The Mt. Sterling advocate. (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) 1890-current, 1891-08-25
MARY JAMES MELANCE.
Old Point Point Comfort not Com
fort. Washington, Now York and
other Places of NJ ote Visited.


Old Point Comfort, Washington and
New York is not such a great thing
to some people, but it was to me, be-
cause you know 1 am kept so closely
at home, taking care Of my seven or
phan newhews and my family of
eleven cats.
/ had been thinking of going for
some time, and concluded to go on the
excursion for the benefit of the Mis-
sionary Society of the Christian
church, which left Lexington July Il,
and supposed to be conducted by Mrs.
E. T. Warner. We know Mrs. War
ner had high opinion of our ability
to take care of our ourselves, for we
never saw her, but we did not appre-
ciate her exceeding thoughtfulness for
our comfort, as size gave the LeXing-
ton party and her particular friends
the fine vestibule cars, and also had
them assigned nice rooms at Hygeia
fronting the bay.
The scenery is very rugged, and of
peculiar beauty, especially the Pied
mont Valley. saw Il red river, the
water being of singular red color,
caused by copper and iron deposits.
We reached Old Point at nine
O'Clock Wednesday night l want to
pause right here to tell you about the
nice young man we had in our party.
We had only one man along, and l
thought l would try and make an i'm
preston on him. OF course, am
somewhat of an old maid, being forty
past, but when am fixed up, | am
fairly good looking. But, Melviny,
my intentions in that line were rudely
checked.
Early Thursday morning we visited
Fortress Monroe, which is a magnifi-
cent place. The brcastworks OF earth
are very secure, but to make security
more secure, canal has been built
around the fort, which in time of wan
would make it almost impregnable.
From there we went to Hampton, and
visited the Soldiers Home and Gene
terry. The Home is a beautiful place,
the grounds being laid Off in walks and
drives, and most magnificent flower
beds made in lovely designs. The
Cemetery is beautifully kept, and the
monument, ON memory Of Union
soldiers who died to maintain the
laws" is very imposing.
We returned to the hotel and pre-
pared for our first plunge. You
never saw anything to equal those
bathing suits. They were so brief
and tight that your figure certainly
showed to advantage, OF disadvantage,
as the case might be. Our young
man had terrible way of talking
about form and wishing for his
Kodak, whatever that is.
We went by boat to Norfolk at
three o'clock that Afternoon, and with a
charming lady friend for our guide,
we saw great deal of Norfolk and
Portsmouth. One Of the most inter-
esting places in Norfolk is st. Paul's
Church, built in 1889, of bricks
brought from England. 1t is in the
shape of cross and is very quaint.
The walls yet hold a cannon ball,
fired the first day of January, l776, by
the British from their frigate, Liver
pool. Within the church we find the
chair in which John Hancock sat
when he signed the Declaration of
Independence, originally leather, but
now bearing its third covering of
dark red cloth. In Portsmouth, the
navy yard is the principal object of
interest. The men-of-war, Texas and
Raleigh, are building here and all the
work is very interesting. l did not
flirt but once and | must tell you
about it. We wanted to go on board
the receiving ship, "Franklin," which
lay in the river, and a workman on
the Texas told me to wave my
handkerchief and they would send
skiff for us. 1 waved aud man on
the upper deck waved in reply, and
the skiff put off for us at once. Our
guide was acquainted with the officer
in charge, and he showed us marked
attention. We were taken all over
the ship and were much interested in
what we saw. A seaman on board
claims to be the oldest in the navy,
n q win o haan sixtv five wars in SQlsvicn |