Class. 
 Book^ 
 
 COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2011 with funding from 
 The Library of Congress 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/beautiesoflongisOOgunn 
 
2 / 
 
 
 LONG ISLAND 
 
 
 J 
 
 PUBLISHED ByTHE 
 TRAFFIC DEPARTMENT 
 
 LONG ISLAND 
 RAILROAD CO 
 
MAP p 
 
 origlsianil Railroad 
 
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LONG ISLAND. 
 
Copyrighted, 1895, 
 By the Long Island Railroad Co. 
 
 AMERICAN DANK NOTE CO. 
 
 '■U »r\ if 
 
THE BE A UTIES OF 
 
 LONG ISLAND 
 
 "Island of bliss : amid the subject seas.' 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 livy; 
 
 4, *\8-'tf*£i 
 
 MDCCCLXXXXV 
 
 Issued by the Traffic Department of the Long Island Railroad. 
 
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INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Long Island has at last gained the place in public esti- 
 mation that it was entitled to hold long ago. We look back 
 now half incredulous at the fatuity that led men and women 
 of our eastern cities to make expensive journeys to remote 
 and uncomfortable places, there to spend the summer. But 
 it was always that way. The prophet, you know, is a long 
 time getting honor in his own country, and the wild flower 
 that grows beside our door-step is crushed under foot as 
 we hasten out to do homage to the exotic that has just come 
 into a forced and sickly bloom in the garden. So, Long 
 Island has been biding its time these many years, but it is 
 finally known and understood. People at last appreciate the 
 beauty, the health, the fertility and the variety of Long 
 Island. Variety ? quotha. Yes. We used to think it a sandy 
 waste dotted with scrub oaks and mosquitoes, because people 
 who have never been there used to tell us that was the 
 kind of a place it was. Now, as a matter of fact, there 
 is no equal surface of land east of the Mississippi that offers 
 so much variety. Depend upon it, whatever your tastes may 
 be, you will find a way to satisfy them within a few hours' ride 
 of America's center of population. There are beaches and surf 
 on the south side, bluffs and quiet water on the north, 
 forests and lakes in the middle, wild moorland breaking pre- 
 cipitously down into the Atlantic surges at the east ; you are 
 reminded of the western prairies about Garden City, and of the 
 idyllic farming country of Connecticut on the north shore. 
 Are your preferences social ? The society of the new villages 
 of summer homes and club houses is brilliant, resourceful and 
 hospitable. Are you a hunter ? Here are ducks and deer a 
 
plenty. Fisherman ? This is your place for bluefish, bass, yes, 
 and occasional whales, not forgetting oysters, clams and trout. 
 Do you walk, ride or push a bicycle ? These long, straight roads 
 will be a surprise and a delight to you. Are you an artist ? Try 
 the Hamptons and the Shinnecock Hills. Do you .come as a 
 settler ? Here are broad acres waiting tillage, here are lots in 
 as pretty a cluster of parks as you will find in the country, and 
 if you do business in town, here is frequent and reliable train 
 service. Is it as a boarder that you come ? Very well, we can 
 
 put you up in anything to 
 your liking, be it $4 a week 
 ... farm houses or $5 a day hotels 
 with every comfort and 
 luxury known in the modern 
 and difficult art of running a hostelry. You can, in brief, 
 find whatever you want on Long Island; and if you want a 
 great many things at once, there is no corner on earth where 
 you are so likely to get them. 
 
