New-York tribune., 1888-08-26
SANTA CRUZ BY THE SEA.
WHERE CAIdFoRNIANs MAKE MERRY HoLL
DAY

DAY.
s.rta t,uz. cal. Aug. 1s-santa Cruz Is tho Cali
form ans Concy Island, Long Branch, sesongnt,
pr obton Beach and Rockaway. 1t has tho faint
80. ., fashion which stilI fingers about Long
Branch. lihe the perfume in an old beauty's laces'
aud tho racy fruIty flavor of rank Bohcm anism whien
lends piquancy to Manhattan Beach lhcro - Oh
alurnc suggestion Of excusveness In cottages "nen
mrk In shady by-ways Of the town. shyy ro'ro''
behind shcltcrIng pepper, peach and plum 'fecs an
a fno field for the Great Unwashea IN n' .., .ar'
pav,IIons on the beach. Tho Californian-ou. par
tally domestcated-has yet to learn tho sp'eno,a
arrogance of fashion, which will not rub elbows WIN
the vulgar or look closely on the obscure
AT Santa Cruz every type has Its representative
every note In the Cal fornlan gamut Is souhoca' A
dcmure aborlgne, I'm full white frocB WIN sa.h'
bodice a sash about her buxom waist, win her
splendid auburn hair, and her Clear sesrpiuo w.
Swallowed by a spreading hat, threads her way do"i
silent by-streets where San Franciscan fashioh anu
beauty strolls with her young man, coquo''-ns' WV,
tilted head and bewildering glances, undcr "hi'o
parasol On the main street VIC have an epitomc VI
the larger cities There small hotels with hne
OF men, I'm tilted cane-bottom chairs, alopg thc WALL or
eossipng I'm clumps about the pillars. Hero is tne
San Franciscan dandy, In loose, flowing trousers ana
white plque wastcoat, with SMOKING cigaie"o Do
tween his lips and HIS straw hat tilted over MS hoso,
too ndoent to spy under the brm at tno iooai
beauties trpping by. There the rich city men,
and healthy red backs to their necks. They wear
prav beavers on the backs Of their heads and loose
light clothes and their talk drifts 10 tho tarin ana
tho State elections There arc a good many
Span ards and Greascrs-mcn with dark, secret, mys-
tcrious eyes, who lean against posts, and iangudiy
puff smoke rings into the air. The American rancnefo
Is always to be located by the sprnkings OF tobacco
tuIce which mark his cxpcctorating progress He Is
rather like the typical American as depicted in Engish
Illustrated papers lie generally sits on cane
bottom chair balanced accurately on It's hno legs,
medtating and splitting about In semlcircie. he ID
as bronzed as the Greasers but his eyes are gray sh
ing out oddly and unexpectedly from his brown race
which IS thin and haggard, with high cheeK-Dohes'
and a stiff, sunburncd mustache When he IS ad-
dressed he looks I'D keenly from under the curly brm
of his wide felt hat reflects for some SECONDS, anu
then, looking dreamily away, emits his answer WIN
a drowsy, absent air.
Along the street. an interesting street, with local
bellies smiling from the photographers show cases and
beaps of richly bushing fruit the fruiterers open
stalls pass the fashion and beauty and money OF
Santa route for the beach. Highest fashion,
San Francisco and Sacramento fashl0n-roils past
sumptuously In open two-seated carrages-dog carts
and village carts are unknown on the Pacific Slope
the women lazy, large, healthy creatures, lolllng
magncently under gauze parasols, their light founces
futterng outward over wheel and step, their clear,
Indifferent eyes shaded by tremendous Leghorn mats
whereon the flora of primeval and modern days COM
bine to staggcr and confute all hitherto accepted
botanical theories. Away they dash, lcav1ng
dazzling impression of languld opuence, OF serene,
bafclosed eyes Of the glcam Of fresh white muslin,
overlald with sun, the flash of jewels on ungloved
hands, the slappng and futerng Of rbbon-ends, the
eddyng ripple of lace frills on parasols
Inferior fashion, such has carriage, goes In
the car Tho car Of tho institutions OF santa
Cruz Nowhere else do they have a car drawn by
ffnO
the leaders back Through the crowding press Oh
vehicles by the chariot of beauty the cart or IaDor
the gig Of respcctabllty the buggy OF mediocnty,
tbs solemn tandem winds slow and stately way
In II sits moro beauty, but beauty with less aituoo
of hat adorned with less daring botanical curios ana
beauty with young man to worship at the snrhe'
luxury which beauty In the carriage cannot always
command.
The cayalcade, strengthened by the tourist buggy
and the local gig, by the rancheros twoseateo open
wagon ablaze with scarlet satin parasos, py eques-
trennes In bright blue habits with pretty sun
faces by gentlemen gliding swift and noiseess on
rItterng BICYCLES and children skimming along the
footpath In trlcyclcs, winds merry backward. Inc
breeze strengthens, freshens is crisp and racy WIN
sweet keen smell. The small houses which sRirt inc
road and all of which exhibit sign OF furhisheu
Rooms to Letn grow Mingling with tho pun
GENT smell of the sea, comes sudden breaths OF al
garden or the overpowerng odor of Jockey Ciup'
when the young lady next TO you shakes out her
handkerchief The car-track and road curve outward
IN round the base of an intervening hill, and before
YOU lies the Pacific, rich turquoise blue, with long,
Ianp,ud rollers heaving shoreward crushing into foam
and sliding up the hard beach, On the horizon, ialnt
as cloud hills rise the Monterey mountains, with
ctrtb of fog about their bases few laeen-sailed
fishing boats dart about but not yacht breaks the
blue.
Small unpretentious hotels and few cottages
crown low bluff the left and on the sand rougn
pile of sheds and pavlions rise In an unkempt mass.
In this you can get your n-type taken" Photographs
in bathing costume a speciality" In that you can
hire a bathing suit" Only two bits" One is
restaurant its face covered with inviting signs. Under
an awning where hundreds OF people are sitting on
the sand a is pulling taffy in great shining
fbrols strand, which he throws dexterously over
hook Near him is a peanut vender and lemonade
stand and behind of bathing suits leap outward
from estraInlng clothes line. smell OF " fresh
roasted pcanuts' comes strongly to the nostrils,
murmr OF voices rises from the groups on the sand'
shr shricks of the bathers minge with the subdued
rctreang rustic of the low surf, the familiar front OF
Dime Museum" rises like the face Of an old friend
and the erstwhile Easterncr smiles and dreams OF
Coney by the sea.
Sitting with the crowd the shore the illusion is
dispersed The mixture OF types is not Eastern and
the crowd is uniformly respectable than 1t would
be on the Atlantic seaboard. Beauty Of the aspiring
hat has seated herself on the sand under her gauze
parasol and stares at the bathers. Beauty OF the
car digs sand well with her young man, and, as the
sand rpples between her fingers, gazes askance at
him. and they laugh coyly. There are quantities OF
women of the schoolcacher brand, with the unmis-
taxable depressed matteofact air which long teach
ing Of the young idea will give to the most vvacous
An Englishmen in twecds, with yellow leather shoes
on short pipe in his mouth, creates mild sensation
as he saunters by picking his way along tho edge
of the waves young San Franciscan in tho iDevi-
table white plquo wastcoa and straw hat trips by with
mash," good-lookng girl in white muslin frock'
over which she has donned, triumph OF taste,
q black silk hodce. cnt out In a V at the neck. A