Cbss Book COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT Hestonis -^9- m^p !1ANP=B00K Atlantic City ILLUSTRATED, Hind Book of Atlantic City. By a. M. HESTON. "A Complete Description of tlie Famous Watering Place." Its arrangement and typographical appearance are a credit to Mr. Heston's enterprise, abUity and taste.— Caoe May star Tlie City hy the Sea is succinctly descrloed and the various places of interest are disposed of In one or two very readable chapters.— New York Tribune. It Is an excellent publication, Invaluable to sum- mer tourists to the city by the sea. It contains an exhaustive description of all points of interest in and about AtlanticCity. This boolc is a marked credit to the compiler.— Camden Press. It delights everybody by its thorouf^liness of everything in and about Atlantic City Peraons who think of vls' lug Atlantic City s: »uld -^nd for this Hand Bo. and satisfy themselves o^. t. pleasures and attr.u 'ions.— Jersey City Heiald. Much valuable infi -matlon is given by Mr. He^ ton, of the Atlantic . • 'u-nal, in th' little volu , . ■ with regard to the p* dar seaside . ^sort.— Pu 'ic Ledger, Philadelphia. The volume Is somethin£ more than a mere Hand Book. It has attr ;;tions and featm-es which render It a ^, auabl'^ a* ^ulsition to the home or the offlce, and iu, a compendium of information on seaside topics it is the comnletest publication of the kind we have any know . ige of.— Camden Daily Post. The book Is complete in eve"/ partJcular, as It gives a general idea o' most everniiing relatlne to Atlantic City.— West Ciester Local Newp It gives a historical sketch o=f therpsoi-l, f^-^e scription of all the leudu i. jdac.^s. i^wit-ls pu li.*^- buildings, etc., has a map of the cltv and scventy- rive beautiful illustrations. No one shoold be without this elegant and useful book.— AUantic City Season. It Is a complete work In its several department^ and shows the beautiful city it represents to an advantage.— Toms Elver Democrat. The book Is complete In every particular, as It gives a general idea of mosteverythinv relating to Atlantic City.— West Chester Village Hecord. A beautiful and Interesting hand book of Atlan- tic City.— Salem Sunbean. to The illustrations are weU chosen, and the rea i ing matter has been selected with reference to the use for which it was mtended.— Germantov Telegraph. It is an interesting book, iUustrating the v\ derous growth ana many advantages of i weU-known and popular resort.— Brldgeton I riot. It is a very interesting book and one that eve.y tom'ist will be glad to obtain.— Brldgeton Pioneer. It is tastefully printed and filled with interest- ing accounts of the prominent features of life down by the sea.— Salem Sunbeam. The next best tjiing to seeing a place yourself is •{ agood -gi'-'3-book. Those who possess ^)u ; 0. i of AMa 11. ity will not be disappointed I with It in an v way. - Jape May Wave. ! The wori is a complete and valuable one, I ospecialiy to visi-^ors at that resort — Camden I c.ur'jr. Intf resting book, and one that -il b glad to obtain.— WoodbtowD It is a every tour Regivn » O^ 'irsf everyvtMtortothe "greatest water- ing .!.■ ■ the coun+r'.-" will want a copy of this intejt ^" H 'dBc. y -PittsbirgPost. ItlsanirTi-'oi Ing guide to the attractions oi the famou'' uii mer resort on the New Jereey coast. The bootc is appropriately illustrated.— ■ Springfield Republican, It Is ^te with maps, illustrations, guides to olaces interest, c.c. and wiU prove of great liiteres', ^o th(; /.housands who have been in th habit of going and who may continue to got the great City by the Sea.— Mount HoUy MIitoj-. It is handsomely gotten up. well printed and finelv lllustj-ated. containg lust what every visitr ■ as Avell as resident should know respecting Atla i- < tic City.- Atlant jc Coast Guide. ^ The publication Is gotten up In a ver>' Interest* f Ing way and is highly creditable to its author. It is worthy of and should have a large clrcul;-- tion. -New Jei-sey Coast Pilot. i It will be found of great value to all persons I who contemplate visiting the famous resort.- - Norrlstown Ilerald. Copyright, 1891, hy A. M. HKSTON, Atlantic City, m^mm iLLUSTRSTEt) IjaNlD-gOOR Atlantic Gity /'THE CITY BY THE SEA." Unsurpassed as a Wintf.r, Spring and Summer Resort. 'Tis the pearly shell, That murmurs of the far-off murmuring sea ; A precious jewel, carved most curiously — It is a little picture painted well. —J^. W. Gilchr PREFACE. THIS Illustrated Hand-Book of Atlantic City will serve as a guide to the reader, and save him the trouble of asking and answering a thousand questions. It contains just what every visitor, as well as resident, ought to know respecting the greatest watering place in the country. Many of the illus- trations are new, being drawn expressly for this work. The frontispiece, and a few others, are the property of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, kindly loaned for this purpose. The map of Atlantic City is the best work of the kind yet published. The descriptive features of the book were written after personal visits to the various places of interest in the city. It is hoped, therefore, that the Hand-Book will prove not only an invaluable companion on the spot, but an ever-welcome and entertaining friend for future perusal and reference at the home fireside. The compiler does not presume that the book is faultless ; but to approximate such a degree of completeness will be his constant endeavor. He will, therefore, be grateful for any errors or omissions pointed out, or corrections suggested. PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. IN issuing this Hand-Book for the fourth time (three editions having been pub- lished the first year) it is not for the compiler to give any excuse for thrust- ing forward again the same subject, other than that the demand has been made and the field is open for it. The present edition will be new even to the old readers, and will, it is hoped, merit the favor of those into whose hands it may chance to fall. The Hand-Book will be published annually, with such additions and correc- tions from year to year as are necessary to make it a complete guide or reference book for visitors to the City by the Sea. The edition of i8S8 is printed from new plates, with new illustrations and other attractive features. In succeeding edi- tions, as in this, the advertising pages, no less than the descriptive reading matter, will be confined to Atlantic City, the promotion and protection of home interests being one of the objects of its publication. The Compiler. CONTENTS. PAGE. Map of Atlantic City, Principal Hotels and Boarding-Houses. i-i6 Frontispiece — The Invitation, . . i8 Poetry, 20 List of Illustrations, 22 Preface, 23 The Sea (poem) ... 24 En Route, 25 Summering at Absequan, 30 Old Times and New, 35 Past and Present, 39 Atlantic City, 42 Whence Came Atlantic City ? 47 Winter and Spring Seasons 5° Health, Rest, and Pleasure, 57 Summer Days by the Sea, 62 Boardwalk and Strand, 69 Mysteries of the Sea, 74 Stories of Shipwreck , 79 Gunning and Fishin3^ 84 Mortuary Statistics 91 Institutions for the Afflicted , 93 Longport and Chelsea, 97 Hints for the Seashore, 100 Around and About, 106 Story of the Mermaul, • • • • "3 Customs of the Aborigine^, Ii6 Memoranda for Visitors, . . 117 Atlantic City Hotels, 132 Along Atlantic Avenue, 140 All Seasons are Ours 150 Hotels and Boarding-Houses in Atlantic Cii\ , I53 Leading Business Houses, I57 ^72 Map of Seaside Resorts, ... 174 Press Notices of Hand liook, 175 ILLUSTRATIONS. Page Frontispiece — The Invitation, i8 Moonlight on the Ocean (Initial), 25 Opera House nv\d yournal Building, 27 The Indian Lovers (Initial), 30 View of the Inlet, 32 Old Times (Initial), 35 The Old Way and the New, 36 Inlet House and Yachts (Initial), 39 Scene on Pacific Avenue, 40 Aspiration (Initial), 42 First Presbyterian Church, 44 Ready for Business 46 On the Beach (Initial) 47 Cottage of Thomas C. Hand, 48 Water Sketch (Initial), 50 On the Strand, 51 Solid Comfort ... 53 Crabbing Outfit (Initial), 57 Sunrise on the Sea, 58 Cottage of William C. Houston, 59 The Regatta (Initial), 62 United States Hotel, 64 Boardwalk and Ocean Pier 65 The Iron Pier, 67 Yachting (Initial), 69 Lighthouse and Life-Saving Station, 70 Bathing at Pennsylvania Avenue, 72 Sea Shells (Initial), 74 Pacific and States Avenues, 76 To the Rescue, 79 The Wreck, 82 "God Knows," . 83 The Fisherman (Initial), 84 Wild Duck in Grassy Bay, 85 Trolling for Blue Fish, 86 Duck Shooting on the Meadows, 89 The Adieu (Initial), 93 Mercer Home, 94 Fishing in the Thoroughfare (Initial), 97 Mrs. Oberholtzer's Cottage, 98 Shell Sketch (Initial), 100 Attractive Cottages, 101 The Traymore House, . . . . f 102 Michigan Building, 103 The Hotel Brighton, 105 Cottage of B. H. Brown (Initial), 106 The Lighthouse, 108 Academy of the Sacred Heart, 11 1 Real Estate and Law Building, 112 The Fisherman and the Mermaid 113 "Comin", Sah !" (Initial), 132 Cottage of A. M. Heston 137 Street Scene on Atlantic Avenue, 140 Music Hall and Post-Office, 143 Atlantic City National Bank, 147 23 THE SEA. Thou glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form Glasses itself in tempests ; in all time Calm or convulsed — in breeze or gale or storm, Icing the pole, or in the torrid clime Dark-heaving ; boundless and sublime — The image of Eternity — the throne Of the Invisible ; even from out thy slime The monsters of the deep are made ; each zone Obeys thee; thou goest forth, dread, fathomless, alone. And I have loved thee. Ocean ! and my joy Of youthful sports was on thy breast to be Borne, like thy bubbles, onward : from a boy I wantoned with thy breakers — they to me Were a delight ; and if the freshening sea Made them a terror, 'twas a pleasing fear. For I was as it were a child of thee, And trusted to thy billows far and near. And laid my hand upon thy mane — as I do here. Thou art so grand, so wonderful, O Sea! In all thy depths and whispering mystery — Forever chafing 'gainst thy destiny, Forever telling o'er thy tale to me. Thou art the pulsing, throbbing heart of earth — Throbbing in chaos, ere the world had birth — Still art thou heaving, surging 'gainst her girth. Thou and the earth, twin-sisters, as they say, In the old prime were fashioned in one day ; And therefore thou delightest evermore With her to lie and play The Surtimer hours away, Curling thy loving ripples upon her quiet shore. Sunlight and moonlight minister to thee — O'er the broad circle of the shoreless sea Heaven's two great lights forever set and rise ; While the round vault above. In vast and silent love, Is gazing down upon thee with his hundred eyes. Sometimes thou liftest up thine hands on high Into the tempest-cloud that bluis the sky, Holding rough dalliance with the fitful blast. Whose stiff breath, whistling shrill. Pierces, with deadly chill. The wet crew feebly clinging to the shattered mast. Foam white along the border of the sho'^e Thine onward leaping billows plunge and roar; While o'er the pebbly ridges .slowly glide Cloaked figures, dim and gray, Through the thick mist of spray — Watchers for some struck vessel in the boiling tide. All night thou utterest forth thy solemn moan. Counting the weary minutes all alone ; 'J'hen in the morning thou dost calmly lie. Deep-blue, ere yet the sun His day-work hath begun, Under the opening windows of the golden sky. LoKD Byron, in Childe Harold. 24 Eri I^oute. The sea, the sea, the open sea ! The blue, the fresh, the ever free ! * * ^ * ^ * I never was on the dull, tame shore, But I loved the great sea more and more, . And backward flew to her billowy breast, Like a bird that seeketh her mother's nest. — Barry Cornwall. ANCY one's selt seated in a com- fortable railway coach, and the ride from Phila- delphia to Atlan- tic City in search of health or pleas- ure is not entirely _ devoid of inter- est. The traveler has the choice of three routes, two of which are a part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system. The other route is by way of the Philadelphia and Atlantic City Railroad, operated by the Reading Company, which starts from the foot of Walnut Street. The popular routes, however, are the West Jersey and the Camden and Atlantic, operated by the Pennsylvania Company. Crossing from the foot of Market Street, Philadelphia, the traveler takes the West Jersey cars at Camden and passes south near the Delaware River to Gloucester, a city of over six thousand inhab- itants, devoted to manufacturing. It was founded in 1689, and was held by Lord Cornwallis, with five thousand British troops, in 1777. The next station is Westville, near the mouth of Timber Creek, where Captain Cornelius Jacobese Mey, of the Dutch West 3 25 26 Hand- Bo ok of Atlantic City. India Company, founded Fort Nassau in 162 1. The Colonists were soon at feud with the Indians, and being decoyed into an un- favorable position, they were all massacred and the fort was destroyed. The train next passes the city of Woodbury, which one authority says should be spelled Woodberry, a place of about four thousand inhabitants, many of them Philadelphia business men. The place takes it name from the family of Woods, who came from Berry, m Lancashire, England, in 1684. Richard Wood, the first settler, came out with the earliest emigrants to Philadelphia. Leaving his family in that town, he descended the Delaware and paddled two or three miles up the Piscozackasingz- Kil, now called Woodbury Creek, until he came to a likely place for an habitation. In the winter of 1777, Lord Cornwallis had his headquarters in the village of Woodbury. During his stay some of his men seized a valuable cow belonging to an ardent Whig. The latter waited upon his Lordship and requested a restoration of the property. Cornwallis was desirous of knowing the political principles of the man. The sturdy patriot tried to evade the question, but at length — cow or no cow — the truth would out, when his Lordship, in admiration of the man's independence, restored to him his cow. Succeeding stations are Wenonah, a very pretty suburban village, Sewell, Pitman Grove, and Glassboro, the latter a town of four thousand inhabitants. The place was settled by a family of Germans named Stangeer, in the latter half of the eighteenth century, who commenced the manufacture of glass. They failed in business, and the works were purchased in 1781 by Colonel Thomas Heston, a Revolutionary patriot. The place was known as Heston' s Glass Works until some years after, when, at the suggestion of a member of the celebrated Gloucester Fox Hunting Club, on the occasion of a convivial gathering at Colonel Heston 's house, after a hunt and capture of Reynard, the name was changed to Glassboro, and has ever since borne that name. The works are still in the possession of Colonel Heston's de- scendants, the Whitneys — his daughter, Bathsheba, having mar- ried Captain Eben Whitney — and are the largest as well as the oldest in the country. Beyond Clayton, with its three thousand inhabitants, the train passes the vineyards of Franklinville, lona, and Malaga, and thence to Newfield, where express trains some- times stop. After leaving Newfield, there are two or three small hamlets before reaching May's Landing, the county seat of Atlantic County, containing about one thousand inhabitants. This village was founded by George May in 1710, and is at the head of navi- gation on the Great Egg Harbor River. The greatest water power in the State is at this place, furnishing motive power for a large cotton mill, owned by the Wood brothers, one of whom is President of the West Jersey and Atlantic Railroad. In the latter part of 1S13, the sloop New Jersey, from May's Land- En Route, 27 ing,^ manned by Captain Barton and two hands, was taken by a British armed schooner off Cape May. A young middy, two Eng- lishmen and an Irishman were put on board the Jersey, with orders OPERA HOUSE AND JOURNAL BUILDING. to follow the schooner. But three Yankees were not to be beaten by such poor odds as this. Barton and his men soon recovered com- mand of the sloop aiid run her in at Somers' Point, with the middy 28 Hand- Book of Atlantic City* and his three assistants as prisoners. The first was confined for awhile and then exchanged, and of the latter, the two Englishmen soon went to work in the neighborhood, and the Irishman enlisted on board one of Jefferson's gun-boats and fought bravely for the '^ gridiron.' ' The last station before reaching Atlantic City is Pleas- antville, a thriving village, situated on a bluff overlooking the bay. If the traveler prefers, he may return to Philadelphia by another route, round-trip tickets being good on either of the two roads op- erated by the Pennsylvania Company. Absecon, the first station, is situated on the bay shore two miles above Pleasantville, and is inhab- ited by a considerable number of well-to-do people, many of whom are either commanders of or interested in vessel property. The history of the town dates from 1695, when Thomas Budd, the owner of many thousand acres of land on the beaches and the mainland, disposed of large tracts to actual settlers. Each of his deeds has this clause inserted : " With the privilege of cutting cedar, and com- monidge for cattell, etc., on ye swamps and beaches laid out by ye said Thomas Budd for commons." The exaction of these privileges at this date would cause much trouble, as a large portion of the built-up portion of Atlantic City stands upon one of the surveys of Thomas Budd. Above Absecon is Egg Harbor City, a German settlement, where the celebrated Egg Harbor wines are made. Elwood is the site of a projected city, with parks, avenues, and squares laid out on the long reaches of sandy soil. Hammonton, midway between Atlantic City and Camden, is a prosperous town of three thousand inhabit- ants, settled by New Englanders in i860, and situated on the old pine plains of Atlantic County. The town is beautifully laid out and the inhabitants are largely engaged in fruit raising. The train passes Winslow, Waterford, Atco, Berlin, Kirkwood, and other smaller villages before reaching Haddonfield, six miles from Cam- den. This is a borough of two thousand inhabitants, where many Philadelphia business men have their suburban homes. It was set- tled by Friends or Quakers in 1690 and was named after an eminent Quakeress named Elizabeth Haddon. The Continental Congress remained several weeks here, and the place was afterward occupied by British troops. Several very interesting Revolutionary incidents connected with Haddonfield have found their way into print, but are too lengthy to be copied into this Hand-Book. During the French Revolution, Louis Philippe, who subsequently became King of France, made his home for a short time with one of the Quaker families of the village. Leaving Haddonfield, the train passes through a pretty country, and finally reaches Camden, whence the ferry-boats convey the passengers to Philadelphia. The distance is sixty-four miles by the West Jersey route, and sixty by the Camden and Atlantic, and the time is usually about ninety minutes. Through- out the winter, spring, and summer seasons there are frequent ex- En Route. 29 press trains over both roads, and attached to each train are elabo- rately furnished parlor cars in charge of attentive porters. The special care in the management of both roads is exhibited in the regularity with which the trains are run, the close connection maintained with other railroads, by which transfers may be made without delay, and the absence of serious accident within recent years. For several years the Pennsylvania Company has made an effort to meet travel from points beyond the line of the Camden and Atlantic and West Jersey Roads, and the schedules are now arranged with the view of securing by close connection the convenience of parties arriving from New York and points beyond, and of those coming upon the numerous lines centering in Philadelphia. It is specially a passenger railway company, and to satisfy this trade it is constantly adding first-class facilities in every branch of its business. Indeed, in equipment and management the Company has no equal among the lines running to the seacoast. ^ummeping at Jibsequan. before the first settlement of the colony of Nova Csesarea, or New Jersey, by Europeans, the In- dians who inhabited its broad forests instituted summer excur- sions to the seashore. It is re- corded by old writers that the earliest white inhabitants found that the Indians who lived along the Jersey side of the Delaware had trails to various places on the coast. Along these narrow pathways they made annual summer journeys for the purpose of fish- ing, fowling and bathing. The queen, the princesses and the squaws spent much of the cold season tanning deer skins and making them into robes, the latter being embroidered with pearls procured from various kinds of shell fish, or with the seeds of wild fruits, such as the cherry, persimmon, sassafras and brier vine. Many necklaces, bracelets, anklets and head bands were formed of similar articles. They also made and embroidered the robes for the chief, the fight- ing braves and the male Indians of a lower rank. They manufac- tured the baskets which were taken to the seacoast to be filled with the eggs of the water fowl, or with fish, oysters, wild cherries, whortleberries and persimmons. The male aborigines manufactured bows, arrows, arrowheads, quivers, tomahawks and scalping knives, and killed deer and other animals to procure skins of which to make the robes and other articles to be worn. Thus both the men and the women contributed their share toward a pleasant sojourn at the seashore. When the warm days of May came the squaws hurried to plant the Indian corn in order to be ready for the 30 Summering at Absequan, 31 journey, and with the advent of June the tribe was ready for the march to the chosen spot by the sea. The men armed themselves with their tomahawks, scalping knives, bows, and quivers full of arrows and arrowheads. The mother squaws lashed their black- eyed pappooses to their shoulders and then further encumbered themselves with baskets and other articles which would be needed at the summer encampment. Thus equipped, the whole tribe started in Indian file along the shaded path, as cheerful and happy as the passengers of a modern railroad palace car en route to Atlantic City. When night came the tribe encamped in the forest, ate their suppers, and lighted fires to keep the wild beasts at a respectful distance. Then they would lay down upon the ground to sleep, and perhaps dream of anticipated pleasures at the seashore. Fre- quently their slumbers were disturbed by the hooting of the owls, the screams of the panthers, and the howling of the wolves which infested the surrounding wilderness. As soon as the morning sun gilded the tops of the trees they arose and partook of a breakfast of venison and parched corn, and then took a final start for their place of summer encampment on Absequan, or, as we now call it, Absecon Beach, whose oyster beds were a god-send to the aborig- ines. Having arrived at the seashore they prepared for a sojourn of many weeks by erecting temporary lodges of skins or cedar bark and boughs, where they lived and feasted on the luxuries so boun- tifully supplied by the waters, the marshes and the forests. When so inclined they sung their uncouth songs and danced their peculiar dances. Sometimes they bathed in the surf and made merry as only savages can. They visited the tribe that had a per- manent residence on Minicunk Island, further up the coast, and doubtless enjoyed these sociables as though they themselves and their rude entertainers were people of the highest civilization. When not thus engaged, the men went fishing, fowling, searching for the eggs of the marsh hens and gulls, or gathered shell fish on the flats of the bay. The Indians regarded June as the '* month of eggs," for then mud hens, willets and gulls made their nests, in which each bird deposited a dozen or fifteen beautifully spotted eggs about half the size of a domestic hen's ^gg. The visiting Indians would often borrow from Minicunk tribe their cedar-log canoes or dug-outs, and taking their baskets with them they would paddle up the Thoroughfare and over the bay to a cluster of islands now called the Seven Islands, in accordance with their number. Having reached one of the islands, they went on shore with their baskets, which were soon filled with eggs, the nests being numerous. When the baskets were filled the joyful egg-gatherers paddled back to their encampment, when the whole tribe joined in a feast of roasted or boiled eggs. HP^ , Ml 'V 111 Summering at Absequan, 33 To the Indians the seacoast from Little Egg Harbor to Great Egg Harbor was an earthly paradise, given them by the great Manitou, but probably with the reservation that at some future time it would be assigned to a more intelligent and enterprising race of human beings. While the men of the tribe were engaged in procuring provisions, the women attended to the children, cooked the food procured by their lords and masters, gathered the materials, and made circular beds of fire on which to roast terrapin, oysters and clams. At this encampment the chief of the tribe strutted about, proudly displaying his white and purple pearl- embroidered costume, deeming himself the most gorgeously dressed and greatest monarch on earth. Of course, the young braves wooed the dark-eyed and gayly-dressed maidens and marriages were as frequently contracted at the seashore in those times as in these later days. Doubtless the Indians enjoyed their savage way of living and their peculiar pastimes at the seashore quite as much as do the visitors of to-day, who bring their money, diamonds and other costly jewels and robe themselves in their silks, their satins, their velvets, or other profusion of finery. Moreover, the wealthy, beau- tiful and intelligent seaside visitors of to-day, residing in palatial hotels or fancifully constructed cottages, and living on luxuries from every nation of the earth, lovfe, envy or hate each other the same as the Indians who patronized these beaches centuries ago. A certain William Wood, in his description of New Jersey, pub- lished in 1634, gives us an idea of some of the habits of our abo- riginal friends, the Jersey Indians, in the following classic lines : " The dainty Indian maise Was eat with clamp-shells out of wooden trays, The luscious lobster with the craw-fish raw, The brinnish oyster, mussel, periwigge, And tortoise sought by the Indian squaw, Which to the flats dance many a winter's jigge, To dive for cockles and to dig for clams. Whereby her lazy husband's guts she crammsy The last line of the foregoing beautiful stanza is most likely literally true. A similar practice is prevalent in some sections of the State even unto this day, being one of the habits of the aborigi- nes which our lazy forefathers were quick to adopt and transmit to succeeding generations. In every community there are men whose wives, like the Indian squaw, are required to do all the drudgery and often feed and clothe the indolent lords of creation. These aboriginal Jerseymen were a festive race. Besides the annual visits to the seashore, they had a great festival or green corn dance, at which they ate enormous quantities of baked soquanock, or hard-shell clams, and sickissuog, or soft-shell clams. They 34 Hand-Book of Atlantic City. utilized the colored shells of the poquanhock for coin, by cutting out the central black portion, which in Indian numismatics was called luckahuok, or black money. Black money had twice the value of white money or wampum. When the melancholy winds of October began to blow, the Indians prepared to leave their temporary wigwams at the seashore. They loaded themselves with dried shell-fish, some winkle shells for drinking cups, and a few large seashells intended for crockery ware in the winter wigwams. The mothers lashed their pappooses to their shoulders, and with a string of dried shell-fish on each arm they were equipped for the journey. The men carried their bows and arrows, besides bundles of wild fowl or strings of dried shell-fish, and the whole tribe then commenced the journey back to their winter wigwams. Generations have come and gone since the Indians ceased travel- ing their well-known trails to the seashore, and everything about the country is changed. Only the ocean is the same. The red man no longer shoots his sharp arrows at the immense flocks of water fowl, nor draws the fluttering fish from the briny waters, nor chases the swiftly bounding deer through