 The Island has a decided advantage in its climate, for this 
 is a part of the coast where it does not hold true. that " there is 
 plenty of weather but no climate." It juts out from the main 
 land for one hundred and twenty miles into a sea that is quali- 
 fied, yet not heated, by the Gulf Stream. The water is mild 
 but bracing in summer, and in winter the temperature is 
 materially affected by breezes from the warm current flowing 
 northward along the edge of the submerged shelf of the conti- 
 nent. The man who has never spent any time in the hotels or 
 cottages of the south shore hears with surprise, if not with 
 downright incredulity, of the cool nights there when people 
 sleep under blankets, while folks in town are tossing upon 
 uncovered beds, making sultry remarks about the weather, and 
 hearing only the jingle of cars and rattle of wagons and other 
 street noises instead of the rhythmic lullaby of the breakers. 
 But thermometers and scientific sharps are true recorders of 
 the facts, and they tell us that sultry, airless nights in August 
 are practically unknown at these beaches after one goes far 
 enough out to get the full benefit of the ocean winds, while the 
 fancy temperatures of town are unattempted here. Occasion- 
 ally in the day the mercury will run pretty well up in the tube, 
 as it does inside of the Arctic circle, but the set of sun almost 
 invariably causes a drop, and night brings sleep and- rest. 
 During the summer hundreds of New Yorkers take cottages or 
 
engage rooms at these beaches and get through the warm season 
 in comfort, going to business every day ; and it is character- 
 istic of people who have fallen into this delightful habit that 
 they prolong their stay when practicable, until the last horn 
 blows. The charms of the island grow upon them year by year. 
 
 As every one knows, who has glanced at the map, Long 
 Island is, in shape, like a fish with its head toward New York, 
 ready to take in the superfluous population of that overcrowded 
 town, its tail wagging out in the ocean, its long flukes enclosing 
 the lovely sheet of water known as Peconic Bay. The south 
 shore is low and level all the way from Brooklyn to the Shinne- 
 cock Hills, while the north shore is an almost continuous ridge 
 from end to end of the island. The hill district is largely held 
 by wealthy men who have laid it off into estates of generous 
 proportions, while the south side contains many populous 
 villages and watering places. The center is a farming belt. 
 It looks sandy and the soil in fact is light, but it is rich all the 
 same, and it is a fact that no such crops are raised anywhere 
 else in the State as are cultivated in parts of Long Island. It is 
 especially adapted in soil and 
 climate to the raising of po- 
 tatoes, corn, cabbage, onions 
 and cauliflower. The or- 
 chards are not many as yet, 
 but the success that has attended the implanting of them 
 justifies further expenditure and experiment in this direction. 
 Small fruits are grown at a profit and the strawberry yield 
 is especially large. As a proof of the value of the land it 
 may be mentioned that one man in the town of Orient, 
 away out on the northern fluke, a narrow belt between the 
 Sound and Peconic Bay, has for years made a wide reputa- 
 tion as a model farmer, on forty-five acres of land. He 
 employs over twenty men and raises practically everything that 
 can be raised in a temperate climate. Of course in such places 
 as this, skill counts for a good deal, and system and industry 
 are factors in success, but it is not to be overlooked that soil 
 and climate are prime elements in the prosperity. 
 
 Not so many of the population fish for a living as they did 
 half a century ago. The reason is that more people come here 
 to fish for fun. The whales are nearly all gone, and gas, 
 electricity and kerosene have made the smoky whale oil effete 
 anyway. Trout are raised in ponds belonging to clubs and 
 
enthusiasts. Off the coast menhaden are caught by the ton, 
 but this has become a common-place industry. As to the 
 oyster, scollop and clam fisheries they remain extensive and 
 important. If there breathes " a man with soul so dead," or 
 stomach so rebellious and dyspeptic that he does not experience 
 a thrill at the mention of Little Neck clams and Blue Point 
 oysters, some good island missionary should take that man in 
 hand and discover for him what delicious bivalves really are. 
 
 Beside the farming country 
 
 in the center of the island 
 
 there are immense tracts 
 
 * v ' covered with pine and other 
 
 evergreen trees, which have 
 
 - ~ recently attracted the atten- 
 
 Great South Ba^ . ~ . . 
 
 ^ tion of physicians and sani- 
 tarians. It is noticed that in these forest districts the average 
 of health is high and the average death rate is low. Some 
 surprising instances of longevity have been reported hereabout. 
 Persons with weak lungs were noticeably benefited by residence 
 here, where they took in deep breaths of ozone and balsam 
 with every mouthful of air. 
 
