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Show CAPE MAY. ''iJiimmy" to Leave the Cnpe Diownotl Fashion ami Fully Touches. How tUvy IMsIi Kacli OtW. r l' In jool fsoctwiy, (Spociil Correspondence. ) Cate May, N. J., August 20th, 1S70. As the last efltiaion from your "to be," fact stater in relation to Cape .May, for this soaaou at least, I miut endeavor to give your n-aders a clear and straightforward view of the place. 1 ay the last fur ere long must Greek roots and paraphraiic conjugations, togeLhi r with a most powerful number num-ber of declensions, (in tho pursuit of which wo hope not to decline at all) must take tho place of Atlantic ballia and American bops. Grim antediluvian antedilu-vian "Domini Samsons" made up of square roots, chemistry, arcs of triangles, tri-angles, physical configurations, gulf streams, etc, (for all these- professors , aro terrible old bobby riders). Theso , and an indefinite number of meek eyed students, whoso erudition ia wide beyond dispute; so wide that they have no control of either side, but sink like a bullock in a quagmire, at tho centra. Learning without common sense is as useless as a mechanic who thoroughly knows his trade, but has lost his arms jat the day his apprct.iiceship ended. But, ns I said, tint scene now changes from the extreme of ihoughtledsnesi", to the oxtreme of thought. A most desirable chnugo. A BOY DROWNED. ' Since my last was written the surf has taken away a life that that was much beloved, and is now niunh i mi&sbti, uuuer somewhat remarkable circumstances. Jt is the only ciho of; drowning reported for the seasou here, and occurred as follows: Ho was the favorite of his parents, nnd as such waa brought to the seaside on on excursion ex-cursion from Philadelphia, arriving in the forenoon to return in theeveniug. At the bathing hour they all repaired to Ihe be-ieh and joined witti the merry throng of excursionists, in a nearly bath, rollicking through the spent breakers, shouting, laughing without a care. Tho parents finally concluding they had been in long enough, called their pet child to come out with them. He would "dive under one more breaker" first; did so, and that dive was his last. He was drowned, and his body was not recovered re-covered for two days after. The mother was frantic; she would not be comforted. She had other children at home, but this was her favorite, her darling: Death comes when leist expected, Comci tike a horrid ghost; Leaves thosa who are aeglcctttd, Takes those beloved the most. I see by Olive Logan's description of LONG BRANCH, In the September Harper, that Cape May is a much more desirable place for sensible people to spend tho summer. sum-mer. The bathing there is only safe at low tide, and then not very safe, while here it makes no difference whgther the tide is hiti or low, whether tho ocean is rough or smooth, there is no real danger. There are a few particulars in which tho Cape may be likened lo the Branch, and others iu which they are altogether different, differ-ent, tho advantage being in the Cape's favor. The beach at the former has a high, abrupt bluff running parallel to the sea, and staircases stair-cases leading from the brow to the sand. The houses in which the bathers disrob, Olive says, are mere huts, neither sufficient to protect them from cold draughts, the view of prying eyes, or from the burning rays of the sun. Here the beach for three or four miles is a smooth bed of hard sand, with a break water and board walk for a mile and one half,at the line i the water reaches at high tide. In-' land lrom this is the ocean drive, on' ihe very brink of the soa, for a distance dis-tance of four miles, and at low tide the carriages drive on the Band six or eight miles if they wish to. The bath houses, (where people drees for the sea and leave their wet robes) are comtortable and clean. In thcs particulars par-ticulars the Cape is totally unlike the Branch. In the following it resembles it: It has "Sea Grove," a counter-Dart counter-Dart of the Branch's "Ocean Grove" in e'ery sense of the word. It is the i rendezvous for overworked preachers j and lay men. They run tbeburgh, and few besides good christians ven- ture at the grove. Dancing is ruled out and prayer meetings take its place. "Sewing circled" and "endowment societies" flourish there, young iiwd cf divine aspirations find abundant 1 lood for thought and scores of tiHxleU lo copy from, as we!! as christian wives, for the asking. The grove is' west of the Cape city, and on the point that fronts on Delaware bay. j A beautiful location, but on account, of numerous fresh lakes near by is' usually infested by that frisky little bir,d known to citizens as the "Jersey j skeeter." Schelenger's landing is the Cape's "pleasure