The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1886-01-28
LOW LIFE IN ENGLAND.
Amusemsnts of Yarmouth PeopIe and
Their Visitors on the Beach
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fJoseah Hatton's London Letter
The railways and the steamboat com
panies periodically enter into a con-
spiracy with each other 10 empty the
sweepings of the cities upon Yarmouth
beach And what an ugly crowd it IS.
II blasphemes, yells, drinks, rolls in
the sand plungeS into the sea, swarms
on the piers, breaks the backs of hired
donkeys and ponies, and generally
spreads itself like blight over the
place. I don't know whether the
women or the men are the worst speci-
mems of humanity. They both indulge
in the same recreationS. They drink at
the bars, ride the donkeyS, plunge
about on tricycles, sing and scream,
roll in the sand, and lie about on the
beach with their brutal partners in
every kind of vulgar pastime. They
are cheaply bat eXtravagantly dressed;
feathers in their bonnetS, rings in their
ears. high heeled boots, and long or
short cropped hair. Their language is
as vulgar as that of the men, and they
speak in several dialects. The men
tell them horrid stories, at which they
roar with laughter. AT night they
make it impossible for decent people to
walk either on the beach or the es-
planade.
enc wonders how many more years
must elapse before the influence of the
school boards is practically shown in
the conduct and manners of the COM
mon people of England. Democrats re-
sent this phrase, the common people, s"
and go wild in their denunciation OF the
term lower classes. But | use both
adyisodly and unhesitatingly declare
that there is far wider gull of feel
ing, sentiment, and moral worth be-
tween the upper middle classes of Eng
land and these ''Arries and 'Arriets' of
the summer seaside than there is be-
tween the English lower class and the
savages of the Borneo or the worst re d
Indian of the plains. Take the people
OF 1 ngland en- maSSe and it is a great,
moral, intellectual, and brave race; but
the lower strata of it is as depraved and
brutal as the world in its basest corners
can show.
But even on these bad days of Var
mouth, the place has its compensations.
Nothing can contaminate the wind that
comes rollicking across 800 miles OF
scream are smothered in its salty
breeze, and the Aries and Arriets,
like the crows flock together. They
hate solitude. They drink and scream
in company. They only mOnOpolize
certain tent Of the beach opposite the
terraces of fine houses on the esplanade.
Right and left of them there are vast
sandy deserts. You can have the coun-
try right and left to yourself, or you
can go to the most picturesque and in,
teresting spot on the immediate coast
the mouth of the harbor.
This place is called Confession, and it
is here the ships come and go, the tide
racing in at such speed that this is the
third or fourth harbor Yarmouth has
constructed for herself. It was here
that Nelson landed after the battle of
the Nile, and here to this day is ex-
hibited the proves of the British sailor,
for from hence he goes forth to
fight the breakers of the North sea.
Sitting at the mouth of the harbor one
day l dropped into conversation with
an American from Philadelphia.
what has most impressed you on
this Side?' | asked in the course of our
conversation.
Its solldity," he replied; ''its solidity.
The English are the best builders, l
should say, in the world; they seem to
like building; where we have fence
they have wall; where we~have a
wooden city they have stone pier;
where we have a wooden sidewalk they
have a granite pavement; we are in a
hurry about everything; content with
makeshiftS; the English are never in
hurry, and they hate makeshifts. I
reckon we lick the English in inventing
things, saving labor, and in steamboats,;
and, except that admire the little gar
dens to the humblest homes in England,
l think Philadelphia can match the old
country for homes; but, as said be-
fore, solid is the word should write
down to describe England.