick loaded barges
towed by little tug boat, and on the upper
deck of our own boat scores Of people whiz-
zing around on roller skates. Truly varied
ways of transit were illustrated there.
Then Iona Island, Forts Montgomery and
Clinton and Constitution Island and then we
were at West Point, 80 miles from New York
the site of the United States military
academy. The buildings are on an elevated