The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-09-12

both parents and tots. The great SAN
dy beach stretches all along the front,
and the French bonnes, English nurse
girls and all their happy little charges
can coquette about in, and just out of,
and still farther outside old oceans
arms all the live-long day.
THE HILLS OF vENTNOR.
But up we go from these silver sands,
and on to Ventnor, the only other
town of any size on the isle, and here
we come to many things that distin-
guish. 1t from all other Isle of Wight
towns, and indeed, to one popularity
that distinguishes it from every other
city or town on the face of the earth.
and that is that the very steepest
streets in the whole world are to be
found in Ventnor, where the grades
are fearful l assure you. l mentioned
before, think, that Ryde is hilly, and
I may as we'll say right here and now,
that SO is the whole island, and it gets
to its very worst at Nentnor. They
say here that long ago, when the
world was young and nature in her
mad-cap days of youth, the sight OF
fair England, so beautiful and green,
surrounded by the seas, and already
destined to be the greatest power in
the future of nations, moved her to
such sweet smiles of pleasure that the
dimples and the Fuckers and the rip
plies that chased each other across her
sweet face remained fixed, ever after
ward the same. for posterity to see
and enjoy, and that the aforesaid
| dimples, Fuckers, ripples, etc, are the
hills and dales Of the Isle of Wight.
Now, isn't that stiff story to tell?
But there we are, depressing again, so
to business.
1t is indeed true that the Steepest
grades. in roadways at least, wind
| themselves up and down the streets
of Ventnor-worse luck-for l have
climbed them, and know whereof /
| speak. Our Ventnor coachman in
forms us that horses are peculiarly
short-lived on this isle. wearing out
much sooner than is usual in the more
level paths of England, and that they
often have been known to drop dead
of heart disease, after dose of a
couple of Nentnor hills. / cannot
vouch for the truth of this, but ] do
| not doubt it in the least. l know that
no horses death can be laid at my
door, for I have very lively recollections
of the way he used to turn us all Off
the coach and make us walk up and
down every hill we came to, when we
were there. We didn't get much coach
ing done at Nentnor, for the simple
reason that the level spaces between
the hills We're so few and far between
that our innings didn't come very
often.
RESORT OF THE NEWLY WE'D.
Ventnor Is also a great place for
honeymoons. They are as thick as
| blackberries there. A Ventnor honey
moon is to an English couple what
Niagara Falls used to he to American
newly -marrieds-quite the thing, you
know, and the number of married
| couples this town must have sefely
| launched into peaceful matrimonial life
| is beyond the computation of any
body but Cupid himself, I've no doubt.
Ventnor has also the best air on the
| isle to my mind, and so it should, too,
| for it faces the broad Atlantic without
| the smallest impeding bit of land be-
| tween, and gets the ozone good and
strong-Simon pure, as they say In the
states. We are engaged there for sG(le
| concerts next week again, and L am
anticipating being there with great
pleasure. 1 always feel like taking in
the air in gulps at Fentnor somehow.
I've been saving Cowes up till the
last, because it is such great fun to go
there. l think Cowes in regatta week
| is simply tremendous. We just missed
| the steamboat when we journeyed
down to see the race for Her Majesty's s
| cup, and, as there are no good railway
accommodations. we had the great
| treat of bowling over perfect road.ways
to the great regatta town on the top of
! a great four-in-hand coach, twenty
| miles across the prettiest country 1
have seen in England-the woods on
one side and the sea on the other. OF
course Osborne castle, the summer res
idence Of Her Majesty, was Of great
interest to us, and as we passed
through the magnificent woods in the
midst of which her castle stands, the
driver pointed out the houses of her
| gardeners-model little places-the
| gamekeeper's lodges, her servants
amusement hall and library, and so on,
| at all ofwhich we gazed with great at
| tention. The roads, as / said before,
are simply perfect, and shaded by
| great trees hundreds of years old,
whose branches melt away above our
| heads, and form n beautiful archway
for miles and miles. The grounds are
very extensive, the coachman inform
| ing me that Her Majesty con drive be-
| tween eight and nine miles inside her
own private boundaries without cross
ing upon herself once, and without go
| ing out upon the high road.
Just aswe passed the principal gates
a carriage in which were the Duke of
York's children and their nurses dashed
up, entered the grounds, and whizzed
away towards the castle past the red
coated old guards, who all reverently
| barred their heads as the little future
ruler of the kingdom passed by. A
moment or two afterward we drew uD
with great flourish of whip and
trumpet, at Whippingham church,
where we all descended from our perch
es and proceeded to inspect the prem
! ises. This you must know. is the
queens church. and passing inside, we
| saw Her Majesty's personal pew, and
the place in it where she always sits.
| We gaZed at her memorial to her dead
husband and daughter.and we fingered
her hymn and prayer books-all
| marked with great gilt V and r.
with perhaps a rather snobbish inter
est. True to her principle Of never
| giving anybody Il glimpse OF herself
unless she positively cannot help IT.,
she sits where she can see the ce,c-
brant best of all in the whole cblITc =,
and where nobody but the celebrant
can sec her; and l dare say she would
| hide from him if she only could, She