Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1889-01-02
SPFNT FOR PLEASURE.
- AfahY AT SEASIDE RESORTS Aid
PICNIC GROUNDS.

Daring tho summer season-Figurcs
Nhich show That the American Tries
Very Hard to Enjoy Himself
A mere glance from the vantage ground
which tic Brooklyn bridge affords is suffi
eicnt to acquaint one with the vast num-
ber Of craft which ply the rivers and the
BAY for pleasure purposes only, which
carry no freight save such things as the
pleasure resorts TO which they are bound
desire: which have during the warm
months no other end than TO chase the
cool breezes from one point of the com
70 another, entirely for the benefit
4 million Of New Workers who are
Fat homes. The metropolis is veri-
5ly the home Of all manner Of vessel
Which may be found along the coast
And they all come here or are at least
represented. There Is such a demand by
Clubs and parties for small steamers and
bargcs that they are impressed into serv-
Ice everywhere, and southerners and New
Englandess may, while making n round
81 tic Battery any fine day, recognize
among the crowd Of hurrying steamers
many that arc as familiar TO them at
homo as tho Union Ferry company's boats
are to Brooklyn people.
The craft that arc used almost exclu-
sively for pleasure are year after year
being moro surely absorbed by three or
four big companies and by them the
rates are 50 fixed that pleasure seekers
DESTROYS Of chartering a steamer or a
barge aud tugboat have no appeal
There l.re now in the neighborhoOd of 40
sare6 decked barges in the harbor that
viii accommodate 1900 persons each
They are well built, and arc as safe as
any vessel so topheavy as they can be-
They are almost constantly engaged
Day after day they leave their mornings
with crowds of persons aboard and re-
sound with music and dancing and laugh
Ger away into the night. They usually
carry about l 600 persons each, and with
this Number there is plenty of room for
all sorts OF amusement. Therefore there
IRE in tho neighborhood Of 10000 per-
sons daily aloat on these three deckers
bound to almost all points along the
sound and the shores of the Hudson
river.
IS an estimate of what these 40, 900
pleasure seekers spend to find the prize
they orc after few figures will be inter
ecting Meteorologists place one-third Of
tho four months of warm weather as
aong rainy or cloudy days. OF course,
sn the sun does not shine prettily and
b there Il prospect of a steady downpour
during the excursion the girls stay at
home and for obvious reasons the boys
% likewise. Thus there are left about
ninety days that may be regarded as
fitted for excursions The revenue of
single day is something like this: Rent
for barge and tug, $3.50; rent for picnic
ground. $50 These average charges
wonld mako the receipts of the owners
OF the barges and parks amount to $685.
009 day, but as there arc only about
sixty pleasure grounds within reach from
this city. and as the majority of excur
sions use two barges, for which the usual
charge Is 1926, this total viii be mate
rally decreased. A fair estimate, there
fore of the receipts of barge and tug
owners and lessees of picnic grounds
would be 1900. The receipts of the
committees which prepare for the excur
sions arc much greater than this Al
loving n liberal reduction, at least 100000
persons arc on the waters of the bay and
rivers ninety days out of the summer
allotment of 100. 1t is a decidedly poor
excursion where the ticket costs no more
than twenty-five cents Tho average is
about thirty-iive cents For liquors,
lunchcons, use of swings, and the like ut
the picnic grounds, few persons among
the excursionists spend less than fifty
cents. so here is grand total Of the in
come of tho days excursion of $3.50
which, added to the $4,000 paid to the
owners, gives q result Of $102, 600 which
New Yorlss pienickers expend for q days
outing, ard whfch represents q seasons
total irom the class of persons who use
g5arges as means Of getting from the city
4 to the pleasure grounds of S9,1S0,0OO
Theffact, then, that excursion agents and
the like lead en- idle and luxurious life
during the winter months is not necessa-
rily extraordinary.
But the army Of persons carried by tho
excursion barges is nothing in numbers to
a. lA rNutnc of
steamers to set to the seaside. The sea-
son at Coaoy 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 enc Of the oldest hotel keepers along
the beach. The average price of an ex-
cursion ticket is forty-hve cents, thus
giving a daily total to 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
snend less than seventy-five 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
rrabbers Of tho beach would be about
$4,000. This gives a grand total of $685.
900 day. or SS,S90,Q00 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
averaqo 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 per capita
expenditure of $1..0 apportioned to Coney
Island, this would give totSl expenditure
by the public to get at these places of
81. COO. Thus, according to the esti-
mates which are given by transportation
agents, los, coo persons daily leave the