New-York tribune., 1904-08-21
SALT WATER DAY SCENES.
Fashion Destroying Picturesque.
ness of Wreck Pond Bathing.

Pond New-Jersey. Not content with ruling gl-
preme elsewhere along the Jersey coast. she
laid siege to that bit OF sand where the farm
ers OF the pine belt are won't to congregats
the second Saturday of every August for their
big Sea Day" and she has finally triumphed
The blue jean jumper has surrendered TO the
conventional sack coat; the sunbonnet to ths
"bebe" hat: the carpet slipper to the high heel
shoe. and the Mother Hubbard has beat
disastrous retreat before the corset
For nearly a century Wreck Pond was r.-
garded as an impregnable stronghold of rus
ticity, Here once a year the farmers cana m
their wagons from the back woods. and under
the shadow of the Sea Girt lighthouse thsv
made merry. as If at great family reunion
Everybody felt ter home" and II didn't
at first, he certainly did later after his veins
were warmed with a few volts Of Jersey light
ming" Shame on him who was 'steck I'd"
Men addressed each other az brother this or
brother that. and every old woman was
granny" The women folk of various families
would embrace one another and call each other
by their girl names. and gossip about their
husbands OF sweethearts. and tell all the secrets
that had ever intrusted TO them. and then
climb back into their wagons to see no more
OF each other for another long year.
There always the utmost infornality
"AH done tes' az they goi darn pleased" Ths
gals wore the same "duds' as they did On
the farm when huckleberrying. and the country
swains tucked their trousers inside their boots
and buttoned on their "gallusses' outside their
jenkins. And when they went IN bathing "a
everybody did, because the ocean was the onlv
bathtub they had had access 20 for a whols
year. they waded in dressed in the same clothes
they wore on land. No one caught cold There
were always two preventatives. AS soon a,
any one felt chilled he Joined the rollicking
dance which always kept going on the beach
or obtained little more heat lightning"
In those days OF happy simplicity there were
few visitors from the outside world Som.
wandering gypsies and souvenir peddlers pitched
their tents near by. and now and then mys-
terious individual with pea and couple O,
shells would set UP his table where many a
luckless Jerseyman fell into his snare. Now
and then some city folk happened By to stare
at them and be stared at. for each appeared
ludIcrous IN the others eyes, the farmers wife
plying the brokers wife for pinched waist
and the city woman silently ridieuling the tub
Ike form of the rural dame.
But the invasion OF Wreck Pond continued un-
| tip IT became demoralizing- More and more
| Coney Island "fakirs'' came each year and
! greater numbers OF hotel guests from adjacent
| summer resorts crowded the beach and then
| smiled at one another. Il was a smile which
seemed 70 say: What sights these country peo-
| pie arei How backwoodsyI What contrast
to ourselves, They should be pitied. Poor
creatures, They don't know any better"
Just few steps from Wreck Pond arose the
fashionable watering place OF Spring Lake. with
its great hotel and It's clusters OF splendid sum
/ mer cottages. and from here. as well as BY Jsr-
| sey Central trains from Point Pleasant AsBgry
| Park Long Branch. and many more places on
the coast. on every Big Sea Day. thers came an
/ ever increasing throng OF curious spectators.
| The countrymen tried 10 defy the city folk BY
/ persistiug in their ancient customs: but they
were betrayed by the women. The country
| wives and daughters could not stand that city
smile.
I'VE can make ourselves fest as pert as any
of the likes OF en- they said to themselves.
and suited the action TO the word So they
studied the costumes OF the summer cottagers
eagerly. covetously. analytically. and they went
home and made themselves similar dresses and
built themselves hats OF Ike architecture. But
alas. These good women found that their sec
ond fate was worse than the first. They had not
reckoned that the modistes OF Paris and New
York had set new styles in thszyear they were
home on the farm. and so when they came back
TO Wreck Pond for the next Annual Wash Out
they found that the c'v smile had almost be-
come laugh.
At the last big Sea Day" which was cele-
brated week ago yesterday. IN almost every
wagonload OF farmers one might detect sons
instance. more or less ludicrous, OF an attempt
at fashion. The daughter OF one family for ex-
ample wore a dress which she had copied evil
IDENTIFY from some pTincesse gown It appeared
TO be cut out OF one piece OF cloth. with cores
here and there 10 make it ft her form; but the
creation fitted too well. and the unhappy
creature could neither bend down nor move her
arms for fear OF bursting through Most OF the
dresses were patterned after gowns seen on Big
Sea Day last year, but not a few typihed the
styles OF a half dozen years ago. One went back
Still further, and the sleeve OF the waist. from
elbow 10 shoulder. resembled pair OF capttys
balloons
In party Of country lasses who sat drinking
lemonade IN an inaprovised booth. which for the
rest OF the year would lie stacked up behind
some barn thirty miles back in the woods. there
was one girl whose cheeks were redder than the
lemonade In spite OF this appearance OF health
her face wore peculiarly painful expressron'
until one Of the party asked:
Now. now. Keziah. for why be you looSiT SO
ornery?"
There was only sigh for an answer
Have you been after eatin' sons green
hucklesF' asked another girl
There was another sigh. and then the sad
faced Kezah pressed her finger to her lips. and
whispered:
''Ye won't be tellln' on me, viii yer
Never never came the chorus.
Wal. then. It's them air cheeks OF mine tnst
hurts. 1 seen such a pile OF ladies with thelr
faces smootched up that tried IT, too. 1 got
some brckbats and ground EN- up 10 a powder
like. and put 1t on. Dear suz, IL does hurt so!
had smeared her eyebrows with the axle grease
from a farm wagon only an hour before, but sns
only laughed at her companions plight
On the bathing beach there appeared many 4
hatbipa Deen fearIIliV