Year: 1879



 serted as formerly, ever in the midst of the warmest summer days. It is more common than it ased to be for very we'll to-do people to stay in town, and only go out for short trips. The system of living in flats, and the opening way of Coney Island as fashionable resort being principally responsible for the change. There was always more or less of trouble in leaving town for the summer season. as the household must be broken up. servants discharged and the members separated, to come together again with habits and ideas modified, and perhaps iniuriously disturbed by the summers experience. The repufarity. the fixity, upon which the actual permanence of family life depends, was thus subject to arrival shocks which some are only too happy to avoid by availing themselves of such mitigations of midsummer heats as are within their reach, and retaining the safety and comfort of their homes. Be- sides this class of residents, many South erners find in New York all the require- ments of a watering place, in its nearness to the seashore and the freedom and con- venience of space and proximity to large stores, which cannot be found at the regular summer resorts. To much an extent Is New York inhabited, that an effort Is made to maintain little sort of social life. Parties are made that do not assemble under the blazing light of a chandelier. but meet and dine together at Manhattan or Brighton Beach--take moon- light sails up the Hudson, or enjoy a promenade and cooling glass of lemon ade at a summer garden concert

 The young ladies, daughters of profes- sional men principally. who stay in town, find 1t not as much of a sacrifice after all, for the young men are not at Saratoga, and but in limited way at Newport. s hheS ss in ssss sitE stors r@sfdh fh 9see caS5o afford to relinquish and are only absent for the week or ten days vacation, which is the limit of the holiday time afforded them. There are but few resources of course at this season. The theatres are in-

 

 is, therefore. an agreeable surprise to find young ladies at home, charming in sum- mer muslins and fiuttering ribbons ready to entertain and be entertained, glad to show off their accomplishments in con- cocting cooling drinks, and suggesting an altogether new idea of home life with the happy circumstances of which the ther- mometer is not allowed to enterfere.

 l One of the uppermost questions in ex- change circles is the prospective impre- cedented demand on this country for food for Europe in the shape of grain, flour and provisions. The damage to and fail- ure of the crops on the European Conti- nent; the exodus of farmers from Great Britian; the demand for supplies caused | by the war in Africa and several other causes have led to an extra call this ses- sion on the farm products of this country. How much of this large trade is likely to come to New York is also agitating the minds of many. Heretofore calculations could have been made with some degree of certainty as to the proportion of the export of produce which would pass through the hands of merchants in the city; but with the unusual fialities fur nished by other ports for the exportation of the products of the United States, and the now almost perfect system of trade between Chicago and Cincinnati on the one hand, and Great Britain and the con- tinent of Europe on the other and at cheaper rates than can be made by New York dealers, no calculation can be made here until the business is being actually transacted. The condition of the affairs not only affects the flour and grain trade. but also the majority of the provision merchants. many of who regard the out look with anything but cheerfullness, notwithstanding the increased demand l which. 1t is apparent. will be made for American farm products.

 l The inquiry into the speriff's office is developing system of blackmailing that surely must lead to thorough reform. It is very evident that whenever 8 civil arrest has been made the practice in the office has been to squeeze out of the un- l fortunate prisoner every dollar his pecun- iafy coadition will bear for any privileges extended to him. and not to release him from the clutches of an officer until he has been bled as profnsely as possible. The law provides that the fee shall be thirty-six cents for 8 bail bond; but any amount from twelve dollars upward has l been extorted from the unfortunated prisoner. A hundred dollars for day s liberty has been exacted from men under arrest by these remorseless sharps and where a hundred dollars was not forth