The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-09-08
WE MAKE BONDS QUICK your, n he Fidelity n
 LOUIS V. CLARK & CO.,, Agents Fourth Avenu and Phones

l land shore. The water Is salt and the
 tides rise and falls from the Atlantic through the mouth of Chesapeake bay.
 Indeed the salt water extends almost
 up to Washington.
 The trip to Colonial Beach is made in little more than four hours. The start is made from Washington at 9 o'clock in the morning and you reach the beach a little past l o'clock. The | round trip costs 50 cents, not counting meals and incidentals. which may cost ! the salary of any average man. There is no bounds to what he may spend.
 And let me add here that l will guar antee the quality of nothing you buy. Down a the beach the walters and others who are supposed to look after your wants are so busy looking for | tips that they forget to give you even the ordinary attention that you expect and demard. At one of the cafes l had to demand the service of two wait CTS and the proprietor to get simple glass of water. and when 1t came it
 was in a greasy, dirty. thick glass. The meal was rank the service ranker and the most conspicuous appurtenance to the place was flies.
 Colonial Beach is called the Atlantic City of Washington. Some people really regard it as fashionable place Maybe lit is. Perhaps l cannot appreciate the | fine frills that go to make up exclusive existence at the seashore. The only ac- commodation that is offered seems Co be the delightful privilege of spending your money. You get nothing in return. If Atlantic City is this on a bigger scale I prefer existence in Washington and Br- mineham. You do get something for your money at East Lake and in Washington you can get a delicious ham sandwich for a nickel and can wash 1t down with water that is pure.
 And let me tell you another secret. The bathing girl as pictured in the railway excursion posters is thing of beauty and joy forever
 l hope they will forgive me for my can dor, but confidentialy, they are living Alright in reality They look hedraggled, | tired and lonesome. I saw them lolling on the hot, blistering sands with skins like Indians peeling off like new potatoes or sealded tomatoes.
 | Oh, they are delightful
 | Now I am no pessimist, but truly pity these people who have nothing but money and must spend so much of their time at the sacrifice of real domestic com fort or honest endeavor suffering the punish ments that I witnessed at Colonial Beach. | The boat starts bacl at o'clock 5nd you are mighty glad 10 get back aboard,
 arrange yourself comfortably for the
 long but pleasant ride back home. | A storm came up just before the time of departure, and the gathering of the 1 black clouds over the skyline, which you l could not distinguish. the water and the l clouds being of the same dull blue color, was most impressive. The wind rose
 rapidy. and the smooth face of the
 water was chopped into waves. The rain | came pouring down before the boat start | ed. and those 2000 excursionsts came
 tumbling aboard, most of them wet and l bedraggled. but all in good humor. l The boat shook itself from its moorings
 and pointing it's nose in the face of the storm, advanced like n giant of the deep
 unmindful of the peting of the wind
 and rain.
 l As night came on, the clouds partly
 cleared away, and occasionally the moon, half way up the eastern sky. smiled on the becalmed face of the Potomac. This is the best part of the trip, and worth all the discomforts that attended the days outing A trip on any river, any | where. with the moon smiling above, is
 dream for poets to revel in.
 It was good to promenade the upper
 deck and study the dark lines of the
 Maryland and Virginia shores and watcl
 other sailing craft of the river under the
 eye of the great searchlght on the pilots
 house.
 The trip upstream takes two hours
 more than going down. We touched al Alexandria pt a few minutes past I Il clock and glided into the wharf al
 Washington just at midnight.