Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-06-27
THE PURSUIT OF PLEASURE.
WRITTEN ron THE DISPATCH. i

WRITTEN FoR THE pIspkrcH.i
| II WALKED, one sunny day last sum-
mer. from Concord to Lexington.
| The road was that historic highway over
whioh Paul Revere spurred his horse on the
| eve Of the Revolution, that night when he
woke mp the eager countryside, and made
| ready o warm and enthusiastic reception
for the British soldiers who came marching
after him. My pilgrimage began at the
bridge where the forces Of King George met
| their first repulse, and where the farmers of
| Concord fired 'the shot heard round
the world" The shady road wound
| round the Old Manse. past the former dwell
| ing places of Hawthorne and Alcott and
| Emerson, beside the steep and wooded
banks from whose submits Of advantage
| the colonfsts Kept up a rattling fire upon
| the retreating red-coats, and ended by the
"green" at Lexington, where the War of
| Independence had its beginning.
Such a walk is a refreshments to both body
and mind. Such q holiday is q holy day. A
vacation which contains such experience
Is a vaction indeed.
We are busy just now, a good many Of us,
in planning for vacation. Most of the peo-
pie who have the least need of a change are
meditating journeys and anticipating sum
mer Joys and engaging uncomfortable rooms
at crowded hotels. The people who really
ought to have a rest. the men who work in
the hot mills, the women who live in the
sixth stories Of tenement houses, may have
at least this satisfaction: that the maj jority
of vacation takers get but a meager enjoy
ment out of their vacation.
Indirect, Roundabout Pleasure tho Best
PLEASURE is best sought indirectly. It
is got at quickest by taking the long way
round. 1t is apt to be coy and shy, and to
say "no' to the votary who presses his suit
too abruptly. People who set out in avowed
pursuit Of pleasure are often as disap-
pointed in their quest as the old knights
who sought the holy grail. Sometimes the
knights found the grail after they had aban-
doned their search and returned home.
So, too, with health. which We all pretend
to be in pursuit Of in these summer pilgrim
ages. We add cubirs to our stature only
when we stop taking thought about our
pulse and our temperature. To have some
object which is not health and not pleasure
is the best way to get both health and pleas
IRE. Thus some wise men, like the apostles,
go a-f1shing. They have it for their pur-
pose to catch fish, and on the way, while
they are not thinking of It, they catch the
red of the sun in their cheeks, and rainbows
in their souls
met a Yankee pedler that day between
Lexington and Concord, and he offered me
wide choice Of wares. He was willing to sell
me soap OF suspenders, or collar buttons or
patent medicine, or a plan Of Boston or
the Plan of Salvation-all of which invest
ments declined. There are as many and as
various opportunities in the matter Of vaca-
tion. That, however, will be the most prof.
table vacation. In which there is a purpose
to do something or see something beyond
the blunt pursuit of pleasure.
Good Year to Study Historic Spots.
THE people who 60 to Chautauqua
probably have all the better time because
they go to lectures. They improve their
bodies all the more for improving their
minds. 1t is good plan to make the sum-
mer holiday an opportunity for seeing some
OF the historic and beautiful places in the
world. The towns of Massachusetts are full
OF colonial and revolutionary associations.
What good year this is to go to Salem,
where just two centuries ago this summer
they were busy trying witches! What an e1.
cellent season to make a voyage to the
to San Salvador and Watling's
Island, and thus to tread in the footsteps of |
Now is a fine time to take the |
great trip overland, and see that wonderful |
new country of which most of US have such |
dim ideas, and to visit Alaska before the |
primitive conditions there have been quite |
by modern civilization. Or, read |
the books of Francis Parknan, and explore !
Canada; fight over again in imagination
those fierce old frontier battles and revive |
the blessed memories of the brave Jesuit |
who suffered martyrdom along
the banks of the great river. Or, visit the
more recent battlefields of the Civil War.
Two young men from Pittsburg took de-
ightful journey on their wheels the other
lay, through the Shenandoah valley-a trip
worth taking. OF course, if one can get pass
aye on one of the big ferry boats that ply be-
;ween these shores and the lands over the
'ea that is better than anything else But
our own country is sufficiently interesting.
Any vacation which is intelligently
planned to take in places of real interest,"
such as can readily be reached in but lew
hours by rail, will be profitable vacation.
There will be more health and pleasure in it
han foolish people who spend shining
hours and shining dollars at fashionable re-
'orts can ever dream Of
1hs Home Holiday Not Disappointing.
WHY not stay here in Pittsburg for va
,ationf know some people who tried that
asst summer and were SO well pleased with
he experiment. that they are going to try it
lgain. OF course, there are thousands of
'ur fellow citizens who must by reason of
necessity stay in town all summer, whether
hey like it or not. But these friends of
nine might, if they chose, have spent vaca-
ion at the sources of the Nile. They delib-
'rately preferred to spend it at the sources
# the Ohio
Let the people who must be in town all
summer congratulate themselves. If they
lave money enough they can ride out every
lay in Schenley Park or Highland Park,
IT over the outreachtng roads which run
'eside the rivers, through shady forests,
md amidst some of the most charming
cenery on the continent. And they can
pend the heat of the day under the cool
hadows of their own trees, or in the ham,
nocks on their own wide porches, and eat
heir good home d in the blessed seclu