The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1902-08-27
A GREAT PEACH CROP
THAT WHICH GREW AROUND NEW
YORK IN THE YEAR 1879.

Apparently the Luscious Fruit Was
More Abundant on lIanhattan Is-
land Than Anything Else Except
Bad Barbados Rum.
Books of travel usually contain q
vast amount of matter that is uni1n-
Dortant and q good deal that is untrue,
besides not q little that is uninterest-
Ing, and the old travellers who wrote
about their voyages to New York fur
nished few exceptions to the rule.
Tantalizing, therefore, is the diary OF
an observer who visited these shores
in 1879; who had reportorial instinct
for the important, the true and the in
teresting; whose journeys covered the
entire territory now known as the
Greater New York; who wrote fully
and graphically Of all he saw, and
whose observations have all come down
to us, with the exception Of some thir-
ty pages describing New York city at
the time of his visit. Exactly that
which would now be most valuable is
lcct; but, from what remains, we can
learn a good deal about the New York
Of those days.
Jaspar bankers is the writer whose
imcWssions Of New York have thus
been lost to the world, and in what
has been preserved of his writings the
chief thing that forces it's attention up
on the reader is the magnitude Of the
peach crop in these parts during the
wear Of his visit. He was q religious
enthusiast, the leader Of the Labadists,
q sect that fourished briefly on three
continents toward the close Of the sew
enteenth century, and his voyage COM
panion was a minister Of the same
sect.
But there is little Of this in his diary
against a great deal Of what they ate
and drank, and on occasions when
they went to the little church in the
fort where the custom house is now
the fact is mentioned with some apollo
gies, one service being attended 'in Or
der to avoid scandal and for other rea-
sons" and others because my COM
panion is endeavoring to learn the Ian
guage."
But on the very day Of their arrival
in New York, Sept. %, 1919, we begin
to hear of the eatables and drinkables,
especially the peaches.
HE first took us to the house Of one
of his friends, who welcomed him and
US and offered US some Of the fruit of
the country, very fine peaches and full
grown apples, which filled our hearts
with thankfulness to God. This fruit
was exceedingly fair and good and
pleasant to the taste, much better than
that in Holland or elsewhere, though
I believe our long fasting and craving
for food made it so agreeable. After
taking q glass of madeira we proceed
ed. AS we walked along we saw in
different gardens trees full Of apples
of various kinds and so laden with
peaches and other fruit that one might
doubt whether there were more leaves
or fruit on them. I have never seen in
Europe in the best seasons such an
overfowing abundance. When we fin
ished our tour and had given our
guides several letters to deliver, we
returned to his father-in-law's. He re-
galed us in the evening with milk,
which refreshed us much. We had so
many peaches set before us that we
were timid about eating them, though
we experienced no i'll effects from
them"
And the next day, Sunday, the rec
ord opens with this:
II was surprised on waking to find
my comrade had already dressed him.
self and breakfasted upon peaches"
So it went every day. Toward the
end Of the week they crossed the ferry
(for less than half 4 cent apiece to
Long Island, where the people made
them very welcome, sharing with US
bountifully whatever they had,
whether it was milk, cider, fruit or to-
bacco. and especially, first and most of
all, miserable rum, which had been
brought from Barbados and which is
called by the Dutch 'kill-devil.' These
people are very fond Of it, and most OF