Morning journal and courier., 1891-08-29

vesters of the North sea and Ioelandic fisheries. The North Foreland, Ptolemy's Csntium, is the extreme northeastern point of Kent. It has 6 fine old light house, and commands one of the most magnificent and sublime sea views of England. The great naval engagement be- tween the English and Dutch of June, 1666, in which the English were defeated, WAS fought of this point.
 St. Nicholas-at Wade, an ancient ford back to the Kentish mainland, has one of the most interesting and quaint old churches of England. Its walls are built of seaworn hints with much rough biick, believed to be Roman, interspersed. The eastern dripstones of the tower window are incrusted with nests of the ''temple haunting mArtlet.n
 Of all these odd bits of misty age relies, dim old Reculver, on the widening shores of the Thames estuary, with its grassy meads, winding river and nestlinV ham lets for sweet perspective behind, is per haps the most winsome and romantic. It was here that King Ethelbert, after his conversion and baptism by St. Augustine. took up his abode and built himself a pal ace out of the Roman fortress The an cient town has nearly all been literally eaten away and engulfed by the sea. What is left of the most antiauated pic ture-cottages, inn, which bears the name Of King Ethelbert, and which peeps through the widest masses of ivy. signal towers and all-instantly carries the mind back to the time of the Saxon king, who hs'd his glorious court at Rsculver.
 Douglas Jerrold's dream of the old place having suffered only a sea change. and that ''fathoms deep the town stiIl stands, that busy life goes on, that people ot an odd, sea green aspect, 1t may be, still carry or the work of mortal breath ing, make love, beget little ones and die" comes swiftly to each beholder. All green things are rampant and luxurious upon the crumbling cliffs. As you stand on the shore, looking up to the broken wall sur mounted by those tall sister towers, the seagulls whirl and scream about and above and old ocean seems to join their vail in weird, wild requiem.
 All these and many more spots of the most charming aspect and deepest historic interest are within a two hours walk of either Margate or Ramsgate. These WA terside resorts, also upon the little islet, are respectively located on the northern and eastern shores. Margste looks out upon the Thames estuary and North sea, and Ramsgste faces the Straits of Dover. They are to London precisely what Coney Island, Manhattan Beach and Rockaway are to New York, save that, as they are both ancient cities, their all the-year resi- dent population is far greater; they are old and respectable ports of entry; their harbor scenes, especially in connection with their fishing fleets, are at all seasons curious and picturesque. The ancient and venerable in homes, shops, light houses, qusys and warehouses form a mel low and colorful background to innumera- bic modern structural elegancies. and as the accommodations in "ludgings," the more spruce and dignifed apartments" in dainty and cozy old inns and in great modern hotels, are vastly more important, the places have more the everyday air of occupation and enjoyment, and are the less dependent upon the sudden accession of enormous numbers of one day visitors, though the latter flood down from London in mighty human tides.
 Both Msrgate and Rsmsgate are reached by the London and Southeastern railway and by the channel steamers from London bridge. From June until October the for mer sots down an average of ten thousand and the latter an average of two thousand Londoners daily at the two resorts, while on Saturdays frequently one hundred thousand "trippers," as one-day exour- sionists are called, are often gathered here from all quarters. The English people of
 
 their "week ends" The Saturday half holiday is universal.
 While the business mans week lend" may begin on Friday evening, the clerks and all manner of lowly workers "week end" begins at one minute after noon on Saturday, and in England, of all countries I know, the transportation lines stand ready to move millions of men and wo- men to whatever seaside or country points they may wish to go and to return them to their homes in time for Monday mornings drudgeries with celerity and cheapness which are positively astounding.
 The London popular heart leans more to Margate and Ramsgate than to much near CT Gravesend, or to grander and more stir ring Brighton. The ride across Kent by rail is like whirling through @ wondrous garden. The scent of the grasses and grains, the odor of the vast strawberry beds, and the soporiic incense of the for ests of hops, are in themselves a glorious journey, while the trip by steamer down the historic Thames and out into the open sea has all the giamor and possibilities ex- perienced by the worthy ''Tugges" on their memorable trip to Ramsgate, after their sudden rise in the world, ss prece- dent to their entering London society. Once at Margste there is the inevitable | pier, and 6 grand reach of rock, shingle | and sand in 6 noble crescent, whose horns are glorious cliffs surmounted by pictur- | esque homes. The town dips gracefully | in all directions to the splendid esplanade, | and this and the arena of foreshore be- meath it are the whole day long filled with a seething mass of London "Arrys" and | '"Arriets." If there is any chance of the visitor forgetting what his special mission
 is in Margate there are fifty people st hand | to jog his memory, and to take care that it
 is carried out with all the vigor and en-
 thusissm that is possible.
 | There is the Hall l-by-the-sea, where you can attend afternoon concerts and evening
 concerts, where you can visit the Zoologi- cal gardens attached thereto, and dance to | your hearts content in the ballroom if so
 "disposed." The is the Royal Theatre;
 there is the Marine palace, with its excel
 cellent variety entertainment, and its balls
 on Saturdays and Mondays. There are
 interesting swimming entertainments st
 the Marine palace baths; and there is the
 Grotto, with its curious shellwork in the
 Dane for those who choose to investigate
 it. In addition to these there are all
 sorts of minor entertainments and diver | sions.
 There are sea excursions morning, after
 noon and evening in the good steamer h.
 dis. There are trips in sailing boats of all |
 every species of conveyance, and trips
 to be taken to that old Roman fortress
 the Reculver; to that pretty little bunga-
 low hamlet, Birchington, where Rosetti,
 lived and died; to Kingsgate, and e little
 farther on to the North Foreland light
 house, where the clock wonders of the re-
 volving light can be inspected. Returning
 to Margate itself there is the band on the
 jetty. There are bands on the sands, there
 are bands over the way and bands around 1 the corner. There are conjurers, there are
 acrobsts, there triggers" and other
 performers who have & wonderful pit au-
 dience on the sands, supported by an enthu.
 siastic dress circle behind the railings of
 the esplsnade.
 There are sellers of shrimp and the
 photograph phslanaxes; there are shops
 full of the most curious toys whittled out
 by sailors; there are panoramas and cyclo-
 ramas; there are glassblowers, conjurors
 and grinders, who placard the announce l ment upon the wares of Dear Mothers, Fl 'fDear Old Dads, !" "Dear Old Jacksn and
 "Dear Old Mothers-in-lsws-alway in stockl" And there are the heartiest lovers in all the world. Your English lovers are
 never ashamed of it. In railway carriages, in public parks, at concert halls and here at Margate and Ramsgste the staccsto of rousing smacks runs from end to end of
 the golden sands, chirIupy picket fire of