the grand old solitudes. No longer does the Indian lover wander through the woodland with his swarthy maiden, talking in tones of love as the whippoor- will chants its twilight song in the topmost branches of the trees. No longer does the lover tell the maiden that her eyes are as bright as the moon on an April night, her hair as black and glossy as the raven's wing, and her form as graceful as that of the gentle fawn. No longer do the Indians listen to the grinding of the shingle in the surf, nor to the drum of the ocean as it marshals its forces for a northeast storm, believing it to be the voice of the Sea King who dwells in the bosom of the Great Sea Water. All are gone to the Happy Hunting Grounds, where they will dwell in the smiles of the Great Spirit forever. Old ^imes and jleYl. HE building of the Cam- den and Atlantic Railroad inaugurated a change from the old-time method of reaching the seashore. Be- fore the days of Atlantic City, a generation or two ago, seashore pilgrimage was a dusty and weary penance. If one started from Philadelphia, the jour- ney to Long Branch was by the way of the old Camden and Amboy Railroad to Hightstown, and thence in the lumbering Jersey-wagon, over the sandy road, to the sea. The travelers started aboyt sunrise, and thought themselves lucky if they reached the coast in time for supper. Of all wheeled vehicles, the greatest atrocity was the Jersey- wagon. It seemed to have been designed by the Shakers in pro- ^^^^_^______ _ test of every semblance of com- fort. Its back and sides \\ ci e as free from graceful curves as a ready- made coffin. It had springs, but they were cumbrous contrivances of unyielding wood, so constructed as to make riding a weariness to the flesh. The horses were urged to a jog-trot by the driver with repeated blows of a whip, which was generally so worn out as to be destitute of a lash. The more robust passengers, on arriving at their destination, were able to climb out of the wagon, but feebler ones and the invalids had to be lifted out. In dusty weather the accumulation of grime on the faces of the passengers was so great as to make them resemble natives of the in- terior of Africa. Cape May was reached by steamboats, whose voy- age consumed the best part of a day. There was also a stage line 35 36 Hand' Book oj Atlantic City. from Camden to Cape May. The Jersey-wagons left Camden at four o'clock in the morning and reached Cape May about midnight. The passengers stopped for three meals, and the voracious green- head flies made one continuous meal off of the passengers. Long Branch then consisted of a few very plain hotels, mostly two Old Times a?id New. 37 stories in height. The houses at Cape May, which were generally white, had red shingle roofs. Scattered along the coast were farm- houses where boarders were taken at low rates. The proprietors were not versed in the arts of modern hotel-keeping. They fed their guests on chicken, fish and oysters. The chickens and fish were served at the regular meals, and the oysters were in a heap under a shed, where the boarders were free to go and eat as many as they chose to open. A quarter of a dollar a day would pay for a boat and bait for fishing or crabbing. This, it should be remembered, was before Atlantic City was even thought of. Four or five dollars a week paid for board at the boarding-houses. The leading hotels charged ten dollars a week ; but one or two, in order to show their superiority, laid on an extra half dollar, making the price ten and a half a week. And yet, with all the hardships and roughness of a seashore holi- day, they had glorious times in those primitive days. There was a delightful simplicity. Within reasonable bounds, people did very much as they pleased. There was no rowdying nor any drunken- ness, and gambling was unknown. When the men went fishing in the morning they rolled up their trowsers to the knees; when they " dressed for dinner," it was simply to roll them down again. It is all changed now. The ride from Philadelphia to Atlantic City is made in ninety minutes by rail, and the traveler has the choice of three roads. Cape May is reached in something over two hours. The surf beats on the beach exactly as it did of old, but modern civilization has made bathing in it a luxury, instead of the bothersome penance our fathers found it. There is a wide contrast between the old and new, and with the exception of a few very ancient people, every one is agreed that the new ways are much superior to the old. In the matter of sea- side comfort and pleasure, the weight of public opinion is largely on the side of Atlantic City, which has eclipsed the older but less favored resorts along the coast. The attractions here do not depend on any special conditions. Atlantic City seems to have been marked out by nature as a point where all the forces needed for the constitution of a complete resort should centralize. The beach is fine, the surf-bathing famous, the fishing and sailing superb. The city is well supplied with every convenience that can contribute to the health and comfort of its inhabitants. What could have been more perfect than the conception of this great seaside resort by its founders ? They prophesied that it would stand pre-eminent among its kind. Looking at it to-day, in an impartial sense, the visitor immediately arrives at the conclusion that Atlantic City is the queen of watering places and the predic- tions of its original owners have been fulfilled. Bustle and life are exhibited at every step, activity is everywhere, and amidst the whirling of amusement male and female alike are enjoying them- 3» nana-nook of Atia?iric Ctty. selves in one continual round. At the rising of Old Sol until long after the shadows of twilight have deepened into night, the ball of unalloyed enjoyment rolls merrily along. There is no monotony on the island, or if there is it keeps itself carefully concealed in some of the hotels that never advertise. There are all sorts of architecture, all sorts of life, and all sorts of people in the place — high-toned, low-toned, betwixt-and-between, fair to middling, half-and-half, black and white, old gold, turkey red, and chrome yellow. If you don't see what you want, it is because you haven't asked for it. Past and Present. ANY years before the birth of Atlantic City, that is, in the early days of American history, all the population of what afterward became the United States lived near the Atlantic coast, and for many "^p years after the Revo- lution the inhabitants had pene- trated but comparatively a short distance in- land, so that the ocean, with its indenting bays and sounds, and the rivers emptying into it along every part of the coast, fur- nished attractive facilities for habitation and pleasure. The seashore was easy of access in summer time, even for that portion of the population most remote from the coast, and the delights of the element were available for a people seemingly amphibious by nature, by history and by practice— a people who had little idea of recreation that was not conducted near the seashore. Although the people of the United States are now scattered far and wide over countless square miles of country, until they have occupied nearly every portion of a territory lying between two great 39 40 Hand-Book of Atlantic City. oceans three thousand miles apart, and with an expanse from north to south nearly as great, they have not lost the distinguishing traits of their early history, but still have an inherent love for Old Ocean. Watering-places are as much a necessity to denizens of the interior as to those living in States bordering on the Atlantic n — - -^-t j^ ^^ j ^y .^^ 'wK^Bk %\ SCENE ON PACIFIC AVENUE, LOOKING EASTWARD, Ocean. Descendants of the fathers still love the ocean haunts and seashore resorts, and year after year there are pilgrimages to the ocean from every inland section, the de- votees traveling thousands of miles and numbering hundreds of thousands of souls,annually. In process of time favorable situations upon the Atlantic coast have become well known, even famous, among comiliunities a thousand miles away from the sound of the surf or sight of the rolling billow, and it has come to pass that people of these inland sections know the seashore better than some who dwell within reach of the ocean breezes. Among the places thus distinguished Fast and Present. 41 and highly favored none present more of intrinsic merit than Atlantic City, the great American winter and summer sanitarium. In point of mild climatic influences, and situations affording summer conditions prolonged throughout a greater portion of the year, some places lying in the lower latitudes of this country may be considered superior, when those conditions alone are considered, but with regard to all other features characterizing the place, Atlantic City stands above and beyond any other resort on the Atlantic coast. The Atlantic City beach has become celebrated as among the finest on the coast of the United States. The surf, pouring in- ward from the expanse of a great ocean and washing a beach of clearest sands, which glitter in the summer sunrays and send back in myriad flashing streams the water which never ceases thus to advance and retreat ; the endless panorama of life upon the water, the strand, and the boardwalk, constantly in motion and ever- changing ; the rolling porpoise enlivening the outlook ; the light- house and hfe-saving station at the inlet— all these and many other attractions are found at Atlantic City, to say nothing of the mild and healthful climate in winter, the cool, invigorating breezes in summer, and the proximity to centres which renders its location within such easy reach that its denizens may, within a few hours, find themselves in either, of the great cities of New York, Phila- delphia or Baltimore. .^^^-, ^.^V yitlaritic City. There is that lovely island fair, And the pale health-seeker findeth there The wine of life in its pleasant air. TLANTIC CITY, the most popular resort on the Atlantic coast, is situated between Ab- secon Inlet and Great Egg Harbor Inlet, within sixty miles of Philadelphia and one hun- dred and fifty miles of New York, by railroad. It is dis- tant five miles from the main- land, the intervening space being an expanse of salt marshes. The island, in its chrysalis con- dition, before it felt the electric touch of a railroad, was known as Absecon Beach, which name still exists in the adjoining vil- lage of Absecon, now put com- pletely in the shade by its suc- cessful neighbor, and in the official name of the lighthouse, Abse- con Light. As stated in a preceding chapter, it is reached by three railroads from Philadelphia — the Camden and Atlantic, West Jersey and Atlantic, and the Philadelphia and Atlantic City. From New York and the East the Pennsylvania Railroad via Trenton connects with the West Jersey road at Camden. The time from Philadelphia is one hour and a half, and from New York four hours and a half. The Philadelphia and Atlantic City railroad connects with the New Jersey Southern and Central Rail- road of New Jersey, from New York. Jeremiah Leeds was probably the first permanent resident of the island. He came here in 1783, when a pair of boots or a roll of 42 Atlantic City. 43 calico would have bought the entire island. The early history of Absecon Beach is filled with stories of drowning, piracy and shipwreck. According to tradition, vessels were lured ashore on dark and stormy nights by false beacons erected on poles. When the crews had been drowned or individually knocked on the head, so the stories go, the crafts were plundered of everything of value. One chronicler boldly asserts, with apparent perversion of the truth, that, even after the first church was built, a lookout was added above the cupola, in which a man was stationed during service to promptly acquaint the devout congregation of a disaster, so that rival wreckers in the neighborhood of Barnegat or Brigan- tine should not get the start of them. Another prevaricating writer says that the children were taught to lisp the affecting prayer that may still be heard in undertone in some of the oldest house- holds off shore, uttered from sheer force of habit: ''God bless mam, pap, and all us poor, miserable sinners, and send a ship ashore before morning." Long before the days of railroads Absecon Beach bore the grue- some name among sailors of " Jack's Graveyard." There was no lighthouse then, and often the beach was strewn with wreck, and among the debris many a time lay the dead body of a sailor. Ovei at Absecon they still tell thrilling stories of drowning and ship- wreck. Besides the Leeds family, two other families owned most of the land on which Atlantic City is built — the Steelmans and Chamberlains. The mother of the numerous Leeds progeny kept the old Atlantic House as a tavern for oystermen and traders. It IS the oldest house in Atlantic City, and was built about the year 1812, but has since been enlarged. It originally stood near the Thoroughfare at Baltic and Florida Avenues, but was moved to its present site on Baltic Avenue, near Massachusetts. Forty years ago the location of Atlantic City was still an almost uninhabited island. It was so uninviting that when the project to make it a summer resort was instituted, the idea was ridiculed as be- ing utterly impracticable and scarcely worth the consideration of sane men. Said a conservative old capitalist: '' Callitasand-patch, a desolation, a swamp, a mosquito territory, but do not talk to me about any city in such a place as that. In the first place, you can't build a city there, and, in the second place, if you did, you couldn't get anybody to go there." The conservative old capi- talist was in due time gathered unto his fathers, and the enterprising men who set to work to plant a city have had the satisfaction of seeing more than their most sanguine expectations realized. The island began to awaken from its slumbering obscurity in the early part of 1852, when a glass manufacturer of New Jersey, labor- ing under the difficulties produced by almost impassable roads and consequent delays in the transportation of goods to Philadelphia, conceived the idea of starting a railroad. Besides this plan for in- 44 Hand-Book of Atlantic City, creasing his own business facilities, he also proposed to make .the new road an outlet from Philadelphia to the sea, as well as a valuable freight transport for a manufacturing district. This was Samuel Richards, the first mover in the creation of Atlantic City, and now the only survivor of the original board of directors of the Camden and Atlantic Railroad Company. His associates were Hon. Andrew K. Hay, Stephen Colwell, John C. DeCosta, Joseph Porter, William Coffin, Enoch Doughty and Jonathan R. Pitney. The first pro- jecting visit to the solitary marshes and sand-hills of what is now Atlantic City was made in the early part of 1852 j an act of incor- poration was obtained in the spring, and in September of the same year a contract was made for the construction of the road. The engineer was Richard B. Osborne. The road was completed and passenger trains were run on it for the first time on July i, 1854. Meanwhile Bedloe's Hotel and a little house called Cottage Retreat had been erected and the United States Hotel was so nearly com- pleted that the first excursionists, numbering six hundred, were given dinner there. The next year the Surf House, Congress Hall, an- other hotel and two cottages on Tennessee Avenue went up. As an adjunct to and arising out of the railroad company, the Camden and Atlantic Land Company was organized and chartered. This com- pany purchased the land for seventeen dollars and fifty cents per acre. The money was paid over in old Aunt Hannah Shillingsworth's Hotel in Absecon. Then began the rise in values that has made so many people rich, though, with the usual irony of fate, the descend- ants of the original owners and settlers are still poor. Much of the land is now valued at one hundred dollars per lineal foot. The same land was purchased by Jeremiah Leeds in 1783 at forty cents an acre. The city was incorporated immediately after the purchase of the land, but for the first year or two it took nearly all the men among the permanent residents to fill the offices. Chalkley S. Leeds was the first mayor. The city limits now cover about one-third of the entire island. The original boundary was from the inlet to California Avenue, but the lower limit was afterward extended ta Dry Inlet. Although scarcely more than a quarter of a century old, Atlantic City is undoubtedly the most popular of all seaside resorts. Its won- derful growth in the last twenty years, its rise from an uninhabited series of sand-hills and a long stretch of sandy beach, where the only visitors were countless numbers of sea fowls, would be even more remarkable had it not been for its admirable situation, delightful climate, and contiguity to Philadelphia. In 1876 the increasing importance of the place made another railroad desirable, and the Philadelphia and Atlantic City Railroad Company was incorporated. The construction was commenced in April, 1877, and the first through train was run on June 25th of the same year. It is now operated by what is commonly known as the 46 Hand- Book of Atlantic City. Reading Company, of Philadelphia. The competing facilities af- forded by this road have been of the greatest benefit to the city and have aided materially in the development of the place. Early in the spring of 1880 the West Jersey Division of the Penn- sylvania Railroad extended its line to Atlantic City. The opening of the West Jersey was of exceptional benefit to the city, since a direct route to New York city, without change of cars, was thereby afforded. The nomenclature of the streets of Atlantic City is especially happy. The great main avenues running parallel with the ocean, five hundred and fifty feet apart, have a breezy suggestiveness of coolness in their names — Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic — while the wide thoroughfares that cross them at right angles, bearing the names of the States of the Union, illustrate the patriotism of those who founded the city. The advancement of Atlantic City since the completion of the three railroads has been unprecedented in the history of watering- places and health resorts, even in this progressive country, and sug- gests a comparison with the magic progress of Chicago, Denver or Leadville. The city has spread itself, literally as well as figuratively, in actual size as well as in population, and the value of property has increased tenfold. Lots on Atlantic Avenue now sell for from one hundred dollars to three hundred dollars per foot, and choice lots on Pacific Avenue bring as much as one hundred and twenty-five dollars per foot. The tendency is still upward in every part of the city. Whence Came Atlantic City? I will learn of thee a prayer, To Him who gave a home so fair, A lot so blest as ours — The God who made for thee and me, This sweet, fair isle amid the sea. —William Cullen Bryant. T is apparent that the fame of Atlantic City is grounded not alone upon those qualities which give it prominence as a summer resort. It is a great seaside city, where in every part of the year the health and pleasure seekers crowd the hotels and lounge on its famous beach. In summer the magnificent bathing and the fa- mous fishing and sailing attract thousands; in winter the genial temperature, bright sky, and other delightful features make it the stop- ping-place for a grand army of those who seek to escape the rigor of northern climes. The resident population of Atlantic City has increased within ten years from twenty-two hundred to ten thousand, while in summer the visitors increase the population to seventy-five thousand. There are several good schools, with an attendance of two thousand school children, Presbyterian, Epis- copal, Roman Catholic, Methodist and Baptist churches, Friends' Meeting House, a City Hall, and a large and very attractive Opera House. As a winter resort Atlantic City is largely patronized, not only by people from Baltimore and Philadelphia, but by many from New York and the Eastern cities. The wonderful tonic and cura- tive influence of the sea air has been thoroughly tested within recent years, and hundreds have been benefited by a sojourn at the seaside in the winter. 47 48 Hand-Book of Atlantic City. The peculiarity of Atlantic City's position, the salubrity of its climate, the singular dryness of the atmosphere, and the mildness of the temperature render the place a desirable resort in the fall and spring as well as the winter months. Hot and cold sea- water baths are provided throughout the year. Convalescents from typhoid fever, those suffering from malaria and bronchial troubles, or those who desire and need rest from the cares and anxieties of their daily vocations, can here derive great benefit. If they will learn the hygienic advantages of Atlantic COTTAGE OF THOMAS C. HAND, PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE. City they will cease to go long distances or undertake tedious journeys. The well-ascertained salubrity of Atlantic City has made it the chief winter health resort in the United States. Its hotels are the finest and most comfortable on the coast. It has a perfect system of sanitation. It has an abundant water supply from natural springs on the mainland. Its death rate is smaller than that of most other cities of the country. Whence Came Atlantic City ? 49 It is lighted with gas and electricity, and has a first-class vol- unteer fire department, with several engines and hose carriages, and two hook-and-ladder trucks. It has ample telegraph and telephone facilities. Its people are intelligent, liberal, and cosmopolitan, and they cordially welcome new residents or visitors. Atlantic City is separated from the mainland by an arm of the sea, called the Thoroughfare, across which there are three railroad bridges and one turnpike bridge. A hard, smooth strand stretches from Absecon Inlet to Great Egg Harbor Inlet, and at low tide it affords a splendid drive ten miles in length. A passenger railway traverses Atlantic Avenue from the Inlet House to the Excursion House, and several lines of omnibuses convey passengers to all parts of the city. There are numerous livery stables where carriages and other conveyances may be hired. Hacks and omnibuses meet all arriving and departing trains. To the inquiry, ''^ Whence came Atlantic City?" we reply: It is a refuge thrown up by the continent-building sea. Fashion took a caprice and shook it out of a fold of her flounce. A railroad laid a wager to find the shortest distance from Penn's treaty elm to the Atlantic Ocean ; it dashed into the water and a city emerged from its train as a consequence of the manoeuvre. That is the origin of Atlantic City. From a small colony of summer pleasure seekers it has grown to be a famous watering-place and health resort, with a still greater future before it. Juan Ponce de Leon, the Spanish explorer of the sixteenth cen- tury, sought in vain for the spring whose virtues were credulously believed to restore the vigor/ of youth to the aged. Searching for this fountain of youth, he landed on the coast of Florida in the year 1512, and in that country there are springs almost innumerable, each of which to-day lays claim to the high antiquity of being the identical spring in which the great Spaniard performed his daily ablutions. History informs us, however, that nowhere could he find this mythical fountain of youth : but who will deny that if he had extended his search northward, and landed upon this island, he would have found here a well-nigh perfect realization of his hopes ? Atlantic City truly is a place of rest, and for those in quest of health, an equable climate in winter, and refreshing breezes in summer ; for those who would enjoy the invigorating sea air and be charmed with the music of the surf; for those who would delight in the pleasures of yachting or fishing ; for those who would have long life, good living, good society, and be inspired by the gran- deur of old ocean ; for those who, like Ponce de Leon, would dis- cover the place which imparts youth to the aged, health to the sick, and hope to the despondent, there is no more highly favored spot anywhere in the land than this beautiful City by the Sea. V/inter and ^pniig ^easoiis. How sweet the memory of the sea, Pictured in beauty, comes to me, The peopled strand, the waves that rise To where the sunbeams sweetly play — The storm-cloud gathering in the skies, Crowned with wild glory, and away, Rocked on the bosom of the sea, A light craft speeding joyously. To me its music sweetness seems, Like music of entrancing dreams, Its power, mysterious and grand, Steals over my spirit as a spell ; I wander on the drifted sand. And hear the songs the billows tell; I read a well-taught lesson there Of life and light divinely fair. ^ ANY of the more recent patrons of Atlantic City do not know that although the history of the place as a pleasure resort dates from the time of its founding in 1854, it was not until more than twenty years later that it became widely known as a winter health resort or sanitarium. To-day there is no northern winter re- sort more popular, none more largely patronized, and none more urgently recommended by physi- cians generally than Atlantic City. The physicians of Philadelphia were the first to discover the won- ---.,•5^, - X - .^ derful curative effects of the sa- ^ ~""^ '"" line air of Atlantic City, and to them, more than to any other class of men, is due the credit of making the city what it is — a famous sanitarium. Overtaxed brains are ordered hither by Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, the man who has the honor of hav- 50 Winter and Spring Seasons. 51 ing discovered the "rest cure." He and his learned congeners have found that many chronic diseases result from nervous exhaust- ion. The sufferer from incipient paralysis or brain-softening is or- dered to Atlantic City for six months, and in many instances returns to his home cured. It was N. P. Willis who first said that " con- sumption is curable if the patient can stop consuming." The once dreaded disease to which every New England woman resigned herself, fifty years ago, if her lungs began to trouble her, is as cur- able now as the measles, if taken in time. In old times the seashore was considered a desolate place in winter. Such a bleak idea as to be there in the snow months, and 5 2 Hand- Bo ok of Atlantic City. amid storms of ice and sleet, would have chilled the marrow of an invalid. And yet we find this place a very sanitarium for the sick during the winter. Victims of sore throats and of lung diseases have found the bracing air of Atlantic City better than all the doctor- stuff they could swallow at home. Many of the wealthy, who other- wise would have gone to Europe, have spared themselves the annoy- ances of ocean travel by settling down here for a few months. Many who used to go to Old Point Comfort in winter now find At- lantic City all they desire. The favorable comment of physicians and scientists has estab- lished for Atlantic City a reputation as a winter health resort far beyond that of older, but less favored localities. The winter busi- ness of the hotels had its inception in 1876, when the late F. W. Hemsley, of Brighton Cottage, decided to provide a house thoroughly adapted for the accommodation of winter and spring as well as sum- mer visitors, and though at the time this was thought to be a rather hazardous experiment, the result has been eminently successful. Visitors from all parts of the country, many of whom have hereto- fore sought health and relaxation in the more distant Southern re- sorts, have found in the genial atmosphere of Atlantic City the needed rest and restoration ; while its superior advantages in point of accessibility have made it the most popular place of resort on the continent. Hundreds of those who have been benefited by winter and spring visits bear willing testimony to the tonic effects of its bracing atmosphere. The climate is equable and the atmosphere free from the humidity which prevails at other points on the coast. Indeed, in this latter respect Atlantic City stands without a rival. The popularity of Atlantic City as a sanitarium is now so general and its reputation so well established that many hotels and cottages have been erected or enlarged to accommodate the ever-increasing influx of winter and spring visitors. Of the many thousands who visit Atlantic City in the interval between the first of January and the first of June, it is not to be supposed that all are in search of health. As has been already hinted, a three-fold object is associated with life at this resort at that season. Invalids, especially those troubled with bronchial affections or convalescing from malarial attacks, following the advice of their physicians, come here to regain their wonted health and strength ; others whose daily life of care and toil has brought on nervous exhaustion seek rest and recuperation where it is gener- ally to be found; and others still, following the bent of fashion, are to be found among the throng of pleasure-seekers who hie themselves hither during the Lenten season. In winter, when the majority of the guests are invalids, any but the mildest forms of dissipation are, of course, out of the question ; but daring Lent, when the more extravagant gayeties of the rest of the world are temporarily suspended, Atlantic City becomes the scene Winter and Spring Seasons. 