The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-08-09
SCRAP BOOK FOR TO-DAY

This is the second Saturday in Au- gust, as may easily be computed by studying any 1913 calendar
 That statistic may mean nothing to you. Eeyend the often observed phe- nomenon that a Saturday always pre- blessed privilege of sleepingt late and of indulging in those mild forms of mania which nowadays so often char acterize what Maurice Ketten cynical ly refers to as 'stle Day of Rest"
 To the rural inhabitants of the east ern central counties of New Jersey, however, the second Saturday of the m onth named in honor of Gus Seizer is the blg day of the year, compared ] to which the honorable Fourth of July is but the pale reflection of the sEad- ow of the ghost of joy.
 From time immemorial-and Jake Jimpson of Manasquan says he re- members that the custom began even before that-rustic Jersey has turned itself loose on the second Saturday Of August, the occasion and the ex- cuse for the orgy of wild extravagance lily Jenkins spent $425 last year, what with one thing and another-be- ing the annual bath-or wash day. z
 By this it is not meant to suggest that bucolic Jersey bathes but once a year. The bath tub; that cherry in the cocktail of civilization, long ago
 
 night bath is as much of an institution in rustic Jersey as 1t Is in this city at the select boarding house kept by the widow-you know the one we mean who was formerly a lady of leisure, but who was brought to her present reduced circumstances by the unfor- tunate investments of her late mil lionaire husband.
 1 ssBath day. in New Jersey means the annual visit to the seashore and I the dip in the surf, when Neptune is l willing The swim is only incl dent. however, and the center of at l traction is the "nnidway'' where con lcessions of all sorts calculated to en- liven a rural holiday are granted to
 fakers and showmen from New 4ork'
 Philadelphia, and other cities
 Some in carriages, some in lumber I wagons. a few in automobiles, others i on foot the farmers begin their an nuaI trek to the beach the day or night before the day set and when l Old Sol gets up out of his bed in the I the majority of the festal crowd al
 ready on hand to greet him.
 I One of the characters of the New l Jersey festival is a fa.ker who sells four whips for a dollar. and offers te | throw 1n''- two more. Every veal for a century or more or less this rel l low has been on hand. He always | absolutely worthless, no good. and no I-worth carrying home. This frank confession, far from hurting trade | brings a shower of dollars down upor I him, and it is stated that he has nev' Ter cleared less than a hundred dollar l on "bath day.
 I Throwing balls at lodging Sene' I gannbian. with: unsrnokable cigars al the reward for accuracy; attenptint to ring canes or Jack knives; WOO I ing chance with the wheel of for t,1I7e., and others of those amusement l invented by Noah to while away th' I weary hours on the Ark. are favorft' eo1,rse inc seventh daughter Of thu seventh daughter is there, and the ia lady and her bearded sister. and Il But you know them all. And, al
 though you may sheer at the custom
 down deep in your g1zzard you ar
 railing at the unkind fates that pre- vent you from ningling with th@ mer
 ry crowds that will gather to-day o1 ; the New Jersey shore. Aren't you