New-York tribune., 1900-08-19
THE PASSING THRONG.

The development OF open air life in America
said NJ H Clinton, Of Chicago, at the Waldorf
Astoria yesterday. as practically
GROWTH OF confined TO the last two decades,
OPEN AIR and, in great part, to the last ten
LIFE. years. Prior 10 tbosA perioas thsra
was no real country life, and the
number OF people who in for athletic exercise
formed but a small proportion OF the population
To-day it has all changed, and. Dec voente It wiz
stay changed The English early learned the ad-
vantage that accrued from the healthy life in the
country They shot, hunted and followed al man
ner OF country sports with the result that they
bred magnificent physical race This came more
naturally. however. 10 the English. than IL did TO
the Americans. The British Islands are a confined
place; no great distances had TO be traversed and
country life lay near at hand and was easy 10 get
az man could run out TO a hunting country
IN an hour from London. He could boat on the
Thames. or in sixty minutes he could reach his
yacht at Southampton The roads were 1naguih-
Gently, however, totally different state OF affairs
existed The distances were great and ia the ante
oeIum days there was no leisure class. Every one
with which 50 many Of their descendants are now
busy dazzling an astonished world we were too
much occupied then opening up a country
ana developlng the vast natural riches which We
found ourselves possessed of TO give great at
tenton to the laws Of hygiene. Time in those days
ueV0teo 70 exercise or 70 Following any given sport
would nave been considered as time wasted In
la @ a1 ] IgIe lanoeu arlsIoc5acy existed an
Lued! al1 UNIQUE country lie had found a lodg
ment. There the planter autocrat and mon
hounds and hunted the fox hey Rar1 ID eP5Ss % %
al forms Of kindred exercises. But this was con-
wholly picturesque and deish1fu eass r. a44er
ly disappeared under the black wave Of insurrec-
ton, and was seen no more With the Civil War
ended and the impetus to development that that
var var gave exercise and eountry life were again
forever denied and now thar form OF life Is coming
rapidly forward
To-day" continued Mr.. Clinton country life IN
America IS rapidly attaining to those proportions
that it holds In England More and
DRIFT more are people seeking homes in
TO THE the country in preference 70 living
SUBURBS in cities. II they are rich. and
business does not detain them they
make the country their home proper, and the city
but an incident Formerly it was the city for nine
or ten months and drift TO the seashors or coun-
try for two or three. Now, exactly the opposite Is
becoming the rule with many rich people. Nita
those not so rich the suburbs offer a substitute.
Inere they can get exercise and pure air. The
men. for the sake Of this. gladly take tie train
ride mornings and evenings to get TO and from
business. This you find reelected around every city
in the increase in their suburban life. Take New
York Twenty years ago the suburban life did not
cut nuCn ngure; but look al il to-day. Up the
Sound, throughout WestchesIer County in New
Sa1I 9e St e9 E0 1 @ m II Is 5 09 & me eoa
beautiful and expensive homes. IN the roads you
driven Tns railroad stations viii be lined OF an
Ts VIA 2 2eIsCIg 1sI G311pPea pea ana goI us [apS,
necessity or for economy. but by preference. They
erenc s ise and % x a Be Pro1s 9SeVf in 'as 6 & 7 y
breeding a sounder, healthier and physically su-
0er1or race
1T this devotion 10 business. this constant
and unswerving pursuit of the almighty dollar"
the speaker continued that gave
DRESSED to Americans of The previous gen
WRONG erations their nervous manner and
BOTH TINES gestures. II caused them To seem
10 De perpeuuaIly in hurry. Dick
ems and other writers have commented Unsparingly
4 EirTf1 ar lat 7ov- 7-F--
surface Of America and cast q stone az this and
other salient but superficial characteristics OF The
American. Neither he nor the others looked below
maj z. surface but they PEooaoy know better now.
country came The desire ana demand for country
% -s- ITS, rsL Lne 7 Fleh @ nsd country places and Lnen
nearer 10 the towns, and people more and more
moved out to those suburbs. Land was there IN
abundance. and tennis first, then the bicycle, and
Hnaly golf became the healthful anlUsements that
OccCpIeo p ne young ana oIe eAks. To-Day there IS
scarcely suburb IN America that does not a
benefits Of this changed mode OF life show in the
healthier children and young people whom yOu
places where the horse rules supreme, where the
talk is Of huntins ana POLO and Of this, that and
reCtly or indirectly with the horse They are queer
you'll be pretty sure 10 be caught out I went
10 stay with friend OF mine about eight years
ago who had magnificent place in ultra horsey
ccmmUnity, and it was unique experience. The
nrst morning l dressed In dark sack suit and
went TO breakfast felt ike dude Such col
lection OF scarecrows have never seen-the women
IN snort skirts ana shirt waists; the men in knic-
srbOckers, cordurOyS or any other old thing But
the clothes were all but ready for the "a gbag I
loafed around all day. feeling terribly dressed up
and when dinner time came and I went I'D 70
change for that august meal found myself IN a
QUandary- What should 7 Wear-day clothes or
dress suit? Finally I compromised on the modest
Tuxedo and black tie and descended, feeling that
I had satisfactorily solved the question But not
SO, for they had whipSawed both ways. Every
beggar there in regulation evening dress white
waiSCcoat and tie, and the appearance OF having
just stepped from q bandbox- Every woman was
IN the latest Paris creation and as elaooratey got
up as for an opera night Every rrock there came
direct from either Doucet Worth, and there
7, in the midst OF that uagntdcence. in a mis-
cradle Tuxedo. while bran dress suit use
IessIy reposed IN my trunk upstairs. II was an
awful day. but il taught a lesson. Now when
I find myself in strange places remember that
have a tongue"
DIED