The Sunday herald. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1866-1887, 1886-08-08
BLOCK ISLAND.


far of from the mainland, among the STORMY sutReS
OF the Atlantic with repute for isolation aud dull
ness. The ignorance Ia regard 10 II among the ma
jority oi the public Is picturesque and eaSel supe
even think ,Nst tpe psrss was s'ven fe'essS "a"
SlspH is S,ccN ny Y s,s,e-wncrcas IT ia vcrv
..soguar, and was named after one Adrian Block,
Dutch navigator, who visited 1t about 1914. Block
Island has been unlucky In many respects, but In
few more 80 than In the ugly name that has stuck
to II out OF dozen more II has borne al various
tines By rights II ought to he called after vcrre-
zano, who nrst recorded ns discovery In 1894, OF
"Ulaudla" the Hamc he gave In honor Of the mother
ut the famous Francis |. Even Adrian's Island;
the name on the early Dutch maps, was, rAotc en-
phonlous. New shoreham, ,nc rtcsent oYNcial naiHe
OF the TOWNSHIP, Eas Mhle "a recommend II. The
rcs, Once DeHattfneNt mas laNeiS given rs Hancon
10 me ugly nhme OF Block, ~.
ThS Ih.llaN name 'ls saSA'o w Mahisscs. Even, to
One MSthss no great respect for alleged aboriginal
Names this seems to be an Improvement on the
civilized efforts, II only people would agree pprits
Oh the qra syllable, rSssltt The Inc word almost like
"mars tssss,n and Is followed by some. The island
ers put the accent on the second syllable, almost
like "Maneesls." Which Is riQht9 Probably the
Indians, like the French, had no accent and laid
equal stress on every syllable, hut thas typoss,hlc
to English organs. Of spcerh,a n ". SAN ~ Yea d.
mpuliVS ot fMnnlto'" Mcenlig, therefore, "Lit,le
described by satirlca, Mr.. Grant, II is appropriate
enough. They arc here In numbers. The cor.
respondents do seem TO bs rather harsh In
their censurcs on the class of young Men
who figure at the watering places, bt.Nlat TAN 'Wa
say abon! those N ~ Nesr,,N r"daht G;tped tennis
COATS or ~ ceess.ons even Into the ball room IN
the evening, or the youth who continually shades his
complexion C'odds my complexion ~ says Rosalind)
with white satin parasol?
would take too long to describe all the peculiar
tiles that have won for tho island such numbers "
frequenters, but Its advantages aud draxBAskt MAJ
be brehy balanced ,sne ,fea'Hs, X, s,aer. They
como from trc esr-o fact, lis remocness In the At
lar'io. This Is more apparent than real. The
nearest land, Point judith, IL only twelve miles
away, and to the west Is Long Island, while to the
east are Martha's Vineyard ami Nantucket, making
these waters almost landlocked. hut II IA several
| hours sail from either Newport or New London
across strait that has reputation for sea sickness
almost equal to the English channel. amt uensc.
quenty frightens of many Of the crowds that 10
without dread to tho visesstd, Of Even ID dniyink
Nantucket.
once Hete ,hS Visitor Is cut oil from almost oil the
anhoSaHccs of the mainland. Malaria, duns, mos
quitoes, kilograms, and other cares cannot cross me
the water, or are blown away by the 3.ad. Which is
always q sea. breeze here nsoln whatever quarter II
sets. ON tHS other hand, the communication by
steamer Is liable to interruption by storms aud fog,
an the lack OF the cable, (Which, with the usual
sl and bad luck, broke In two In 1877 dc,ers many
from building cottages or otherwise establishing
themselves here II IL greatly u BE hoped that the
Government VIII lfeslotetelegfaphit comhhnicalloh,
fer the beheAt Of the snai serscc and ot ,fs bsbc
generally.
1t AasSssr iiNh AssA Of land, no, 20 big as the
present. District OF Columbia, Its surface largely oc
cupled by multitude OF ponds, great ami SMALL AMI
peculiar In nearly all Its belongings. Its very sub
stance is neither sand, like Nantucket, nor rock
like the Islands further north, but mere conglpm
crate OF clay and loose boulers, intermiseu On tS
oughly as the 6eyrieA Ia on cltrssEloned pudding.
The only eccotts biologists can give OF II ia that
1t was dropped here by tremendous glacier, which
| swept up the earth ani loose stones by millions
somewhere else and deposited the heap as the Ice
melted. There Is neither peak nor plain on the
island, but wild succession Of hilocks aud hs,lows
running after storm, ,ara sp,ootAle tcdnded by
clay, Eeatiy ssety hollow holds fresh water lake
or fohu, OF which there are hundreds on the island
mostly without any outlet, and fed by the rains
rhe stone fences, piled up by the dgent islanders
to get rid OF the bouers In their field form close
network over the landscape, and a, the roads are
mostly narrow and crooked, Intended merely tot OK
carts going 10 and frtt, The arH6f, aid the custom
ary wska afe stralght across country, the vlslto,
gets expert In climbing stone fences or rebuilding
them when they fall down under his weight.