53 of genuine fun and frolic. During the past two or three seasons it has been the gen- erally acknowl- edged correct thing among the most exclusively fashionablecircles of New York and Philadelphia to form Lenten par- ties for Atlantic City. Upon the advent of Lent some good-na- tured married lady of unim- peachable social standing organ- izes a party of from a dozen to twenty young people, and offers to chaperon them to Atlantic City. They go for a week or ten days, often staying longer, and. while they are here the heretofore quiet hotels ring with the sounds of mu- sic, dancing and merry laughter. The more sober- minded invalids gaze with a mild surprise not un- mixed with pi ens- ure at these jolly parties, and by force of example become more en- ergetic and in- clined to forget their ailments. 54 Hand-Book of Atlantic City. In considering Atlantic City as a winter and spring resort, it is proper to offer some explanation of the causes which produce such beneficial results. To this end we must have recourse to the opinions of leading physicians and scientists who have made a care- ful study of the matter. " Actual experience," says Dr. Boardman Reed in the Medical Times, '' has demonstrated that sea air is as valuable in winter as in summer. It also bears out the. statis- tics which prove that the climate of Atlantic City is superior to that of most seaco?st towns, being drier, more equable, and unusually mild, considering the latitude." The same authority says : " Another peculiarity of the location of Atlantic City is that all the winds from the landward must pass for long distances — hundreds of miles in some directions — over a very dry and porous sandy soil, upon which snow rarely lies for anytime. These winds, including those from the north, northwest, west and southwest, are, therefore, to some extent both dried and warmed in their passage. Though the coast of Southern New Jersey has a general direction from northeast to southwest, the beach at Atlantic City trends more to the westward, so that it faces almost directly south- ward. Therefore south as well as east winds are sea breezes here, and both blow across the Gulf Stream, which exercises considerable influence upon the climate of this part of the coast." The dryness of the climate of Atlantic City, as compared with other seaside resorts, is best shown by statistics of the rainfall, which is less here than at any other place on the coast, as appears from the records of the Signal Service at Washington. The fol- lowing table represents the annual amount of rain at the principal cities and stations on the coast for five consecutive years ; also the average rainfall at each station since it was established : AVERAGE. Atlantic City, N. J., . . Barnegat, N.J...... Cape May, N.J.,. . . 42.90 40.60 44.23 55-48 39-55 40.24 8 years. 52.25 49.38 47.27 60.13 58.85 50.20 8 " 47-99 42.44 5092 60.54 40.41 46.70 10 " Charleston, S. C, . . . 68.62 6433 44-47 48.80 48.63 60.91 ir " Jacksonville, Fla., . . . 52.11 51.62 54.99 66.87 48.69 55-74 10 " Newport, R. I., . . . . 55.84 52.20 40-75 61.45 44.52 59-98 6 " New Orleans, La., . . . 73.31 58.29 60.84 67-33 58.22 60.63 II " New York City, .... 42.68 43.68 3324 49-50 35.60 42.67 II " Norfolk, Va., 66.28 44.44 34.54 54-48 46.49 51.43 II " Portland, Me., 45.61 41.10 38.24 45.02 42.99 39.33 10 " Sandy Hook, N. J., . . 54.86 60.37 46.75 53-14 46.20 52.05 8 " Wilmington, N.C., . . . 84.12 50.90 50.13 53-35 46.56 57.28 II " This table of rainfall shows that Portland, Me., alone of all the cities and stations mentioned, had during that period a less rainfall than Atlantic City. This is an extraordinary fact. Atlantic City has less rainfall than any other resort on the coast, so far as the official records show, and has thus a strong basis for its claim to exceptional dryness. Signal Observer G. A. Loveland, who has charge of the United States Signal Station at Atlantic City, has kindly furnished the Winter and Spring Seasons. 55 compiler of this Hand-Book with the following statement of the temperature in this city during each of the twelve months of the following four years : 1884. 1885. 1 1886. 1 ' 1887. _, V 6 1; _ w u oT - u u 4) 3 ^2 £5 if 3 I3 e 2 3 15 E: 2 E 3 3 e 5 IS E 2 ^^ i^^ :s^ >x ?5a ;ss. ^a rt a .£ a s 0. ■f1^ :E?i E s^ s^, e Sfe ^^ E -y S.H ■^s SB ^^ H H H H H H H H H H H H January, . . 31.2 46.0 5-2 292 50.0 4.0 32.3 53-0 7-5 31-4 S2.8 7.0 February, . 35-1 64.0 1-7 n 6 57-0 11. ; 25.7 48.1 5-0 36.6 S7-8 16.7 March, . . 35-0 62.0 II. 3« 6 60.2 8.0 , 3'-4 55-3 8.5 38.1 67.S 18.4 April, . . . 45-5 63.0 27.0 47 67.0 29-5 46.6 75-2 28.9 48.0 83.4 28.4 May, .... 5b. 7 79.0 40.0 5« 7 78.1 41.0 57-« 75.0 35-4 56.0 74-9 46. s June, . . . 67.2 87.0 52.0 66 4 87.2 49.0 66.7 87.3 52.0 65.7 82.0 53 7 July, . . . 73 -o 94.0 57-0 70 6 89.9 56.9 73 4 90.9 56.8 72.1 86.1 58.3 August, . . 70-5 91.0 55-0 71 5 88.6 61. 1 73-1 «9.3 48.8 71-4 86.S 55-3 September, . 65.1 80.0 45-0 69 7 86.2 49-7 64.7 80.6 44.0 68.S 78.4 49.8 October, . . 55 .t) 75-0 39-8 5a 5 83.0 32.4 .55.« 73.9 .33.6 58.1 73-9 36.2 November, . 45-9 63.0 18.7 45 7 69.9 20.0 46.4 64.7 26.8 467 65.0 24.4 December, . 37-2 57-b II. 37-5 61.0 2.1 36.9 53-3 12.5 36.7 56.0 13-7 The same authority also furnishes a comparative summary of the mean temperature at some of the principal cities of the country during the years 1886 and 1887. These figures are taken from the official reports to the Department at Washington : 1886. 1887. rt i rt a, < 58.7 1 664 "3 70.6 3 3 < 715 J3 rt 38.1 ft <; 48.0 rt 56.0 i 3 65.7 72.2 < Atlantic City, 37-6 3B.6 47.0 71-4 Boston, Mass., 31.0 33-5 42.7 53-8 66.0 68.0 68.3 33.7 47.7 56.2 63.1 70.8 67.7 Chicago, 111., . . . 27.7 34.2 44. s SO. 7 bS.o 69.2 68.8 1 36.1 49.1 57-0 66.0 71.4 72.4 Jacksonville, Fla., . New York 62.1 66.8 68.7 76.S 76.9 82.9 59.9 66.S 75.8 807 80.9 80.8 35-1 37-5 47.6 58.8 68.7 70.1 7'-5 .36.9 50.3 58.5 65.6 72.9 71.0 Philadelphia, Pa., . 40-3 41.5 48.7 61.3 70.5 71.8 . . 40.0 53.4 60.9 68.6 74-6 73.0 Washington City, .... 40.9 42.2 50-9 64.4 72.5 74.2 74.2 i42.o 1 55-5 62.1 69.9 73-9 73.1 A well-known physician of Baltimore, Dr. J. T, King, says: "The geological peculiarity of the island is one of the agents that contribute to the remarkable healthfulness of Atlantic City at all seasons of the year. There is no indigenous or spontaneous vege- tation upon the island. The only growth to be seen is the arbo- real embellishments of the avenues and lawns — svlvan contributions S6 Hand-Book of Atlantic City. from the forests of the mainland. No stagnant pools or sloughs mar or disfigure the facial lineaments of the island, and there is no malarial or miasmatic emanation or effluvium to offend the senses or to affect its perfect hygiene." jlealth, I^est and Pleasure. In what Arcadian, what Utopian ground, Are warmer hearts or manlier feelings found, More hospitable welcome, or more zeal To make the curious, tarrying stranger feel That, next to home, here best may he abide, To rest and cheer him by the flowing tide ? HOMAS HOOD, in his Literary Recollec- tions, says: -'Next to being a citizen of the world, it must be the best thing to be born a citizen of the world's greatest city;" and with reasonable assur- ance we may add : Next to being an inhabi- tant of Atlantic City, it must be one's highest privilege to find rest, health and pleasure U. the City by the Sea. Several elements combine to produce the resting and tonic effect of the sea air, the first of which is the presence of a large amount of ozone — the stimulating, vitilizing principle of the atmosphere. Ozone has a tonic, healing and purifying power, that increases as the air is taken into the lungs. It strengthens the respiratory organs, and in stimulating them helps the whole system. It follows naturally that the blood is cleansed and revivified, tone is given to the stomach, the liver is excited to healthful action, and the whole body feels the benefit. Perfect health is the inevitable result, if there be enough of the constitution left to build upon ; and even confirmed invalids are often materially benefited by sea- side life, and existences that would be utterly miserable are by sojourns here made not only tolerable, but often pleasant and happy. Another reason is that the atmosphere, being denser at the sea-level than at more elevated points, contains, in a given space, a larger amount of oxygen ; while still another is that, as a larger portion of the breeze comes from the sea, the air contains but a small amount of the deleterious products of -decaying vegeta- ble and animal matter. 5 S7 58 Hand-Book of Atlantic City, 'III i 4 ii^i. The saline particles held in sus- pension in the atmosphere, the '' dust of the ocean," enter the sys- tem through the lungs, and aid in the tonic effect experienced at the seashore. But whatever may be the cause, the effect is undoubted. Few who visit Atlantic City fail to- experience a marked improvement in appetite, while to many there comes such a feeling of drowsiness that the most exciting story will fail to keep them awake between the hours of three and six in the afternoon. This is a sure sign that the nerves are being well rested and fed. It is a great thing to get an abundant supply of nerve food with- out the use of medicines, the falsely stimulating effect of which must be followed by a corresponding ex- haustion. Atlantic City, as is well known, is wholly surrounded by unmixed salt water, besides having six miles of salt meadows behind it, and rests upon a bed of dry sand — therein fulfilling the two conditions laid down by Professor Loomis as es- sential to immunity from malaria. No considerable fresh water stream empties within many miles of it. " My personal experience of the place, dating back eighteen years," says Dr. Boardman Reed, "affords strong evidence against the proba- bility of malaria originating here. In my practice among invalid visi- tors, I see a great deal of malaria. It is one of the diseases for which visitors come here, particularly in winter ; and when they remain long enough, they do not often come in vain." It is believed by many scientists and students of hygiene that the air at Atlantic City is '* hostile to Health, Rest and Pleasure. 5c^ physical debility," and that to those who suffer from our great American complaint, nervous prostration, whether brought on by overwork or by our changeful climate, it promises not only re- cuperation, but a permanent re-establishment of health. It is with climates as with medicines — trustworthy evidence as to what they have accomplished is the most valuable. With regard to nervous, rheumatic, gouty, dyspeptic, and various other chronic ailments which are usually found to be benefited here in the summer, equal benefit may be expected in the winter. Convales- COTTAGE OF WILLIAM C. HOUSTON, NORTH CAROLINA AVENUE. cents from acute diseases or from surgical operations nearly always improve remarkably upon being removed to Atlantic City from the large cities. ''As to diseases of the respiratory organs," says Dr. Reed, '' I have had personal knowledge of many patients suffering from vari- ous forms of such affections who have made trials of this climate in winter. The cases have, as a rule, improved, some of them very decidedly, though there have been exceptions. The consumptives who were in the incipient stage, and those even in the advanced 6o Hand- Book of Atlantic City. stages where the destructive process has been advancing slowly, have often experienced very marked improvement. In a considera- ble proportion — about one-fourth — of the cases of the latter class, the disease has been apparently arrested, and some of them seem to be cured." It is a significant fact that pneumonia and bronchitis are of in- frequent origin here^ and when they do occur the patients almost invariably recover. Upon this point Dr. Reed's experience as a resident physician enables him to speak very positively. He has not 'known an uncomplicated attack of either disease to prove fatal. To another highly respected physician, Dr. James Darrach, of Germantown, belongs the honor of having relieved many patients suffering from hay fever and autumnal catarrh by sending them to Atlantic City. The late Rev. H. W. Beecher and Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes had a witty correspondence on the subject of hay fever a few years since, in which the latter declared that there was no cure for the disease "but six feet of gravel." Atlantic City, however, has answered back that it may be alleviated. Nature has provided Atlantic City with the health-giving sea; with a balmy and delightful climate ; with a sandy soil, which, after a light snow or heavy rain, dries with marvelous quickness. Come here, ye who seek health, rest or pleasure ; come and fill your lungs with the ozone of the sea ; come and promenade on the three-mile boardwalk planted within reach of the spray ; come and sit in a rocking-chair and take a sun-bask in the open air or one of the several Ocean Parlors ; come before it gets too warm ; come while ye may ; come now, when the moon is full or before it is full ; come and commune with nature and take no heed of a chronic fault-finder who is here, enjoying to the full all the benefits and advantages of Atlantic City and the hospitalities of its people, and who still carps and grumbles because the town lacks a few pretty curves and graces. BETWEEN THE SEASONS. The month of May, by many considered the loveliest of all the year, divides the spring and the summer seasons at Atlantic City, if there be any division. The spring guests, however, often linger through May, and it is sometimes difficult to tell where the spring season ends and the summer season begins. About the last of May the large summer hotels and boarding-houses begin to prepare for the coming of the summer guests. When the month of roses comes the register of the summer hotel lies open upon the spacious desk ; the clerk is bland and gracious — his opportunity to be imperiously dignified and lofty not having arrived ; servants are busy with mop and bucket, pvitting things in order ; scores of chairs are ranged to the right, left and front of you with not a Health, Rest and Pleasure. 6i vestige of a struggle to get '* position ;" smiling Bonifaces greet the advent of each guest with an earnest welcome and confiden- tially advise him to select his room early, lest disap])ointment should follow ; the horse-cars plod to and from the Inlet without grave friction on the bell-punch ; and even the policeman looks gracious as he dreams of the ''tips" to flow in his lap when the tide of humanity turns seaward. In a few weeks all this will be transformed into bustle and animation ; the diamond of the ten- dollar-a-week clerk will sparkle as never before ; the houses will be full and some of the guests fuller, and the summer season will be at its height. CL-S^ ■>'' ^ummep Days by the gea. O Summer day beside the joyous sea ! O Summer day so wonderful and white, So full of gladness and so full of pain ! Forever and forever shalt thou be To some the gravestone of a dead delight, To some the landmark of a new domain. — Longfellow. f?K^^ :>: . la. ^':^ >- CARCELY has passed the brief period of transition from the austere glory of winter to the slow cremation of the dog days, ere one's thoughts revert, with fond remembrance, to the delightful scenes, the cool and invigorating breezes, and the joy- ous pastimes of Atlantic City, where the summer's day of the poet is something more than a mere crea- tion of the fancy. The oft-quoted lines of George Herbert, the sweet singer of Cherbury — *' Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright. The bridal of the earth and sky," — are almost meaningless to those who know summer only from the high temperatures, the glaring sun, and the hot, parching winds that are its distinguishing characteristics in no inconsiderable por- tion of the United States. The ideal summer presupposes climatic conditions that make physical life — from the highest to the lowest — a perpetual delight and rejoicing; and, if there is any place more favored than another in that regard, it must surely be a matter of concern to the toiling millions to know where it may be found. But, apart from the mere pursuit of pleasure, the mere s^king after enjoyment, and that love of change for its own sake that is inherent in every son of Adam, there is, happily, in this busy, restless age, a just recognition of the importance of relaxing the 62 Summer Days by the Sea. 6 extreme tension of business and endeavoring to repair the terrible waste of vital force. We are, however, with our pleasures, very much what we are in our business, except that, while we may not always make a pleasure of business, we certainly make a business of our pleasure, seeking to obtain, with the least outlay, the largest possible results. The accessibility of a summer resort is, therefore, with not a few, a matter of importance, second only to the paramount considera- tion of health and pleasure; and herein lies the secret of Atlantic City's wonderful growth and popularity. The development of this place as a winter resort has not been more marked than has been its progress as a place of permanent abode for those who cater to the necessities of the tens of thou- sands who migrate hither in summer time. Starting in 1854, the growth of the city for some years was slow and it was known only as a place for summer recreation, lasting from the first of July until the first of September. From September to June the number of inhabitants was considerably less than one thousand. Now the permanent all-the-year-round population is about ten thousand, while the summer inhabitants often exceed seventy-five thousand. Little did the few residents of 1854 dream that this lonely island, so maccessible, so remote, would become in a compara- tively brief period the site of a beautiful city by the sea, with broad avenues lined with handsome cottages, thronged with splen- did equipages and a moving multitude representing the culture, intelligence, and wealth of a metropolitan people — the permanent home of a large and growing population, and the favorite pleasure- resort of many thousands. The building of the Camden and Atlantic Railroad from Philadelphia to the island has made this once isolated spot blossom as the rose, and in its popularity, its accommodations, its many excellencies and varied attractions, it is ahead of the oldest places of the kind in America. The first-class hotels and numerous boarding-houses are over- taxed in summer time to accommodate the throng of visitors who come from every direction, north, east, south, and west. During the past year cottages have sprung up with a rapidity and in numbers without a parallel in the history of Atlantic City, or of any other resort in the world. These cottages find occupants in the spring, most of whom remain until October. The solid character of its patrons from the better elements of society, the quiet, homelike aspect of the place, the natural scenery and charms peculiar to itself, conspire to make Atlantic City the very ideal of a summer resort. Art and design have added to its attractions, beautifying it with broad avenues, with walks bordered with trees, and with gardens whose fragrance unites with the cool breeze of the ocean to delight and refresh those who seek rest and recreation at the seashore. Summer Days by the Sea. 65 For sailing under the most favorable conditions, the Inlet affords ample opportunity, and good boats ably manned by veteran seamen are always to be had at a fair price. The Inlet is the favorite resort of the lovers of those twin sports, yachting and fishing. A large fleet of handsome yachts is always riding at anchor in waiting for BOARDWALK AND OCEAN PIER. parties desirous of a sail over the briny waters, or ot indulging in- that exciting sport, deep-sea fishing. The water is fairly alive with game fish, such as sea bass, flounders, weak fish, king fish, porgies, croakers, snapping mackerel, blue fish, and kindred varieties. The most delicious oysters are to be had here, fresh from their native beds, and with an appetizing flavor unknown to one who has never 66 Hand- Book of Atlantic City. eaten them before the moss of their shells is dry. The Thoroughfare, which is as smooth as a mountain lake, is another favorite resort, especially for the ladies. It abounds in crabs, which are caught in great numbers. Those who prefer steam to sails as a motor can be accommodated also, and the few whose stomachs dread the heaving billows may eschew both and idly sit and watch the fleet of gayly decked boats as they dance in the dim distance with their precious freight, their blood meanwhile tingling with the ozone blown from the sea, or the commoner kind which some endeavor to suck through a straw. In addition to the customary weekly hops at the principal hotels, Atlantic City is visited during the summer season by some of the best musical and dramatic talent, and concerts and entertainments are given at various places of amusement. These, in connection with the varied and ever-recurring pleasures natural to the resort, present a constant round of enjoyment. A feature of Atlantic City is the open-air concert gardens. At first thought one would perhaps not consider these places among the special attractions, but the es- timation in which they are held elsewhere must not be the stand- ard of judgment here. They are conducted with order and deco- rum. Many people who never venture into them at home visit them here in the cool of the evening, and enjoy the excellent music which is provided. Solid business men of irreproachable character, distinguished people from all parts of the country, as well as church- going people, are frequently seen in these places. Summer days by the sea would be incomplete without a visit to each of the three great piers, whose surface reaches far out over the ocean, and upon which one may walk and watch the waves as they roll in, an d perchance '■ ' lay hold upon the mane of the sea. ' ' As the Board- walk is the promenade, the centre of life and interest, over which everybody strolls in search of exercise or amusement, so are the piers places of interest which every one should visit, if only for a few breaths of the very purest and freshest of ocean air The largest of these three structures is the new Iron Pier, which extends a thousand feet into the ocean from the foot of Massachu- setts Avenue. The width of this pier is thirty feet, widening at the centre pavilion to one hundred feet, and at the outer pavilion to one hundred and forty feet. The outer pavilion is sufficiently spacious to hold an audience of two thousand people. The cost of the en- tire structure was sixty-two thousand dollars. Applegate's Pier, at the foot of Tennessee Avenue, is nearly seven hundred feet in length, and was finished in the spring of 1884 at a •cost of over twenty-five thousand dollars. Before it was finished it stood the test of the severe storm of January#8th and 9th, 1884, and •since then it has baffled old Boreas and Neptune on more than one occasion. Though built upon the sand, it stills stands as solid as a rock. Applegate's Double-Deck Pier is a great resort for Board- Sufnmer Days by the Sea. 67 walk promenaders in summer-time. Thousands resort to it to en- joy the delightful ocean breezes and find relief from the heat, which sometimes becomes uncomfortable in the built-up portion of the city. Above the upper deck and near the centre of the pier the owner has erected what he calls the Lovers' Pavilion, where spoony couples are wont to resort to escape the gaze of the madding crowd. It has been estimated that as many as one hundred wedding engage- ments are consummated in this pavilion every summer season. During July and August first-class performances are given upon this pier every evening. THE NEW IRON PIER. The Howard Ocean Pier, at the foot of Kentucky Avenue, is the oldest of the three piers. It is six hundred feet long and has an extensive pavilion at the outer end, where select hops and excellent dramatic or operatic entertainments are held. The pavilions of these piers afford an unobstructed view of the entire beach, the bathers, and the limitless expanse of water stretching away to the ocean's horizon. Beneath us, deep down in the clear waters, the finny inhabitants are as busy in their ele- ment as we are in ours, although they are probably not looking for their lost nervous energy. Life at Atlantic City during the summer is in one aspect without 6S Hand-Book of Atlantic City. restraint. Coming from every part of the land and from every walk in life, the crowd must necessarily be a motley one, but there is none of that "respect of persons" which is sometimes seen in the churches. The man with a "gold ring, in goodly apparel," is not considered one whit better than the "poor man in vile rai- ment;" indeed, appearances are so deceptive that it would never be safe to judge of the size of a man's bank account by the clothes he has on — especially if it be a bathing suit. Men whose talents have made them famous throughout the land — ^judges, lawyers and ministers — arrayed in a suit of blue and white, mingle daily with the other bathers, ignorant of who they are and regardless of their social standing. It is no uncommon sight to see men eminent in their callings busily engaged in scooping up bucketfuls of sand for children whom they chance to meet upon the beach, or aiding them in their search for shells after a receding tide. Sedate bach- elors and prudish old maids not infrequently take part in such diversions as these, and, viewing the scenes from the calm of a pavilion, one cannot help thinking that the intellects and the characters thus unbent, and finding a share in the enjoyments of childhood, appear to greater advantage by the relaxation. Year after year, summer after summer, this strange commingling of the young and the old, the high and the low, the rich and the poor, the grave and the gay, goes on in Atlantic City ; and so until the end of time, generation after generation, the charmed voice of the sea will draw men to its sands and to its surf. From the plains of the South, from the wide expanse of the West, and from the bleak, gray rim of the North, men, women, and children will come and go, girdling our coast with joy and sorrow through the twelve months — months which make possible the winter's comfort and the summer's pleasure. THE AUTUMN BREAK-UP — THEY MAY NEVER MEET AGAIN. Boardwall^ and ^trand. Love the sea ? I dote upon it — from the beach. — Douglas Jerrold. URING the sum- mer, life at At- lantic City is buoyant, gay and attractive, and draws many thou- sands to en- joy the hos- pitality of its people. The hotels are often taxed to their utmost to accommodate the number of arrivals. As many as thirty thousand people have been known to arrive here in a single day, and the aggregate number of guests at one time has exceeded seventy- five thousand. The sum- mer " rush and crush" reaches its height about the first of August, when the city itself puts on its gayest attire. Then it is that hops are held almost nightly at the principal hotels, and the Boardwalk is transformed into a mass of surging humanity — so thick, indeed, that the crowd surges over on the sides, and the strand, either from choice or necessity, becomes an equally popular promenade. The current moves constantly on in both directions, the rule of the road — keep to the right — being strictly adhered to. When one is tired or wants to study humanity, there is no place equal to the Boardwalk. As a study of some of the most unique phases of human character, a stroll along this crowded thoroughfare is worth a year of ordinary life. Its infinite variety preserves it from monotony, and never does it present the same aspect two days in succession. 