The Afro-American., 1895-08-10

OF LAND on HISTORIC COB ISLAM
ON THE POTOMAC, WHICH WILL BE
IMPROVED AS a GREAT SUMNER
RESORT.
The colored people of Washington
who. as everybody Knows, comprise tne
most eultu 0st advanced and intel
lieent Al The wealthiest Of the
members orcd race IN the
United displaying marked
evidence az tnal and social pro-
eress. UnA white people Of the
District of Ia. who do not pro-
fess to be p fessive, but who are CON
tent to fall IN line in any movement IN
the direction of reform. moral or ma
terial. and 10 follow innovations OF the
others of the broad area Of the country
outside who have ..set the ball rolling,
The colored citizens of Washington are
the most progressive and the most enter
prising Of those of any American city.
1t may be safely said therefore that
when the members Of the African race
in Washington lead off in any movement
intended to promote the happiness and
well being of colored people generally
their example will be followed by the
colored citizens of the country at large.
The latest evidence of that marked
individuality and progressiveness OF the
colored people of Washington is distlnc-,
tivelv characteristic. For years past the
members of the race have been content
to suppress the expression OF their long
ing for the indulgence as q people In
those golden hours Of social and intel
lectual recreation which enter into the
experience Of the white race during the
summer months, the ''holiday season.
It is a season so fruitful of social and
mental enjoyment that it would be
tedious to enum6rate the many forms OF
indulgence into which it has developed.
The .Summer chautauqua" is one mani
festation of its utility, both as means
Of pleasant recreation and of intellectual
communion. What pleasant memories
do old and young 9like carry TO their
homes when the period Of the ''summer
outing" is over and the regular thread of
life is again taken up amidst the rush
and turmoil of city life!
1T WILL BE THE FIRST CoLoRED
RESORT.
Yet they are memories which have
been wholly confined to the people Of
the white race. While the cultured and
the talented among them have been
holding their summer cbautauQua9, their
teachers institutes and their social and
intellectual reunions at pleasant resorts
the educated and the gifted members of
the colored race-of which there are a
vast number more than the world at
large imagines for the reason that they
have been keeping modestly in the back
ground and not tlourishing any cbautau,
Quan trUmpets have schoOled them
selvesto resignation and have not allowed
themselves to think that they, too, could
have their summer resort, their chau-
tauquan assem- blages and their inteiIec-
tual gatherings if they just made up their
- j. lgs--~ .r---~-.-. - "ay tnIs
direction. some of the leading citizens
of the district. among whom NAV be-
mentioned Mr. Robert H. Kew, Mr..
Daniel B. Webster. Mr. William H.
Thomas and Mr.. Ferdinand Lee. have
formed company and secured mag
niticent tract Of ground down the Poto.
mac, which will at once be improved
and beautified as summer resort and
excursion ground where there may be
brought together the educated and gifted
people of their race, teachers, editors.
doctors, lawyers. writers, lecturers and
clergymen, under auspices of the reeu.
latioh character governing a high-ciass
summer resort.
The company has obtained possession
OF large place comprising the lower
portion Of the famous Cob Island-a !
place rich in early history and legendary
romance, by the way--down the Poto.
mac, where the river merges Temporal
lily into great body of water eli ght miles
vide at Wicomico Bay. The scenery at
his place is the most beautiful On the
Potomac River and if the curving shore
If the mainland at Rock Point or of the
wooded beach of Cob Island were
keI Iched by an artist the view might
veil be mistaken for that of some one Of
he famous Italian lakes. The place was
described about five years ago in col
INN article in the Baltimore American
nd afterwards by the New York Times
5 one of the most beautiful of places in
he country.
Cob Island, which is separated from
be mainland Of Charles County, Md,
3 Neales Creek or Sound, an arm of the I
Otomac, reaching from bend in the t
iver down with many curve and wind t
} the bay, and which isabout 100 yards !
'ide at its widest part, contains over t
90 acres of magnificent pine forest and I
n equal extent of splendid tillable land. G
he island was before the war an ex- e
nsiye plantation. 1t is about 60 miles n
'om Washington, lying directly OPP u
osite Colonial Beach, Virginia. and a c
w miles above Blacklston's Island and r
olton's Beach.
In every way the place secured is most =
Ivantageous. The Sound which separ- L
IS the place from the main land is