The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-06-06
MONTAUKASC A NJ GROUND
PECULIAR ADTINTAGES or THAT
IsoLITED PENINsULA.

dance or Pare Drisking water. = gpFinEy
TurT. Natural Drainage. and Ne Mosquitoes
1t IL EASY Of Approach By Aeud or water.
Should the War Department settle upon Mon
tauk Point as n permanent camp for two army
corps, tho soldiers who 90 there will ind them-
selves In a country which. in natural advRn-
Is ideal for purposes Of military encamp-
ment. The lay Of the land 10 most favorable,
there II abundance Of fresh water for drinking
and cooking purposes and Of s0lt water for
bathing, and the place is 30 heRlthful that the
average life OF tho natives 10 said to DO unknown,
because they never die. Various GraVeyards,
the tombstones in which all bear old dates,
prove that death IL not altogether banished, but
after . week spent in tramping the hills, breath
ing the clear invlGorating ocean air, ana swim.
ming in the ocean on ono side or tho Sound on
the other or the fresh-water lakes between, ono
10 ready to believe that nothing but age or accl-
dent could end life there.
Back in the ages Montauk Point was an ISL
and. Century after century the sea piled MP tho
sands until 4 connecting isthmus was formed
between the island and the mainland, and this
sand stretch 10 now known a. Napsaguo Beach.
Utter desolAtion reiRns thero except for the
presence Of the mosquito and the carrion crow.
The crow lives on dead fsh; the mosquito on
live man. when he comes that way. or oven upon
horse. There 10 IN authenticated case Of two
horsoS being killed by these pests, which 1.-Two
there In countless millions, and the driver, an
AmagHnsett farmer, was 90 badly poisoned that
he was barely able to mako his way homo. He
lay seriously Ill for weeks. Until tho Long Isl
and Railroad was extended along the north
shore Of the point, In 1898. the only
land route was across Napoaguo Beach.
and there 10 no doubt that to the mosquito
hordes which defended tho pass belongs the
credit or discredit of koeping the beautiful region
beyond freer of travellers and summer boarders
than any other place with equal natural advan-
tages on the Atlantic coast. The spot at which
tho bad lands of tho sand dunes end and the
point proper begins is very clearly marked by q
slight rise carpeted with tho deep-Rreen grass
which lourlshes luxuriRntly in that soil. Be-
yond this line tho winged pests, curiously
enough, do not venture. There should be IN
Indian legend about this invisible barrier, but
unfortunately there 10 not, and the average
Long Islander is not given to making legends
for himself. though he perpetuates the Rbo-
riginal lore.
From the beginning OF the grassland at the
western end to tho lighthouse-crowned cliff
that looks out to the rising sun across tho I'M
broken expRnses of the Atlantic. tho distance is
twelve miles. The ocean shore on the south is
an almost geometrically straight line Of impos-
ing cliffs. at tho foot of which tho surf breaks
v - III ShN khO NAoSAo
of many ships. Nupeague Bay, Fort Pond Bay.
and Block Island Sound outline tho northern
shore with long, smooth indontations, 30 that
in some places tho stretch from the month
to the south shore 10 three miles; IN
others barely O mile. Tho land area 10
lessened by one considerable lake. three
ponds, and numbers Of small ponds and pools,
all of tho purest water. In fact 1t would seem
that q subterranean river flows a short distance
under the soil. since every attempt to find
fresh water has resulted in success after dig
ging from Is to 80 feet. This in itself is a most
important point in the confederation Of a camp
ing place.
Tho entire region is undulatinE, and. except
for the brown line of roadway which shows on
an occasional hilltop along tho summit Of the
cliffs to the south, delights the eye with Its un-
broken green. Along the northern shore. from
the western extremity several miles east, 10 the
Hither Wood, an all but impenetrAble tangle
of black oaks and mountain laurel. and
in June. whom the laurel blooms. q
never = to : be : forgotten glory. On tho whole
point. outside of this wood. there is not
q tree worthy Of tho name. except on a small
island in Great Pond. which is thickly grown
with oak and hickory. In every hollow. how
ever, there are thick clumps Of the barberry
shrub. called by the natives "pepperidge."
which attains a height of from ave to eight feet.
The dip from hill to hollow is from fifteen to
thirty-five or forty feet, and very commonly
there is a reedy marsh at the lowest point of
tho hollow. These marshes, however, breed no
mosquitoes. probably because they do breed
thousands Of those hawks OF the insect world,
the dragon flies. As for malaria, that is un-
known. From whatever direction the wind
blows, it brings the breath Of ocean with 1t. and
during hot spells" the temperature is inva-
| riah1v from tNalvn m hftean deuraaa helov tha 4
of this city. only 100 miles away.
Except for the Hitler Wood, Montauk Point
is homogeneous in its natural characteristics
and to describe one aroa in detail is to describe
any other. But there are some special advan-
tages possessed by that body Of land which will
probably DO collected for tho encampment, be-.
tween Fort Pond Bay and Great Pond. other.
wise called Lake WyAndance. Here the point
has its maximum breadth of three miles. while
the distance between the bay and the pond is
moro than a mile. the pond itself being in real.
ity q lake moro than two miles long and q mile
wide. Fort Pond. which bounds the proposed
e%ncampment on the southwest. is a body
of fresh water about half a milo in
length. Both on Fort Pond Bay and on the
Sound the beach Is suitable for bathing pur.
poses. Tho place Is easy Of roach by the Long
Island Railroad. which has It's terminus at Fort
Pond Bay. or by boat from the New England
shore or the north shore of Long Island. At
present there Is only a fishing boat pier. but
large piers could easily DO built. Easily attain.
able as tho place Is. 1t is still very isolated, 60
far as soldiers desiring to take temporary French
leave arc concerned, for tho nearest village.
AmagRnsett. 10 thirteen miles away straight
overland.
From a sanitary point of view this situation
would seem to DO unexcelled. The company
streets could be lined along tho SUBMITS of the
rounded hills. where there Is natural drainage
down into the hollows. Flat surface for drill
ground can be found along the northern shore,
while the undulatinR character Of the country,
with Its patches of ~barberry large enough to
conceal two or three companies of infantry,
affords opportunities for strategic mannuvres.
For cavalry the ground IL admirably adapted,
tho turf being firm and springy. The writer
has travelled all over that territory or
horseback and found tho turf almost nj
easy travelling as the roadway. On the
entire point there are probably less thar
| thirty huildIpua an artI1larv ran1a -ould J..