Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-08-25

AeW tAs Crowds NJ Atlantic City Anuss
Themselves

czrrr rSDcsnrIs or TIE KHroRrun-rn vAnops
BOARD WALK AND WAT n sxRN ruKRs-How
TIE LiFK-euARpe CARRY on THEr1 BusNEss--
corrssp0ndencs Of TIE Evruus srxn
ATLANTIC CIT, August - 1ssa
PALMER OF marine views has good opportun-
lty At Atlantic City. The board walk In the fore.
ground, the scattering line OF frame structures Of
all kinds ana the acres OF bathing suits Mapping
ana drying In the wind would, with the roaring
sea form an effective combination Of nature ana
sr@ Despite the vast crowds that at once strike
= stranger here, the old residents say this mas
oeen nat season There are Thousands that
come On sunday one viii - myriads on the
oeacn, on the board walk and on the streetS In
.ne evening there is great rush OF tired excur-
type trades flourish, but the upper circles OF trade
sne propnetors OF high-priced restaurants and The
ssaoers Oh nne wines complain OF lack Of patron.
Oh AIantic City, the sale OF peanuts and Of . pc
cular candy, which Is pulled out into great white
he acS Scsssorea Up 10 small chunks In front Of
are connned largely TO the board walk. TIn-type
,sc.oIles CONFRONT the bather At every turn Great
raphers art are exhibiIeiMtns small boz Win Sis
pail and shovel the athletic young man. the girl
wa1 sSp people 70 e how 0oss
what scrawny maiden reclining IKE q "a pympa
IN oatnlng suit against
APAINrED snA As BAcKoRouxp,
ana Toying with basket OF shells and smiling up
ward In . poetical sort OF way The sea appears
70 nave poetic effect on everything Over one u
me Establishments devoted to the production Of
un-Epes, Is Dig sign. reading,
And have EN- multiplied"
Painted across frame full OF ttn.typea Of peopla
whose faces indicate ell stages OF distress e 4
iegend IKE this referring 70 the picture Of two
young women:
Doomed in their bathing dresses.
With dangling cuIls and tresses.
They went for their morning bath.
T ssSs sas a t ON h b. Murray Sss: hurry
To get their photogI aIhA"
There are not many bathing dresses to be seen
here with dangling curls and tresses some
OF them, however, might have few such things
added TO them, and shall not render their wearer
liable to the charge OF being overdressed.
The wealth and fashion OF Atlantic City don't
appear on the board walk. They SIT on the shady
ver. ndls Of cottages swinging idly in hammocks
| through lorgnette At bathing hours, however,
sometimes the beautiful daus tiers OF Mammon are
driven down to the 6eacn, and honor the deep
| Ieet, and even embrace their fragile forms The
sea Is no aristOcrat. II takes no heed OF wealth.
his arms the moist body OF gggling Philadelphia
chambermaid on holiday, or the equally moist
and shverlng person OF the heir or some millionaire
maker OF pills Perhaps for the moment, when
the bather Is in sympathy more with nature than
! money, the cham0ermaid is the more welcome Of
tnis notsam OF the sea, II she be plump and pretty.
The LIFB-GUARD BUsINKsa
Another industry to which Atlantic City people
turn their attention is that OF being life guards
1t requires boat a red bathing suit and an apu-
tude for standing in heroic attitudes on the sand
| TO go into the business. There Is much compeIi-
tion In the business. All along the beach are con.
Der the lfe-guards." At the end Of the bowery
board walk the nle-guard himself sometimes de-
scends SO to speak, from his pedestal, and passes
around the hat In the crowd. The other day a
ufe-guard saved life In some other nfe-guard's
three-mle limit, and there was a fight Tue life.
guard who owned that part Of the coast had gone
| his business away from him. Acynical old batBer
tod The STAR correspondent that he intends 10
take pistol in bathing with him and TO shoot the
first liie-gua that comes near him He says the
ffe guard pounces on fellow, nearly browns him,
then Tugs him 10 the shore by his hair, poses As
hero. follows the rescued 10 The hotel with meek
looking face, and talks about people WHO have
given as much as thousand dollars for the priv
nege OF having their lives saved.