 In these woods, too, the hunter will occasionally find a 
 deer, and in the fall of 1894 more of these animals were shot on 
 Long Island than in probably any equal expanse of the Maine 
 woods. Indeed, the slaughter was so great it was felt that the 
 law should exercise a sterner supervision, lest these animals 
 should be exterminated altogether. But while there are deer 
 and a fox or two, there are few troublesome animals, and the 
 rattlesnake, which was once found among the unfrequented 
 hills, seems to have made up his slow mind that he had struck the 
 wrong part of the country. It is about ten years since he 
 arrived at this conclusion, and he has held to it so faithfully 
 that not a shake of his tail has been heard on Long Island 
 since. When it comes to birds there is no end to them. The 
 woods echo with their songs, they nest in old fruit trees about 
 the farm houses, and are the best friends the farmer has in 
 their destruction of the insects that prey on his crop. But 
 aside from these domesticated birds that everybody ought to 
 encourage, or at least to let alone, there are game birds in 
 scores of thousands, and the pop of the shot gun is lively along 
 the meadows when the killing season is on. 
 
 It is to two causes that Long Island owes its present 
 
popularity more than to any other immediate ones: to the 
 artists and the railroad. When the new school of painters, 
 wearying of the bombastic, manufactured and labored methods 
 of the old Academicians sought " fresh woods and pastures 
 new," a few of them found the scenic and architectural condi- 
 tions that had been their especial delight in Europe. They 
 began to paint this scenery, with its simple foregrounds, its 
 Dutch windmills, its clapboarded houses, its old burial grounds, 
 its broad, green plains and pastures, its groves, its bluffs, its 
 splendid surf, its brilliant beaches, its quiet lakes, its busy 
 fishing stations, its fertile farms, its feeding herds and flocks, 
 and these pictures getting into the exhibitions, and being 
 reproduced in the magazines and illustrated papers made talk, 
 and induced others to go and inquire what manner of country 
 this might be of which the painters had made such favorable 
 report. The people of taste ^-^^w-., 
 who made these examinations '^ *^^|NP^^^yi@» 
 substantiated the records of ^*~ T f J ^ = TT|f%T||^ 
 
 the pictures, and other de- Twasfco^. I 
 
 lights that the artists had not been able to put into their can- 
 vasses — the delights of fine air, good living, fine boating, bathing 
 and sport, persuaded them that this was ah ideal region to 
 open up and settle in. 
 
 Long Island is known to be unrivalled in many of those 
 respects that invite settlement and encourage investment. New 
 York owes more to it than the formerly important matters 
 of Long Island cauliflower and Long Island eggs. Its citizens 
 owe to this island much of health, much of pleasure, much of 
 profit. In it and on it there are inducements to every class 
 of people, from the busy husbandman to the unoccupied idler 
 whose time is all taken up with thinking how to kill it. To 
 this land of. health and beauty its people say, Welcome ! 
 
r 
 
 HOW TO REACH LONG ISLAND. 
 
 The western terminal stations of the Long Island Rail- 
 road are in Long Island City, in the part of Brooklyn known 
 as Bushwick and in the business part of Brooklyn, on Flatbush 
 Avenue. The first is reached by ferry from James Slip, foot 
 of New Chambers Street, from foot of 34th Street, East River 
 and, when the tide of summer travel sets in, by annex from near 
 the foot of Wall Street. The Flatbush Avenue Station is easily 
 reached by several lines of trolley cars that leave the Bridge and 
 Fulton and South Ferries, and by trains on the Fifth Avenue 
 branch of the Brooklyn Elevated Railroad. The Bushwick 
 Depot is intended for the accommodation of people who live 
 in the Eastern District of Brooklyn, and is accessible by sur- 
 face lines starting from the Broadway Ferries. At the Long 
 Island City Station, which has recently been built, the waiting- 
 room is of unusual size and the facilities for entrance and exit 
 are unrivalled. The offices of the road are here. The Flat- 
 bush Avenue Station is an airy, well-lighted, clean, attractive 
 looking place, and not far from it are extensive yards and 
 markets where the agricultural supplies of the Island are in 
 part handled and sold. Brooklyn trains stop at the Bedford 
 and East New York Stations. Needless to add that the tele- 
 graph service, that of the Long Island News Company, and the 
 mail and express facilities all along the line are complete and 
 reliable. 
 