bay," and issiluated east of town about one mile. Tnw sounds are full of hard and soft-shell crabs, oysters, clams, blue fish, sheep's heads, etc., and the adjacent swamps are not the worst places we have seen lor aq.intic game. As to the bathing rubes w i u here, many of them aro both mclureFOUB and coniiRttiah. Olive bays they are not so at the Branch, and that she "aeea no reason why ladies may not look coquettish in ths surf as well as in the ballroom." ball-room." There was considerable of A SWIMMING MATCH in the ocoan here a few days ago. Three young men enlored for a gold medal and swam, a distance of four and a half miles. The winner made the trip in one hour and twenty-seven minutes, there being a slight current in his favor. This cape is remarkable for the number of vessels that sail ia sight of it. I have counted at one time 200 sailing vessels, in a fleet, apparently. There were more that could not he correctly counted, as they were hidden hid-den by ihe sails of those nearest the shore. They appear like a vast city of uuiform houses sprung up from the sea; or, in another light, like huge sea monsters, cruising in a school to give battle to some formid able adversary, and in their majesty they seem to have the power to con-! quor. Each looks conceited, con-1 Bcious of its power to buflet with the billows, and of the responsible position posi-tion it holds: the keeper of so many precious lives. IV 1 HAD SPACE I'd toll the Herald of society aud its pranks. How each presumptuous individual considers him or hersell a critic whoso opinion and envious epithets regarding everybody else tro of the utmost importance. How ladies (I suppose they consider themselves them-selves as such) pass commenti upon each other without reserve. "A very nice dress, but how" awfully it be-' be-' comes the lank thing who wears it;" or, "Just see that old thing trying to ' louk young with ber paint wad powder. Who looks like antl old goose just Jrom setting. I know all about her, her husband died about a month ago, and left bis fortune to four young children and herself. Hho leaves them at homo with a governess, And com os here to catch another husband." Or, referring to tho dresses of ladies walking before them, you will frequently hear such speeches speech-es as thee: "That girl's dress hangs like a wet blanket thrown over a post," "Looic at those feet, they resemble re-semble those of Barnum's mammoth camel," or "Her shoes would make good store houses lor a navy yard." "Oh! wad sonio powo' the gifup gic u, To seo oursi'U us otlio's suo us!" I sometimes think that if theso psople could have what the poet asks, for ouo uiiuuto, they would either reform, or diligently pray to lose it ns aoon as thev found it: so abhorred do they appear. At the parlies and in the baths some of their remarks are simply desteslahle. The most awkward person present will point out awkward acts in others. The fat cry down tho lean, and the lean despise tho fat. Those who know but little more about education than the "second grave digger," will talk of ignorance, and point out those cou-Biih;red cou-Biih;red so. Women who are daughters daught-ers of ignorant saloon keepers, but who by dint of luck have mouey tu epend, husbands who are members f tho "ring," and have untaxable United States bonds to fall back on, will actually blow about good-breeding, and run down a neighbor whoso only fault is, attending to her own business. And it is aruusin? to hear this "cod-fish" aristocracy boast of their ancesters, all of whom either came over in the -Vijy Floicer or fought in the revolution I I can't do'criba it, though so much it strike Nor liken it 1 ntivsr ifw the likel j Therj are not more than half a 1 dozen really handsome women on the cape, and they are married. If you should arrive here at night aud go to a hop at ono of the large hotels, you would think at first sight that you had been cast into tho "Temple of Beauty." A few acquaintances, or introductions rather, would undeceive unde-ceive you. There is no unique beauty here. Good forms are topped with homely faces, and vice versa. Brains are at a premium, and screach-ing screach-ing warblers of women at a discount. Forgive me, but you see the disease dis-ease is contagious, and correspondents are merely mortal. Homely though they be in the day-time, the nijrht Shows stars and women in a belter light. Well, well, tho world must turn upon its axis, And all mankind turn with it, heads or tails, And live, and die, make love and pay our taxes And a the- veering wind shifts shift our sails, The kinfr commands us, and the doctors quack us,) Tho priest instruct, and so our life exhales; ex-hales; A little breath, lve, wine, ambition, fame; fightiuft, devotion dust I perhaps a name. Dummy. |