Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 October 1896 — SUMMER BYTHE SEA. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

SUMMER BYTHE SEA.

Regarded purely as a means of amusement the capacity of the sea is almost as boundless as itg extent, and who goes to the seaside for no other purpose than to pass the long sumaner days will have no difficulty in finding employment for every hour. As a summer resort the seashore has always been popular; those who live near the ocean are not tempted to leave it during the season wfien It is most attractive and dwellers inland find the aea and shore a pleasant change from the city streets or landscapes in which water plays a small and quite subordinate part. For, after all, there is In the sea an infinite variety of aspect He who conceives of the ocean as slmpiy a level stretch of water knows nothing of it Even when calm it Is never twice the same, for the expe-

rienced eye will detect in its surface appearances changes of color here and there, relics of a storm that has gone by, omens of a storm that is to come. To sailors and fishermen and those who, in one way or another, make their Hvlng on its waves, it is a problem that never has been solved, a ques-

Hon that never can be answered, and they never tire of watching its surface, gazing out upon it by the hour at a time, speculating upon its changes, for its moods outnumber those of a woman and . its variations are more uncertain than those of a stock market At the summer resort however, there Sa little thought of either art or senti-

ment jn connection with the vasty deep,, which is regarded by the denizens purely as a source of revenue, and by the visitors simply as a means •f amusement The hotel keeper thinks •f it solely as a means of drawing trade; the man who owns boats thinks the world of it because if there were

no sea there would be no boats, and be would have to hunt another Job; the fisherman, who knows the habits of every individual fish on the coast and where It goes, to get its breakfast, dinner and supper and to take its exendse, and can conduct the eager amateur to a place where you can pull them eat as fast as you can throw In your

hook. Is, In his Inmost soul, convinced that the sea exists for no other purpose than to furnish a place to fish in, while the bathing-house bran is equally well satisfied that the Illimitable ocean was made Illimitable simply that it might provide endless facilities for bathing. With all these classes, the visitor warmly sympathizes, and fur-

th er concludes that the ocean exists, perhaps not primarily, but incidentally to the end that he may be amused during a few weeks in the summer when It is too hot to stay at home, and he has not enough money to go to Europe. So, each and all compel the ocean to serve with subjects, the poet with similes, the preacher with symbols, and the scientist with material so vast In quantity that, even now, after hundreds of years of research, he is forced

to confess himself but on the threshold of the knowledge that remains. He has only, here and there, gathered a handful of sands; the ocean remains almost unexplored. If a visitor enjoys fishing he may employ it as a steady avocation day after day, if he enjoys rowing he may blister his hands and strain his intercostal muscles and the light and left hypochondria and his hypogastrlum in a boat of almost any size and quality, from a paper racing shell to a craft which, In size, is first cousin to a whale boat, and, in immobility, is brother to a washtub. If he likes association with those who go down to the sea in ships, he can get it, for about such places there are always tars of the vintage of 1849, who can tell him tales of shipwreck and cannibalism, of service ashore and afloat, of adventures undergone in any part of the world he is interested in, and with equal readiness and yolubility will describe to him their shipwrecks on the Barbary coast, and how they were made slaves and escaped by running away with , .the Sultan’s favorite wife, or how they fought pirates oft the coast of Tonquin, and had to blow up the ship and get away on a plank. He can visit the forecastles of ships, the oldfashioned sailing variety, and hear nautical wonders until his hair, will stand on end like quills of the fretful porcupine, and his eyes stand out like those of a crawfish, as sailors, for ways that are dark and tricks that are vain, are as peculiar as Ah Sin himself.

Even if he has no higher motive than that of utilizing old ocean as a means of health and cleanllrfees, he may find amusement in that, though the first bucketful of cold salt water dashed on his unprotected person by a humorous bystander is apt to fill his mouth with cursing and cover his back with goose pimples. Even such an experience as

this, however, after It Is past, has Its comic side, for he laughs as heartily as any one at the shudder that ran through his frame from the sudden shock. If not particularly fond of bathing, he will find any quantity of amusement in watching those who are, and there are always among the bathers a sufficient number of feminine costumes to give zest to the spectacle. Whether the ladies who disport themselves on the beach of a seaside resort enjoy more the display of their bathing suits or the contact with the water is a question about which philosophers and experts will always differ, but it is quite probable that were a poll made of the female contingent at such places and honest opinions given, the suits would play quite as important a part in tho business as the billows. The love of the sea is healthy, and the nerve-stimulating blow of the brine has in a few weeks often made of an almost hopeless invalid quite another man. The unwonted exercise, the change of scene, the cheerful society to be found in these places, the fresh atmosphere, even the sight of the sea In its various

moods, all are healthful Influences and all tend to turn the channel of thought Into new directions, to divert the attention of the invalid from himself and his condition, to give him renewed hope, which, after all, is what not a few sick people need more than they do medicine. Life at the seashore is anything but humdrum. Bathing, rowing, yachting, fishing, promenading while the band plays, furnish sufficient idle employment, if such a term is allow-

able, for any one’s day, but there are often scenes of thrilling interest to be witnessed. During even a calm summer there are storms, and any storm may furnish a sensation of mighty proportions. A shipwreck, the launching of the lifeboat at the station, the booming of the minute gun, the firing of rockets, the throwing of the life line, the coming ashore of the survivors, the taking up of a collection in their behalf, are all thrilling items that, with more or less exaggeration, furnish the material for many a story to be told and retold when the seashore summer birds have flitted to their city homes, .x man who has gone through any experience of an unusual character will always have attentive listeners while he rehearses it. The most thrilling ocean experience to pass through Is a shipwreck, but, of course, If a man has never been fortunate enough to be actually in a wrcek, the next best thing is to see one, and if his imagination is sufficiently lively, he can polish up the story to such an extent as to make It quite as thrilling as though he himself had b.een lashed to the mast and made the sport of the waves for hours while the lifeboat vainly endeavored to reach the disabled ship. Tales of the sea are easily manufactured, and even if no wrecks occur at or near the summer resort to give an excuse for wreqk yarns, sharks and sea serpents are always available as material, and even if all these sources of sea narrative fail, nothing is easier than to rig up in new toggery those that will be spun on the smallest provocation by the mariners who give instructions in rowing and sailing.

The natives along the seashore seem to understand the secret of long life. Every one who has spent a summer at a seaside resort has noted the remarkable number of old men and women to be seen on every hand, and this in spite of the theory that lack of excitement contributes to longevity. These things, however, are merely comparative. Human nature can accommodate itself to almost any surroundings, and, becoming accustomed to them, regard them, however exciting they may be to others, as everyday matters. Thus it is that fishermen and mountaineers live to old age, even in the midst of excitements and alarms, for those who spend their lives on the ocean have as many dangers to confront as those who pass their days in conflict with the unspeakable Turk.

Mrs. Wheeler—My husband and I decided not to go to Europe, because it takes too long to get there. Mrs. Jones—Too long? Mrs. Wheeler—Yes; fancy being unable to use one’s wheel for six or seven days!—Puck.

FUK FOR THE BOVS.

FUN IN THE BREAKERS.

THE DIVING RAFT.

A TOO ATTENTIVE

WHEN A WRECK IS SEEN.