Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1902-09-03
"A GREAT PEACH CROP.
THAT WHICH GREW AROUND
NEW YORK IN THE YEAR 1879.
APPARENTLY THE LUSCIOUS FRUIT WAS
MORE ABUNDANT ON MANHATTAN
ISLAND THAN ANYTHNGgELsE
EXCEPT BAD BARBADOS RUM.

1
Books Of travel usually contain a
vast amount of matter that is unim-
| portant and a good deal that is untrue,
| besides not a little that is unInterest-
| ing, and the old travellers who wrote
| about their voyages TO New York fur
| nisbed few exceptions to the rule.
TantalIzlng. therefore. Is the diary of
an observer who visited these shores
/ In 1879; who had reportorlal 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
lost; but. from what remains, we can
learn a good deal about the New York
| of those days.
Jaspar bankers is the writer whose
impressions of New York have thus
been lost to the world, and In what
has been preserved of his writings the
chief thing that forces Its attention up
on the reader Is the magnitude of the
peach crop In these parts during the
year of his visit. He was a religious
enthusiast, the leader of the Labadists,
sect that flourished briefly on three
continents toward the close OF the sew
enteenth century, and his voyage com
panion was minister of the same
sect.
But there is little of this In his diary
against 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 eatabies and turntables.
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 filed our hearts
with thankfuiness to God. This fruit
was exceedingly fair and good and
pleasant to the taste, much better than
that in Holland or elsewhere, though
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. | have never seen in
Europe In the best seasons such an
overfiowing 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-
called 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 a cent apiece to
Long Island, where the people made
them very welcome. sharing with US
beautifully whatever they had,
whether 1t 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 1t, and most of
them extravagantly so, although 1t is
very dear and has bad taste"
But on Long Island, as elsewhere,
the peaches were as good as the rum
was bad.
"It is impossible to tell how many
peach trees we passed, all laden with
fruit to breaking down and many of
them actually broken down. We came
to a place surrounded with such trees
from which so many had fallen off
that the ground could not be discerned
anu you COutu hOt put yum iSct Wv ~
without trampling them. and notwith-
standing such large quantities had
fallen off the trees still were as full
as they could bear. The hogs and
other animals mostly feed on them"
The peaches In Harlem were as plen-
tiful and still more delicious. When
they went up to the north end of Man
haitian island. we find this notice:
Before we left (Harleml we did not
omit supplying ourselves with peaches,
which grew in an orchard along the
road. The whole ground was covered
with them and with apples. lying upon
the new grain with which the orchard
was planted The peaches were the
most delicious we had yet eaten"
But they need not have taken the
precaution mentioned, for even after
crossing Spuyten Duyvii they found