The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-08-30
A SALT SEA BREEZE.
Munkittrick's Summering Down at
Siaseonset in the Sea.
The Humorist Has Found a Place After
His Own Heart-There They Back a Rail-

rspeciaI Correspondence.1

conset is in the sea, about so miles from
the mainland. In point of comfort it is
| far ahead of any place that is by the sea
or on the lake. 1t is, strictly speaking,
place to rest and loaf in. Every one
loafs here, because the air induces lazi-
ness in the same soothing way that it
alleviates the pangs Of hay fever. There
| are no land breezes mere except those
that come from the mainland, and they
/ are sea breezes long before they reach
this spot.
There are two hotels here which seem
10 be doing a good business, although
| they don't have brass bands and hops.
/ But most people who summer here come
every year and have their own cottages.
Those who are not so fortunate as to
own their houses usually rent a fur
nished cottage. There are cottages here,
and very neat and comfortable ones at
that, fully furnished from beds to chat
ing dishes, that may be had as low as
$3.50 for the entire season. In this way
family can live, and live well, for what
| it would cost a single person at one of
the hotels. These houses are modelled
after the fshermen's cabins, that are
| still one of the most picturesque features
of Siasconset's primitive quaintness.
| The bathing at this place is unsurpass-
ed, and the beach perfectly safe. The
bathing doesn't begin until July l, but
! it continues until October. The water
is so buoyant that the art of swimming
is easily acquired, and floating is as easy
as lying on sofa. I saw man Of 220
pounds standing in the sea the other day,
perfectly still, and he said he could stand
there all day without moving muscle.
There is no end of fine drives and
walks. Many people break the monot-
ony of the day by driving over to Wan
winet, pretty little settlement six
miles distant consisting of dozen
houses and one hotel. At this place a
fish dinner is served for 30 cents, and
everything is very nice except the clam
fritters, each one of which seems an in
fated doughnut. The other day a man
who saw this kind of clam fritter for the
first time thought it was new kind Of
cottage pudding, and requested the wait
er to take it back and suffuse it with
hard sauce.
The summerers who do not care for
driving delight i'll long walks over the
lonely and desolate moors, which, despite
their utter loneliness, have peculiar
charm of their own. They roll away
toward Nantucket. as a man put it the
other day, sin |ndiminished splendor."
The hills are dotted with sheep which
afford a pastoral picture that one never
forgets until one comes to the painful
process of reaching into the pocket to
pay 80 cents pound for their chops,
which is about the ruling price. Almost
every other native was once a whaler.
One man told me he went off on five
years cruise and made $50. He could
probably have made as much if he had
remained at home in the bosom of his
family and devoted his time to writing
poetry, but I didn't tell him so for fear
he might be offended and think was
fabricating.
These whalers will tell you stories of
the sea all day if you will utlisten, and
they really become more interested in
them than you do. Just go into crowd
of these men and shout "Whales!" and
their ears will prick up, and they viii
seem animated with new life. Yea,
verify, it is like shouting Gratis" to a
bull terrier. If you have hay fever or a
rose cold, this is the place to bring it
If you would breathe freely and have
some rest of spirit and nostrils. know
hay fever sufferer who came here last
summer and had splendid time. He
went away in the autumn cured, as he
supposed, and had hay fever half tho
winter in Baltimore.
Another feature of the place is the alb
sence of mosquitoes. If mosquitoes are
created in Siasconset, which I gravely
doubt, they must emigrate to New Jer
sey as soon as they can take wings unto
themselves and fly. But they have sheep
ticks to keep the place from becoming
too lonesome. These insects crawl up
your trousers legs when You go out Cd
the moors for walk, and keep on crawl
ing until they ooze out under your col
lar, like SO many musicians crawling
from under the stage before the curtain
rises. But for biting pure and simple
the mosquito is as far ahead Of a sheep
tick as watermelon is ahead of prune
as delicacy.
The people are very simple and honest
here-I mean the natives. Such thing
as locking door at night is unknown,
and if you were to lay bullying pocket
book in the road some one would find it
and send it to you. And even as they
are honest SO are they obliging. 1t is
fact which probably the reader will dis
credit, that when the train had gone two
miles out of Nantucket the other day it
backed up mile to oblige man who
had lost a So bill out of the window. l
don't know whether he found it or not,
but if he didn't some one else will, and
it will be handed to him next summer
after he has forgotten all about it.
And in closing these brief remarks
about Siasconset-in-t he-Sea, I will say
that the natives are very upright and
conscientious, and can always be de-
pended OF. One old woman is in the