69 70 Hand-Book of Atlantic City. Seated in one of the many cozy pavilions which line the Board- walk, one may find rest and pleasure on a summer evening gazing upon the broad ocean, upon which the dark shadows of night are beginning to fall. The stars twinkle in the sky above, the waves chant a weird song as they break upon the strand, the moon rises in its glory, lighting up the dark waters, and the ear -is lulled with the gentle murmur of the surf. It is an opportunity for thoughtful meditation or melancholy pleasure, according to the mood of the individual. The life, the light, and the color that one sees on this promenade during the early hours of a summer evening are indescribable. It LIGHTHOUSE AND LIFE SAVING STATION. is an endless dress parade, a grand review in which everybody is one of the reviewers as well as one of the reviewed, a kirmess, a garden party, a lawn tennis tournament, and a huge picnic all rolled into one, for a single ticket of admission which costs noth- ing. The animation, the overflowing good-nature, the laughter, and contagious hilarity of this restless throng are irresistible. The lights from the scores of bazaars, the music floating in from the piers, the buoyant merriment of countless children, the soft, melt- ing colors of the summer dresses of the women, the grace and freshened loveliness of the women themselves, the fakir faking his fake, the dizzy whirl of the merry-go-round, and the thousand and one little scraps of life and tone that line the thoroughfare blend in Boardwalk and Strand. 71 a picture which is warranted to banquet the eye and rest the mind of any man who has not utterly lost the capacity for being enter- tained, all to the soothing accompaniment of the caressing airs and the thunderous monotone of the blue, unresting sea. At the lower end of the city there are two hotels, which are specially designed for excursionists — that is, persons who come down to spend a day at the seashore. This class aggregates many thousands. The houses are provided with well-appointed restau- rants, pleasant parlors, broad piazzas, and spacious ball-rooms. Starting from the vicinity of the Excursion House, where congre- gate the photographers, the itinerant vendors of views, curiosities, edibles and trinkets, the weighing-machine men, and the test-your- lungs men — passing these and many other things to amuse, and following the Boardwalk in the direction of the Inlet, the pedes- trian comes to the lighthouse, of which some data is given in another chapter of this book. It is situated at the northeastern end of the island, near the entrance to Absecon Inlet. From the balcony of the lighthouse a grand panorama of sea and land is presented. We behold there what the world looks like to a sea-gull ; and a grand waste of waters it seems, indeed. Look- ing north and west, across the extended miles of salt meadows, with their winding thoroughfares and bays, one sees the lines of pretty buildings and fertile farms of the mainland. Stretching to the southwest is the beautiful city, with its grand hotels, its extensive boarding-houses, its hundreds of private cottages embowered in shrubbery, and the long line of shade-trees skirting the side- walks; while beyond, to the east and south, the ocean stretches into the distant horizon. Many delightful, dreamy hours may be spent upon the strand during the day when the weather is pleasant. The long stretch of sandy beach and the roar of the surf may be uninteresting to some upon a gloomy day, but when the sun is shining all dreariness dis- appears, the ocean sparkles like a huge diamond, and groups of people wander along the strand or scoop out convenient hollows, in which they lie for hours, enjoying the warm sun-bath and in- haling ozone at every breath. Bevies of girls dressed in dainty costumes are scattered about on the sand, and ripples of laughter come to one's ears from every side. Far out upon the horizon a faint trace of smoke may be seen ascending from a passing steamer, while above the horizon and sometimes just beyond the surf the white wings of swift-sailing yachts or other craft lend a charm and a motion to the scene. Nothing could add to the quiet beauty of this scene or heighten the pleasure of those for whom it is created. From morning until evening the beach is a perfect paradise for children. The youngsters take to digging in the sand and pad- dling in the water by natural instinct, having unlimited opportu- Boardwalk and Strand. 73 nities for both. Every day they throw up fortifications, build rnounds, and excavate subterranean caverns, and every night the tide washes away all their labor and leaves a soft, smooth surface for another day's toil. The pleasures of the surf bath bring multitudes to Atlantic City during the summer months, and bathing here attains a popularity unknown to more northern resorts, the near approach of the Gulf Stream to this point increasing the temperature of the water to a delightful degree, and taking from it the bitter chill from which so many would-be bathers shrink. At the fashionable hours of bathing, from eleven to one, the beach is crowded with thou- sands of merry bathers, whose shouts and laughter mingle with the roar of the surf, while the strand and Boardwalk are lined with interested spectators and promenaders. The scene at this time is as animated as the streets of a continental city on a fete day. On a moonlight evening, when the beach is filled with equipages, and the Boardwalk thronged with merry promenaders, then, indeed, Atlantic City presents a picture of delightful existence, fairer than any vision of a midsummer night's dream. ■t~— f-f 'n^ii-X^^^ Wnnmit-r— isalocj' [1 I i-li.'-,..-.-^-— ^- -^!v-,^^,_i>est:; ]V[ysteries of the ^ea. The whole creation is a mystery. — Sir Thomas Browne. ANY visitors enjoy a stroll along the strand any hour of the day, and the walk will gener- ally repay the collector of sea-shells and marine grasses. A variety of shells are crumpled beneath the feet at almost every tread, and myriad specimens of marine grasses or sea algae are revealed to the practiced eye. The latter, when cleaned and placed upon sheets of white paper or cardboard, are found to be of exceedingly delicate formation and color. They illustrate the beauty and perfection of Nature's handiwork. Of the many who gather these shells and grasses, however, very few realize that the ocean is the abode of millions of varieties of strange, living organisms, from the microscopic monad to the un- wieldy leviathan, the horrid octopus, or the great whale. Nor do they know that the bed of the sea is the counterpart of the dry land. In it are high mountains, long valleys, and broad plateaus. Upon many of these submarine plateaus the water is but a few feet in depth, while in the deep subaqueous valleys a depth of eight miles has been fathomed. The bottom of the Atlantic Ocean is a succession of mountain ranges, verdant valleys, and sublime precipices, and it is susceptible of proof that there are vast submarine prairies, constantly decked in gorgeous floral garniture, over which the great leviathan and the whale and the lesser fishes disport at will. In some parts 74 Mysteries of the Sea. 75 of these submarine continents crops of golden sheen and fructifer- ous vines grow in inconceivable luxuriance, and wave upon the sur- face of the sea for hundreds of square miles, looking not unlike one boundless prairie. Their diversity in size is as great as in form, some species being visible only through the microscope, some a few inches, and others a few feet in length, while a single plant of one species which floats in the South American seas measures more than one hundred feet, and another which floats in the Pacific Ocean reaches the length of fifteen hundred feet. They have in no case proper roots, but merely processes for their attachment to the surfaces on which they are fixed. The gulf-weed floats in long pieces in the Atlantic Ocean and all the great seas. It is carried in such quanti- ties by the current into the Gulf of Mexico, that it covers the sea in tracts many miles in breadth, giving it the appearance of a vast meadow. Many fabulous stories were related of this gulf-weed by the mariners of the fifteenth century. Ships were said to have been stopped in their course, and the crews obliged to cut their way through with hatchets. The discoveries of Columbus put an end to these exaggerated reports. In the sea, also, are great coral mountains, with perpendicular es- carpments thousands of miles in length, in which are deep grottoes and caverns and lofty arches, with innumerable coral pinnacles and domes, more exquisite even than the ornately chiseled facade of a cathedral or palace. Science shows that millions of tons of chloride of sodium, or common salt, is held in solution, and that the sea contains vast quantities of magnesia and lime. It is estimated that every year a layer of the entire sea, fourteen feet thick, is -taken up into the clouds by evaporation. This vapor is fresh, and if all the water could be removed in the same way and none of it returned, it is cal- culated that there would be left a layer of pure salt two hundred and thirty feet thick on the bed of the Atlantic. At a depth of about three thousand five hundred feet the temper- ature of the sea is uniform, varying but a trifle from the poles to the equator. The colder water is below. It is a common impression that waves travel ; but this is an error ; the water does not move for- ward, though it seems to do so. It stays in the same place, but the rising and falling moves on. We measure waves by their height and by the distance from crest to crest. In deep water this latter dis- tance is about fifteen times the height of the wave. In shallow water the proportion is less, and this makes a choppy sea. The pressure of the water increases, of course, as we go down. At the depth of a mile this pressure is reckoned at more than a ton to the square inch, that is, more than a hundred and thirty-three times the pressure of the atmosphere. To get correct sounding in deep water is difficult. A shot weigh- ing thirty pounds carries down the line. Through this sinker a hole ' Mysteries of the Sea. 77 is bored, and through the whole is passed a rod of iron which moves easily back and forth. In the end of the bar a cup is dug out, and the inside is coated with lard. The bar is made fast to the line and a sling holds the shot on. When the bar, which extends below the shot, touches the bottom, the sling unhooks and the shot slides off. The cup in the end of the bar holds, some of the sand, or whatever may be on the bottom, and a cover shuts over the cup to keep the water from washing the sand out. In this way we learn the char- acter of the deep-sea bottom. The depth of the sea presents some interesting considerations. If the Atlantic were lowered six thousand five hundred and sixty- four feet, it would be reduced to half its present width. If it were lowered a little more than three miles, there would be dry land all the way between Newfoundland and Ireland. If the Mediterranean were lowered six hundred and sixty feet, Africa would be joined to Italy, and three separate seas would remain. In an interesting chapter upon the sea. Dr. J. T. King, of Balti- more, says : The sea is divided into three liquid strata, or layers of water, of different densities and properties. In the lowest stratum, or deepest part of the sea, we find the home of the Crustacea — such as crabs, lobsters, and other like species ; at a depth of five or six hundred feet we enter the domain of the invertebrate and verte- brate fishes and the various mollusks ; in the third and superficial stratum we find minute animalculae, mostly observable by the microscope. The innumerable currents and tides, and the continual agitation from winds that blow upon its surface, and the unceasing evapora- tion and uninterrupted contribution of rain from the clouds — all these chemical and physical phenomena, with a thousand others, render the sea a fit and beautiful realm for its inhabitants. The color of the sea is not only a form of beauty, conveying pleasure to the mind, but it is for an all-wise purpose. It is an indis- putable fact, that the color of the water of the sea is imparted to the fish which inhabit the particular locality, just as the plumage of birds corresponds to the foliage of the forests they inhabit. Why is this? The similtude in color is a protection to them. Their presence is not as readily betrayed to their enemies, as if they were of different color. Deep-swimming fishes are invariably of bluish tint ; for example, the well-known blue-fish. The parrot-fish is of a scarlet color as vivid as that of the birds in the forests of the neighboring lands. The mullet is brilliant brown and gold, and the cod is invariably clad in Quaker gray. Not only does the sea furnish a vast home to the myriads of animals that live in its waters, but it is the home of many of the feathered creatures, especially of that mysterious little bird known as *' Mother Carey's Chicken." This bird is reared and makes its 78 Hand-Book of Atlantic City, home upon the sea. It flits about incessantly by day, and at night it roosts upon the raging billows, tucking its head under its wing and going to sleep amid the roar of the tempest and the fury of the blast. The great billow is its cradle and the seething foam its sheet. The sea is the arena of the sublimest phosphorescent and pyro- technic phenomena exhibited by nature. This phosphorescence is caused by countless millions of sea animalculas, one-twelve-thou- sandth of an inch in length. It is not uncommon in tropical seas to see the phosphorescent current rushing past a vessel in a band of light so luminous that one can easily read the time of night upon the face of a watch, and the billows, as they are dashed aside by the bow of a ship, look like broad sheets of flame. Especially is the great Gulf Stream the theatre of sublime electrical phe- nomena. For a continuous, inexhaustible supply of fire-works and pyrotechnic beauties it is without a rival. It gives an exhibi- tion upon the slightest occasion, and no ship ever crosses that wonderful tepid river of the sea without being flooded with sheets of vivid lightning and shaken by a terrific bombardment from the cloud batteries. ^tories of ^hipWrecl^. Ships that have gone down at sea, "When heaven was all tranquillity. — Thomas Moore. c^ 5HERE is not a mile of this beach that has not bee scene of a shipwreck at one time or another. places have witnessed many terrible marine tragedies during their association with human existence, and the beach has been thickly strewn with the I bodies of those 1 who have made sad ! landing thereon. n the Some There are ill-fated crafts whose hulls even now lie half-buried in the sands, rotting under the sky. One of these, that of the schooner * 'Anson Stinson," which came ashore in 1880, could be seen on the beach a year ago, just below the Excursion House. Just prior to the Revolution the ship " Ellis," from Liverpool, came ashore upon the shoals, which at that time extended more than three miles from shore. She was loaded with tea, and had on board a British official who had been commissioned to enforce 79 8o Hand-Book of Atlantic City. the Stamp Act. It should suffice every patriotic inquirer to know that the representative of Great Britain's tyranny was smothered beneath the billows of Absecon Beach, and thrown upon the shore, as with indignation and disgust, a limp and lifeless form. In the interim between September, 1847, and January, 1856, sixty-four vessels came ashore on this beach — five in one night. The loss of life was appalling. The '' Santiago de Cuba " came ashore in the fall of 1867, when several persons were drowned, including three women, two sailors, a girl ten years of age, and her mother. The child's body washed ashore some days afterward. The corpse was kept until a zinc coffin could be procured and communication made with her relatives, who lived at Delphi, Illinois. When the grandfather of the child, an old man about seventy-five years of age, heard of the fate of his daughter and granddaughter, he be- came hopelessly insane and died six weeks after the news reached him. A Welshman, rescued from the same ship, returned to his own country, and an Irish girl who had accumulated a small fortune in California was among the unfortunate seven. The other female who was consigned to a watery grave was a Southern lady, who had been married only a few weeks. About three months later a woman from Michigan, whose husband had been missing for some time, appeared at Atlantic City and made inquiry concerning the sailors that had been lost. The body of one had been washed ashore and the description was given her. She concluded that the description answered completely to her long-lost husband, and collected from the vessel-owners his back pay. A. L. English, in his History of Atlantic City, has preserved from oblivion many accounts of shipwreck on this beach, and Captain Ryan Adams's log-book, handed down to the third generation, records a number of thrilling incidents. From this yellow and dusty record some verbatim quotations are herewith made : '' In 1830 a nameless craft, with black hull and raking masts, supposed to be piratical, was wrecked upon this beach. The crew was taken off just before she went to pieces. Soon after they were landed the captain, whose mind had been shattered by the disaster, handed his gold watch to the mate and then deliberately walked into the surf and was drowned. The crew and wreckers joined hands and tried to rescue him, but he immediately disappeared. His comrades said he had a large sum of specie on his person, and expressed much regret at its loss, but no sorrow for the loss of their whilom leader. They were villainous-looking men and confirmed the suspicions of their nefarious calling by mysteriously decamping in the night. " In the winter of the same year the ship * George Cannon,' from Liverpool, with a cargo of dry-goods and hardware, came ashore. The boxes of dry-goods were thrown overboard and soon lined the strand. The off-shore people scented the prey and came in crowds. Stories of Shipwreck. 8i eager for the spoils. Then began the most exciting game of hide- and-seek ever known on the seaboard. Cupidity and rapacity crushed out all sense of honor. Neighbor robbed neighbor. Holes were made in the hills and the boxes buried, but while the party who had hidden was gone to seek another somebody would dig it out and convey it to another place of concealment. The night was bitter cold, and two men who had started to go to a house at Cedar Grove perished on the hills near by. "■ In 1830 the* Genghis Khan 'was totallydestroyed off this beach. The majority of the passengers were saved, among whom was a little girl nine years of age, who was restored to joyous parents who lived far out in the wilds of the then almost unexplored West. Captain Burk, the commander of the vessel, committed suicide. '' The schooner 'General Scott' was wrecked in 1840. The captain was the only person saved. He floated ashore on a feather bed. ''In 1846 a small schooner, commanded by Captain Lowe, ran ashore. As the wreck-boat approached the scene of disaster the cries for help were more and more distressing. In the midst of the excitement in transferring the crew to land the skipper's wife fell into the waves and was drowned." The following is the most startling memorandum in Ryan Adams's log-book: " April i6th, 1854, the bark Powhatan was wrecked ; three hundred and eleven passengers on board ; all lost ; none left to tell the tale. Thirty of the bodies came ashore on this beach and were taken to the mainland and buried. April 17th, bodies found — a lad about sixteen years old; April 18, a young man, a girl, and a child two or three years of age ; April 24th, a woman about thirty years old, with a linen bag on her neck, fastened with a string like a fish-line, containing a writing to carry her safe to heaven, written in Dutch; April 22d, found by John Horner, two men and one girl. One nian had an anchor-bowl marked between his thumb and forefinger; light hair." The Rockaway, a newly-launched excursion steamer, was wrecked near Pennsylvania Avenue on March 25th, 1877. The boat had left Norfolk for New York on the previous Saturday in tow of the Old Dominion steamship Wyanoke. She was built at Atlantic City, near Norfolk, Virginia, and was designed for the excursion trade between New York and Rockaway Beach. The hawser parted during a heavy sea, after nightfall, and the new craft went to pieces. No lives were lost. The Rockaway was capable of accommodating four thousand passengers, and was one of the finest boats of the kind ever built. On January 9th, 1884, the handsome three-masted schooner, " Robert Morgan," from New Haven, came ashore at the foot of New York Avenue. She was left stranded high and dry at low water and people walked and rode around her. Children played Hand- Book of Atlantic City. in the sand between the '^ Morgan " and the ebbing tide. She remained imbedded in tjie sand for more than five months and was visited by thousands of people who came to Atlantic City for health or pleasure. An admission fee of ten cents was charged, and photographs of the wreck found a ready sale at twenty-five cents each. When finally floated, on the nth of June, she was comparatively uninjured. There are numerous other wrecks that might be mentioned out of t he which fore the saving and the house, in scarcely weather not come W^S^^^^^ three hundred of there is a record. Be- establishment of life- stations on the coast building of the light- there was a night during severe that a vessel did ^^^^ _ ment of these humane institutions shipwrecks ^^^^^^^^ and drownings are of rare occurrence. As l^lj^^^^^^ nearly as can be ascertained, at least six hun- l ffl^^^ M^H| dred vessels have been stranded or wrecked I^^B^^^IB and five hundred people have been drowned on account of shipwreck within the past seventy years upon this beach or within sight of it. In this connection it is proper to note that during the last fifty years no less than fifty vessels — an average of one a year — hailing from Atlantic County have left port under fair skies never to return. Both vessels and men were swallowed up in some storm or perished by an accident at sea. About the same number of vessels from this county have been wrecked somewhere on the coast, the crews or portions of them being saved. The total loss has been two hundred and fifty-three men and about two million dollars in property. Stories of Shipwreck. 83 Then drifted ashore, in a night-gown dressed, A waif of a girl with her sanded hair, And hands like a prayer on her bosom pressed, And a smile on her lips that was not despair ; No stitch on her garment ever to tell Who bore her, who lost her, who loved her well. ■X- * * * * -x- What name?" asked the preacher. *' God knows," they said, Nor waited nor wept as they made her bed, But sculptured *' God knows " on the slate at her head. Qunning and pishing. OWHERE else along the coast are there greater facilities for sport with the rod and the gun than in the vicinity of Atlantic City. The bays and thoroughfares are a vast water preserve, with Nature for their keeper. From Grassy Bay and Little Egg Harbor on the north to Great Egg Harbor and Lake's Bay on the south, from the wreck of the Cassandra to the wreck of the Diverty, fish of large size and fowl of many kind are found in abundance. The thoroughfares, sounds, and bays teem with milions of the finny tribe at certain seasons of the year, while the woods on the mainland, or " off-shore," if we may use the local vernacular, are splendid feeding grounds for quail in the fall months. The meadows also abound with duck, geese, plover, snipe, marlin, curlew, and mud-hens. Nowhere can the hunter or angler go amiss. It is generally safe to carry the gun or the rod, for the fruits thereof will amply repay the drudgery. The waters of the sea and bays and the outlying marshes and wood- land contain enough to keep the fisherman and hunter in keen quest after their game. A favorite feeding ground for the robin-breast, or robin-snipe, is the sod beach on Brigantine. An old hunter says that for fifteen years he has shot them on this spot from behind a blind near Smith's Brigantine House before daybreak, catching a bead on their nimble bodies only when the white comb of a breaker flashed in the back- ground. Curlews, both of the long bill and crooked bill varieties, are in good flight in the spring and fall of the year. The latter are called on the shore horse-foot curlews, from a habit they have of eating the eggs of the king or horse-shoe crab. 84 Gunning and Fishing, 85 Every variety of beach bird can be bagged in the spring if the sportsman is speedily on the ground, and a few straggling birds may be killed as late as the 15th of June. The gunning is equally good in the fall, when the birds make their annual flight southward. September is generally a good month to test the sportsman's mettle and skill, and, with perseverance, he is sure to return laden with small game. Nor will he need any soothing syrup to woo his natural rest ; his peregrinations will bring him both appetite, fatigue and stamina. Woodcock may be killed in the month of July, upland plover after August ist, and mud-hens after August WILD DUCK IN GRASSY BAY. 25th. For extra sport in wing shot in the spring and fall the sportsman must visit Grassy Bay, which is convenient of access by yachts from the Inlet, where wild duck, brant and geese are found in superior numbers. At low water this bay falls dry, and for an area of many square miles is a feeding ground for every kind of fowl that is common to salt water. Here is found the blue-bill, the black duck, the long neck, the red-head, the dipper, the cub- head, the widgeon, the granny, and the shelldrake. Marlin, willet, plover, robin, snipe, graybacks, calico-backs, black-breast and all other snipe are also to be found upon the bars of this bay. S6 Hand-Book of Atlantic City. Besides Grassy Bay, there is good gunning in Atlantic County in and around Little Bay, Reed's Bay, Absecon Bay, Eagle Bay, Duck Thoroughfare, Newfound Water, Dole's Island, Mankiller Bay, Gull Island Cove, Oyster Thoroughfare Islands, Shelter Islands, Jonas' Island, Book Island, and Lake's Bay. The fish most taken hereabouts are the weak fish, king fish, flounder, sheepshead, soa bass, black fish, and the Cape May good- ies. The weak fish are the most sought after, and are caught nearly everywhere ; being gamy, they afford sport to the professional angler as well as the novice. The bass are more easily caught, and having a large mouth, they frequently swallow the bait, hook and all, and are caught with less skill than any other fish. The king fish, when hooked, is a gamy fellow, but is apt to take off the bait and leave the angler's hook bare. The sheepshead usually bites well, but is slow in taking the bait in his mouth, and even after being / hooked, one is not sure of him. In the p^^^"'^' TROLLING FOR BLUE FISH. first place, he is very strong, and if you attempt to pull him in by main strength and awkwardness, the chances are that he will break your line. The custom among experienced fishermen is to drown him out, that is, let him have his own way until exhausted, and then haul him in. The flounder is a nice fish to catch and bites voraciously. For outside fishing a trip to either of the sunken wrecks will give the angler fine sport in bass, weak fish, and sheepshead fishing. These twin sports of fin and feather are not only delightful in themselves, but they serve the better purpose of aiding largely in restoring health and strength. The conditions are perfect for this way of roughing it; and the invalid., if strong enough to bear the slight fatigue, will speedily find relief, if not a cure, for the ailments to which his flesh is heir. Good digestion, active nutrition, and sound sleep restore the nervous system, and these are largely ob- tained by a moderate indulgence in those exhilarating sports, gun- ning and fishing. Days and weeks may be spent in cruising about Gunning and J^ishing. 