II has been said that Block Island Is unlucky
The crown OF Its III. fortunes Mas the aBscnce OF
harboT, which kept 1t far behind Its less prdnslu.
neithoof, Nantucket, IN the race for fortune ant
prominence. The Government Breakwater butt In
1872 now fairly SUPPLIES this defect "Ncw Shore
ham" suffered throughout the old Colonial war.
with France by its exposed position, AMI the Revou
tlon made matters worse, for Its loyalty was more
than suspected, an embargo was lail upon II by tht
mother colony Rhode islat1, and 1t was ravaged b,
outlaws yrtn. Both sides. The war OF 1912 wa
about the only CLEAN OF sunshine, for the island was
then treated by mutual consent as neutral ground
and traded with both sides, to its great profit
Thus hampered by an unkini fate, Block Islander
have not greatly distinguished themselves. excep
by the construction aud rilainfenient OF thos
rounded, double end boats, made necessary by the
surf through whirh they had to land on their sea
girt home. The sole epic of the Island Is whittier
"wrcck Of the Palatine," which bears rather hardl
on the character OF the early Inhabitants. Any cir
cular, advertisement, or guide book Of Block Islam
which does not quote all or part Of this poem ma
he safely set down rs spurious.
The delightful air Is something that must be tre,
, to be appreciated. 1t iucllnes one to nothing e.
much as eating and sleeping. The devices for kiII
Ing time arc not numerous, and, owing to the abov
fact, not many needed 1t does not take long l.
get familiar with the surface, to visit the hanlsom
lighthouses and the big fog horns, to sail on Grea
Pond, and climb Beacon HILL After that the mai
Industry s fishing. Every morning fleet OF whit
wings starts ont from the harDor, AMI nearly ever
evening little steamer devoted TO sword nshin
comes In and announces by long ana loud blasts o
her whistle the number OF these big marine gadia
tors VINO have euccumbed TO her prOwcss. wee
ago two "marlne monsters" were caught alive h
skillful harpOoning from fishing schooner, and ca
cited great wonder unlll Travelled mariner haI
pefed into port ahd pronounced them to 10 'rubbe
turtles" which somehow killed curiosity In rcRar
to them, though they were just M queer objects
before he gave them name. There Ia no cOllecto
OF houses That can he definitely called village, bt
the whole island IL dotted over with pleasant hom,
" steads, and there IL cluster OF hotels, great an
y small, on the hills about the steamboat landing.
i Bathing ought not to Do forgotten among III
Z amuseIncnS. This, too, has Its pecuartes II
generally Still! bathing, mot violent surf, migl
d naturally be expcctedD and the water Ii OF SUI
crystal clearness that needs to be point devl,
Q In all accoutremcnts; for every inch, from head
II toes, Ii almost as plainly visible when under II
surface a. when ab0veit. The bathing beach seen
o to be a monopoly, aud like most monop0ies badl
l. managed Tho dressing rooms are OF tho rude
sort, AMI the "sults to hire" most hldeous. larl
- sign announces that no one will be allowed to ba,i
!, without paying twenty i've cents ut the olce. Th
e is probably the only Instance on record OF char
ing an admission fee TO tho Atlantic Ocean.
The attendance this season has been rather ligl,
Or as the hotelkecpers prefer to say, slate In arr
i ing" This 10 DO merely the same dcbrcssiC
u felt at all the summer resorts, caused perhaps
the labor troubles, perhaps by the cool july bot
The usual device OF dul. IL freely invoked
rumors Of distinguished people expected AMI short
l. to arrive, such as Minister and Madame Kuk May,
D Harrison, OF Chicago, aud Others 1t Is wond'
It that President and Mrs. Cleveland have not bee
10 claimed as expected visitors. They might {
If further aud fare worse, II they want healthglv
breezes ana freedom from Intrusion Jusii,
t. Miller, OF The Supreme Court has deserted the slaI
D. this summer, aud the cottage he occupied IL rents
At to others. Among the notabilitics IL Miss Ann
q. Robe, who made such success In walacks con
70 pany last winter, and Is generally the circle OF d
70 admIring group Mrs. Shepherd, daughter OF Sen
,t tor McMiilaD and Miss Crosby, niece Of Mrs Char
y Lanman, nave many cordial friends. MIR. Jam,
m Sloane, Jr, OF Baltimore, and his family, who a
often visitors to Washington, are here for the mOn
OF August. MIR. w. II. Dennis OF the Coast Surve
10 who has been here since May I, engaged In makir
ID a new and accurate map OF the Island, expects
,f leave In few days for Watch Hi with his wife al
r, daughter, Miss Annie. They hope TO pass ne.
,s winter In Washington.
ALA .ula "a