SHORE RESORTS NEAR TOWN. 
 
 5? HE big cities of New York and Brooklyn were unac- 
 countably slow in coming to a realizing sense of the 
 advantages they had in the beaches right at their 
 J doors. 
 
 The people, when they wanted to see the Atlantic 
 Ocean, went to Newport or Cape Cod or Nantucket 
 ujpl^ or Long Branch. But one morning one man awoke 
 K^^W to the fact that within a few minutes' ride of New 
 Hfi^ York was one of the finest beaches in the world, the 
 ?^Jm\ beginning of a chain of beaches where the sand was 
 
 M fine and hard, the surf just right, the water mild, the 
 
 slope gradual, and the Manhattan Beach Hotel soon testified to 
 the fact of his faith in the future of this beach. The Manhattan 
 Beach Hotel is a large, imposing looking structure, facing full 
 to the sea, and the music of the surf is in the ears of the 
 guests as they sit at their windows looking out across the 
 immense blue plain to the cloudy heights of Jersey, or as they 
 loiter on the spacious and well shaded verandas listening 
 perchance to echoes of the band from the music pavilion. 
 A companion hotel, named the Oriental, because of certain 
 architectural traits, was afterward erected at a little distance 
 eastward. The latter is designed more for those who value 
 strict quiet and who perhaps have brought their families to 
 the water side for a fortnight or a season. Probably no hotel 
 in the country is so largely patronized by representative people 
 as the Oriental. There is hardly a day during the season but 
 what the hotel register bears the name of many distinguished 
 guests. Both hotels have broad lawns before them with beds 
 of flowers and ornamental plants, and there are wide prome- 
 nades with benches that never lack occupants in pleasant 
 weather. Everything is done here to make the visitor happy 
 whether his stay is that of a summer or that of an hour. The 
 cuisine of the Manhattan is celebrated; that of the Oriental 
 is equally so. There is a large bathing pavilion which is 
 a lively place at any state of the tide. Life lines are set, inclos- 
 ing ample space, and there are boats and boatmen for the rescue 
 of those who have ventured farther than they intended to ; al- 
 though occasions for the services of these prompt and stalwart 
 
young men are very infrequent, for the beach is not affected by 
 the reckless class. The children have tents and shelters close at 
 hand where they can make sand pies and forts and paddle 
 barefoot at the edge of the water. There are also large build- 
 ings where parties and picnickers can assemble, and where 
 shows are provided in summer. The most brilliant and effect- 
 ive of the shows in summer are the fire dramas that occur in 
 the big inclosure at the rear of the Manhattan Hotel. Here, 
 on a monster stage, with an artificial lake in front and vast walls 
 of scenery rising above and behind it, are enacted spectacular 
 pieces in which the actors are numbered by hundreds, instead 
 of half dozens, and which are made especially brilliant with 
 marches,' dances, games and ceremonies. Usually the close of 
 the piece illustrates the fall of a city under siege, or the erup- 
 tion of a volcano with tremendous effect, or a naval battle, or 
 the carrying of a line of fortifications. The scene at such times 
 is exciting. Crowds of actors fly from place to place seeking 
 refuge from the missiles that are supposed to be hurtling about ; 
 regiments of soldiers march and run hither and thither ; there 
 are sorties of cavalry ; heavy detonations shake the air ; bombs 
 whirl toward the sky, but instead of carrying destruction they 
 burst into constellations of red, blue, green and gold, and bring 
 out loud "Ahs!" of admiration from the crowd. The affair 
 ends with a flight of bombs and rockets and an exhibition of 
 set pieces that lighten the night for miles around and make the 
 heavens dazzling with colored fires. The subject of Mr. Pain's 
 firework drama this summer will be taken from incidents in the 
 late war between China and Japan, introducing Japanese village 
 life and a naval conflict with great effects of realism. 
 