87 through the bays and thoroughfares, with never a flagging or failing of interest or lack of occupation which is at the same time enjoy- ment. And whils the bronze deepens on the cheek and the pulse bounds more vigorously and the step grows more elastic, there is no thought of yearning for other scenes, but rather of frequent re- gret that the summer vacation must soon end. The following information will be of permanent value to those who may wish to go in quest of any of the varieties of fish or fowl which are found here at certain seasons of the year: FISH. Blue Fish. — Appear about the middle of May; leave in October. Sheepshead. — Appear about the loth of June ; leave in Oc- tober. Weak Fish. — Appear in May ; leave in October. Striped Bass. — Found in the rivers on the coast the entire win- ter ; more plentiful in summer. White Perch. — Come early and remain late; chiefly found in brackish waters and in rivers. Black Fish. — Bite from istof June, and cease ist of October. Sea Bass. — Taken first of July until October. King Fish, or Barb. — Come in July and remain until October. Flounders (Summer). — Oblong in shape; come in June; stay until October. Flounders (Winter). — Flounder proper; come in October; leave in May. PoRGiEs. — Abundant along the coast after July. Spot, or Goody. — Summer fish. Codfish — Taken late in autumn and in winter. FOWL. Wild Geese and Brant. — Arrive about the ist of October and remain until the last of March. Black Ducks. — Arrive late in September and remain until the ist of April. They are sometimes seen here in summer. Broad Bills. — Arrive about the 15th of October. Cub Heads, Dippers, and Red Heads. — Habits similar to broad bills. Arrive in October and remain until April ist. Gray Ducks and Teal. — Arrive September ist, leave in No- vember; come again for a short time in spring on their northern migration. English Snipe. — Make their appearance about the ist of April, 88 Hand-Book of Atlantic City. remain but a short time, go north, and return in October on their way south. Wilson Snipe, Robin Snipe, Curlews, and Yellow Legs. — Come about the ist of May, make short stay, return in July, and remain till October. WiLLETT. — Willetts remain and breed in salt marshes. Plover. — The several varieties arrive in May, remaining during the summer. Tell-Tales. — Arrive in May and pass northward; return in autumn for a short stay. But remember that there are in New Jersey certain enactments which must be respected. They are known as '* Game Laws." They prohibit persons who are gunning for geese, brant, or ducks from placing their decoys further off from the edge of the marsh, island, bar, bank, blind, or ice than three rods distance. All per- sons are prohibited from pursuing any fowl after night with a light. This class of sportsmen are called " pot hunters," and are held in disrepute by legitimate sportsmen. Briefly stated, the game laws of New Jersey are as follows : It is unlawful for non-residents to hunt in the counties of Camden, Gloucester, Atlantic, Salem, Cumberland, and Cape May without being a member of the West Jersey Game Protective Society, under penalty of fifty dollars. Fee of membership in this Society is five dollars for first year, and for each succeeding year two dollars. It is unlawful to kill, etc., any gray, or fox squirrel, between the first day of January and the first day of September, or any black squirrel, between the first day of June and the first day of Sep- tember, or any upland or grass plover between the first day of January and the first day of August, or any woodcock, except only between the first day of July and the first day of August, and be- tween the last day of September and sixteenth day of December, under penalty of fifteen dollars. No person shall kill, etc., any ruffled grouse, commonly called pheasant, or quail, sometimes called Virginia partridge, except only between the last day of October and the last day of December ; or any rabbit, except only between the last day of October and the last day of December, under penalty of fifteen dollars. By special act of the Legislature the open season for rabbits in Atlantic County is extended to January 15th. It is unlawful to kill, etc., any grouse, or prairie fowl between the first day of December and the fifteenth day of October, under penalty of ten dollars It is unlawful to kill, etc., any rail bird, except in the months of September, October, and November ; or any reed bird or march hen, except from the twenty-fifth day of August to the first day of December, under penalty of five dollars. ^H*'' Ml I II i; R m '^ ms"^ -i:^^ t:)j {"^ ^x :fej Alt'. m) mi J,n'^' 'C%l'',a 90 Hand-Book of Atlantic City. It is unlawful to kill or shoot at any wild pigeon while on its nest- ing-ground j or discharge any fire-arms within one-quarter mile of its nesting place. No person shall kill, etc., any summer duck, commonly called wood duck, between the first day of January and the first day of September, under penalty of five dollars. Insectivorous or song birds cannot be killed at any time, under a penalty of from five to fifty dollars. JVIortuary statistics. Health, as follows ESIDES the testimony of those who have been to Atlantic City and found healing in its atmos- phere, another evidence of the salubrity of its climate is its low death-rate. The statistics given in the table below are taken from the official records of the various State Boards of The deaths in Atlantic City during 1887 were Non-resident visitors, 107; residents, 125. The population of Atlantic City in 1880 was five thou- sand five hundred, and in 1885 it was eight thousand, an increase of forty-five per cent, in five years, or at the rate of nine per cent, a year. At this rate of increase the population of the place at the close of 1887 was ten thousand. The record of one hundred and twenty-five deaths during the year shows the death-rate to be 12.5 to each thousand of population. The percent- age of deaths during preceding years was about the same. As a basis of comparison, we give the following table of the mortality of various cities of the United States : Rate per 1,000. ' New York 25.31 1 Philadelphia 21.20 Chicago 20.17 ! Brooklyn 28.31 | St. Louis 22.12 Cincinnati 19.09 I Baltimore 21.53 San Francisco 19.48 I Cleveland.. 21.18 Washington 24.45 ' Buffalo 17.33 ! Rochester 23.39 Boston 28.57 Wilmington, Del 23.47 { Richmond, Va 25.44 Milwaukee , 24.52 1 Rate per 1,000. New Haven 16.50 Hartford 18.63 Pittsburgh 21.59 Nashville 23.11 Worcester, Mass 20.05 Cambridge, Mass 25.12 Mobile, Ala 23.05 Charleston, S. C 29.16 Evansville, Ind 19.52 Plattsburgh, N. Y 25.00 Concord, N. H 13.20 Savannah 22.54 Providence, R. 1 22.07 Norfolk, Va 21,19 Los Angelos, Cal 12.06 Newark, N. J 28.12 91 92 Hand-Book of Atlantic City. Also the following places of nearly the same population as Atlantic City : Population. Rate. Waltham, Mass 15,200 12.60 Bristol, Conn 6,500 31.04 Norwalk, Conn. 16,000 19.50 Stamford, Conn 14,000 28,06 Amsterdam, N. Y ...14,000 12.85 Ashtabula, Ohio 6,500 12.00 Fostoria, Ohio 6,000 14.75 Youngstown, Ohio 15,430 20.99 Population. Rate. Jacksonville, 111 10,927 18.26 Keokuk, Iowa 14,000 15.10 Clarksville, Tenn 8,000 15.50 Asheville, N. C 6,000 22.44 Raleigh, N. C 15,000 20.00 Santa Cruz, Cal 6,000 13.29 Vallejo, Cal 5, 500 26.18 Atlantic City, 10,000 12.5 Atlantic City being a popular resort for invalids, especially those suffering from chronic diseases, the actual number of deaths within its limits is necessarily large. This is especially the case in sum- mer, when large numbers of infants suffering from diseases incident to childhood at that season of the year are brought here, some of them in a dying condition when they arrive. In places like Atlantic City there are various institutions for the sick, where the death-rate is also large. There are at least three such institutions in this city. Moreover, many of our permanent residents are what physicians call "impaired lives" — persons with chest, rheumatic, nervous, or other troubles, who live here throughout the year on account of the relief which the climate affords. These are counted among the permanent residents in making up the death-rate, though they rightly belong to the non-residents. Sufficient is shown by the above table, however, to satisfy any one that Atlantic City has a death-rate much lower than that of any other city in the country. The well-ascertained healthfulness of this city has made it as much an invalid's as it is a tourist's resort. There is no limit to its popularity with the medical profession, who are almost unanimous in pronouncing it the best winter and summer home for their patients. Institutions for the Jifflicted. URNEY Cottage, Virginia Avenue below Pacific, was the summer home of the late Mrs. Eliza P. Gurne}^ from i860 until the time of her death, about nine years ago. Her whole life was occu- pied with deeds of char- ity, and though an influ- ential member of the Society of Friends, she gave liberally to Chris- tians of every name. Assisting in the organization of Sunday schools was her special pleasure, and the poor always found in her a friend. She enjoyed a personal acquaintance with many distinguished persons, and was a staunch friend of President Lincoln, who, in a letter written a few months before his death, said he was ''much indebted to the good Christian people of the country for their constant prayers and consolations, and tonooneof them more than to Mrs. Gurney.'* Three years ago the Gurney Cottage was leased by the managers of the Friends' Asylum, at Frankford, Philadelphia, who con- verted it into a sanitarium for the treatment of nervous affections and mild forms of mental disease. Cases of nervous prostration, convalescents from acute brain disease, and those mild mental dis- orders needing isolation from former surroundings can here find a home for treatment free from unnecessary restraint, where medical care and skillful nursing produce the best results. The building is situated near the ocean, and has all the modern conveniences, including good sanitary arrangements. It is open all the year, is well heated, and is lighted by electricity. Twelve patients can be accommodated, both sexes being admitted. The establishment is presided over by a matron, and a sufficient number of nurses are employed to care for the patients. It is under the supervision of Dr. John C. Hall, Superintendent of the Friends' 93 94 Hand-Book of Atlantic City. Asylum in Philadelphia, who visits the place every week, and in the interval the immediate care and treatment of the patients are confined to Dr. John E. Sheppard, of Atlantic City, who makes daily visits to the institution. During the first eight months thirty patients were admitted, a number of whom were discharged as cured. The results of the treatment at the seashore, the Superin- tendent reports, have been thus far very satisfactory. The good effects of a change of air, the comparative freedom from restraint, and the home life, felt and appreciated by all, have had a marked effect upon the patients and contributed greatly to their recovery. Dr. Hall adds that his experience at Atlantic City proves the desirability of the method, and that it affords many advantages not to be found in the usual hospital treatment. MERCER HOME. MERCER MEMORIAL HOME. This institution, the corporate name of which is Seaside House for Invalid Women, was organized in 1878. Its object is to provide at the seashore a place where invalid women of moderate means can spend a few weeks and have not only the comforts of a home, but also good nursing and the care of a physician, at a price which they are able to pay, but much below the actual cost. It differs from other seaside institutions for women in that it is intended for invalids only, and in this respect it meets a want which has often been felt by those who come in contact with the masses of workingwomen in our large cities. Institutiofis for the Afflicted. 95 The work of the institution was begun June 22d, 1878, in a little cottage with accommodations for fourteen patients. In February, 1880, it was incorporated under the laws of New Jersey. The ca- pacity of the little cottage was nearly doubled in 1881, in order to in some measure meet the demands made for admission. In 1884 the present building, at the corner of Ohio and Pacific Avenues, was erected, largely through the munificence of the late Mrs. J. C. Mercer, of Philadelphia, who gave forty thousand dollars for the purpose. This building is one of the finest of its size in Atlantic City, and is provided with every convenience for the care of sick women. Its sanitary arrangements are as near perfect as they can be made. Besides sitting-rooms, bath-rooms, parlors, writing-room, dining- rooms, offices, linen-rooms, trunk-rooms, servants' rooms, and the like, there are fifty-eight bed-rooms, capable of accommodating seventy patients. These are neatly furnished, and each patient has a comfortable spring-bed, with hair mattress. There are sixteen bed-rooms on the first floor, and an easy, inclined plane runs from this floor to the ground, so that those unable to walk can be wheeled from their bed-rooms to the beach. During the season of 1887 more than six hundred invalid women were cared for in the insti- tution. The difference between the receipts from board of patients and the current expenses amounts to about three thousand dollars annually, and, as the whole income of the institution from invested funds is less than three hundred dollars, a very large portion of this deficit must be provided for by voluntary contributions. These will be thank- fully received by any of the managers. The house is open to vis- itors every afternoon except Sunday. The attending physician is Dr. William H. Bennett, assisted by Dr. J. E. Sheppard. children's seashore house. This institution (the first of its kind in the United States) was opened in a small cottage in 1872. In July, 1883, it was re-opened in its present location, at the sea-end of Ohio Avenue, occupying what is now the main building. Numerous smaller buildings have since been erected within the grounds by visitors at the different hotels, each bearing the name of the house by which it was erected. It has now accommodations for about one hundred children and twenty-six mothers. The object of the corporation is to maintain at the seashore an institution in which children of the poorer classes, suffering from non-contagious diseases or from debility incident to the hot weather and a crowded city, may have good nursing and medical care, without regard to creed, color or nationality. Children over three years of age are cared for by competent g6 Ha?id-Book of Atlantic City. nurses in the large, airy wards of the main building ; and in order that those too young to be separated from their mothers may also be admitted, little cottages have been erected for the mothers almost upon the beach. One of them is assigned to each mother with a sick infant. She may also have one other child with her, and have for herself and children the exclusive use of the cottage, taking care of it and her children, but having her meals provided for her in the main building. A separate building, located imme- diately on the beach, is used for very serious cases needing closer attention and greater quiet than can be had otherwise. The children are under the care of a resident physician, a corps of nurses, and a matron, and the total charge, including board, washing, medical attendance, bathing, and, occasionally, driving or sailing, is not over three dollars per week. A number — limited by the means at the command of the managers — are received with- out charge. Applications for admission are made to an examining physician, who furnishes railroad tickets, provided at a reduced rate. No more worthy charity could appeal to the beneficence of those who are blessed with means. The resident physician is Dr. W. H. Bennett, assisted by Dr. John E. Sheppard, of Atlantic City. The House is open to visitors Tuesday and Friday mornings from half-past nine to half-past ten o'clock, and every afternoon from three to five o'clock. Longport and Chelsea. ISITORS to Atlantic City should not fail to see Longport and Chelsea, which bear much the same relation to Atlantic City that the numerous suburban villages bear to the two great cities of New York or Phila- delphia. They are adjuncts and not rivals of the older and larger place. Longport is a collection of attractive homes below Atlantic City, and occupies the western end of the island, bordering on Great Egg Harbor Inlet. Its water advantages are unique. The ocean, the inlet, and the Thoroughfare surge restlessly or wave pleasantly on three sides of it. The island narrows and is scarcely more than one square in width in the improved portion of Longport, rendering both bath- ing and fishing convenient. The ocean beach is broad, smooth, and level, making a fine promenade ground when the tide is out and safe bathing when the tide is in. Fish are abundant in the Thoroughfare, and are caught steadily from the pier and break- waters, which accommodate and protect the shore at different angles. Mr. M, S. McCuUough purchased the site of Longport, some two hundred and fifty acres, of Mr. James Long in 1882, and named the town, which he immediately laid out, in honor of the former owner. Improvements have gone on steadily. Broad streets have been made and graveled, a boardwalk to the length of ten squares has been built along the beach, railroad and telephonic communication made with Atlantic City, and a post-office established by Mr. John Ober- holtzer. The wharfage is good, a couple of little steamers meeting 97 9S Hand-Book of Atlantic City. trains and making regular trips to Ocean City and Somers' Point, thus affording a through route to those places from Philadelphia. Sail-boats accommodate those who desire such recreation. The buildings of Longport are all first-class. Temperance and sanitary restrictions in the deeds possess attractions for those who summer there. The bearing of the place is literary rather than fashionable. Two resident authors, Professor J. P. Remington and Mrs. S. L. Oberholtzer, have well-used libraries there. The former has written a number of standard medical and pharmaceutical works, while the latter is the author of several volumes of poetry and one or two works of fiction. The Agassiz Microscopical Society holds regular meetings throughout the season, while naturalists and scientists are among the summer guests. The Aberdeen, erected by M. S. McCullough in 1884, and MRS. OBERHOLTZER'S COTTAGE. doubled in capacity in 1886, accommodates many guests, and is supplied with all modern conveniences, including hot sea-water baths. The cottages are diverse in architectural design. Those occupied yearly by their owners are Amos Dotterer's, John and S. L. Oberholtzer' s, Professor Joseph P. Remington's, Carrie Rem- ington's and James Long's. Mr. Long's house was built in 1886, and is one of the most imposing homes along the Atlantic coast. Several pretty cottages belonging to different persons are rented for summer use. The Bay-View Club-House is a substantial structure on Seventeenth Avenue, and is the headquarters of the Bay- View Club, which is composed of thirty Philadelphia gentle- men. New houses are regularly going up. The place has present comfort and steady growth. Mrs. H. M. Lawton, who prepares tastefully many varieties of marine algae, resides in Longport. Lo7igport and Chelsea. 99 A few squares below the lower limit of Atlantic City, a select suburb, called Chelsea, is rapidly building. It claims to have the best bathing-grounds on the island, and expects to be a second Elberon. It is laid out on a comprehensive scale, with wide streets and large lots, those fronting on Pacific Avenue being sixty feet wide and the corner ones sixty-five feet. Restrictions embodied in the deeds require all houses to be set back a good distance from the street, and prevent them also from being crowded closely together. Only one building for dwelling-house purposes is per- mitted on each lot. No liquor saloon or other undesirable places are allowed in the place, and stringent regulations govern the drainage arrangements. The spring of 1888 finds a dozen houses already in course of erection there, with every prospect of a rapid increase. There are many persons who prefer that their summer residence should be select and exclusive, with plenty of breathing- room and a guarantee against objectionable neighbors, as well as against too near neighbors of any kind. Chelsea seems to offer them just what they require — a combination of suburban attractions together with proximity to the railroads, churches, schools, shops, and great hotels of Atlantic City proper. The Camden and Atlantic Rail- road will have a station at Chelsea, and both the street cars and omnibusses will convey passengers to and from the city. Besides the handsome cottages already erected for the occupancy of wealthy Philadelphia families, many of the better class of Atlantic City residents — the bankers, merchants, physicians, lawyers, etc., are considering the advisability of ''moving down to Chelsea." It promises to become the fashion. The Chelsea Beach Company was organized in 1883 by Mrs. Mary A. Riddle, Dr. Rebecca C. Hallowell, Miss Julia M. French, Julia P. Brown, Henry Mosebach, and others. Mrs. Riddle was the active spirit among the enterprising ladies who first conceived the idea of creating such a suburb. She was President of the Company during the first two years of its existence — its most try- ing period — and is still one of its largest stockholders. The fol- lowing are the present officers of the Company : President, D. S. Dengler ; Vice-President, Dr. Boardman Reed ; Treasurer, Henry Mosebach; Secretary, Ebenezer Wood, with a board of nine Directors. jJirits for the geasliore. HE following hints to seashore visitors may be of interest : It is better to telegraph in advance for rooms at hotels. A single room means a room for one per- son; a double room means a room for two persons ; a double-bedded room means a room with two beds. Al- ways mention the day of the week and train by which you will arrive. To discharge sewage di- rectly into the ocean in front of the bathing- grounds, as is done at some coast resorts, is highly objectionable. To let it empty into a sluggish creek or ditch running through the town, as is the method at other resorts, is even more dan- gerous. The atmospheric pressure at the sea level has been computed to be about fifteen pounds to the square inch, which amounts to from fourteen to sixteen tons upon the whole surface of the human body. At an elevation of a few hundred feet above the sea the pressure is materially less. The change from a high or even medium altitude to the seaside involves an increase of the pressure upon every square inch of the body. To this fact is largely due the extraordinary feeling of buoyancy and vigor, as well as the stimulation of all the nutritive processes, which are experienced upon going to the shore. I GO Hints for the Seashore. lOI As to exercise, the danger is that invalids visiting Atlantic City will take too much, owing to the extraordinary stimulative effects of the sea air. They need, therefore, to be careful that they do not exhaust their small stock of vitality as fast as it can be replenished. But this tendency is much less in winter than in summer, when the nightly hops and other pleasures and dissipations keep the more im- pressionable visitors in a constant whirl of excitement. For some persons the air alone is sufficient, while others get on famously with the air and the help of judicious bathing. Still others need medicines, and suffer by having them stopped during their stay at the seashore. For these the tonic and alterative virtues of the air often furnish just the adjuvants necessary to accomplish a cure. The medicines which at home were nugatory or only half successful may succeed perfectly with the aid of the sea air when neither alone would be sufficient. Ozone or oxygen in an active electrical state is an important in- gredient of the atmosphere at the seashore as well as in mountain districts, while it is nearly absent from the devitalized air of large cities. This is the most powerful oxidizing agent known, and its presence unquestionably greatly enhances the vigor and activity of all the vital processes. A noteworthy property of sea air is its greater density as com- pared with the atmosphere of inland places which have a consider- I02 Hand-Book of Atlantic City. able altitude. This increase of density enables more oxygen to be taken into the lungs with each inspiration, and thus increases oxidation. To the influence of the Gulf Stream we must attribute the geni- ality and curious softness of the atmosphere which greets the new- comer at this favored spot. The mean temperature in January is 35°, and often at mid-day stands at 50° in the coldest months of our northern year. THE TRAYMORE HOUSE. The matter of diet is not so important at the seashore in winter as in summer, but it is safe to counsel all invalids to restrain the prodigious appetite they are almost sure to have soon after coming here in winter; otherwise constipation, headaches, and loss of ap- petite will follow. It is a mistake to suppose that one cannot take cold at the sea- shore. Invalids should take the usual precautions against being chilled. In the winter season and on summer evenings wraps are always in order out-of-doors, though in summer they need not be heavy. A radiation of heat is constantly taking place from such a large Hi fits for the Seashore. 103 body of salt water as the ocean, which is warmer in winter and cooler in summer than the surface of the land adjacent ; hence the air over the sea at the shore is usually warmer in winter, though cooler in summer, than that of interior places in the same latitude. Seaside towns located at the extremities of capes, where the wind blows off large bodies of water on nearly all sides, have a more humid air than those not so exposed. Thus Atlantic City has been found to have a much drier air than most seashore resorts. This may be partly due to the trend of the coast at this point and to its distance from the mouth of any large river, since winds often seem to focus at the mouths of rivers, and the stronger MICHIGAN BUILDING. the winds from the seaward the greater the degree of moisture. Furthermore, the large extent of very dry, sandy barrens directly behind the city causes the land breezes to be particularly devoid of moisture. Water absorbs heat and parts with it by radiation more slowly than the land. Hence in hot weather water is comparatively cooler than the land, while in cold weather it is comparatively warmer. Therefore the summer temperature of a country border- ing on the sea is lowered, while the winter temperature is moder- I04 Hand- Book of Atlafitic City. ated. This explains why Atlantic City is cooler in summer and warmer in winter than places inland. The prevailing winds here are from the sea, and winds which com.e from the sea temper the extremes of heat and cold. None but the better class of hotels and representative business men of Atlantic City are invited to advertise in this Hand-Book, and the fact that they appear is a guarantee of their character. There are certain things with which every visitor must supply himself before starting on his journey homeward, and certain facts, a knowledge of which will be useful to him while here. For this reason a little time devoted to an examination of our advertising pages will doubtless be profitably spent. Pulmonary and bronchial troubles are much alleviated by the warmed ozone of Atlantic City. The south and east winds of Atlantic City are warmed in winter by their passage across the Gulf Stream ; and therefore the captious, impatient invalid can rise in the morning free from that pinching pain which inclines him to speak in uncomplimentary terms of the thermometer. It is a wet soil rather than a moist air which is so injurious to health, and a considerable portion of our Atlantic coast, including that bordering the southern part of New Jersey, has an exceedingly dry, porous, sandy soil, which permits water to rapidly sink away, except during spells of very rainy weather. The brisk sea-breezes of early spring, which sing and whistle around the cottage gables and through the bare branches, inspire the visitors with longings for the vigorous exercise of brisk walks and long horseback rides. From these they return with such glow- ing cheeks, sparkling eyes, and keen appetites that the mere sight of them is a better advertisement of Atlantic City air as a tonic than all the books that could be written. A work on climatology, published in the eighteenth century, speaks of the exceptional dryness of the atmosphere on Absecon Beach, remarking that there was only one spot upon the seacoast anywhere in the world which was comparable to this in that respect. It is certainly remarkable, though scarcely surprising, that this merit upon which, more than any other, the future great- ness and glory of Atlantic City will rest, should have been recog- nized at that distant period. Ground and £bout. PLACES OF INTEREST IN AND NEAR ATLANTIC CITY, AND OTHER INFORMA- TION FOR VISITORS. DMITTING that Atlantic City is the principal sea- coast resort of the country, and an object of pilgrimage to thousands of people from every walk of life and from every part of the land, it is well to trace some of its attractions, and thus obtain some appreciation of its advantages and claims to consideration, which may assist in a proper estimate of its importance. The history of the place will not be herein considered, for however interesting the historical features of this favorite locality, they take vastly inferior place when compared with its natural and artificial attractions. Here are to be found all the requisites which enter into the constitution of a complete seashore watering place. Aside from the attrac- tions of land and sea — the drives, the beach, the boardwalk, the fishing, the yachting and the bathing, the bracing air and other attributes of the grand old ocean io6 Around and About. 