The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-07-04

hos correct idea of Coney Island who
has not seen it. The majority OF nom
visitors have a hazy idea that 1t Is some
where along the coast near New 1ork
c;tv and over it the breezes from the
ocean blow increasingly and the pretty
GIRL wanders by the beach all day long.
How different the reality. Coney Island
is no Elysium. except for those persons
who believe strongly in the words or the
late p. r. Barnum about the chler deIgne
Of the public.
There are very many ways or getting
m the most populated resort IN the VI
c;n;tv of New York. You can go by
steamer. steam car, trolley car or the
nb;ouitous bicycle. Then there are the
WAYS in which one may travel II ne WISH,
es to employ horsefesh Temporarily. An
pf them, however, remind us or ancient
history in the fact that they lead to the
Rome of the ure-seekers-Cohey IS
land; though, as matter OF Iact, l.
might with greater truthfulness DC caiiea
Sodom or Gomorrah.
Anyone who has ever visited enc OF tue
big railroad stations knows now JUS
outside he encounters line OF men WHO
shake their forehngers at him and shouE
"Cab, Cabr' Just imagine whole sea-
side resort doing this and a very far
idea may be gained of the impression
of the visitor who looks up on Coney
Island for the first time when it IS IN fun
bloo-n. A long wide street with restau-
rants and drinking places on one sfae.
while the other has openings Leading TO
what no one can ever know who has not
investigated, are what one sees when
emerging from the entrances to the dlf-
ferent railroads that lead to and from
the metropolis or when he catches ms
FIRST glimpse from the iron steamer as
Sba rounds Norton's Point and makes
for the big pier. :,
1t all depends on which way you reach
Coney Island-by water or rall--as 70
what you win first essay to do. III you
hammer to land at the iron pier you first
RIM the gauntlet of a restaurant on the
nier itself where, if he has time, the watt
or grins at you in the most persuasive
fashion. and in his Teutonic visage YOU
Immediately see the visions of unlimited
beer and frankfurters. Beer and Coneyl
Island are as inseparable as Damon and
Pythias. Certainly the inhabitants OF
the Island would die to save the beer.
The Island is widely advertised as the
Mace where the rural visitor IS ogled
and deceived. Really, it is the metro
politan youth of low degree VINO con-
tributes mostly to the exchequer OF those
at the Island who live because they are
wise and otherwise. There are three dis
tinct types which appeal to the visitor to
the Island. The first and most vociferous
is known as the barker" He is I'M
doubtedly the type who gives rise to the
term leather-lunged. He is sans coat and
manners. His only object in life is to
make people hear what he says and then,
by the object lesson, his thumb which
he jerks over his shoulder which induces
them TO investigate the truthfulness Of
mis- remarks. No place of entertainment
on the Bowery or Ocean Avenue is com
nlete without the barker In fact his.
absence would render the place almost
a desert, so far as contrast is concerned.
The next in the trio mentioned IS what
corresponds in America to barmaid. She
IS not behind the bar, but she as mater
ially aids the sale of refreshments as II
she were a thousand times over. Perch
ed in chair, one arm resting on the hit
tie round table with an iron standard,
she looks out from under her sailor nat
with what is intended to be smile,
but which has rested upon her face so
long that it has an expression similar
TO that worn by the glass eye. She is
waiting for what in her own terse IAN
puage is called sucker" The sucker
varies. but he is generally of the metro
politan cast, for the youth of New York
are fully susceptible to the smiles OF the
siren as their cousins from the suburban
districts.
Wherever the visitor goes on Coney
Island, there besieges his nostrils an aro-
ma that can never be c0unterfeited. To
smell the frank-furter once is to know it
always. Have you been to the lslandf
Then just close your eyes and it viii all
come back again. You can see the white
capped would-be chef, his capacious form
encased with an equally liberal apron,
just lifting the cover off his savory stock
in trade and casting an appealing glance
at those who pass, as much as to -
aaui,- on esIrrn they coyilu pessl6is fesls
SO great luxury. TO his mind til
world begins and ends with the frank
irter. and the poor being who fails Z
realize this is certainly deserving of sym
patty.
These are some of the things that tn
Fourth of July intensifes on Coney Is
land. On that day whoever takes a no
ton to travel down 1slandwards, will
see visions that the place only furnishe
on a 1roat holiday Tf fhe London COS