 It goes without saying that Sousa's peerless Concert Band 
 — the famous March King, John Philip Sousa, Conductor — 
 will be as usual the crowning musical attraction of the Beach. 
 The question is often and naturally asked : What are the 
 causes of the unprecedented success of Sousa and his peerless 
 Concert Band ? They are easily discerned, and consist of many 
 contributing aids. Among these are the great leader's thorough 
 musicianship, and his uncommon executive ability ; his complete 
 mastery over an organization of musicians consisting of the 
 flower of their calling; his striking elegance and grace as a con- 
 ductor ; his tact and felicity in ministering to the tastes of all 
 classes of people, thus sending every listener homeward con- 
 vinced that he has heard just what he liked best incomparably 
 
played ; his genius as a composer, and the dissemination among 
 the people of millions of copies of his marches, which are 
 played by bands and orchestras, on pianos, guitars, mandolins, 
 banjos and hand-organs, whistled by street gamins, danced and 
 pranced, hummed and sung by high and low throughout the 
 world ; each of these myriads of copies of music being white- 
 winged and music-attuned advanced couriers of the coming of 
 their gifted author, whose inimitable interpretation of his own 
 inspiring music by his peerless band, naturally everybody de- 
 sires to hear and see — this desire creating a demand for his 
 band which compels it to play (including matinees) over five 
 hundred concerts per year throughout the country — (the band 
 during the past year having included in its tours every great 
 city between California and Maine) — this continuous daily and 
 yearly concert-giving compelling constant rehearsal and drill, 
 resulting in a perfection only thus attainable. These are among 
 the obvious causes why this one and only purely concert band 
 is meeting with such unprecedented success, and why its houses 
 are packed whenever and wherever it appears by delighted and 
 applauding crowds, which compel the obliging leader to double 
 his programmes through their enthusiasm, and cause his hearers 
 to leave his concerts regretting only that their pleasure could 
 not have been still further prolonged. 
 
 In addition to the band concerts in the amphitheater, 
 visitors will be entertained with a seasonable diversion, which 
 is an entirely new feature at the beach. Edward E. Rice's 
 buoyant burlesquers, to the number of seventy, will present 
 Barnet and Pflueger's mirthful and fantastic historical extrava- 
 ganza " 1492," with all the gayety and glitter that characterized 
 it during the great New York run of four hundred and fifty- 
 two consecutive performances. It has been brought right up 
 to date, and will be an ever-shifting kaleidoscope of song, jest 
 and whimsicality, playfully satirizing every passing event and 
 topic of the times. Among the well known and popular enter- 
 tainers in Mr. Rice's company are Walter Jones, in his 
 humorous portrayals of the bankrupt Spanish King and the 
 affluent tramp of Madison Square, and Mr. Mark Smith, who 
 has achieved great success the past season by his unique crea- 
 tion of Isabella, the daisy Queen of Spain. Mr. Charles 
 Bigelow, late leading comedian in another of Mr. Rice's com- 
 panies, will be the royal treasurer, and Mr. W. H. Sloan has 
 been secured for his original roles of the turbulent small boy 
 
and the amiable policeman. Miss Yolande Wallace, a charm- 
 ing singer, will be the Infanta Joanna, and there will be a very 
 large chorus and ballet, with splendor of costume and scenic 
 embellishment. 
 
 The recent strong interest in bicycle riding, which is shared 
 by rich and poor alike, and greatly encouraged by the fine con- 
 dition of Long Island's roads, has induced the management to 
 build a bicycle track, a third of a mile around, in the rear of 
 the hotel, exclusively for the steel and rubber steeds. It will 
 be laid with cement and supplied with a grand stand that will 
 doubtless present a brilliant sight on days when crack runners 
 are in the ring. 
 