107 — aside from these, Atlantic City affords diversions of a secular or religious character above and beyond those of any other seacoast resort. One can go a-shopping here, find books, papers, small wares, material for embroidery, painting and drawing ; can visit a circulating library, or take an interest in the church of his choice, get acquainted with the minister, and help along the good work. If one chooses, he can give a private entertainment in the evening at either of the ocean parlors, which afford to the visitor a somewhere to go, an object and an end to an other- wise purposeless stroll along the strand. Atlantic City long since learned how best to provide for its summer and winter guests, and it is now the business of the place to set forth its attractions, which are all in the direction of making one's stay delightful. THE BOARDWALK. To Atlantic City belongs the credit of having introduced what is now a feature of a dozen seaside resorts — the boardwalk. This was first built in 1S70, five thousand dollars being raised for that purpose by the sale of city scrip. The venture was regarded in an unfavorable light by many of the conservative citi- zens, some of whom were large owners of real estate, but the younger men carried the project through on money privately borrowed until the issue of the city's obligations could be legalized. The boardwalk was destroyed by severe storms in the winter of 1883-4, hut was rebuilt in a more substantial manner in the spring of 1884 at a cost of less than ten thousand dollars. This walk, now about four miles in length, and extending from the Inlet to the suburb of Chelsea, is the distinctive feature of Atlantic City. It follows the contour of the beach just above the line of high-water, and is lighted with the electric light its entire length from the first of March to the middle of September. On a moonlight evening, when the beach is crowded with vehicles and the prome- nade thronged with pedestrians, Atlantic City presents a scene of gayety un- equaled anywhere else in the country. THE LIGHTHOUSE. The lighthouse is an object of much interest, at the northeastern end of the island, the house of the keeper, Major A. G. Wolf, facing Rhode Island Avenue. There are two assistant keepers, S. F. Adams and Frank T. Hills, The extreme height of the tower, from base to pinnacle, is one hundred and sixty-seven feet, to outside gallery one hundred and fifty feet, and to the focus of the lamp one hundred and fifty-nine feet. The ascent of the gallery is by two hundred and twenty-eight spiral steps. The lamp is what is known as Funck's mineral-oil lamp, with fixed white light and Fresnel lens of the first order, and from the deck of a vessel can be distinguished from other lights at a distance of twenty miles. The lighthouse is open to visitors from nine A. M. to twelve M. in summer time, and from eleven to twelve in the winter season, Sundays and stormy days ex- cepted. English's History of Atlantit City gives a history of the lighthouse, from which we make this extract: The great number of wrecks that were continually occur- ring on the beach caused Dr. Jonathan R. Pitney and other gentlemen to turn their attention to the absolute necessity that existed for the erection of a light- house at Atlantic City. Between 1834 and 1840 the proposal was first agitated. After a great waste of trouble and money, a Congressional appropriation of five thousand dollars was at last voted upon the proviso that a satisfactory report should first be made by a competent ofiicial of the Naval Department. Com- modore La Vallette was commissioned to make the report. He visited the beach, examined the coast, and requested a letter from Dr. Pitney on the subject. Not- withstanding the exertions of Dr. Pitney, the Commodore made an unfavorable io8 Hand-Book of Atlantic City. report, and the lighthouse project slept for several years. In 1853, after the rail- road had been surveyed, Dr. Pitney again agitated the subject. He circulated petitions for signatures, wrote to Congressmen, and published articles iti the newspapers. The result of these labors was the granting of an appropriation of thirty-five thousand dollars for a lighthouse. Thus Atlantic City has to-day one of the best lighthouses in the country, which, wiih later improvements, cost upward of fifty thousand dollars. The tower of the lighthouse was first illumi- nated i,n January, 1857. ' The lighthouse is a perpetual snare for birds. In their spring and fall migra- tions birds of all descriptions, from the wild goose to the bobolink, are attracted at night by the light in the tower, and dash against it with such force as to kill about one-third of their number. The others, maimed and bleeding, flutter against the screen outside until taken in by the humane keeper. The live birds SmMhu'^^'j^''' LIGHTHOUSE. are kept until morning in perforated pasteboard boxes and then released. As many as four hundred and eighty-one birds, dead or alive, have been entrapped in a single night in the manner described. Major Wolf has a number of rare specimens mounted, and others have been sent to ornithologists in various parts of the country. In a letter to Major Wolf, by Dr. C. Hart Merriam, head of the Division of Economic Ornithology at Washington, the latter says : ** Your reports are the most complete and valuable schedules received from any light station during the past season, and we are grateful for the trouble you have taken in preparing them." It is a fact not generally known that migrating birds usually fly from a mile to a mile and a half high. But being pressed to earth by storms or storm clouds, they naturally fly toward so bright a light as that in the light- house tower. The families of the keeper and his assistants, and the members of the Atlantic City Life Saving Station frequently diet on bird-pie, and the latter have cultivated such a taste for it that not long since they ate a pie in which Around and About. 109 were one hundred and fifty-two of the fattest birds that ever flew. It is even hinted that when the pie was opened the men began to sing, and one of them said unto his mate, '' Isn't this a dainty dish ?" to which the other replied, " Yes ; fit to set before the king," LIFE-SAVING STATION. The Atlantic City Life- Saving Station is situated at Pacific and Vermont Ave- nues, and is in charge of Captain Amasa Bowen, with seven assistants. The present building was finished in December, 1884, and is the finest life-saving station on the coast of the United States. It is a pretty Gothic structure, with three rooms and a pantry on the first floor and three rooms on the second. Above the roof there is a tower or lookout, where a constant watch is kept for vessels in distress. The building is open to visitors at all hours of the day, and the obliging captain or any of his assistants will take pleasure in explaining to any one the method of saving life and property from destruction by the fury of the elements. On the first clear day of each week the crew goes through an interesting drill with the mortar and lifeline, sea-car and surf-boat, beginning at eight o'clock in the morning. The first life-saving station established on this beach was opened nearly forty years ago, and was known as the Government Boat-House, with Ryan Adams as keeper. It stood near Connecticut and Pacific Avenues, about where the Ocean House now stands. "When James Buchanan was elected President, Samuel Adarns succeeded Ryan Adams, holding the position for five years, when Barton Gaskill was appointed by President Lincoln. He retained the position for sixteen consecutive years. When the improved system was adopted, in conformity with an act of Congress, approved June i8th, 1878, the station was moved to its present site, in the rear of the lighthouse. Captain Bowen has been the efficient keeper for the past nine years. UNITED STATES SIGNAL STATION, The United States Signal Station in Atlantic City is situated in the Bank Building, corner Atlantic and North Carolina Avenues, and is in charge of Mr. G. A. Loveland, signal observer. This station was opened December loth, 1873, in the Government Life-Saving House, about one hundred yards from the lighthouse. Recently it was removed to its present location. The elevation of the barometer above the level of the sea is thirty-four feet. The instrument shelter is of the standard portable pattern, and is placed on the northern end of the building. The anemometer, wind-vane, and rain-gauge are on well-exposed parts of the building. The station is supplied with a complete outfit for inter- national signals. Visitors will be welcomed at any hour of the day by Signal Observer Loveland, who always finds pleasure in explaining the methods of conducting the signal service. BEACH THOROUGHFARE. The Thoroughfare is a sheet of water that abounds in the finest fish, oysters, crabs and clams, and is the rendezvous of a fleet of graceful yachts, in which the visitor can cruise for pleasure or for fishing, either on the smooth waters of the inlet or upon the briny waters of the Atlantic. Omnibuses will convey visitors either to Sykes' Wharf or Higbee's Bridge, where boats can be hired and fishing- tackle procured at a moderate charge. no Hand- Book of Atlantic City. BRIGANTINE BEACH AND PETERS' BEACH. Brigantine Beach is another of the old-time resorts of the sportsmen who are used to roughing it. For this sort of pleasure it is one of the choicest places along the coast. Blue-fish, flounders, porgies, bass, and weak-fish are caught in abundance. The adjacent meadows and marshes are alive with snipe, curlew, marlin, and the whole family of wading birds. Wild geese, duck, brant and teal are to be had in large quantities in season. The crabbing is exceptionally good, and the bathing is safe. The upper end of this island-beach has been from time immemorial the breed- ing-place for sea-gulls. Myriads of these birds congregate here. The eggs are laid in the sand, the nest being a mere hollow, with sometimes a few twigs and leaves. The breeding time is July and August. Then the beach is well worth visiting. As a fowl for table use, the sea-gull is not a delightsome luxury. If you want something particularly tough, oily, fishy and otherwise disagreeable to eat, shoot a sea-gull and cook it. That is to say, if you are an exceptionally good shot, for there are few birds which are more difficult to bring down when on the wing. Yachts leave the Inlet House daily, conveying passengers to Peters' Beach or Brigantine, both on the opposite side of the inlet. There are two large hotels on Brigantine and one on Peters' Beach. Mr. Alfred B. Smith, of the Brigantine" House, is a hospitable landlord, guarding carefully the comfort of his guests. His brother, Mr. Charles Smith, of Peters' Beach, is equally attentive to those who visit his house. The Peters' Beach House is delightfully located, and is a favor- ite rendezvous for those fond of boating, gunning or fishing. Oysters are taken fresh from the water almost at the door of the house. It has cool rooms, fine verandas, and first-class accommodations for guests. It commands a. full view of Atlantic City, and is only fifteen minutes' sail from the inlet. HOT AND COLD BATHS. The hot sea-water baths are in great favor with visitors to Atlantic City, and invalids especially derive great benefit from them. Persons suffering from rheumatism have, often been permanently cured. Freshness and vigor are im- parted to all who use them. They are better than medicines, and physicians recommend them. The old, reliable establishment of Kipple & McCann, at the sea end of Ocean Avenue, is fitted up with every convenience, and has a sun-par- lor attached. Many prefer the hot baths to surf-bathing, even in summer time, and as they have accommodations for both classes, Kipple & McCann's place is extensively patronized. Their sun-parlor is a rendezvous, a place of meeting, for boardwalk promenaders. At the ofifice there is a register where guests at any hotel or boarding-house are invited to register their names, by which means prompt delivery of telegrams and express packages is insured and their whereabouts made known to friends. The place thus becomes a bureau of information. THE MICHIGAN BUILDING. Thousands of people have noticed the attractive cottage of Barclay Lippincott, on States Avenue, without knowing anything of its history. This building was purchased by Mr. Lippincott at the close of the Centennial Exposition in Phila- delphia, and removed to Atlantic City in sections. It was one of the most artisti- cally designed and finely finished State buildings on the Centennial grounds, the airy and graceful proportions of the superstructure culminating in a high villa tower. The building is made of native Michigan woods, and the interior is adorned with rich engravings of oiled and polished wood of every variety grown in the State. A room on the second floor, used as a parlor at the Centennial, was a gem of comfort and taste. Around and About. Ill HANDSOME RESIDENCES. The Disston villa, on Indiana Avenue, opposite the Brighton, is the finest pri- vate residence in Atlantic City. The head of the Disston family established a large business at Tacony, a northern suburb of Philadelphia. He made saws, and the impression got abroad that his saws were the best in the market. They sold rapidly, and he grew very rich. He was an early believer in Atlantic City, and purchased the entire block between Park and Indiana Avenues, from Pacific to the sea. He died before he had enjoyed the beautiful home he had reared, and his widow and sons now occupy the mansion. It is an English country villa with a pretty porte cochere facing the street. Other attractive residences similar to the Disston villa are to be seen on the principal avenues, notably that of George Allen, at Pacific and Maryland Avenues; the Turner villa, at Pacific and Indiana Avenues ; the Shirtcliffe cottage, on North Carolina Avenue, and what is commonly called the Ladner villa, though not now owned by any of that family on States Avenue. Some of the finest residences in Atlantic City are dignified by no other name than cottage— a word which has undergone great ACADEMY OF THE SACRED HEART. changes since its introduction into our language. It was originally used to con- vey the idea of something far less stylish than the buildings which are now known by that name. The old dictionary meaning of it is, " a small habitation for poor persons " The "habitations" which beautify the avenues of Atlantic City are not by any means small ones, nor are they generally, as far as heard from, inhabi- ted by poor people. Most of them are exceedingly tasteful, and many are large enouah to be called mansions rather than cottages. Quite a number are in " Queen Anne " style, whatever that is. A few are positively hideous, but the majority are exhibits of elegant and sensible architecture. ACADEMY OF THE SACRED HEART. This institution was first opened in a cottage on Connecticut Avenue in May, i88^, but in November following it was removed to its present location on Park Place, directly opposite the Disston villa. The school is conducted by the ladies of the Sacred Heart, and is an institution of which Atlantic City may well feel proud. The grounds around the villa extend to the beach, and every facility is afforded the pupils for sea-bathing and healthful exercise in the open air. The building is heated with steam, and is furnished with all the modern improvements. Both boarding and day pupils are received, and the terms may be had on appli- cation to the Superior. These ladies devote themselves, also, to the education of a large number of children in their parochial school on Ohio Avenue. REAL ESTATE AND LAW BUILDING. THE OCEAN PIERS. The piers have been referred to at length in another chapter ot this Hand- Book. Besides Applegate's there are two other piers, Howard's Ocean Pier, six hundred feet long, and the new Iron Pier, over one thousand feet long, both equally popular in summer time. Select hops and excellent dramatic or operatic entertainments make up the attractions on these piers when Atlantic City puts on its gay summer attire, Applegate's Pier has two decks, the upper one acting as a cover to the lower, besides which there is a fishing deck at the outer extremity, where there is generally good fishing the whole summer long. The entertain- ment hall is above the fishing deck. The Iron Pier has three pavilions, the largest having a seating capacity for nearly two thousand people. It was first opened to the public in the soring of 1886. Howard's was the first pier built in Atlantic City. gtopy of the ]V[erinaid. THE mermaid is an imaginary inhabitant of the sea, with a head and body resembling that of a woman, but terminating in a tail like that of a fish. There are many legends about the mermaid, one of which pertains to this locality. As handed down by the oldest inhabitant '' off-shore " the legend is as follows : In the olden time a fisherman lived on this island, as happy with his wife and children as mortals are allowed to be in this world. In the morning he THE FISHERMAN AND THE MERMAID. set his sails and went forth to spread his nets, and in the evening he returned laden with fish to his home, where he was welcomed by his family. One night he came home silent and preoccupied, and in the midst of his chil- dren's chatter he cried, " Hush ! what is the sound I hear ?'' " It is only the mermen and mermaidens singing under the sea," answered his wife. "I heard them to-day," he said; "the song floats through all the air about me even yet. What a weird song it is ! Do you hear it ?" "I hear nothing," answered his wife. ''You are weary; retire at once, and sleep will banish all sound." But the song floated through his dreams. Next morning he arose early and went out to sea, and as he sailed the sound grew sweeter and clearer. It was a 113 114 Hand- Book of Atla7itic City. misty day ; the sails of neighboring ships looked unreal and dim, and as he gazed across the water a charming scene was presented to him — a mermaid rose from the foam of the waves, which at first enveloped her like a veil, and then parted, dis- closing her form to view. She was combing her bright yellow hair and shouting, rather than singing, a wild, elfish song, without rhyme or measure, but with mel- ody enough to make up for the lack of both, and the oft-repeated refrain, " Come to my coral home." The song and sight so bewitched his senses, that by degrees he became bewil- dered, and could not tell the real from the unreal. He forgot he was mortal; he longed to go to that coral home under the waves, and ever hear that wild, en- trancing song. And so, when she held out her arms to him, without a moment's hesitation he sprang into the sea, and both disappeared. That night his wife and children vainly waited for his coming ; they went down to the beach where the green waves washed the white sands and sobbed and moaned as if they could a tale unfold, and yet they told it not. But above their ceaseless crying the fisherman's wife heard the songs of the merfolk under the sea, and, stricken at heart, she took her children by the hand, returned to her cottage, and closed the door, trying vainly to shut out the sound. " You are fatherless !" she sobbed. "After all our love for him, and devotion to him, he has left us desolate — ' All for the love of a little mermaiden And the gleam of her golden hair.' " Next day, when the sun rose out of the sea, the body of the fisherman was found on the beach, but his little bark was never recovered. " His soul, like bark with rudder lost, On passion's changeful tide was tossed." Distances fpom Tltlantic . City. • Miles. Altoona, Pa 297 Albany, N. Y 293 Baltimore, Md 158 Boston, Mass 380 Buffalo, N.Y 513 Bethlehem, Pa 115 Bedford Springs, Pa 314 Beatrice, Neb 1,497 Burlington, N.J 79 Chester, Pa 74 Carlisle, Pa 186 Carrollton, Mo 1,271 Cresson Springs, Pa 3^2 Chambersburg, Pa 217 Chicago, 111 883* Cincinnati, Ohio 727 Cleveland, Ohio 564 Charleston, S. C 846 Columbus, Ohio 608 Doylestown, Pa 93 Delaware Water Gap, Pa 152 Downingtown, Pa. 92 Detroit, Mich 743 Denver, Col 1,95° Easton, Pa 112 Erie, Pa 506 Elmira, N. Y 343 Fort Wayne, Ind 735 Gettysburg, Pa. I95 Greensburg, Pa 382 Harrisburg, Pa, 1 65 Ifestonville, Pa 65 Huntingdon, Pa 263 Indianapolis. Ind 782 Ithaca, N. Y 418 Johnstown, Pa 33^ Kansas City, Mo 1,337 Lancaster, Pa. 132 Lincoln, Neb 1.447 Louisville, Ky 9^5 Media, Pa 73 Mauch Chunk, Pa 149 Milwaukee, Wis 923 Montgomery, Ala i,097 Montreal, Can 649 Miles. Norristown, Pa 77 New York City, N. Y 150 Newark, N. J 140 New Brunswick, N. J 117 Niagara Falls, N. Y 518 New Orleans, La i,474 New Haven, Conn 226 Newport, R. 1 3^6 Ogdensburg, N. Y 544 Omaha, Neb 1,380 Philadelphia, Pa 60 Pittsburg, Pa 4H Pottstown, Pa lOO Pottsville, Pa 153 Portland, Me 49' Quebec, Canada ... 821 Quincy, 111 i,ii4 Reading, Pa 118 Rochester, N. Y 437 Richmond, Va 3^4 San Francisco, Cal 3,280 St. Joseph, Mo 1,397 St. Louis, Mo 1,063 Salt Lake City, Utah 2,434 St. Paul, Minn 1,334 Sunbury, Pa 218 Scranton, Pa 223 Savannah, Ga 827 Toledo, Ohio 675 Trenton, N. T 9° Tallahassee, Fla 1,160 Uniontown, Pa 420 Union City, Pa 479 Utica, N.Y 386 Valley Forge, Pa 83 Virginia City, Nev 2,844 Wilkesbarre, Pa 241 Williamsport, Pa 258 Westchester Pa 9^ Wilmington, Del 88 Washington, D. C 19^ WatkinsGlen N.Y 359 Xenia, Ohio 663 York, Pa 153 Zanesville, Ohio 5^0 115 Customs of the Aborigines. •yTY TL ANTIC county was once a paradise for the Indians, a sort of terrestrial f I happy hunting grounds, where the untutored child of nature flourished I I in his glory and enjoyed an existence free from care, where the red- >• I skinned youth wooed his mate under the greenwood boughs and the stal- ^ wart hunter traversed the forest in quest of game or rested beside his wigwam fire. There can be no doubt that far back in the annals of Time the* curling smoke from Indian wigwams ascended above the hill-tops and red cedars which then marked the present site of Atlantic City. Traces of them still remain in the shell mounds in the vicinity of Hill's Creek. Indian implements of a very archaic character have been found here, specimens of which are in the possession of Dr. T. K. Reed. The fish and oysters, found in abundance in the bays and thoroughfares, were highly prized by the red men, and frequently large parties would embark in their canoes to procure a supply of these luxuries. Having obtained a cargo, they would repair to the nearest woodland and indulge in a grand jollification, attended with all the sports and pastimes which were dear to- the aboriginal mind. The immense shell heaps that are found scattered through the woods and along the beaches, similar to those in the vicinity of Hill's Creek, mark the spots where these primitive picnics were held. Tradition makes the vicinity of Atlantic City the scene of a sanguinary Indian battle, which is thus described : A numerous party of Delawares were hunting on the shores of the Mullica River. While thus engaged they unexpectedly encountered a party of warriors be- longing to a hostile northern tribe, who had come southward in quest of scalps and plunder. Instantly the spirit of vengeance was aroused and with drawn weapons the warriors rushed to battle. Stern was the strife, for the opposing forces were equal in numbers and courage. Gliding panther-like from tree to tree, hurling the keen tomahawk, and darting the death-winged arrow, they waged deadly strife till the shadows of night closed around them. Half the warriors on both sides had fallen, but as yet no thought of flight had entered the minds of either party. Crouching low in their leafy coverts and casting eagle glances through the darkness, those unrelenting foes watched and waited for the coming day. At dawn the fight was resumed with unabated fury. Shouts of rage and vengeance resounded from every side, and the wild shrubbery was dyed with blood as brave after brave fell. Still the conflict went on till but two of the Del- awares and one of the Northern Indians remained alive of all who had taken part in the game of mutual slaughter. Observing their advantage, the two Dela- wares sounded their war cry and advanced to seize their solitary foe. This doughty savage, however, had no idea of being taken. Flourishing his toma- hawk, he uttered a yell of defiance and plunged into the river. His enemies at- tempted a pursuit, but he left them far behind and quickly gained the other shore Pausing a moment to wave a taunting farewell, he dashed swiftly away and dis- appeared in the forest. The baffled Delawares then returned to their village with tidings of the fatal combat, which was destined to be long preserved in the traditionary annals of the nation. ii6 JVEemoranda for Visitors. CONDENSED HISTORICAL AND GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT ATLANTIC CITY ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED. Academy of the Sacred Heart.