New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-08-16
A FAIR ISLE OF THE SEA.
TWENTY-FIVE MILES OF CONCRETE :


were ashamed to continue another summer III
life saying mo" whenever this question was
exuberantly put to US
"Oh have YOU ever been to the Vineyard 7"
There is always strong emphasis put on the
word have" in this interrogation.
The second reason is that we have always peeh
assured that Cottage City is a regular Para-
disc on earth" Now, human nature is ANXIOUS
70 act into Paradise without paying the usual
price for the entrance.
We started from South Braintree. You can
start anywhere from South Braintree. i was
on the point of saying that you cannot make q
beginning on any journey unless you first go 10
this place. 1t seems to be the central point upon
which the railroads of the world turn, or, al
least, the roads Of the Old Colony system, ana
when you reach this station you can wait Tor
YOUR train from half an hour to the end OF time
Everybody else is waiting too. This season they
are building new station, being kindly disposed
toward the multitudes who, sooner or later, Will
have to spend q good deal of time there. Tenn
porarily the people now dispose of themselves i'll
q large covered shed which suggests old life at
the shore, when sOiourners lived in shanties in
stead of cottages. Trains come laundering up
constantly and this shanty gives one sense OF
nearness and familiarity with engines and switches
not to he obtained at more elaborate stauonS'
r. also gives feeling amounting in some dread
full moments to certainty, that an express Is
coming pell-men right through the boards
Railroad stations particularly those III the
country, are especially favorable to the con-
sumption of peanuts but this one now at South
Braintree is ideal in this respect. L do not care
for this refreshment myself, but / was almost
stimulated into caring by the facilities here offered
There was o young man who was waiting on the
| Ito xUho
for future enjoyment. lie Smelling peanuts
continuously. denying himself the pleasure, but
uniting the meats" as we used to call them
when children, into his coatpocket until 1t
seemed as if there must be bushel of those de-
licious morsels there ready to be eaten without
the intervention of shells.
Nv friend after an hour Of uninterrupted OBJ
servation of this person and meditation connected
with him, came TO the conclusion that he was
going somewhere, starting from South Bralntree
of course. to visit the girl whom he was counting,
and that the girl and all her little brothers ana
sisters liked peanuts. While we were discussing
this question with the arlor which waiting lof
one,s train excites into activity, the man who
was boxed up in one corner put his head through
the openinC made for it and for the selling of
tickets and shouted something in which we de-
| tected the words Woods Holl." We ran out
and scrambled up the car steps, and not until then
did we feel as if we were really on the way to
| the Vineyard ] was glad when at last the ap-
proach to the Cape" appeared TO distract my
| friends mind from that young man, for during
the first hour she would at intervals make this
| remark:
Il suppose he is Smelling peanuts now"
It was useless to tell her that perhaps his train
had come She would shake her head and re-
| mark that, wherever he was, that was what he
was doing"
do not think we saw any blazers and white
| flannel trousers before reaching North Falmouth
would not, for anything, be understood to state
positively that there are none of these articles
along the line previous to arriving at that place.
But they were there, accompanying girls in blouses
| and jackets and fat caps.
As we live in rather a secluded part of the
| country. we had not, until this trip, known that
| there were so many blouses and blazers in the
world as we saw in Nantucket and Martha's
Vineyard. When one thinks of all the other
seashore resorts scattered up and down the coast,
and Of the blouses and blazers in them ALSO the
| Imagination is overwhelmed.
| At first we said to each other, How pretty
o pretty girl looks in one of those suits y"
Long before we started for home we felt like
praying for the sight of girl without blouse or
| a Jacket, or q naval cap. But our prayer was
| not answered until we were again nearing oouVi
Brainrce.
| When we embarked from Woods H0H the
wind was strong southwest and the water Oh
| Vineyard Sound was great deal rullied 10
not know whether the Gulf Stream has anything
70 do with the winds being in the southwest
most of the time but | think it must have an
effect in that direction, for it has finger In
| everything beneicent that takes place on these
| islands Il makes the climate, and the climate,
| we are assured, is identical with that OF the Isle
! of WIGHT The air here is really delightful
beyond words. 1t is like that in st. Augustine
| on some divine day in February whe1 me 10"
| shores of Anastasia Island lie like sott picture
before you as you lounge on the water battery Oh
| the old fort. But this air is not stimulating IN
the least, but it is very soothing and must De
like kind Of pOultce TO tired nerves. Stlll the
| owners of tired nerves do not generally wish 10
! be in a crowd every moment CT waking HE
That must be the case with them if they remain
in Cottage City, 1t is very orderly and dis
Greet and quiet crowd, but crowd nevertheless
II is NOT long voyage from Woods Holl to
the island. being at an end in about half an hour
There stands the little toy city with its red
roofs. and its toy trees with HAT tops, and the
sea sparkles about it.
There are good many people on the wharf
waiting for the boat TO come in. We are obliged
to delay until the well-dressed, but very domi-
neering boys who have brought their bicycles
with them, have wheeled them over the gang
way plank; then the grown men and women may
walk over in peace.
In this age Of the world it is TO longer room
for the ladies'" it is room for the children. One
feels that 1t is q crime to have reached maturity
and one certainly eYpiates the crime daily.
Our friends are among the throng. They arc
in love with the island they have been in love
with it for years | have noticed that you cannot
be lukewarm concerning Cottage City. Moth
ing could induce me to go anywhere else in the
summer said one of our hosts "Ive had
enough of other places. I've been here every
summer for fourteen years. You couldn't tempt