New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-04-13
WHILE THE FLEET IS AWAY.
LIFE NEVER DULL AT OLD POINT COMFORT.

RESORT WITH ALI. SEASONS FOR ITS OWN AND
WHERE THE ARMY AND THE NAVY TAKE
UNDIspUTED SOCIAL PRECEDENCE.
LET TELEGRAPH TO 1Hs TRInUxEr
Fortress Monroe Va. April l2.-Wth all the
fleet except the Philadelphia, the Bancroft and the
two Russian visitors eXied by Admiral
Gherardis unyielding sense of discipline TO prac-
teal manoeuvres beyond the capes, the road
stead here presents to-day melancholy and DIS
printing contrast with the gay spectacle of the
days before, when the pride and pick OF the
new American Navy lay at anchor OIL the Polht' IN
line stretching from opposite the KIP Kaps al
most TO the bustling piers Of Newport News
Nowhere could the change Of conditions brought
about by the absence Of the fleet DE more
quickly noticed than in the big conversation room
and the ballroom of the Hygeia Hotel last night
In the former, where on Monday evening the
Gallant buecoats had crowded about the little
tables with their fair companions 10 drink 10
the health of the new Navy and its admirers
and foreign guests and corks popped until ma
night, few Army officers and beardiess CIVIL
ians made scattering but unava,llng enor's 10
dispel the tedium which seemed 70 settle like
q pail upon the big hotel. In the ballroom. where
the night before the rows Of seats about the
wall had been crowded three deep and dancing
space was almost as much at a premium as az
an inaugural ball. pretty hotel girls looked as
consolately about for partners. ana 'he Only
naval uniform in sight was that or hussia"
officer who was spinning cnergeticaly aoo". 'no
room in the old-time Viennese waltz. Le'' ~
itself. az it has been since yesterday morning.
Old Point Comfort has taken on again It's UNIQUE
and interesting character as an American watering
place. ..,. -.
With a nerpetual season and never-fllllng at
fractions for each separate month or quarter OF
the year. this fortunate resort has had all''S'
from the beginning q distinctive and refreshing
quality of its own, undiscoveraoe al any o''e'
famous Northern or Southern retreat Nci."'i
Northern nor Southern itself. gatherihs piaoe
for Northerners in winter and Tor ooutrernc'' ~
summer, catching the returning ude OF 'iaNei
from Florida in the spring, and from ""rd'oa"'
Narragansett and the New-England resorts Ill 'he
fall Old Point has adapted itself to every phase
of the American pleasureseeker's nature wlthout
in the slightest degree abandoning those local ana
peculiar characteristics which will always form ls
most decided charm. Built on military rcser-
walton, under the walls OF the biggest OF inc
National forts, and fronting on the most capaclons
and most frequented roadstead Of the Atahto
coast. it was but natural that life at the ll1 geia
q
tial surroundings So at Old Point military ira
ditions and associations have value which they
preserve at no other fashionable centre in America
outside the National capital. The Army and the
Navy have here that undsputed social precedence
which, with the purely commercial growth OIL 'ie
country, they have lost appreciaby in all the great
cities but Washington, and at every other notable
resort of wealth and fashion.
With a military band TO play delightful music
every afternoon and evening, with guard mounts
and dress parades inside the walls OF Fort Monroe
with a crowd of young lieutenants IN dashns
uniforms to furnish partners for dancing ana IS
corts for promenades. with the Navy rem1orc-
ing the Army whenever cruiser or gunboat
comes 10 anchor in the Roads-the military spirit
cannot but dominate the social life OF this resort
as once it dominated society at large in the palmy
DAYS of the two services when the Nation was
not relatively 30 big, and the Army and Navy were
not relatively so small. The social life or the
ARMY is not stiff and rigid and, from Its long
vogue here. Old Point has taken an easy toler-
ance of character which puts all its visitors on
a gratifying basis of complete independence with
in the rather flexible limits of American watering
place customs. At no other resort certainly is
there greater variety Of individual taste, Gus
tom and usage. for the patronage of the motel
ranges from the fashionable and exclusive New
Yorker or Bostonian to the cordial and unguarded
Southerner and the free and easy inhabitant oil
the States beyond the Ohio and the Mississippi
Each takes life in his her own way. and fits
in as well as can be with the easy and restful
military traditions of the place; so that fex-
Utility of manner and tolerance of opinion result,
which, in the club or family spirit, anow cham
pacne or mixed drinks to be served at the tables
and in the big hospitable Office and conversation
room until at midnight the jolly groups of officers
and their friends and fair admirers are forced
reluctantly to dispense by the turning of of the
electric lights.
II o'clock, as many styles Of Waiting may be
seen almost as there are waltzers-frOm the break
neck strides of the ew-Englanders to the dehb-
crate practsed glide of West Point and Annapolis,
the slow, lingering step OF the Vlrslnans or
tie strange convolutiOns of the dancers from the
foreign men-of-war. There are two periods Tor
dancIng-frOm 9 80 to in the afternoon, and
from 30 to IL at night. The morning hours
are given to strolls along the beach, through the
fort and upon the ranpars, visits TO te roausleau
aboard the men-of-war, and other amusements
of equally absorbing interest. AS to the delicate
arts of filtration which are the staple OF water
nseSs @ sssy aIa 9o infinite @ credit to the
great American summer or winter resort girl
But to attempt to describe in detail the phases OF
would be TO enter on a field too vast and adj
venturOus for this dispatch. 1t Is enough 70 say
now that, crowded as it is with 6Oo or 10Y
people and With surrounding society OF equal
numbers TO draw on, the Hygeia can scarcely be
said TO have a seriously dull moment even II the
absence Of the eleven cruisers beyond The Capes
With the return Of the fleet Of evolution, how
ever and the arrival of the foreigners next week,
life at the Hygea will assume its gayest and mosA
absorbing aspect and vindicate most brilliantly
its claim to be the representative American MILL
tary and naval resort.
The steamer Louise arrived here to-day from ron,
Newport News, having been chartered by Admiral
Cleiard as a dispatch boat. She was soon
ioincd Ivy party Of Russian officers from the
General Admiral and Rynda, in charge of Flag
lieutenant Potter, and steamed away for Nor
folk. where they called Captain Norton, Com
mandant Of the Navy Yard, and Inspected the
nlant and new vessels now under construction.
THERE WILL BE NO LAND PARADE
Albany April IL tSpeciaD-It Is now settled that
there win be no land parade Of the sailors on the
vessels which will form the naval parade on the