— See chapter on "Around and About." Accretions and Encroachments. — The beach front of Atlantic City undergoes a change from year to year, both by accretions and encroachments of the sea. The lighthouse was for years threatened with destruction by the en- croaching sea, until the Government built a series of jetties in 1876', thereby diverting the currents. But while abrasion is taking place at one point accretion is going on at another, so that what one part of the island loses another part gains. The present site of the Seaside House and Haddon Hall was washed by the tides as recently as 1870, and further down the beach the sea covers the site of blocks and lots for which deeds were recorded as late as 1865. Some over- wise people predict that the entire island will be resigned to the waves ere the close of the twentieth century. Like the philosopher Hutton, of the last century, they might as well terrify themselves with the thought that the whole earth must be eventually washed away by the force of the ram, the rivers, and the mountain torrents, until it dissolves itself in the ocean ! The one is about as likely to hap- pen as the other, ?nd eitheridea surpasses in sublimity that of the chicken hearted damsel of antiquity who wept herself into a fountain, or of the good dame of Narbonne, described by Washington Irving, who was required to peel five hun- dred thousand ropes of onions, and who actually ran out at her eyes before half the task was accomplished. The story is ridiculous, but not more so than the idea that this isle, whereon now stands the famous city of Atlantic City, must one day be washed away by the sea. Amusements. — Places of amusement are as follows . Music Hall, Atlantic Avenue above Tennessee; Applegate's Pier, foot of Tennessee Avenue; Iron Pier, foot of Massachusetts Avenue ; Howard's Ocean Pier, foot of Kentucky Avenue; Schaufler's Garden, North Carolina Avenue; Albrecht's Garden, At- lantic below Illinois Avenue; Virginia Opera Garden, Virginia below Atlantic Avenue; City Hall, Tennessee and Atlantic Avenues. Area of the City. — The area of Atlantic City does not cover the entire island, as s )me suppose. It extends from Absecon Inlet to what is known as Dry Inlet, a distance of about four miles, with a width varying from half to three- quarters of a mile. Armory. — The armory of the Sea-Coast Artillery, National Guards of the State of New Jersey, is on the second floor of the City Hall, corner Atlantic and Tennessee Avenues. That of the Morris Guards is on New York Avenue, be- tween Atlantic and Pacific. Artesian "Well. — A syndicate of local capitalists having sunk an artesian 117 1 1 8 Hand-Book of Atlantic City. well at Arctic and Michigan Avenues, have organized the Consumers' Water Company, with the view of supplying the city with pure spring water. The depth of the well is 1,150 feet. Ashes. — There is no city ordinance providing for the removel of ashes, although there should be. Most cottagers and boarding-house keepers store them in their yards during the winter and have them removed at their own cost when accumulated. Atlantic City National Bank. — The safest and most convenient shape in which the traveler to the seashore can place his money before leaving home is in the form of letters of credit or circular notes, payable at a local banking institu- tion. In Atlantic City there are two national banks where letters of credit may be made payable — the Atlantic City National Bank and the Second National Bank. The former occupies an imposing brick building at the corner of Atlantic and North Carolina Avenues, one square from the depot. It began business May 23d, 1 88 1, with a capital of fifty thousand dollars, and is regarded as one of the strongest banking institutions in the country, having a surplus nearly equal to its capital stock, besides paying annual dividends of eight per cent. The building is fully equipped with all the best appliances for the banking business and is very carefully and prudently managed. The President is Mr. Charles Evans, and the Cashier is Mr. Francis P. Quigley, with a Board of nine Directors. Atlantic Coast Resorts. — See map at the close of this Hand-Book. Atlantic Safe Deposit and Trust Company. — This institution was or- ganized in 1887, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars. It is located in the Second National Bank building, and acts as executor, administrator, guardian or trustee, and receives and executes trusts of every description from the courts, corporations, and individuals. Colonel Daniel Morris is President, and Lorenzo A. Down Secretary and Treasurer. Attorneys-at-Law. — Joseph Thompson, Real Estate and Law Building; Allen B. Endicott, Real Estate and Law Building; August Stephany, Real Estate and Law Building; Samuel E. Perry, 1803 Atlantic Avenue; James B. Nixon, Real Estate and Law Building; S. D. Hoffman, Virginia below Atlantic Avenue; Charles A. Baake, Real Estate and Law Building; George T. Ingham, Real Estate and Law Building; John Stille, Atlantic above Kentucky. Author, Poet and Statesman. — Atlantic City has never been the home of a prince, but she can boast of her poet, her author and her statesman. The pioneer poetess was Mrs. Rachel Rhodes, whose husband was the first alderman of the place. She came to this city before the completion of the railroad, and died here about 1874. She was the author of a novel entitled Zuleika, and of a volume of poems which gained some celebrity. The poetess of the present day is Mrs. Sara Louisa Oberholtzer, whose summer home is at Longport, She has written a number of works of prose and poetry, published by Lippincott, among which are Violet Lee^ Come for Arbutus, Hope's Heart Bells and Daisies of Verse. Her winter home is at Norristown, Pa. Rev. William Aikman, D. D., Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of this city, is an author of some note, having written several works of fiction, besides numerous pamphlets and religious essays. Two of his best works are, A Bache- lor'' s Idea of Married Life and Life at Home. The works of Dr. Aikman and of Mrs. Oberholtzer are sold at the bookstore of J. H. Wolsieffer. The statesman of Atlantic City is Hon. John J. Gardner, whom Historian English calls "the bare-foot boy." He is the architect of his own fortune, and his life is a splendid illustration of the possibilities which lie in the pathway of every ambitious and industrious young man. He is now serving his fourth term Meuioranda for Visitors. 119 as a member of the New Jersey State Senate, of which he is the recognized leader, and of which he was President in 1883. Avenues. — The streets of Atlantic City are designated as avenues, the dis- tinctive names of the cross avenues being derived from the various States, begin- ning with Maine and ending with Iowa. The other avenues, running parallel with the ocean, are Pacific Avenue, sixty feet wide ; Atlantic Avenue, one hundred feet; Arctic Avenue, sixty feet; Baltic, Mediterranean, Adriatic, and Caspian — the three last not being laid out. Of the cross avenues, Virginia (as far as Atlantic), Pennsylvania and North Carolina are each eighty feet wide, and each of the others fifty feet. There are other avenues running parallel with •the cross avenues, the principal one being States Avenue, which is ninety feet in width. Atlantic Avenue being the dividing line, the cross avenues are desig- nated East and West, as E. Pennsylvania, W. Pennsylvania. The intermediate avenues are as follows: Belmont Avenue (width, fifty feet), south from Pacific to the ocean, below California. Church Alley, north from Atlantic to Baltic, between Massachusetts and Con- necticut. Congress Avenue, south from Atlantic to Pacific, above Connecticut. Folsom Avenue, north from Arctic to Baltic, above Vermont. Fox Avenue, west from Ohio Avenue to Michigan, between Arctic and Baltic. Garfield Avenue, east from Ohio to Indiana, above Arctic. Irving Avenue (width, forty feet), south from Arctic to Camden and Atlantic Railroad, between Vermont and Rhode Island. New Street, west from Connecticut, between Arctic and Baltic. Norris Street, east from Tennessee Avenue to South Carolina Avenue, between Arctic and Baltic. Ocean Avenue (width, thirty feet), south from Pacific to the ocean, between South Carolina and Tennessee Avenues. Oriental Avenue (width, sixty feet), east from Connecticut to Rhode Island, below Pacific. Park Place (width, sixty feet), south from Pacific to the ocean, below Indiana. Presbyterian Avenue, south from Arctic to Pacific, above Pennsylvania. Railroad Avenue, northeast from South Carolina to North Carolina, above Atlantic. Riddle Avenue (width, thirty feet), south from Atlantic to Pacific, below Florida. Surf Avenue, south from Arctic to Atlantic, above Illinois. Surf Place (width, thirty feet), south from Atlantic to Pacific, above Illinois. Westminster Place, east and south from Kentucky Avenue, below Pacific. Wood Street, south from Pacific, above Massachusetts. Banks. — Atlantic City National Bank, corner Atlantic and North Carolina Avenues. Capital, fifty thousand dollars. Second National Bank, corner Atlantic and New York Avenues. Capital, one hundred thousand dollars. Merchants' Bank, Atlantic Avenue, above Illinois. Capital, fifty thousand dol- lars. Atlantic Safe Deposit and Trust Company, corner Atlantic and New York Avenues. Capital, one hundred thousand dollars. Baptist Church. — This edifice was completed in July, 1882, and is a neat structure, capable of seating about four hundred. The seats are arranged in amphitheatre style. See " Churches." Barnegat. — Barnegat, a Dutch name, formerly written '' Barendegat," mean- ing dangerous breakers, is the name of a bay and inlet on the New Jersey coast. 1 20 Hand-Book of Atlantic City. about midway between Sandy Hook and Cape May, a village of the same name being situated some three miles up a creek which empties into Barnegat Bay. The place is a prize for fishermen — so much so, indeed, that the first bluefish that pushes into Barnegat — generally near the end of May — is the subject of a formal Associated Press dispatch, and is an honored arrival, very much as the first cargo of tea from China that reaches London, or the first bale of cotton from the South. Bathing. — The following rules about bathing should be carefully observed by those who indulge in the surf bath. The timorous soul, who is afraid her bathing robes will get wet, and who " lin- gers, shivering on the brink," instead of skipping right into the breakers, will derive but little benefit from the bath. The man who is afraid to wet his head had better stay on dry land. The surf will do him little good. Before bathing in the surf walk briskly up and down the beach for ten minutes. If you wear any lacing around your chest, throw it off and let your lungs have a chance for all the air they can take in. Throw your shoulders back, straighten your back-bone, and keep your chin up and your head erect. Don't exercise until you are weary or are in a perspiration, but just until you are in a healthy glow. Now bounce into the surf with a hop, skip, and a jump, and put your head under the water, without stopping to think too long about it. Now dance, leap, tumble, swim, float, kick, or make any other motions that seem good to you. Keep in motion. Put your head under as often as you please. After the first time there is no unpleasant shock connected with this performance. Don't swim far out, even if you are a good swimmer. The good swimmers are generally the ones who go out and are drowned. They pride themselves on their ability to swim in to shore, and they forget the power and the deceitfulness of the waves. If your teeth are of the kind which did not grow in your mouth, beware lest a wave knock them out. The waves of the sea are no respecters of sham ivories. Don't bathe immediately after a full meal. Let at least an hour elapse. But if you are to take an early morning bath eat a few crackers before leaving the house to go down to the surf. On coming out, run up and down the beach as briskly as before. If the sun is shining and not too hot, sit down on the beach and rest a little while. The following are five good rules for bathers: 1. When suffering from violent excitement do not bathe. 2. When suftering from suddenly occurring, or from continued illness, do not bathe. 3. After sleepless nights, or excessive exercise, do not bathe, unless you first rest a few hours. 4. After meals, and especially after taking alcoholic liquors, do not bathe. 5. Do not remain too long in the water, especially if not very robust. Bathing Rates, Etc. — Hot sea-water baths, fifty cents— three tickets for one dollar; surf-baths, with bathing suits, twenty-five cents; surf baths with your own bathing suit, fifty cents per week. Battery. — Battery A, Sea Coast Artillery, has a fine equipment of muskets belonging to the National Guard of the State. An equipment of artillery guns is promised at some future time. The commanding officer is Colonel James Brady. Board of Education. — This is an organized board of officers appointed by the City Council to conduct the affairs of the public schools of the city. They elect or appoint the public school teachers. Board of Health. — This body, composed of seven citizens, maintains a careful watch over the sanitary condition of Atlantic City. The President of the Memoranda for Visitors. 121 Board is George F. Currie, and the Secretary Dr. M. D. Youngman. William Read is the Health Inspector. They meet every Thursday evening in the Coun- cil Chamber. Board of Trade, — This Association, organized in March, 1886, has for its objects the promotion of trade, the encouragement of intercourse among business men, the diffusion of information concernng the trade, manufactures, and other interests of Atlantic City, and the promotion and development of the hotel, board- ing-house, commercial, industrial and other interests of Atlantic City. George W. Sheppard is President, and Alfred M. Heston, Secretary. Their meetings are held in the Council Chamber. Board of Underwriters. — This is composed principally of the special agents of the various fire insurance companies doing business in Atlantic City. They meet in Atlantic City once a year, generally in July. The Secretary is W. C. Goodrich, 403 Walnut Street, Philadelphia. Boarding-Houses. — Atlantic City abounds in boarding-houses, many of which are of a high grade and elegantly appointed. The inquiring stranger is referred for information concerning them to the advertising pages of this Hand- Book. Boardwalk. — See description in "Around and About." Boating Clubs.— See " Clubs." Boats for Hire. — At boat-houses on the Thoroughfare, according to size of boat and number of persons, from twenty-five cents to one dollar per hour. Bradford. — This is the family name of four brothers who have distinguished themselves in saving lives on the beach front of Atlantic City. They constituted what was known as the Bradford Life Guards. The first of these life guards was organized by Captain Paul Boynton in 1872. Of the Bradfords, only one of the four brothers, " Ned," is now living. Michael, the third brother, and most heroic of them all, died at Jefferson Medical Hospital, in Philadelphia, on November 23d, 1887. The Bradfords were born in Pittsburg, where they began the work of saving the lives of drowning people on the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers. From Pittsburg they came to Atlantic City, making it for several years their winter as well as their summer home. The first evidence of bravery shown by " Mike " here was on the night of August i8th, 1879, when a furious storm raged in front of the city. In the midst of this storm the schooner Flora Curtis was sighted near the inlet, shortly afterward coming ashore opposite the foot of Rhode Island Avenue. She was blown down the beach to a point off North Carolina Avenue, where she tossed about in waves which deluged her decks and sent their foam high into the rigging. But four men could be seen on board, two of whom were clinging to the ratlings, another was on the cross trees of the foremast, and another lay upon the end of the bowsprit. Darkness was creeping upon the scene, and the tide rose higher and higher, driving the crowd back from the beach and washing the boardwalk away. When the tide fell, a bonfire was kindled upon the beach, which illuminated the sea sufficiently to make the Curtis plainly visible a little further down the beach. All this time no one dared to venture out to the vessel. Shortly after midnight, however, Michael Bradford, accompanied by three other men, named Owens, Livingstone, and Donnelly, resolved to brave the storm and go to the relief of the sailors. It was a hard row, and the light boat was broken to pieces just as the men reached the grounded schooner. They found the crew on deck in a cold and half-famished condition. Having no means of getting back, they were obliged to remain on board the vessel. At two o'clock that night the Government life-savers went to their rescue, and all aboard the Curtis were taken safely ashore. For this act of bravery Bradford was awarded a gold medal by the Government. A few years 122 Hand- Book of Atlantic City, ago the eldest of the Bradfords died of paralysis, the result of exposure in the surf, and about two years later the second eldest died of the same disease. *' Mike" and the remaining brother, " Ned," continued their heroic but unprofit- able calling until the former was stricken with the fever which ended in his death. Of the famous four, Edward is now left. Brigantine Beach, — See chapter on '' Around and About." Building Associations. — Atlantic City has two prosperous building associa- tions, the Atlantic City and People's. They are in practice better than savings institutions, as they induce men to lay by a certain sum monthly, with the object of paying for a house. In most cases the investment is successful, and the careful workman or storekeeper secures a home for his family in a few years. Carriages. — Atlantic City is abundantly supplied with carriages or hacks, for which there is a schedule of charges, as follows : Carriages with two horses, with driver, one dollar and fifty cents per hour ; carriage with two horses, with- out driver, two dollars per hour ; phaeton with one horse, without driver, one dollar per hour; cart with one horse, without driver, one dollar and fifty cents per hour ; saddle horse, one dollar per hour; carriages to or from railroad depot (one or two persons), distance one mile, fifty cents ; additional passenger, twenty- five cents; more than a mile (one or two persons), not exceeding two miles, one dollar ; additional passenger, twenty-five cents ; street cars and omnibuses from Inlet to Excursion House, along Atlantic Avenue, six cents. In calculating dis- tances it is customary to make ten squares a mile. Catholic Church. — St. Nicholas' Roman Catholic Church was built in 1856 on Atlantic Avenue, near Tennessee. In the spring of 1887 the building was removed to its present location on Pacific Avenue, near Tennessee, many changes and improvements being made. St. Monica's Church is a new edifice, dedicated in 1886, at the corner of At- lantic and Texas Avenues. See " Churches." Cemeteries. — There are no cemeteries in Atlantic City, but it must not be inferred from this that no one ever dies here. There are occasional deaths, the bodies being removed to the nearest cemetery at Pleasantville or to more distant places. Charitable Institutions. — Children's Seashore House, at the ocean end of Ohio Avenue. See description in " Around and About." Gurney Cottage, a sanitarium for the treatment of nervous affections and mild cases of mental disease, under the care of the Managers of the Friends' Asylum, at Frankford, Philadelphia. It is situated on Virginia Avenue, below Pacific, and is well adapted to care for such cases as it designs to receive. Mercer Memorial Home for Invalid Women, Pacific Avenue, corner of Ohio. See description in " Around and About." Charities. — See chapter on '' Institutions for the Afflicted." Churches. — There are fourteen churches in Atlantic City, of which two are Presbyterian, two Methodist, two Protestant Episcopal, two Roman Catholic, one Baptist, one Friends, one Methodist Protestant, two colored Methodist, and one colored Baptist. The names and locations are as follows : First Presbyterian Church, corner Pacific and Pennsylvania Avenues; Rev. William Aikman, D. D,, Pastor. Morning service at 10.30, Church of the Ascension (Episcopal), corner of Kentucky and Pacific Ave- nues ; Rev. Wm. Avery, Rector. Litany and sermon at 11. St, James' P, E. Church, corner Pacific and North Carolina Avenues; no regu- lar Pastor. Morning service at 10.30. St. Nicholas' (Roman Catholic), Pacific Avenue, below Tennessee; Rev. J. Me?no7'a7ida for Visitors. 123 J. Fedigan, O. S. A,, Pastor. Every Sunday and Holy Day, Mass; June, 6.30 and 9..^o ; July and August, 5.30, 6 30, 8.30, 9.30; rest of year, 7.30 and 9.30. St. Monica (Roman Catholic), Atlantic Avenue, belov^^ Texas; Rev. J, J. Fedi- gan, Pastor. First M.E. Church, Atlantic Avenue, below Massachusetts; Rev. J. A. Dilks, Pastor. Morning service at 10.30. St. Paul's M. E. Church, corner of Ohio and Arctic Avenues; Rev. C. K. Fleming, Pa^-tor. Morning service at 10.30. First Baptist Church, Pacific Avenue, below Pennsylvania; Rev. William E. Boyle, Pastor. Morning service at 10.30. German Presbyterian Church, corner Pacific and Ocean Avenues ; Rev. Paul H. Schnatz, Pastor. Morning service at 10.30. Friends' Meeting-House, corner of Pacific and South Carolina Avenues. Methodist Protestant Church, corner Baltic and Michigan Avenues. Morning service at 10.30. Colored Methodist Church, corner New York and Arctic Avenues ; also Ohio Avenue above Atlantic. Colored Baptist Church, Arctic, between Delaware and Maryland Avenues. The hour of evening service at the different churches varies according to the time of the year. City Hall. — This building is situated at the corner of Atlantic and Tennessee Avenues. It comprises also a jail and Council Chamber. The Mayor's office and police headquarters are in this building. Clergymen. — Rev. Dr. William Aikman (Presbyterian), 120 States Avenue ; Rev. J. J. Fedigan (Catholic), corner Tennessee and Pacific Avenues ; Rev. William H. Avery (Episcopal), 28 Kentucky Avenue; Rev. William E. Boyle (Baptist), 28 Surf Place ; Rev. Joseph A. Dilks (Methodist), 30 North Delaware Avenue. Clubs. — Bay View Club, house at Longport; Independent Bay Club, South Atlantic City ; Kensington Bay Club, South Atlantic City ; Knickerbocker Club, 1803 Atlantic Avenue, house near Higbee's Bridge; Owl Boat Club, South At- lantic City ; West Side Club, Higbee's Bridge, on Thoroughfare ; Higbee Fish- ing Club, Higbee's Bridge, on Thoroughfare ; Ours Boat Club, house on Thor- oughfare. Cost of Living. — While the price of board at the hotels and boarding- houses is somewhat cheaper than at other resorts, the expense of housekeeping in Atlantic City does not vary much from that of other cities. Rents are moderate, and articles of food are about the same as elsewhere, excepting fish and oysters, which are much lower. Vegetables, melons, meats, groceries, etc., are no higher here than in Philadelphia or New York. As in other cities, if one intends spending a whole or a portion of the year here, it is better to rent a cottage, but if the stay is to be brief, the comforts of a home can always be had at any of the numerous hotels or boarding-houses. Council. — The legislative body of Atlantic City is known as the City Council, and is composed of nine members, besides the alderman, who is also an ex-officio member of Council. Meetings are held every other Monday even- ing, in the Council Chamber, City Hall. The Clerk's office adjoins the Council Chamber. County Courts. — These are held at May's Landing, in the early part of April, September and December, under the direction of one justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, Judge Alfred Reed, and three associate or lay judges, Judges Cordery, Byrnes and Scull. The sessions generally last from one to two weeks. The prosecutor of the pleas or district attorney is Joseph Thompson, Esq. 124 Hand- Book of Atlantic City. County Prison. — This is located at the county seat, May's Landing, where the Sheriff" also has his home. The County Clerk and Surrogate have offices ad- joining the Court-House. Death-Rate. — The deaths in Atlantic City during the year 1887 numbered two hundred and thirty-two, of whom one hundred and twenty-seven were resi- dents and one hundred and seven non-residents. The death-rate per one thousand among residents is 12.5, which is lower than that of any other city in the country, excepting Ashtabula, Ohio, which reports a death rate of 12,0 — a trifle less than that of Atlantic City. The non-resident deaths are not taken into account in calculating the death-rate of a city. In relation to the resident death-rate Dr. M. D. Youngman, Secretary of the Board of Health, says that thirty per cent, of the number were buried either in remote parts of the State or in other States, showing that they or their friends were only temporary residents, and yet claimed residence here and intended living here while the boarding-house business paid, or while they found employment as waiters, or as long as their health was conserved. A considerable percentage of these residents were colored, the majority being children. Colored people come here for the purpose of doing laundry work and waiting, and their children are bottle-fed and neglected. The mortality is therefore very great among them in consequence. Many of these people are of a roving disposition and stay here part of the year and go elsewhere the remainder, or they come and stay a year or two, and this constitutes their residence here. As elsewhere stated, many of our per- manent residents are impaired lives, persons who maintain a permanency of resi- dence here because they cannot live elsewhere on account of some impairment of health. The local death-rate from acute diseases is very low. Of the non-resi- dents the great majority are chronic invalids, many of them being in the city but a few days or even hours when they die. This is the case very frequently with children in the hot season. Drainage.— See " Water Supply and Drainage." Drives. — Beach drive, at low tide, ten miles ; to Longport or Great Egg Harbor Inlet, eight miles ; the Elephant or South Atlantic City, five miles ; Absecon Inlet and Lighthouse, two miles ; Pacific Avenue drive, three miles to Chelsea. It is intended soon to extend this last drive to Longport, thus making its entire length ten miles. Educational. — Besides the four public schools of Atlantic City there is another private academy on Pennsylvania Avenue, below Atlantic, of which Rev. James G. Shinn, A. M., a Presbyterian clergyman, is principal. It is designed for young men and boys, young ladies and girls, and the pupils receive that careful and thorough training which will fit them for active business or entrance into the most advanced colleges. Professor Shinn was for several years principal of an English classical and mathematical academy in Philadelphia, and afterward of a boarding-school at Waterford, N. J. He has had large expe- rience as an educator, and is highly recommended by leading instructors through- out the country, including the President and Faculty of Lafayette College, the Faculty of Princeton College, and members of the Faculty of the University of Pennsylvania. His terms for boarding or day pupils are quite reasonable. Two ladies of experience, formerly residents of Baltimore, are conducting a private boarding and day school on Virginia Avenue. The teaching is of a very admirable character, and the moral and religious tone the best. Electric Light.— See '' Light." Fire Department.— Chief, Charles S. Lackey; Assistants, P. F. Hagan and Isaac C. Covert. United States Fire Company, No. i ; rear of City Hall. Organized 1874. Memoranda for Visitors. 125 Atlantic Fire Company, No. 2; Missouri Avenue, above Atlantic. Organized June 15th, 1882. Neptune Hose Company, No. i ; Atlantic Avenue, above Connecticut. Or- ganized October 2d, 1882. Good Will Hook and Ladder Company, No. I ; Arkansas Avenue, between Atlantic and Arctic. Organized January i6th, 1886. First Bath-House. — Long before the building of the railroad the young people of the villages on the mainland used to come to this beach in parties to bathe. They had no bath-house, but went among the sand-hills to disrobe. Ryan Adams, who lived on the island, built for them what he called a bath-house. It was nothing more than a frail inclosure of brush. The first real bath-house of which there is any account was built by Manasa McClees, at the foot of Massa- chusetts Avenue, in 1854. Fishing Clubs. — See '' Clubs." Friends' Meeting-House. — This place of worship was built in 1872, pre- vious to which the meetings of the Society of Friends were held in the school- house on Pennsylvania Avenue for four consecutive summers. See " Churches." Garbage. — All garbage must be deposited in some safe receptacle, to which the garbage gatherer can have access. Garbage is removed every day during the summer, and three times a week during the remainder of the year. The col- lectors are not required to remove garbage mixed with water, broken glass or crockery, etc. Gas.— See " Light." Health Inspector.