The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1917-10-06
SOUTHEND- -ON-SEA.

Christian Science Monitor: There are.
OF coirse. people with a eapocity Tor
strange enthusiasins. people who lind
h.licn beauties and attractions m n
LONDON motor bus, To- instance. and
such peoplc might Ind something that
aLpc1l' Il 60 them In the railway tourney
from London 10 Southondon.Sea. hut
most people are not so gifted. Miles and
miles Of backs of houses. with occasion.
al gllmpses down the long guy s'roeta.
or the short gray streets, or the courts
and alleys Of East london. are what
one sees: and then. Wien London ~
hardly left behind comes the journey
across the low-lyng lands past Puriieet,
on towards Tilbury. and beyond.
To the Londoner. lowevor or 10 those
Londoncr8. and there are hundreds of
thousands OF them every year. who.
when on holiday bent. incline naturally
towards Southend. the journey In be-
tween the backs of houses IS neither
here nor there Whether they make
their way through those devious streets
Of the city 10 Fenchurch street. or
board the through train 10 Southend,
on any one Of the many district" sta
tions. they are ON holiday intent. and
the holiday does not begin when they
arrive AZ Southend, or end when they
leave II. II begins when the day be-
gins. and does not end until the last
child has been conveyed home by the
last parent. up the last darkened street.
and the door has been shut FOR the
night
Southend, of course. with the places
round about il. has quito a large resi-
dent population. Many of the people
are season-ticlict holders, on the district
or otller lines, and 20 into London. past
th" backs OF the houses. every morning.
except Sundays. and return every eve
ming, except Sundays. They read most
OF the time, these people. Reading is
one OF the necessities Of the journey.
The holiday makers, however. ana
Southend.on.Se as holiday resort are
what most people win be chiefly inter
ested in IL was really Queen Caroline
who made the place" In 1904 she paid
a visit there. and Londoners began to
recognize the fact that Southend was
really their nearest seaside resort. and
began to resort there accordingly A
hundred years ago. however. Southend
could have no idea not even in its most
prophetic moods. of the glory which
awaited il: Of its pier, more than mile
long; of its huge hotel, a landmark up
and down the river: or of the countless
attractions which go To make up. in
its fullness. the great holiday resort.
which more than once since the out
break of the war. has been bombarded
by the Germans from the air, as a for
tilted place"
Bathing is good" the guideboolI
might put it, but the tide recedes with
great rapidity for nearly a mile" and it
is this vast wilderness OF wet shore
which often stands out in the memory
of the casual visitor To Southend the
visitor that is. may not have much
heart for its other attractions. Some
people have no grateful remembrance of
these stretches, and yet they have a
beauty all their own. The little pools
of water amidst the wet sand, stretch
ing on for many miles towards Benfieet.
have a way Of catching the sunlight. in
summer and winter, towards evening,
and throwing it back again in red or
gold The coast of Kent, five miles
away to the south, is Just a hay out.
line, across the river. and the intermit-
tent stream of shipping makes its way
far out in the great estuary. westward
toward Tilbury and the Port of London,
or eastward ort to sea and to the ends
of the earth. That, OF course. is one
of the ways OF reaching Southend, or
il was in the days before the war-by
sea. 1t was 4 holiday way. The man in
a hurry, the business man. the season
ticket holder. the man who is always
reading, never goes that way But
crowds of other people do. and many
boats i'm the course of a day. will come
in from London and tie up alongside
the great pier, or set out from it, past
the Chapman light, making east for the
Tower bridge. Southend-on-Sea is sure
ly holiday resort, all German official
statements Notwithstanding.