The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1903-08-28
| TRIP TO
CIJLVER'S LAKE
TcoNTINUED FROM FIRST PAeEl

The cottages atOur left sparsely lining
the water side sit among trees, and
each has boat more or less graceful
and fastened to miniature wharf.
OF the cOttagerS every man and boy is
a swimmer, an OarSnan and Usher
man. OF the women, many are, on
occasion, water nymphS and can handle
an oar efficiently and gracefully. When
at times the surface of the Lake has
been diversified by stroke of oar, by
the bending and recover of the human
form, by the gay attire of men, women
and youth, it might have seemed the
aqueous part of an inland Venice.
Competent judges say that the Lake
has an abundant supply of fish-a
Wall Street man once enticed into his
boat a seven pound bass but the same
judges add that the fish find food
enough in the Lake itself and so are
not hungry for what is accommodate
ingly lowered to their view on line.
On the south end of the Lake and on
high ground stands the only large no
tel, and near at hand the dwelling Of
a well-tO-do citizen, whose expensive
barn and stable is not only perfect for
equine comfort but even attainS to
inspection to visitors and one almost
expects to see paintings and statuary
added for the horses to admire. There
should be mentioned also that on the
old thoroughfare, the two miles down
adamized mostly through the munif-
cence of this same citizen.
Our State geOlOgiSt writes in vol
hi rla nl ian ~ oil
most 900 feet above sea level, the
proximity Of Culyer's Gap from the
crest of which may be had the most
charming views Of the wild romantic
scenery of the whole Kittatinny re-
gion, Of the Catskill plateau in New
York State beyond the Minnisink
valley, as we'll as of the calm, peaceful
Kittatinny valley near at hand. and of
You'd it eastward all this should make
these lakes and surroundings a popu-
lar resort" This forecast has become
fact and we were of those doing duty
which Professor Cook had pointed out.
Our geologist again writes that sCul-
ver'S Lake is dividing line in the ar
rangement of the two kinds of rock
that compose the mountain, namely,
whatever geological cOnvulSiOn made
this discrimination, seems also to have
deposited incidentally on some cottage
plots innumerable loose stones under a
top layer of leaf mold Trees do
grow but their roots must have been
both diligent and economical. /
handled stones of every possible shape
except the regular shapes of geOme-
FRY n a n
the parallelopipedon M n P @ r.
These stones lie atop of one another
piled in loose aggregation, their inter-
stices often being mere vacancy, so
that If the pile is continuous down.
ward, there might be excellent drain
age through the earth's whole diane
ter and, at times, even an unaccount-
able o0ze on some Chinaman'S farm.
Here too, in spots, an immovable mass
of the earth's crust protrudes, in bulk
big as a hogshead or small room, and
often with what dignity! And how
degradingly inappropriate that, as /
have seen elsewhere, a rock extending
from the far interior should emerge in
picturesque surroundings only to no
tify of vermifuge, or cathartic, or
mendacious cure-all. Such notices
L
Hackensack meadows where conyerg-
rying passengers to the metropolis and
primarily are bringing multitudeS to
see advertisements; or remanded to
some other suburban spot of waste
land where, often in colossal letters,
"pills, compounds, elixirs, extracts
are familiar sight, all of which cures
q nj IT iy1
their beneficent action, and not only
bring back health but must bring
health in excess, so that there are
likely to be among us instances in one
respect like Dean Swift's "order of
Strulbrugs in Luggnag"-the respect
Of life prolonged Indefinitely
The Lake is a delight, but the one
dominating presence wherever one
stays or goes, is the Mountain. 1t is
an Omnipresence over a limited area.
With face averted one still sees it's
rectilinear crest or the dark azure of
the wooded slope. 1t is mother of
scenery from the Delaware to the Hud-
son. On it or near 1t are lakes, brooks,
springs cascades, ravineS, glenS, val
leys. Lake Mohunk, High Point Ho-
tel, the Water Gap are well known
summer resorts and to these may now
be added Culver's Lake.
Rest and comfort had we for a month
in our rustic house under the trees by
the water We had lodge in will
derness and cOntiguity of shade. There
was excellent food from farms and gar
dens not far off. There were luscious
black berries in remote, Sequestered
pasture lot. | walked to the crest of
the Gap and audited the Biologists
items OF view In the woods of an in
closed park near Lake No. 2 there
were deer wandering, although gener-
ally invisible in the dense foliage.
There was Dingman's Ferry, a few
miles away, where Washington, in pass
ing from Newburg, to Philadelphia
through the Minnisink and Kittatinny
valleys, was ferried over the Delaware
by the ancestreSs of an acquaintance
Of mine. And we could drive to the
Glove, to Cooper's Glen, to the hotel
on High Point, and even to the Water
Gap.
| close with recalling an event of the
Revolution. From this Kittatinny
region there were mustered in 1879 a
band OF settlers who marched through
forest where now are farms, over the |
mountain to where Port Jervis is, !
through the great gorge of the Della
ware which separates Pennsylvania |
from New York State, to fight the In
dams under Brandt. In that disaster,
among the slain was the writer's great
grandfather and his name is among the /
names on monument erected at |
Goshen, Orange county, N. Y, to COM
memorate the battle of the MinniSink.