— This ofhcer, elected by the Board of Health, and under their control, makes frequent inspection of every house and yard in the city to see that the rigid sanitary code of the city is enforced. Hot Baths. — See description in " Around and About." Inlet. — This is a large body of water at the upper end of the island, where sailing and fishing boats in charge of experienced captains can be hired by the day or by the hour. The sail through the bays or out to sea is delightful, and the fishing is generally very good. The rates per hour for parties is twenty-five cents a piece. The yachtsmen are prohibited by law from taking more than thirty pas- sengers at one time. Yachts can be chartered by the day for from five to ten dollars. Journal. — This is the name of a newspaper published in Atlantic City — the oldest in the county. The office is in the Music Hall building, over the Post- Office. It is an eight column, folio paper, and is published every Wednesday, at one dollar per annum. It is distinctively a home paper, and advocates what it conceives to be the interests of Atlantic City. Tiie proprietors are A. M. Hes- ton & Co., who are also the pubhshers of Heston's Illustrated Hand-Book OF Atlantic City. Lawyers and Physicians. — Quaint Gabriel Thomas, in writing of Penn- sylvania and West Jersey in 1698, said : " Of lawyers and physicians I shall say nothing, because this country is very peaceable and healthy. Long may it so con- tinue, and never have occasion for the tongue of the one nor the pen of the other, both equally destructive to men's estates and lives ; besides, forsooth, they, hangman like, have a license to murder and make mischief." Happily, the times have changed since Gabriel blew his intellectual trumpet and wrote his little history. Lawyers and physcians are now quite as necessary in any community as is the merchant, the pedagogue or the preacher. Of lawyers Atlantic City has her share 126 Hand-Book of Atlantic City. of the best, and of physicians there are some who stand at the head of their pro- fession in the State. Light — Gas and Electric. — Atlantic City is lighted with both gas and electricity. The Gas- Works, which were completed in June, 1878, are located on Michigan Avenue, near Arctic, The Company has three forty horse-power boilers and one sixty horse-power boiler, one large gasometer with a capacity of one hundred thousand cubic feet, one with a capacity of fifty thousand, and another of twenty-five thousand. The present capacity of the works is two hundred and fifty thousand cubic feet per day. The consumption of gas has more than doubled since 1883. Connected with the Gas- Works, and operated by the same Company, is an electric arc-light plant, which was established in the summer of 1882. This plant furnishes light for the boardwalk and Atlantic Avenue, besides a number of hotels and public buildings. There are two engines and three boilers, with one hundred and fifty horse- power, and three fifty-light Thompson-Houston dynamos. The city is also supplied with light from the Edison incandescent and arc burners by a company whose works are on Arctic Avenue, near Kentucky. They have four engines, with four hundred horse-power, four boilers, with four hundred horse-power, and eight dynamos capable of supplying five thousand in- candescent and one hundred arc lamps. Merchants' Bank. — Besides the two national banks there is the Merchants' Bank, on Atlantic Avenue, above Illinois, which was chartered under the laws of the State, and began business in July, 1885. The institution does a general banking and safe-deposit business, allows interest on deposits, and issues drafts payable in any part of the world. The business of this bank has shown a steady increase, and it is evidently a fixture in Atlantic City. The Directors are men of well known responsibility, the President being Mr. Robert T. Evard, and the Cashier Mr. O. R. Dunkle. Methodist Church.— The first religious services held in Atlantic City were under the direction of the Methodists. The building was dedicated in 1857 and still stands where originally built, on Atlantic Avenue, below Massachusetts. It has been enlarged and improved, however, and will now seat comfortably sev- eral hundred people. Besides this, the First Methodist Church, there is the St. Paul's M, E. Church, built in 1882, at the corner of Ohio and Arctic Avenues. See " Churches." Military Companies. — Joe Hooker Post, No. 32, G. A. R.; meets the second and fourth Tuesday evening in each month, at Masonic Hall. Colonel H. H. Janeway Camp, No. 11, S. of V. ; meets the first and third Monday evening in each month in Bartlett's Hall. Battery A, Seacoast Artillery, National Guard of New Jersey ; meets every Tuesday evening in the City Hall for drill. Logan Cavalry Cadets ; meets on Thursday evening in room opposite the Read- ing Railroad Depot. Morris Guards (organized March, 1887). This name is in honor of Colonel Daniel Morris, who is one of the oldest residents of the place. It is both a social and military organization, and is intended to be always ready to render any service required of a military company and to officiate at the reception of all organizations visiting the city in a body. Naming the City. — Various names were suggested at the time of the founding of Atlantic City, among which were Ocean City, Sea Beach, Surfing, Strand and Bath, but the directors could not agree upon any of these. In Jan- uary, 1853, at another meeting of the Board, the surveyor, Mr. R. B. Osborne, submitted a map of the proposed "bathing village," on which was engraved in large letters the words "Atlantic City." This title was at once approved by the Memoranda for Visitors. 127 Board, and on that day Atlantic City came into existence on paper. It was incorporated on March 3d, 1854. The cognomen, •' City by the Sea," was given by Abraham Browning, Esq., of Camden, in an after-dinner speech at the United States Hotel, before eight hundred guests of the company, on the opening day, July 1st, 1854. Newspapers, — Atlantic Journal^ published every Wednesday, oldest news- paper in the county (established 1859) ; office, second and third floors of Music Hall; A. M. Heston & Co., proprietors. Atlantic Review, weekly all the year, daily during the summer; John G. Shreve, proprietor. Atlantic Times, weekly all the year, daily during the summer; JoHn F. Hall, proprietor. Physicians. — Leading physicians of Atlantic City are as follows : Dr. T. K. Reed, 24 North Pennsylvania Avenue; Dr. Boardman Reed, corner Pacific and North Carolina Avenues; Dr. M. D. Youngman (homoeopathist). Pacific, above Illinois Avenue ; Dr. John E. Sheppard, corner Pacific and Kentucky Avenues; Dr. E. A. Reiley, Tennessee Avenue, above Pacific; Dr. Rebecca C. Hollpwell, 1 212 Pacific Avenue; Dr. W. M. Pollard, corner Atlantic and Virginia Avenues ; Dr. G. W. Crosby (homoeopathist), 916 Atlantic Avenue; Dr. Julius Kaemmerer, loi South Virginia Avenue. Police Headquarters. — See " City Hall." Population. — The population of Atlantic City has shown a steady increase since 1854, and for the last ten years the average annual rate of increase has been more than ten per cent. In the time of the Revolution the entire island had but ten inhabitants, representing two families. Since 1854 the number of inhabitants has been as follows : 1855 Estimated, 250 1856 " ^ 375 1857 " 400 1858 " 450 1859 " 550 i860 Census, 687 1861 Estimated, 675 1862 " 625 1863 " 650 1864 " 675 1865 Census 74^ 1866 Estimated, 875 1867 " 925 1868 " 950 1869 " 975 1870 Census, 1,043 1 87 1 Estimated, 1,160 1872 Estimated, 1,395 1873 " 1,550 1874 " 1,825 1875 Census, 2,009 1876 Estimated, 2,550 1877 '' 3.100 1878 " 3,600 1879 " 4,225 1880 Census, 5 477 1 88 1 Estimated, 6,125 1882 " 6,625 1883 - 7,225 1884 •* 7,500 1885 Census, 7,942 1886 Estimated, 8,500 1887 9,371 10,000 Post-Office.— The Post-Officeis situated on the first floor of Music Hall, At- lantic Avenue, between Tennessee and South Carolina Avenues. The mails open and close as follows : Mails are generally ready for delivery at 1 1 A. M., 6 and 7 p. M. Mails close at 6.40 and 7.45 A. M. and 3.30 P. M. The Post-Office is open on Sundays from 1 1 to 12 A. M. and from 3 to 4 P. M. The Postmaster isWillard Wright, M. D. In summer eight carriers and in winter four carriers deliver the mail to residents at their cottages or places of business. Presbyterian Church. — There are two churches of this denomination in Atlantic City, the principal one (and perhaps the finest church edifice in the city) being at the corner of Pacific and Pennsylvania Avenues. The building was erected in 1856, enlarged some years later, and very much improved in the spring 128 Hand-Book of Atlantic City. of 1887. The interior is beautifully frescoed, the seats are cushioned, and the church otherwise attractive and comfortable. Its spire is "A pencil on the sky, tracing silently life's changeful story." The German Presbyterian Church was dedicated in 1884. See "Churches." Protestant Episcopal Church.— St. James' P. E. Church was the first of this denomination erected in Atlantic City. It was finished in 1869, and enlarged in February, 1874. The Church of the Ascension, which was completed in 1879, originally stood on Pacific Avenue, below Michigan, but was removed in 1886 to its present location on Kentucky Avenue, near Pacific. See '' Churches." Public Schools of Atlantic City.— The public schools of Atlantic City are four in number, the oldest being at Pennsylvania and Arctic Avenues. The original building was removed during the year 1887, and a new brick building erected on the site at a cost of twenty thousand dollars. It contains twelve rooms. The other buildings are on Indiana Avenue, near Arctic, Texas Avenue and Arctic, and Arctic Avenue, near New Jersey. The Indiana Avenue building has eight departments, the Texas Avenue building four departments, and the New Jersey Avenue building four departments. Atlantic City has accommoda- tions for nearly two thousand children. The improvements to school property in this city during the year 1887 cost about thirty-two thousanddoUars. The buildings are well heated, comfortably furnished, and connected with the sewer system. It has been truly said that no more cogent reason is required to show the sal- ubrity of the climate and the desirability of Atlantic City as an abiding place for all who esteem health a blessing than the number of children born within the island's sandy rim. When the school-bell calls them from home they swarm along the streets as numerous as fiddlers on the margin of a salt pond. Railroad Stations. — West Jersey and Atlantic, South Carolina Avenue, above Atlantic. Camden and Atlantic, South Carolina Avenue, between Atlantic and Arctic. Philadelphia and Atlantic City, Atlantic Avenue, between Arkansas and Mis- souri Avenues. Longport and South Atlantic City, corner Arkansas and Atlantic Avenues. Reading News Company. — This Company controls the distribution of newspapers and periodicals on the Reading Railroad and branches, besides having a number of stands, where the Hand-Book of Atlantic City is always on sale. The headquarters of the Company in Philadelphia is at the Ninth Street Station. The local manager is Mr. Frank Woodward, whose office is in the railroad station. Sea Breezes. — No phenomena connected with the sea is more interesting, or the effect more enjoyable, than the sea-breeze. Its diurnul, unfailing regularity is a wonder and blessing to mankind. It commences to blow about 10 o'clock in the morning and continues throughout the day till late in the evening. It is caused by the alternate unequal distribution of heat upon the land and sea, or the alternate radiation from those surfaces. It is laden with saline particles, pure, refreshing and invigorating, toning up the debilitated system, promoting the ap- petite, and conducing to blissful repose and restorative slumber. The sea-breeze is felt on the coasts of all maritime countries, without which many of them would be uninhabitable. Sea Gulls and Clams. — At times the ocean flows in like a river, leaving a fringe of foam along the beach as it recedes; and again, after a storm, it comes booming in with battling, foaming waves as far as the eye can see. Then the sea gulls gather along the shore, now riding on the waves and now dashing through the spray, now wading in the water and now suddenly rising into the air, and as suddenly dropping on the sand. What is the object of these movements? When Me7?ioranda for Visitors. 129 the waves are high clams are washed up on the beach and left there. They im- mediately put out their little claws and use them as spades to bury themselves from sight and danger. If a gull should approach they close their shells for pro- tection The bird, thus set at defiance, pounces upon the clam, rises with it m the air to the height of thirty or forty feet, and then drops it on the hard sand, when the shell is broken, making it an easy prey for its ravenous enemy. White bird of the tempest; O, beautiful thing! With the bosom of snow, and the motionless wing; Now sweeping the billow, now floating on high, Now bathing thy plumes in the light of the sky ; Now poising o'er ocean thy delicate form ; Now breasting the surge with thy bosom so warm. Second National Bank.— The Second National Bank began business Tanuarv i ;, 1887, with a capital of $100,000. A massive brick and stone build- ing of unique design, was erected at the corner of New York and Atlantic Ave- nue's This bank began business with every promise of soon becoming another of the foremost banking institutions of the State. It is managed by a Board ot thirteen Directors, with Mr. George F. Currie as President, and Mr. J. G. Ham- mer as Cashier, Secret Societies.— There are a number of secret and other societies in this city of which the following is believed to be a complete list : Trinity Lodge, No. 79, F. and A. M. ; meets first and third Tuesday evenings in Masonic Hall, Atlantic, above North Carolina Avenue. , tt iwi, American Star Encampment, No. 8, I. O. O. F.; meets in Bartlett s Hall the first and third Monday evening in each month. . American Star Lodge, No. 148, L O. O. F. ; meets on Thursday evenmgs in Masonic Hall. , . • •», > tj n Atlantic Lodge, No. 5, I. O. M. ; meets on Thursday evening in Mason s Hall. Seaside Division, No. 142, S. of T. ; meets on Tuesday evenings m Bartlett s Atlantic City Council, No. 478, Royal Arcanum, meets on first and third Friday in each month in Bartlett's Hall. j .u- j t- j„„ Atlantic City Council, No. 45, Sons of Progress ; meets first and third Tuesday evenings in each month in Mason's Hall. . . n, , tt 11 Webster Lodge, No. 92, K. of P. ; meets Wednesday evenings in Mason s Hall. Pequod Tribe, No. 47, I. O. R. M. ; meets on Friday evemngs in Masonic Ocean Castle, No. il. Knights of the Golden Eagle; meets on Monday even- ings in Masonic Hall. ^ , • • Al Ocean Commandery, No. 3, K. G. E. ; meets on Tuesday evenings in Al- brecht's Hall. ,,.,>, , cc Fireman's Relief Association ; meets monthly in the Mayor s office Women's Christian Temperance Union ; meets every Thursday afternoon in Keystone Hall, Indiana and Atlantic Avenues. . , ^ l,. Atlantic Circle, No. 12, Ladies of the Grand Array of the Republic ; meets on the first and third Friday evenings of each month in Bartlett's Hall. Lyra Singing Society ; meets at Exchange Place, on South Carolina Avenue, on Wednesday evenings. ^ •, i.t * ^ American Legion of Honor, George F. Currie Council, No. 1075 ; meets over Wolsieffer's store on the second and fourth Wednesday evening of each month. Ocean Spray Lodge, No. 20, M. L. ; meets every Tuesday evening m Bart- ^AUantic Lodge, No. 10, A. O. U. W. ; meets in Bartlett's Hall on the first and third Wednesday evenings of each month. , Branch No. 223, Order of Iron Hall; meets over 1022 Atlantic Avenue, on the second and fourth Tuesday evenings of each month. 130 Hand-Book of Atlantic City. Signal Service. — See chapter on "Around and About" in this Hand- Book. Signal Station. — See description in ^'Around and About." Storm Scenes. — Nowhere else on the coast of this country can an ocean storm be seen to better advantage than in Atlantic City, and one who has looked upon Old Ocean during a nor'easter, with the surf rolling in grandly, under and beyond the boardwalk, has learned something of the forces of Nature, and witnessed her tragic performance in a theatre whose resources are grand beyond the power of man to describe. Streets. — See "Avenues," Telegraph Companies. — The offices of the Western Union Telegraph Company are as follows : Main office, Atlantic Avenue, above Pennsylvania, open from 7.30 to 10 p. M. There is also an office at the Hotel Brighton for the ex- clusive use of the guests at this house, which is open from 8 A. M. to 8 P. M., and on Sundays from 8 to 9 A. M., i to 2 P. M., and 5 to 6 p. M. The telegraph facilities of Atlantic City are inadequate to the needs of the place. Telephone Office. — Second story of Bank Building, corner of Atlantic and North Carolina Avenues. Open day and night. Connections with all parts of the city, the principal hotels, Longport, Brigantine, Philadelphia, and other cities. Thoroughfare. — See description in "Around and About." Union News Company. — This Company controls the distribution of the newspapers and periodicals on the West Jersey and Camden and Atlantic Rail- roads, besides having a number of stands throughout the city, where the Hand- Book OF Atlantic City is always on sale. The headquarters of the Company is in Philadelphia, adjoining the Broad Street Station. The local manager is Mr. Michael Sweeney, whose office is in the depot building. Vital Statistics. — The Board of Health has general charge of the vital statistics, and the Secretary forwards an annual return of the number of deaths, both resident and non-resident, to the State Board of Health. See " Death Rate" and chapter on " Mortuary Statistics." Volunteer Life Guards. — Bradford's, on beach, between New York and Indiana Avenues; Rutter Brothers, on beach, foot of States Avenue; Charles E. Clark, on the beach, above Missouri Avenue ; J. W. Langley, on beach, below Missouri Avenue. Water Supply and Drainage. — Atlantic City now has a two-fold water supply. Many houses have cemented cisterns or wooden tanks in which water distilled from the clouds is preserved pure and sweet for use when required. When carefully kept, and especially when filtered, rainwater is entirely reliable, and usually affijrds an adequate supply for drinking and culinary purposes. But water-works of the most elaborate character were built, and spring water intro- duced from the mainland, seven miles distant, in June, 1882. A standpipe one hundred and thirty-five feet high, having a capacity of five hundred thousand gal- lons, insures at all times an abundant supply for every purpose, including the sprinkling of streets and extinguishing of fires. This place promises to be hereafter the best drained city on the Atlantic coast. Years ago provision was made for getting rid of the surface water, and since the compulsory filling up of low lots, there has been little ground for complaint in this respect. All garbage has long been and still is removed daily in closely covered barrels. Other refuse and excreta have for some years past been stored tempo- rarily in carefully constructed vaults with excellent ventilating arrangements, and removed at frequent intervals beyond the city limits during the latter part of the night by odorless excavating apparatus. An improved system of underground Memoranda for Visitors. 131 sewerage, adopted by the Board of Health and City Council after a very careful study of various rival plans, is now in successful operation. "Water Works, — The Atlantic City Water Works are situated on the main- land, near Pleasantville, six miles from the city, the water supply being obtained from a stream of spring water in the vicinity, augmented by a system of wells, numbering over one hundred. The company has a secondary pumping station near Absecon, supplied from a pond in the vicinity, which is used during the summer months only. Its engine power or pumping capacity is one million five hundred thousand gallons every twenty-four hours, while that of the main pump- ing station is eight million gallons. The water is conveyed through two lines of pipe laid across the meadows to the standpipe at Baltic and Ohio Avenues, the capacity of which is five hundred thousand gallons. The consumption of water last year in Atlantic City was over two hundred and fifty million (250,000,000) gallons. The present year will show a large increase in the consumption. The President of the Company is Walter Wood, of Philadelphia. Mr. George T. Prince is Superintendent, A syndicate composed of leading citizens has sunk an artesian well at Arctic and Michigan Avenues with a view of supplying the city with water. The pipes are down to a depth of eleven hundred and fifty feet, and there is a large flow of pure water. Whales. — The journals of the old navigators refer to great numbers of whales found along the entire Jersey coast. The first white inhabitants of this island were doubtless whalers or whalemen from Long Island. The capturing of the great aquatic mammal to secure the " oyle and bone" was profitable in those days, whales being so numerous that nothing more than small boats were neces- sary. The houses of the whalemen were generally on the beaches, where they had their apparatus for securing the oil and places for storing the bone. It is recorded that about eighty-five years ago an immense whale stranded on the bar and was towed into the inlet. Less than fifty years ago a smaller whale came ashore on " Point of Beach," and portions of the skeleton were washed out twenty years ago by a storm tide. On February 2d, 1887, a grampus whale was captured at the lower end of the city, the receding tide having left it in a shallow washout on the beach, from which it was unable to escape. It was killed by Stacy Mason and William Timson, and being purchased by Joseph Fralinger, it was exhibited for several weeks at the foot of South Carolina Avenue. It was a female, measuring twelve feet in length and weighing twelve hundred pounds. Concerning this curiosity. Prof, Angelo Heilprin, of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, wrote to the Public Ledger of that city as follows : " It is a form practically unknown on this side of the Atlantic, and, indeed, as far as I have been able to determine, one which has never before been noted as occurring on the American coast. It is the variety known to naturalists as Grampus Risso- afius, Risso's dolphin, a form peculiar to the Mediterranean and adjoining seas, and first described in 1812. The animal is apparently of full size, and is readily distinguished from other allied cetacian forms by the peculiar slaty lines which traverse the body in all directions. Its occurrence on our coast is an interesting feature in geographical distribution and proves the impracticability of drawing sharp lines of demarkation in the delimitation of marine faunas." This whale was also exhibited in Philadelphia, and was pronounced a rare curiosity by lead- ing naturalists of New York, Philadelphia and Washington. It was subsequently preserved by a taxidermist. Yachtmen's Association. — The yachtmen of Atlantic City organized an Association for mutual protection in 1884. The membership is about one hun- dred, and includes most of those who are the owners or masters of yachts at the Inlet. A State law prohibits the yachtmen from carrying more than thirty pas- sengers on a single yacht at one time. Atlantic City flotels. ROBABLY no city in the country has as many hotels and boarding-houses as At- lantic City, and, while we have much pride and satis- faction in the fact that this is a thriving city of ten thousand permanent inhabitants, it is as a cosmopolitan winter and sum- mer resort for invalids and pleasure-seekers that the place is most widely known. Be- ginning more than a decade ago, Atlantic City has become known no less as a fashionable place of refuge from the pierc- ing cold of winter, than as a cool retreat from the swelter- ing heat of summer, and this result is due, first, to the attrac- tions and benefits of the climate, which is warmer than that of Charleston in winter and cooler than that of Boston in summer, and, secondly, to the capacity, elegance, and extent of her hotels. In fact, the hotels and boarding-houses of Atlantic City are a significant feature of its desirable qualities. It can truly be said of this place, as of no other resort on the coast, that of hotels there is *' near a whole city full." A number of these houses take rank with the first-class hotels of the country. Many of them are open throughout the year, and are thoroughly adapted for winter and spring, as well as for summer use. Besides those enumerated below, there are in Atlantic City dozens of other smaller hotels and boarding-houses which, in summer, devote their surplus rooms and best attention to guests, and the excellent accommodations thus afforded are much appreciated by those who visit the City by the Sea. The fact that, com- pared with the practices which obtain at most watering places on the coast, the cost of summering here seems insignificant, doubtless has much weight with those who do not care to spend a year's earnings for a month's summering. 132 Hind Book of Atlantic Citi. ILLUSTRATED. "An Excellent Account of Atlaniic City's Many Attractions." Its handy torm, large type, ana correct maps are meritorious points. And a table of hotel rates and capacity are other good features.— Evening Post, New York. The compiler is to be commended for providing the public with such a meritorious compendium oi information about one of the most popular American seaside resorts.— Baltimore Americas. It Is elegantly and carefully gotten up, and is a complete guide to places of interest, besides containing nmch other valuable information.— Bridgeton Chi'onicle. It Is a complete and creditable production. I*^ gives a remarkable and interesting amount of information about that place of varied attractions —Trenton State Gazette. It is a book of 175 pages of information to those contemplating a trip to the charming city by the sea, and a pleasant reminder to those who have ah-eady enjoyed the treat. It is a practical and reliable guide book.— Mount Holly Mirror. Mr. A. M. Ileston's Illustrated Hand Book of Atlantic City is out betimes with all its pristine completeness and attractiveness. It is a capital guide book.— Newark Daily Advertiser. It has a great deal of valuable and useful infor- mation between its covers; treats upon all the topics of the city and tells the prices of board, ca- pacity of hotels and many other things the visitor wants to know before leaving home.— Doylestown Intelligencer. The cover is refreshing In Itself, and we predlc' for the book a large sale and wide appreciation, as it contains just what people most wish to know, told in a blight and brezzy yet concise manner. Readers cannot but enjoy it, and in their hearts thank the author.— Home Journal, New York. It is one of the most valuable and attractive books of its kind that have yet been published.— Boston Com-ier. It is replete with facts and Information with which every visitor should make himself acquain- ted respecting the most popular watering place in the country.— Camden Democrat. It is brimful of interesting facts about the City by the Sea— its historv. various points of Interest, the rates of different hotels, and maps showing the entire plan of the city and the location of all •Cue resorts along the Jersey coast.— West Jersey ) T' S'-% It is handsomely printed. Is nued with valuable information, and is a reliable guide to every place of interest.-' i^hiladelphia Evening Telegraph. It contains an excellent map ot Atlantic City on the front, showing the location of hotels, public buildings, railroad depots, prominent cottages, etc., and at the end is a map of Kew Jersey, showing routes to Atlantic City and other great resorts on the coast. There are many new illustrations, some of which are very fine, being drawn expressly for this work.— Bridgeton Dally Star. It is admirably written, and the author appar- ently covers everything of interest peitaining to Atlantic City.— \Voodbm-y Constitution. The book Is profusely Illustrated, and the letter-press, paper and typographical taste are all in keeping with the excellence and variety of the contents.— Cape May Gazette. Atlantic City will never know how great it really is until it reads this book.— Philadelphia inquirer. It is a very Interesting and authentic little volume.— Mount Holly News. It wlU be of special value to all who visit the seashore. It contains a complete map of the city, description of the leading hotels, a compre- hensive description oi; the city, its advantages and environments, and is superbly Illustrated.— West Chester Republican. It is profusely illustrated and contains a mass of inlonr.ation of special ihterest to the visltoi-s to Atlantic City.— Monmouth Democrat. It is profusely illustrated and the publication Is a credit to Atlantic City.— Salem South Jei-seyman. The work contains a vast amount of valuable iniormation, calculated to aid the tourist and summer watering-place hunter. It also gives a complete history of the rise and progress of this now famous seaside resort.— St. Augustine (Fla.) m-ess. This Hand Book contains just what every visitor as well as resident ought to know re- specting the greatest watering-place In the country.— PhUadelphia Call. Its advantages consist mainly In the combina- tion of coiiijtreheiisiveness of matter, conciseness of execution, handiness of size, and cheapness of orlce, with clearness of type and general excel- lence ot riroduction.— Boston Transcript. Unsurpassed as a Resort for Health, Rest or Pleasure. ^ ^^