 Still another matter of interest at Manhattan Beach this 
 year is the Circus Carnival that will occupy the large and well- 
 lighted building in which Hagenbeck's trained animals were 
 exhibited last summer. The small boy and the small boy's 
 father will be found there in constant attendance, no doubt, 
 and the remarks of the clown and the bare-back riding of the 
 experts will arouse the same laughter and enthusiasm as of yore. 
 
 Eastward from the hotels the Island runs out into a long 
 sand spit. 
 
 Racing is another of the attractions of this neighborhood, 
 and the track of the Coney Island Jockey Club in Sheepshead 
 Bay — a pleasant village behind the beach — is one of the best 
 managed and most popular in the country. It is one of the 
 tracks that is patronized by society and not a shade of sus- 
 picion attaches to any of its workings. The track grounds are 
 complete, and are surrounded by a delightful forest, while cool 
 breaths from the sea, only a mile away, temper the heats of 
 summer. On the day when the Suburban Stakes are run the 
 scene is one of extraordinary brilliancy and excitement. The 
 same may be said of the Brooklyn Jockey Club, located at 
 Gravesend, an organization of recent date, but one that has the 
 entire confidence of the racing public. The races for the 
 Handicap Stakes are the best known events at this track. 
 
 Rockaway Beach, a long peninsula, is a continuation of 
 the sandy keys that line the whole south shore of Long Island. 
 Formerly it was exclusively the people's resort, and enjoyed 
 some of the prestige that has since been diverted to West 
 Brighton. It is, however, as popular to-day as it ever was, 
 and was never more largely patronized. One finds in opera- 
 tion the concert halls, dancing pavilions, chowder booths, 
 
peep shows and merry-go-rounds that made the multitude 
 happy three decades ago. The attempt to make the place 
 yet more popular by providing the largest hotel in the world 
 was a failure, for the owners of the hotel quarreled and it 
 was never opened. As soon as it was torn down the land on 
 which it stood and much of the adjacent property passed into 
 the hands of a park company, and on the villa sites that were 
 then staked off a great many desirable homes and summer cot- 
 tages have been erected, and the character of the beach, except 
 in the limited area alluded to, has radically changed. It is no 
 longer a place of noise and hurrah, but a quiet and healthful 
 
 Ar*ver*f\e. E>ed,cK . 
 
 HOTEL AKVEKNE. 
 
 spot, with a fine outlook across the lower bay, clean bathing in 
 an invigorating surf, and pleasant lawns and gardens. Experts 
 in old Indian nomenclature say that Rockaway is short for 
 Rekanawohaha, which signifies "our place of laughing waters ;" 
 yet the waters as often chime and roll and thunder as they 
 laugh. It was at Rockaway that John Henry Sharpe wrote the 
 poem that has been so ofted quoted, beginning 
 
 On old Long Island's sea girt shore 
 
 Many an hour I've whiled away, 
 
 as though, being an island, this particular one would not 
 naturally be sea girt. East of the part of the sand key that 
 still carries the name of Rockaway Beach, is Arverne, a new 
 and delightful settlement which enjoys a cool, equable sum- 
 mer temperature and has lately assumed important propor- 
 tions. It has a superb hotel with room for four hundred 
 guests and a twenty-foot piazza extending around it. Every 
 room commands a view of the sea so that one great geomet- 
 rical difficulty has been solved to the admiration of all other 
 hotel builders and keepers, and the consternation of the Great 
 
 16 
 
American Kicker, who finds the occasion removed for the 
 exercise of his constitutional and valued prerogative. Arverne 
 is close to the water, but extends back to the breadth of the 
 key and has been laid off into ample lots by broad streets and 
 avenues on which shade trees are growing and which are already 
 enlivened on summer afternoons by gay turnouts and by merry 
 throngs of boarders and cottagers. Games for open air are 
 everybody's employment, and bathing is facilitated by the 
 erection of many bathing houses, public and private. Arverne 
 has enjoyed a rapid growth within the last year or two, and 
 it is one of the most attractive shore resorts on the coast. 
 
