Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1909-08-12


liant, beautiful, blazing in a flood OF golden
lights brighter than the stars, almost as
radiant as the sun, with the reflection
clarifying even the sea itself, 1t is so
beautiful as to seem unreal-you think it
must be a vision OF fairyland and that
presently you will awake and ind that
you were dreaming under the old tree at
home.
The shoreward side of the board walk
is lined with stores and shops and places
of refreshment, with bathing houses, halls
of amusement, and hotels and cafes and
restaurants. No distractions are per-
mitted on the side next 10 the sea, except
here and there pavilions where you may
sit and rest and watch the tumbling waves
or the surging sea of humanity that ever
passes by. There are five piers, too, that
stretch ont into the ocean, several OF them
costly structures that extend couple OF
thousand feet out into the sea. For a
modest admission price ten centS-you
can go upon these piers and enjoy the at
fractions that they offer. They have
minstrel shows and vaudeville perfor-
mances one has a hippodrome where
you see trained animals perform marvel
GUS feats; there are vast dancing halls
and splendid bands; amusements for the
children, hauling of fish nets, and enter
tainment OF every sort for varied tastes.
Best of all entertainment on the piers,
however, is the superb music. Morning,
afternoon and night the best bands and
orchestras that can be assembled delight
vast audiences with enhancing melody.
Last night a magnificent orchestra and
some of the most distinguished singers in
the country rendered a programme that
exalted a vast audience to the seventh
heaven OF musical delight The best Sc
lections of the master musicians were
rendered with such artistic perfection that
the people were simple carried away with
the ravishing sweetness OF the voices and
the instruments. The lovers scene from
al Trovatore" and the Sextette from
Lucia" were beautiful in the extreme,
while the orchestral selections were linked
sweetness long drawn out. The night
before this. Vessala's Band, magnificent
aggregation of artists, rendered a pro-
gramme of Wagner's music that was en-
trancing.
Every night you may hear this splendid
music, and afterward it is mighty sweet to
sit far out upon the pier and listen to the
murmur OF the waves and gaze out into
the mysterious shadows that brood over
the great deep. Several nights the moon
arose just at properly romantic hour,
and as it came up out OF the sea it was
like golden boat sailing in the depths Of
the sky. AS it rose higher and became
more radiant its charm grew greater, and
one was reminded of what old Sapp said
of the moon: "Oh, it makes the young
man forget that he will ever be old-it
causes the old man to remember when he
was young" With the radiant lights
along the shore, the silent sea stretching
far out into the unrevaled deepS Of the
neither horizon, with the moon shining in
clear radiance and making path of glory
across the sea that rippled like molten sill
yer below, while cleaning meteors shot
in Swiftest haste across the dome of the
uplifted sky-heigho, this will never do!
What will the Registers readers think if
| say any more about such things? And
yet wish that you all could see and en-
Joy this beauty as it unfoldS itself TO me.
There is every form of amusement at
Atlantic City. If one desires to do so he
can even lead the simple life, for there
are quiet places where you may mediate
in congenial surroundings, where you
can sit and think, or just sit, if you pre-
fer. Then there are amusementS and
entertainment and excitement for every
taste, from the timidly sporty TO the gay
est reveler that ever went on frolic.
There is fishing and sailing and motoring,
there are cafes on every side that get
wildly gay about midnight-in short any
sort of amusement and entertainment
imaginable. There are people here, it
seems, from all over the world. West
Virginia always sends many visitors to
this resort and have met many friends
and acquaintance. SO far my visit has
been altogether enjoyable, and ! hope
that when | get back into the harness
again and take up the daily wand of duty
| will be rejuvented and refreshed to such
a degree that the Registers readers may
feel that it was we'll to take holiday.
In closing this letter, old friends, | want
to say that while the great ocean is to me
all that has ever been said of it by poet
or writer, yet none the less is the lovely
old Valley of the Shenandoah dear and
delightful. Even with the lulling Mono
tone of the ocean sounding in my ears,
in my minds eye see the guardian
mountains of the Valley on the east and
on the west, between them the fertile
fields and green-clad hills, the orchards,
and the forests OF growing corn now ar
rayed in living green with tasseled
plumes waving in the summer sun; | see
the sheltered cots, the cultivated farms,
the substantial homes of my good friends,
the winding woods that lead me to the
their hospitable portals; hear the rip
ping of our own streams and see the
stars reflected in the placid bosom OF the
soft flowing Potomac; hear the familiar
night sounds that pulSate in the evening
air when the children of old Mother Ma
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