New-York tribune., 1906-10-21
THE CHARM OF SAND.
Hoo PimitiUe and CiUiIzed Men
Hare Deighted IN 1t.

the love of sand is universal felt by all, and
at all ages. The child finds in it ready and a
plentiful material for giving something of DELI
niteness to the world of his childish imagination:
and when experience shall have proved tho real
world to be less pleasant, and not expressible in
sand. he, nevertheless. grown man tactly
admits the attraction of the oldtine medium
and spends his holidays upon It No watering
place need trouble as to it's prosperity If 1t hah
broad forefront OF sand.
Probably general and ingrained a love is
only to be accounted for as the result of a SYM
pathetic and unconscious barking back to the
feel of the life on the dry sandy soils Of tho
East, upon which man first wandered and IN
which he first delved. He sit or lie with
greater comfort and ease-as he originally sat
without chair or lay without a couoh-upon
sand than upon any other kind Of earth; ana
upon sand he reverts readily and without fear
Of convention TO primeval barefootedness Pos
sibly the charm of the "sanded hoor'@in
the concrete of our forefathers; to us in the alb
straot of happy description of the comfort and
oozness Of CHEEKY inn parlors and kitchens.
warm with the ruddy heat of glowing logs on
snowy nghts-may also be due to vaguely as
sertive instinct In proof it may be readily
concluded that far distant man would not have
been long IN finding out the advantages of a
most readily in soft, friable rocks. The natural
and further easy expansion Of the cave to meet
growing demands for house room by scraping
down OF roof and sides, would result in a sanded
floor The litter of rude living and house
keeping could be more easily swept out, with the
leafy bough or bunch Of sedges acting the
original broom, when mixed with sand than
without its aid. The savage family which swept
It's cave out oftenest and most thoroughly would
certainly be the healthiest and strongest. Other
families and tribes would not have been long in
noting the effective value OF sand as contribut-
Ing to the superior power of competitors and op-
ponents. and in taking to using It.
Sand may thus very conceivably even merit
ethical honors IN having originated human
cleanliness. And If an adverse critic should
come along and speak of the instability of a
theory, as of "a house built upon the sand I"
our reply must be that It depends entirely upon
the treatment Of the sand; for mixed with a.
proportion of fitting cement, It forms as con-
crete as stable a foundation as any, and more
so than many rock
From its loose nature. sand cannot form part
of those larger masses the confguration OF
Which In mountain, crag or deep cut ravine
arouses the higher emotions of majesty and awe.
But compensation is to be found in its induce
ments TO a restful. placid frame of mind and
the readiness with which It lends itself to those
low. gentle lines of contour that by their un-
obtrusiveness allow either the ina gtnation itself
10 work untrammeled give encouragement
to that type OF thought which from its breadth
needs something OF aid from the imagination
Walking on sand aids such thinking 1t must
be slow to be comfortable The sinking of the
foot foroids haste The quality turks in even