THE BOARDWALK.
Every one who writes about Atlantic City has to
describe the boardwalk That Is because the
boardwalk is the great characteristic Of Atlantic
City. Its as common to speak Of that as iS Is Ia
refer to the place as the City by the Sea- This walk
| Is simply an elevated plank-walk that stretches
along the beach Tor q distance OF two or three
miles just out OF the reach or the breakers at high
tue. Often the spray Is dashed upon the prone
IN.
large sections are swept away. For long distance
Oh eiiner sue VI this walk. are bathing houses
candy and fruit booths, tin-type galleries. shoot.
Ing galleries, restaurants variety halls and estab
| lishments or all kinds, occupying structures
| erected on piles The view OF the sea is cut on
over great part OF the walk, by these structures
vandalism OF nature, but the boardwalk Is
maintained by the city, which derives q large
| revenue from the privileges 80 the nuisances re.
the ideal kind done on the board walk Ones rever.
| les awakened by the murmunng or the waves are
rudeiy broken by some husky voice near by roar
| ing to the crowd to 'cone and get hot sausage
| only 5 cents" Such announcements give one a
realizing sense OF the resources OF our civilization
but seem out OF harmony with the music OF the
Deep But the sights OF the board walk are inter-
eStlng. There Is a marked difference between the
character OF the boardwalk at the south end and
that OF the boardwalk nearer the lighthouse Az
the north, where most OF the larger and more fash
enable hotels are located, the promenaders are
generally guests or these hotels. They walk or sit
on the balconies watching The bathers on the sands
below. As you go SOUTH The restaurants, the pea
nut stands, Tie singing halls with beer saloon at
tachinents and the carouSelS Increase In number
Inshore are the cheaper hotels, long rows OF little
wooden buildings closely packed together, bearing
and the Like, but looking beery and unc omfort-
able.
SCENES AT HIeHr.
On this part OF the walk at night there are ami.
mated scenes. 1t is crowded with all sorts OF
people, from the coatless male tough and hi
IemaIe companion 10 consequential looking fpdi.
| viduals VINO have stolen down from the more
respectable section TO ''See the town" Tbere are
| the country lovers on an excursion; lovers who.
perhaps happily, do not feel the constraipt that
urban society imposes about lovers In public and
who go about with their arms twlned about each
other In transports OF Joy; there are Others less
innocent than these rusticS who, however feel no
more constraint. There Is the young man who
wants 70 De . swell appearing in all tue incongru-
and u stove-pipe hat, and his female counterpart
| in equally gaudy raiment The reve;ry of the
boardwalk goes on until far into the night. In
the combination beer saloons and variety halls
AT midnight will he found maudlin young men on
| q Spree blear-eyed Old sinners, typical toughs
and the women that hang about such resorts
listening and applaudinS uproariously soma
broken-down motto singer with crooked voice or
some serio-comic singer with painted face and
extremely short skirts who Is singing ever In the
same Key and the same tune something about her
Johnny being 'maSher," and then EXPRESSING
her JOY by Stunning her feet on the sanded stage
10 these people the great heavlng sea tHar
splashes beneath the door OF their beer hall seerns
| 70 suggest nothing more romantic than beer ana
coarse revelry.
In the day time, during bathing hours the scene
from the BOARDWALK Is full Of lie. Thousands or
baIhers dispOft themselves In the water mr.
promenade on The sand, while Thousands OF Others
on the walk or In the sand beyond the Watariine
look on.
ATLANTIC AvKNuR
The main street OF Atlantic City Is called Allan.
tic avenue. and this street Is In whiri az excite
ment at night Itextends couple OF mica from the
inlet to the excursion house, the two points from
which every body takes his bearings here n fs
pee liar street. One OF Its oddities Is thai rne
horse-cars run the wrong way: They pass each