, 1904-06-01
CAPE MAY
An Interesting Letter
"Eben' Tells of the Big Improvement
Being Made i'm the Ola Resort,
The New Harbor.

shallow water in which it lay, has beep
a menace to navigation, has beer 10.
Gated and destroyed. The divers EN-
ployed in ~endeavoring to locate it had
quite a lengthy hunt, but once found,
it was soon charged with dynamite and
blown high in the air, a huge column
OF water ascending skyward to a dis
lance of some forty feet, marking its
finish.
The bed of the ocean for a long dis
lance out is extremely shallow and
ridged with mer shifting sand
bars. While this greatly enhances its
use for bathing purposes, it is a seri.
Gus impeachment to inshore navigation,
and is treacherous, at the best. In
coming into the capes vessels of ever
light draft must keep well out to sea,
if they would be certain to clear the
shoals. Two l~ife-saving stations are
doing valorous duty within a compai.
itively short distance of each other,
and are constantly keeping a vigilant
eye for any vessel in distress. When
the proposed hand-locked harbor now
in course of construction, together
with it's approaches, are completed, a
vessel caught in a storm will not be
compelled to put hastily for the open
sea, but will como gratefully into the
harbor and securely await the passing
of the gale.
This harbor, which is to cover five
hundred acres of ground, and which is
being constructed by the East Cape
May improvement Company, is now
nothing but a muddy marsh, %traversed
by numerous watery pathways and
honeycombed with many bottomless
salt holes. The marsh is of vast mo.
notonous extent, but under the magic
touch of the men of modern methods
who are ~contesting its right of domin-
ion, it will soon blossom into yerdant
upland, whose shore will circle a
broad, quiet waterway, covered with
luxurious yachts and dingy tramps of
commerce. The harbor approaches
which will extend for something like
a mile out into the ocean, will doubt.
less be built with money provided by
the Government, an appropriation to
that end having already been asked
for.
George w. Boyd, the general pas
senger agent of the Pennsylvania
Railroad, will again spend his summer
as a cottager in charming Cape May.
He has the interest of his favorite re-
sort much at heart, and is bending his
energies to bring it into u~nequalled
prominence.
To one not accustomed to residing
at seashore cities, the practice of rent
ing ones home for the few summer
months seems somewhat odd. Dozens
of families live in their houses dur
inn ainhf and nina nannthc of tho unar
and then, during the summer months,
move into much less ~pretentious quar-
tiers and rent their vacant houses to
temporary residents tor a sum equal
to, and sometimes far in excess of the
yearly rental they themselves pay.
Strange as it may seem, there are peo-
pie who will pay eve up to $500 for
the liberty of living in a house for a
period of three and one-half months. a
house at that price is, of course, not a
shack by any means, but the casual OBJ
server fails to see that amount of mon-
ey in it for a mere three months ten
ancy. From that as a maximum, the
price gradually descends to even $50
for a balloon" built structure, the
general run of houses, however, rent
ing for from two to six hundred dol
lars. By far the greater number OF
houses are rented under a yearly
lease. and the mechanic who leases a
house for $3.50 a year must needs fly
around about the time the season
opens in a strong endaayor to secure
a summer tenant, lacking which he
sees a large portion of his earnings
consumed as rent. The chances of not
finding a tenant for the summer are
so rare, however, that that is never
taken into consideration. The only
question being that of mountaineering
yourself to the extent of "roughing
it in more contracted quarters for a
few months. Houses let for the sum
mer are usually furnished-some OF
them magniicently-and the owners
take the chances of any injury befall-
ing them. One woman, a newcomer,
remarked that she would just as soon
rent her clothing as give over her
house and it's furnishings to the use
of strangers. And there is some logic
in her remarks.
In a number of instances, more eS-
pecially in the business district, land
owners have taken advantage of a plan
by which, while it is extremely detri-
mental to the interests of the city,
they are much benefited. Instead OF
erecting buildings upon the land and
then seeking tenants for them, they
lease the ground itself to any n de
string it for a term of usually ten
years, at a certain annual rental; this
rental being termed ground rent. The
tenant then erects a building of what
soever character he pleases-but is
sure not to make it of too permanent
a nature, for he knows not but that a
the end of his term he will be required
to remove it from the grounds. The
tenant, of course, would much rather
4IA Loud n1Itrinhf hnt fhf