Arizona silver belt., 1895-08-24
JERSEY WASH DAY.
A salt-Water Festival on the
 Coast at Sea Girt.
It Is Hcid tho Second Saturday in Augus, and smacks Pleasantly of Old-Time Rustic Revelry--Somo Dron
 SIghta and Incidents.


 sighta and Incidents.
 Mrs. Burton Harrison, in an article on American Rural Festivals in the Century, writes as follows:
 Of those which l have seen, and those of which l have been able to gather accounts the one smacking most pleasantly of old-time rustic rev elry, and therefore to be offered honor able precedence in this recital, is the Salt Water Day, Or Wash Day, n of the New Jersey farmers, that since time out of mind has been celebrated on the second Saturday in August, upon the coast at Sea Girt.
 To make this Jersey holiday, as. semble thousand baclf-country ve- hicles, of all sorts, from the hooded farm wagon, which has not greatly altered its pattern for centuries, to the rude blackboard and the pert sullSy. The horses are withdrawn from shafts or pole to be tethered behind the wagons or picketed at little distance in the rear. Around the impromPtu camp gather people enough to blaclsen a mile of the sandy shore-people who for months have been looking forward to the occasion as the chief holiday of the year. Cedar chest and camphor trunk and lowered bandbox have been called upon to disgorge their treasures; but there is no other attempt at costuming than the assumption of mere Sunday best. An odd feature of the great con Ia Fhn Nxifh t,l, . takes it's pleasure. A solemn, even strained, expression of determination to revel or die sits upon the majority of faces, During the unharnessing of the wagons, which have been arriving upon the scene since early dawn-camping over night being not infrequent--the good wives unpack their luncheon bas- kets, take tally of their pies, and, if need be, while away the time by me thodically administering punishment of the good old-fashioned variety to their impatient youngsters.
 Around the outskirts of the eoncourse are seen the booths and rostrums of the faltirs attracted from New York by the promise of rich harvest from the farm CTS wallets, There are also riile-range, q merry-go-round, and a doll target at which balls are thrown for prizes Many another cheap diversion offers itself during the explorations of the farmer and his wife and clamoring progeny, and more than one pinch of dire experience falls to the lot of the paying member of the party. The nasal cries of the Yankee Autolycus offering his inzles, caddises and lawns are con tinually heard above the swelling mur- murs of Jersey joviality
 Pairing over, there is general re- treat to the tent dressing im- provised with shawls and canvas cur tains in connection with the vehicles. The great annual bath of the pilgrims is next in order, and down to. the shin ing reach of ocean, where the crisping pillows hurry in. presently troop the queerest processions of bathers ever seen out of a caricature. Many of the men and boys, disdaining change of dress, go into the water in their ordi. nary clothes. summing themselves after ward in the hot sand until toasted dry again. Others put on shirts from which sleeves have been removed, and trousers cut of at the knee. The bathing outfit of the women reveals droll miscellanies of bygone fashion in cut and texture, some of the more coy among the ma irons including pantalets, sunbonuets and gloves, With sober mirth, demure smiles, suppressed cries of excitement, the phalanx moves into the surf. taking hands to jump discreetly up and down in long lines, safe within the danger line. To the great number this ven ture into the sea is actually no more than an annual experience
 After the bath, noontime turns all thoughts dinnerward, and the camp settles down into one vast picnic Pies of all kinds suggest the litauy-chant- ed without taking breath-of the fem mine hotel waiter in the ear of the l summer boarder= "Apple-pie, mince pie, custard pie, lemon pie, squash pie l and pieplant pie Doughnuts (caIled | nuts in the vernacular), cheese in ] liberal wedges, ham sandwiches, hard. l boiled eggs, and pickles, supply the 1 favoritc menuS and lemonade and root 1 beer-perchance a stronger beverage | are produced in bottles each confess ing by label to different intention in | it's earlier career.
 Then, while the summer sun slants in | the cloudless heaven, the merriment l goes on to it's climax, more dips in the | ocean are taken, more money changes | hands, more solid food is consumed, till at last the shades of evening close upon the scene, and a general "hitching up' of teams betolScns the end of Salt Wa ter day at Sea Girt.