The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-10-30
SPENT FOIL PLEASURE.
AN ARMY AT SEASIDE RESORTS AND
PICNIC GROUNDS.
What New Workers Pay for Recreation
During the Summer scason-figures
vb,c., show That the American Tries
Very Had 70 EniOy Himself.

D,r;,, the Summer scasou-Fieures
xxh,c., sbovz That the American Tries
Very Hard to Enjoy Himself
A mere glance from the vantage ground
which the Brooklyn bridge affords is sufii-
cient TO acqlaint one with the vast mum
Der Of craft which ply the rivers and the
J bay for pleasure purposes only, which
! ca--y no FREIGHT save such things as the
ulcasure resorts 10 aich they are bound
dnsira. which have during the warn
months no other end than 10 chase the
cool brcezes from orc point OF the com
mass 10 another. entirely for the benefit
Of Che rilli0n Of New Workers who are
STAY AT homes The metropolis IS veii-
! tablv the home oi ail manner % vessel
( which may BE- fonud along the coast
/ And they an como here or are at least
re-resen'ed There T. such q demand by
+ club, ard parties for small steamers and
. barr that they are imprc' sed into sorry
/ ice evervvipre. and sOutlerncrs ana New
Tnrlauiers may. while making q round
of the Battery any fine day recognize
/ among the crowd 0i hIrymg steamers
many that are a. familiar 30 then o.
home o. the Union Ferry company boats
are - BROOKLYN people
/ TIE craft HAT arc used almost cxclu-
sivoly Tor pleasure ere ycar after year
being more surely absorbed by three or
four biz companies. and by them the
rates are So fixed that pleasure seekers
desirou Of chartcrng a steamer or a
barge and q tugbOat have no appca.
There are nOw n the neighborhou1 of 10
three decl.cd barees in tiU harbor that
will Accommodate | 200 persons each
They are we'll built. and are as safe as
any vessel so tOpheavy IS they can be-
They are almost constantly engaged
Dav after dav they leave their mOOrings
with crowds Of persons aboard and re-
sound with music and dancing and laugh
ter away into the night. They usually
carry about 900 persons each and with
this number there Is plenty of room for
all sorts OF amusement. Therefore there
are in the ncighborhood OF 1iO,OOO per
sons daily ailoat on these three deckers
bound 10 almost all points along the
sour.l and the shores OF the Hudson
river.
IS an estimate Of what these 10000
pleasure seekers spend to find the prize
they arc after few figures will be inter
Getting Meteorclogists place one-thrd OF
the four months OF warm weather as
AMONG rainy.0r cloldy days. OF course
when the sun does not shine prettily and
there il prospect Of q steady downporr
during the excursion the girls stay at
| home and for obvious reasons the boys
do likewise. Thus there are left about
ninety DAYS that rly be regarded as
fitted for excursions. The revenue of
single day Is something like this: Rent
for barge aud tug. $3.50; rent for picnic
ground $50 These average charges
would make tho receipts of the owners
of the barge and PARKS amount TO SIS
/ 600 a day, but a. There are only about
sixty pleasure grounds within reach from
this city. and as IA, majority Of cXcur-
sions u.s. two barCas. for which the usual
charge Is $50 this total viii be mate
rally decreased. a fair estimate. there
fore. Of the receipts Of barge and tug
, owners aud lessees Of picnic grounds
would b. $1,000 The receipts Of the
committees which prepare for the excur
sions arc much greater than this. Al
| lowing liberal reduction, at least 100000
persons are on the waters Of the bay and
rivers ninety days out Of the summer
allotment Of 100 It g. a decidedly poor
] excursion whore the ticket costs no more
/ than TWENTY-FIVE cents The average 10
about thirtv-ive cents For liquors.
/ lunchcOns, use Of swings. and the ike at
| the picnic grounds. few persons among
the excursionists spend less than fifty
cents. 50 here is n grand total Of the in
come Of the days excursion # $1,000,
which. added to the $1,000 paid TO the
owners. gives q result Of SOP, 900 which
New Yorks picnickcrs expend for days
outing. and which represents seasons
total from the class Of persons who use
barges as means Of getting from the city
to the pleasure grounds OF - lcO,OOO.
The fact. then. that excursion agents and
the like lead an idle and luxurious life
during the winter months is not necessa-
rily extraordinary.
But the army Of persons carried b. tho
excursion barges is nothing in numbers to
the myriads who use the regular routes OF
steamers to get 70 the seaside. The sea
son at Coney Island extends over fifteen
weeks. The average number OF persons
who visit the island daily during the sea
son is % coo, according TO the statement
of ono Of the oldest hotel keepers along
the beach The average price of an ex-
cursion ticket is forty five cents, thus
giving daily total 10 the transportation
lines of $4,000. A person, no matter
how poor, who succeeds in going TO the
island alone or in party and contrives TO
spend less than seventy-fvc cents per
capita is worthy of the distinction Of
being the wonder and enigma OF his age.
At this low average the receipts of the
landlords and thousand and one penny
grabbers of the beach would be about
$4,000 This gives 4 grand total Of S3S,-
900 day. or $685. 900 for the season,
during ordinary Weather. The warmer
the temperature is the higher the daily
average.
The other resorts reached by regular
lines Of steamers number about a dozen,
but the principal of these are Rockaway
and the beautiful Glen Island. The daily
average of the former is about 10000;
that OF the latter 5000 The other re-
sorts have in the neighborhood Of 5000
persons visit them daily. At a per capita
| g orror.t ION oil N lfopnv