Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1900-06-28

EW W ~
The summer problem Is truly diff.
cult one to solve, and do you know,
Beth, when | look at people who make
themselves miserable in summer by
their method of so-called enjoyment I
wonder If possibly some of that streak
Of Pnritanical self.denial is not yet in
us which makes US do as McCauley
tells US suppress hull batting not be-
cause 1t hurts tho bull, but because it
gives pleasure to the people. !" am
not speaking of the people who go to
their summer homes, the people who
seek solaoe and respite when the heated
walls Of busy city by quiet and comfort
In home along the river or on the
mountains, but | mean that large mass
Of people who seek summer hotels and
boarding houses. The summer hotel
people, il is distinct tribe in itself
now. And fame awaits tho writer who
can explain why sane Americans Of
the better class, with money enough to
choose their surroundings should pass
so much of their time in hotels during
the heated months. Go to one of these
great hostelries in the height of the
season and you will find that the guests
belong to well-to do families who when
at home live in luxury and are waited
on by well trained servants. And In a
summer hotel they live in a ,dreary
little 8x10.foot room, ornamented with
only the necessities of life, rickety
washstand, bureau, two chairs and a
bed And oh. such bed A mat
tress about four inches thick over
saueaking Stats. and cotton sheets, so
nicely calculated ~ the size Of the bed
that the slightest move on the part Of
the Sleeper detaches them from their
moorings. Baths are generally nn-
known. Then the dining room! All,
the meals are 10 harmony with the fur
nishing of it. Three hot meals badly
cooked, during the day, and Instead of
dinner hour being the feature Of the
day, uniting people around an attract
i've table and lasting long enough for
ones food to digest, the surroundings
are usually SO unattractive that the
meal is bolted through after the man
ner OF one at 20-minutes- for refresh
ment station on Western railroad.
And why is this condition OF affairs?
The first concern of the American
father is to go to some place which his
family, his daughter, the.sunimer-
girl, like. The summer girl in
yariably wishes to go where it lie gay,
| her iGea of enjoyment does not admit
Of domesticity and peaceful relaxation.
| She Graves to be actively amused, she
wants TO do all she can do in the way
Of dancing, prancing, gadding about
| and in general spending all her vital
powers, she wants to battle, play golf,
walk, talk and drive during the day,
| canoe, stroll or dance until IL o'clock at
| night. She kindles at the mention OF
| the hop in August. So it goes on a ]
summer aud when tho leaves begin to
fall and the summer girl returns to
town what has she TO show for it?
little tan, callous heart, some new
slang, and considerable uncertainty
in her mind as to which young man
she is' engaged. Now summer hotel
pleasures must not he entirely aban-
doued and / am advising neither a
dungeon nor convent; for boating,
sketching, riding and golf are delight
full pastimes, but it is the unnatural
atmosphere of these crowded marts,
these summer hotels. that is so de-
moralizing. But when one reaec 8
that thousands of our people pass one
half of their lives in these asylums
and many Of them know no other home
it would seem that though those
modern Arabs, Holmes Folding Bed
ouins:" were gradually returning to
prehistoric habits and would end by
eating roots promiscuously in caves.
1t would not seem SO strange If these
| uncomfortable institutions,th these hotels
had beep conceived by people of tho I'd
world, people accustomed to petty tyran'
MES, but that We of all the races OF the
earth. free people, knowing luxury.
should have created form OF tortui
unknown to Louis XII is unexplicab'e.
| fortunately, there is growing
tendency for more privacy and rationa
comfort And the enforced intimacy Of
the American hotel is beginning to he
despised by some of our more sensible
people and as a consequence inexpen:
sive little summer homes have sprung
all along shore and when there is MOI
room for them on the seacoast there are
thousands of beautiful country spots
not very far from our homes which
would give us comfort during the sum,
mer season. A little house with very
little in it, modest riazza, skilf oi
a sailboat which does not pretend tc
be yacht, garden hoe, books and 9
hammock. nag or two of Plebiar
blood, rabbits in the barn and roges il
the garden and talk to the harves
moon why should we not set our sum
mer life to such a tune as this rathel
than banker for the neighhorhood O
the big steam yacht and the poll
ground and the buzzing, steaming. bis
hotel, with its inevitable ragtim'
orchestra, which is in several way
beyond our means, and which shattei'
our nerves in trying to follow the pac'
which is set fer US by otherss Ant
Beth only smiled at my energetic tall
and said, "Portia, are you going to b
reformer?''
'sNo, Beth, but after all don't yoi
agree with me that it is best to tax,
our pleasures nationally? As we grow
!. older and Father Time puts brak,
4, and y, limit on our physical and ENG
tional energies we find that one thing II
! life worth seeking for is conteniment
: | tinYnrnd with naaca rathar linn thi