Arizona weekly citizen., 1895-07-27
CONEY ISLAND.
The Great Watering Place of the Atlantic StateS-Two Million
 EXOursionists Every Year.
Once a Sand Heap, Now a Hive of Human Activity - Interesting Description Of the Scenes of
 That Famous Resort.

This resort is near the Long Island l coast and short distance outside the 1 Narrows; excursionists, of which there 1 are more than two million each season, can go hourly and half hourly by boat
 CT train. Once it was the only fashion l Gbie sea bathing place for New Workers.
 In early times it extended two miles further out in the sea than now. Foxes
 and rabbits were its inhabitants. In
 1900 It was utilized for farming and pas
 ture and it's cedars were cut to build
 small boats. In 1919 the first hotel was
 built tbere. A violent storm came in
 1921, when the tide rose to height be-
 fore unknown, sweeping the island, talk
 ing everything before it and leaving
 barren sand heap commanding a fine
 view of the ocean. At the west end are
 about mile of stores and amusement
 places on Surf and Ocean avenues, the
 BCwery, where there are concert halls,
 building in the shape of an elephant
 from the top of which is a view around
 Coney Island; the Star Roller Toboggan,
 ''tne Frankfurters with roll, De-" on the
 beach, tents where one can eat oysters, clans, Holsters and crabs; bath ing houses, of which the iron pier has l20O, one place where stylish flannel suits" gre obtained; there are so many
 ways of catching nickels it requires strong will power to depart without be- ing penniless. New Foundland dogs are floating in the waves, children wading in the surf, people sitting under the iron piers and on the open beach eating their lunches, little ones digging in the sand with sbovels and filing their tin pails;
 where the fire was IS nothing but black ened stones. While the writer was tak- ing notes some one remarked, ''Must be a reporter" Sea weeds, pretty shells and pebbles are found where there are the fewer visitors.
 Brighton beach is beyond, on which is the Brighton hotel, cspscious in eAtenJ and along the entire front facing the ocean is honeysuckle trained in the -hape of large anchors; there are not as many excursionists here as at West End From Brighton we take the marine rail- way to Manhattan Beach, where IS Man. haitian hotel with its broad piazza fac ing the ocean, on which are tables with white covers where people sit, eat and enjoy tSe cool, invIgoratlng air; between the surf rnd hotel are beds of plants in the shaLe of hearts, harps, etc., sur rounded by grass; plots plentiful in clov- 1 CT; at Manhattan is a bicycle track, bur- | leeques, band concerts and fire works | the war between Japan and | China; the concert pavilion is circuia ar | and around it float the flags of various | nations; the visitors at Manhattan are | quite arIstocratic.
 Still further on is the Oriental hotel, | where there are no excursions only the | hotel guests who pay 5 a day; around | all these hotels are numerous seats by | the beach. Posts are driven in the sand | under the surf with ropes attached for bathers to take hold as they go in; red | flag on tie furtbermost posts indicates !! how far out in the surf 1t IS safe to go. There are wooden chairs on the beach Il for people to sit on but most prefer to sit or lie on the sand; some dig the sand out and make seats and a back to it which seems to be quite comfortable. l here are more people on the beach
 ID the afternoon than In the morning, it being almost black with them, and there are riders-carriages, equestrians and also pedestrians; many drive
 heir horses through the surf or let them stand in 1t which they thoroughly enjoy. There is an Agus Aerial Shute ID which people take "a trip through the waves" it is a boat which goes through the breakers to a point beyond moves on rope similar to trolley car; | life saving station for bathers where here are ropes, life buoys ID shape like ! ring, like preservers which are put on ike JacKet and fastened, row boats at ihort distances apart with names as the Alert" and Refuge" and life-savers ,eady to start any second anyone is drowning. From a little beyond the Oriental hotel to the life-saving station or vessels is lovely walk on the hard 'andy beach of grey and white the latter ylistenlDg like brilliants as the sun hines Upcn IL; to watch the tide coming n IS interesting az the white capped | pillows dash and break on the shore coming little further in each time; one las peaceful feeling in looking on the grand old ocean as the clamy odor comes n contract with the olfactory nerves, md seeing opposite Sandy Hook the ast point seen by outgoing ships on the New Jersey coast and yachts, pilot )oats, sailing vessels and ocean steamers watching their approach demonstrates o us one of the proofs that the earth is Ound. Now we are at the life saving l station after having walked some dis ance and hardly met person and no i building and If you slt down near here 'ou are pestered with insects crawling Jver. your face.
 Ia the Coney Island life-saving station s small lifeboat which goes out when , here are only few to be saved In a wreck; 2 large lifeboat on wheels is 1 ir8wn out on the beach and then off D the water when there are many; if too 'ough for boats cannon shoots a thick ope to the vessel and the people are all brought on bridge buoy which is pulled along the line to the shore; they ,ave a lantern which is fastened to a 1 ong pole on the beach if it is dark to , lee what they are doing; there are life )uoye, cork Jackets or life preservers, inc pails to bail the water out of the poets, library belonging to the station, !: } barometer and indicator showing the condition of the weather, change, stor- ny or fair, the wrecks are mostly in winter, at this season the crew are at the tatlon, six in number, each receives lbout S60 month, they patrol the beach ooking for wrecks, to be patrolman it s necessary to be boatman.
 E. HoPKINsON HoLGATE.