Omaha daily bee., 1909-09-19
REAL OLD ENGLAND, THIS
Notes Of a Summer Trip to the York
shire Coast.
BATH UNDER LOCAL CONDITIONS
Picturesque Places and Habits Along
the German Ocean-Thc Smallest
Embellishments sOmbre
English Merrymaking.

SALTBURN, Eng, Sept. Slave you
in late years experienced the rarity in
Europe Of escaping the American tour.
lists in summer time travelling? 1t car
be done here in Yorkshire and it seems al
most a wonder, so ubiquitous is Jonathan
On his holidays in these times. He is Sc
scarce among the Cleveland Hills, how
ever. that the natives don't know hin
from a Russian.
It may be said with confidence that the
lmperious American traveller has made Nc
impression on the conditions OF life here
about albeit in the neighboring and mod
srn town Of MiddIesbrough Yankee ideas
have so far been adopted or adapted by
the Yorkshlremen that upon quitting the
railway station one gets quite the feeling
Of having suddenly stepped from an Eng
dsh railway carriage into a western
American h~ustllng town. The traveller
looks about in mild confusion until he
learns that marlborough as IL is is the
growth Of a generation. 1t seems in no
way a part of the old England around it.
Even where modernity has made head
way elsewhere I'm the vicinity, as at Salt
burn or other of the seashore resorts,
there is a cllnging primitiveness all per-
vading that takes the edges from the new
Iharp bricks and dulls the bright new
ness of modern provincial elegance. The
presence OF a cabinet minister and a men,
Der Of Parliament as summer residents
high on the splendid esplanade cannot
lake from old Saltburn, nesting at the
foot Of Huntcliff, the aroma Of ancient
days Of romance and adventure, days OF
smuggling. of hardy fishers, of %shipwreclS
and struggles with the sea which in times
of storm and of extreme tide washes into
the old houses and the old Ship inn
stacked against the inhospitable cliff.
While Old Saltburn was nothing but a
fishing village and negligible by it's neigh
bors, the newer Saltburn, the summer re-
sort, is looked upon by them as an up
start. Saltburn, to give itself airs, indeed,
as a resort Of people who can &c sum
mering at the seaside in the face of its
elder and most worthy neighbors who
have been established on the soil there
many generations, who figure in Domes-
day Book and were post villages on the
royal roads when II was a forsaken prom
ontory Of the German ocean! Hadn't
Upletham these many years the reputa-
W - ptiAh 10 bbAAAAS " fNo oS wv "
find In the realm, with the boast of never
a public house in its precincts, while its
neighbor, Guisborough-the ancient Guys
bourne-with twenty-five pubs had
never a drunken man on the street--an
achievement in virtue characterizlng Salt
burn?
With only three places dispensing liquor,
SaltbuTn, or at least a part of 1t, drinks
like the thirsty sands that swallow it's roll
ing tides in a beach 1000 feet wide and eX-
tending for several miles to and past the
next coast towns 1t may be the excellent
beach which leads sojourners to do more
bathing at Saltburn Than is to be seen at
most English resorts, yet it is a treach-
erous coast and takes it tribute of swim
mers annually. Three persons this season
so far have been drowned.
1t makes an American laugh and then
angry at the stupidity to which this loss
OF life is due, the arrangement for bath
ing at this admirable beach OF course
the clumsy, Anticipated bathing machines
are In use, except that during certain hours
men, women and children may, II they wish
and In fact they ~do--undress and dress in
the open air on the vast reaches of these
sands and 20 in bathing without the popu-
lar bathing suit used at this period is
worthy of notice. A single piece usually,
for men and women alike, It will go in its
entirety into a paper peanut bag, and some
of the lightest ones for men may practi-
cally be rolled between the fingers like a
cigarette. One costs a shilling, or one quite
fulfilling the regulations may even be
bought for ~ninepence.
1t may mildly interest some who study
political wickedness at home to learn that
the reason for limiting the hours when peo-
pie may go bathing without the machines
is ascribed to the membership in the local
council Of the one man who owns all the
machines here. In return, however, he pre-
scribes the safety of users OF his machines
by informing them that unless they come
in shore when u. w" toots his horn he
will not be responsible" for them. As the
horn toots as soon as you nave reached a
depth Of water somewhat above your knees
the fun Of the game is quickly apparent.
And how solemn II all is, None of the
joyous shouts Of sea bathers in the United
States, where they seem to have fun in
the ocean, but one dull, silent occasion, as
thong this bathing were the performance
OF a rigid duty, And nowhere a float, no
where a diving board or post, nowhere
ropes to mark the safety limits and serve
as aides to the weak; not even a lifeboat
I'm the water or a professional swimmer at
hand.
Back among the bathing machines on
the beach is the sole boat, resting be-
tween two wheels ready for launching
through the breakers. The men to man
it? Maybe they are there; II they are
they are beautifully inconspicuous. But
OF course there's ]. VS. horn.
But solemn as II all is there are dis
fractions at this resort too. The beach
is the scene OF all sorts Of games. Any
humble OF cricket matches are going on in
the sand, with foot ball and cicycle rid
ing. kite flying and more. Hundreds of
people. old and young, nave dug holIows
and raised back rests for themselves in
the sand 10 enable themselves TO lie or sit
in comfort and see what Is going on and
still be sheltered from the strong winds.
The pierrots are here. the pIerrots with
out whom the English seaside resort is
not complete. Here at S~altburn. as at mo
places nowadays. these London or pro-
vincial music ham performers having their
summering and making their living at the
same time, wear yachting suits. otherwise
blue coats and caps and white trousers.
as they give their open air performances
OF the beach. Further on at Redcar the
pierrots wear the old. familiar white
Pierrot costume with the conical nat. Al