, 1904-08-10

liotlIiCto nhO llhC lily
self, was wasting time and CLAIMS on
sand crabs while trying to entice the
drum fish to take our baited hooks, we
mutually agreed that We lacked the
patience Of the late senator Quay at
his sort of fishing and that a search for
wildf1Owers might be more successful.
My acquaintance was a man who
wrote figures in the big ledgers of a
trust company and whose allotted va
cation time of two weeks was usually
passed in botanizing-'sfowerizing"-
let me coin a word-in and around
Wildwood. With baskets on our arms,
he swiftly led the way-I say swiftly
because this man believed in getting
into u ''lather of sweat' quickly-tO a
place where the road had peer cut
through a sand dune. On the lett
hand side there was still quite an ell
ovation OF sand, topped off with a rank
vegetation Of climbing plants, blue
berry and blackberry bushes, poison
ivy, Virginia creepers, trumpet flower
vines, stunted cedars, baby frs, etc.
Our first find" was a bed of wild
cactus; from them my guide plucked
five yellow blossoms which he impaled
upon sharp twigs, so that they would
show to advantage in a vase with
OtICl hOWClb. DCSCCuuluk Vic ObucT
side of the sand dune, we found a
large patch Of dainty wild-pinks-pinks
by name, but in reality they were not
pink-but pure white. OF these we
gathered quite a bunch. Around the
southern crest of the 'dune" we cut
many sprays of the wild coral honey
suckle, the loveliest wild thing that
can be imagined when it is first seen
in its home environment-its brilliancy
of scarlet with its delicate yellow petals
just peeping out from under a holly
bush or a large cluster of the dark
green leaves of the creeping ivy makes
1t a delight to the eye.
Next we threaded our way through
a perfect maze of undergrowth-a yer
table semi-tropical jungle-with here
and there a small pond of fresh water
out of which were growing marsh NAL
low plants, cat tails, wild rose bushes
and wire grass. Fighting mosquitoes
with n hand and hopping our faces
with the other, we thus walked half a
mile and came to a cluster of wild mag
nolia trees, on whose tall tops we could
see an occasional blossom. Some of
the trees would bend under our united
strength-many refused to bend at all,
but We succeeded in gathering a large
cluster of these sweet smelling buds
whose fragrance was almost over
towering.
My friend now piloted the way to a
sacred spot to him, where the wild
trumpet flower plant ran rioting along
the sandy surface; there were but two
flowers in full bloom and these we
plucked and they added color, but not
fragrance, to our collection.
We next descended into a swampy
labyrinth of wild grapevines and other
cllnglng, creeping plants, in search OF
the wild white honeysuckle. We found
enough clusters of this flower to COM
llet-ly fill the l~ittlevacant space in our
baskets and, we'll satisfied with our
collection, we emerged from thejungle,
we through and through, with pers-
piration. Then a walk back home, a
change of clothing and a glorious
ocean bath and the mornings delight
ex perience was over.
TO the casual visitor or the habitual
cottager in these parts, who has never
braved the danger of coming in con-
tact with the poison ivy in a walk
through the yet remaining wild Jungles
between North Wildwood and Angle
sea, he cannot have the remotest idea
of the wanton growth of plant and
floral life in this small stretch of land.
No wonder that in years gone by this
vas the sanctuary of the migratory
wild duck, the resting place of the Can
ada goose, the solitary woodcock, the
white heron and the lOng-legged crane.
Even now / have flushed woodcOck
and English snipe from almost under
my feet and many's the COTTON tail'
that has gone bounding from his
form" at my approach. But alack-
a-day, the ruthless ak is even now cut
ting.great gashes in the ~"plebeian
underwood" and horses are YEARLY
hauling loads of sand to fill up the
pools of fresh water, so that streets and
sewers and sidewalks may be laid,
houses built and electric light wires
run on poles to furnish power or arti-
fetal light, and soOn-all too soon
the flora and fauna upon this bit of
natures paradise will be submerged
and wiped out from the face of the
earth. The grand old trees, the cedars
that have stood and braved the winters
storms for centuries, the oaks, gnarled
and weather beaten; the wild cherry
trees, the magnolias and the hOllys,
will gladden. the eye and afford shelter
for wild game no longer. 1t must have
been something like this spot that old
Cowley wrote about when he said in
quaint verse:
shall. old patrician trees, so great and good!
Hail, We plebeian underwood!
Where the poetic birds rejoice,
And for their quiet nests and plenteous food
Pay with their grateful voice"
Here. indeed, was "a rural sheltered,
~unobserved retreat" where natures