The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1891-07-06
ON THE GAMPGR0UND.
Wheeling's Homo Summer Resort
now at tho season'sHeighs.
ICOTIAGER'SL LOFTS EHEPPY ONE.
Something about summer Life in tho
Grand Old Grove--Fresh Air and
Pure Water. and it all Doesn't Cost
SO Much---A Storm.

at this time Of year the Moundsvills
camp ground is one Of the very prettiest
places in the country. 1t has all the
pleasant features of any summer resort,
and in addition to those possessed by
most Of them it has all the plainness
that makes home and country leisure
90 pleasant. The ladies on the camp
ground wear calico dresses and take life
perfectly easy. The children are not
groomed to death 10 make them look
spic and span, and there are no dress
parades for the exhibition OF clothes aud
jewcliy. A woman or a child may be
kept neat and clean without any great
amount Of labor, but the custom OF
dressing and showing, so prevalent at
summer resorts generally, takes all the
pleasure ont OF an, open air .leisarely
lie. At tho Moundsvllle camp ground
the people are to great degree like one
big family. The men sit III the parks
anil about the font doors IN their shirt
sleeves discussing matters OF interest in
tile morning papers, playing doninoes
aud checkers, and connecting
planb for the better enjoyment o.
their leisure. Tho women wear
easy dresses and tit from cottage to
cottngC or swing the babies in ham
mocEs AZ their doors or in the parks.
Tho children, are the happiest oil the lot.
There's ne reason iof restraining their
frcedom and the good times thcy have,
playing in the grass, wading in the
brook and dabbl;ng about the pumps at
thewellwould be, TO the poor youngsters
who pass their summers in brick-payed
streets and within the narrow confines
of paved city door yards, treats that
they would hardly trust their imagina-
lions even to play upon. 1t is a splen-
did place for children and there seems
to be no end OF them. People who have
no little ones to brighten their lives can
find some enjoyment at least in traYe!
and in visiting and inspecting places Of
note. But it's hard to travel with chill
dren and it's harder foI q women to
visit museums and live in crowded
hotels with a baby in her arms and pos
sibly two or three that are little more
than babies to look after. But the
babies in the family are no more a him
I drance to good time in the Mounds
Vile camp ground than they are at
home, and for that matter, not go much.
As soon as they are big enough they
may be turned loose on the grounds, for
there's nothing to menace their safety
unless they climb the trees, and the
boys and girls who are hurt climbing
trees are very rare. The people who
make the camp ground their home in
the summer season are all OF such
character that no family feels constrain-
ed tolimit the associations OF their chill
dren or themselves.
THE RABIES
about the grounds give it very much
the appearance OF an immense outdoor
nursery. People who are not fond OF
babies, or rather who are annoyed by
the sight OF them and the tender walls
they give forth when the safety pins
point becomes disengaged from Its
shield, will do well to stay away from
the camp ground. But the man who is
philosophical enough to remember that
ne was a littleshaver before he became a
big barber, and sees the bright side OF
child life, can see as much there as any
where and can enjoy himself.
This summer the camp is simply love
". There is nothing to mar the beauty
Of the place and the management has
put forth every effort to make the place
comfortable and inviting. New gravel
walks have been made about the
grounds and the streets are, mostly,
covered with tan bark. Electricity is
used exclusively for lighting and is
great improvement over the old oil
lamps. But there are no lights in the
many secluded nooks on the outskirts
of the town" as the part of the camp
located about the auditorium and parks
is called. These places are abundant
and have long been known as lovers re;
treats, and there are many married
couples on the grounds with their ba-
,bies whose troths were plighted in the
reassuring shades of these quiet spots.
There are plenty OF young folks there
TO keep up the good old custom of love
making and cold catching. in the night
air, and star-gazing couples are no less
numerous than they were in former
years. Most Of the people live in
COMFORTABLE, HoME-LIKE COTTAGES
and few board at the hotel, which is
much bettcr than it has been for sew
eral years. There are about 100 cot
tages and nearly every one has family
in 1t now. There are a numbered new
ones building. several OF them being as
fine ~ most small city dwellings.
The writer went TO the pump on the
grounds Saturday with one of the
pioneer cottlgers to get drink. The
tincups had a small hole in the side
down close to the bottom, through
when the water leaked in q stream.
Upon looking closely it appeared that
the lIolc hal been made purposcly by
driving nail through the tin.
"Tol don't understand thai" said
the old timer.
II supposo some mischieyous boy did
"No, he didn't; the manager of the
grounds did it."
0What for?"
.Isn't 1t as good to drink from as it
was before2"
About"
mo one would steal or carry off a tin
cup with a hole in it, would ,he?"
The explanation was sufficient.
Down inSthe elmer Circle" as the
space where tho auditorium stands was
formerly called, there is curiosity in
the shape OF two separate oak trees
growing from tho same set of roots.
Tho trees are several tcet apart at the