 Ocean Park and Nameoke, lying between Arverne and 
 Rockaway Beach, are promising places. Indeed, it is a 
 matter of not many years when the entire key will be covered 
 with cottages, and a social life as brilliant as that of Bar Harbor 
 and Newport will be inaugurated. This would have been the case 
 long ago, had not New Yorkers taken the too common notion 
 into their heads that nothing could be of much value if it was 
 so near home. Continuing eastward from Arverne we come 
 to Edgemere where a superb new hotel, the Edgemere, has 
 been erected during the past winter and spring. It is the latest 
 addition to our summer resorts, is high class in all respects, and 
 stands at a distance of only four hundred feet from the sea ; 
 it will accommodate four hundred guests in comfort. This 
 new resort is one of the most charming on the coast. 
 
 m >f 
 
 THE EDGEMERE. 
 
 Wave Crest is another division of the Beach. It occu- 
 pies a rise of ground that not only enables the settler or the 
 visitor to enjoy a wider view than they get who see the ocean 
 from its own level, but even a slight rise will sometimes suffice 
 
to secure fresher air on a calm or sultry day. The people who 
 live at Wave Crest are well-to-do, and although the settle- 
 ment is only about fifteen years old the neighbors accuse 
 them of being just a little set up because of their age and 
 social priority. The land all about the settlement has been 
 
 WAVE CREST. 
 
 parked with winding walks, shell roads, lawns, flowers and ponds, 
 and is a little paradise. 
 
 Bayswater is another division and very popular section. 
 A more attractive spot on the coast can hardly be found. 
 
 Far Rockaway is one of the older towns, and it really 
 has quite a communal life and importance. It was a famous 
 
 
 
 „ ■£>** 
 
 LAWRENCE. 
 
 watering place a generation ago, but lapsed into dull ways and 
 was nearly forgotten after the Marine Hotel, which was 
 the center of its life, had been burned. Recently it has re- 
 covered its old prestige. In the season there are few livelier 
 
r~ 
 
 ««& 
 
 r&J?^. 
 
 /■<*-/<?*, vc'ss ..-->.« v.yr 
 
 THE HOUNDS AT CEDARHURST. 
 
 places. It is a place of shops and hotels and restaurants; it 
 has schools and churches of various creeds, there is a court 
 house, and the government of the place appears to be efficient. 
 Withal there are few or no "frills," and one may go about here 
 in a flannel shirt if he likes, whereas at Wave Crest, if he gets 
 through the guarded gates of that exclusive settlement the 
 flannel must be mixed with silk, and nobody will complain if he 
 wears patent leathers. 
 
 * -St- 
 
 € "S> ii 
 
 £ •■■■■^■*s 
 
 iff % iJm 
 
 
 
 CEDARHURST. 
 19 
 
Lawrence adjoins Far Rockaway, and has from the first 
 appealed to a very desirable class of people who have lavished 
 their own means without stint to make not only their own 
 houses and grounds, but the whole village, beautiful. Certain 
 fine old trees that formerly stood alone in pastures are now the 
 ornaments of lawns, and where formerly there were rough 
 and unkempt fields the land is all abloom with the rose, the lily 
 and rare exotics. Indeed, the impression on first alighting 
 from the train is that of having arrived at 
 some of those winter resorts in the far south, 
 where palms and magnolias 
 wave in breezes that are faint 
 with the odor of orange blossoms. 
 The people of Lawrence are prop- 
 erly proud of their gardens and 
 schools, and they meet in their 
 club house — oh, yes, they 
 have a club here, along with 
 the other modern improve- 
 ments — and tell each other 
 many nice things that they 
 are justified in thinking about themselves. Fine, hard roads 
 lead over the thick neck of land that holds Rockaway to the 
 rest of Long Island, and enable the people to communicate 
 with Cedarhurst hardly less delightful, though more distant 
 from the sea, and with Woodsburgh and Fenhurst^ though 
 these points are also accessible by rail. 
 
 Cedarhurst is the seat of the Rockaway Hunting Club 
 which has a spacious building here. It may be incidentally 
 mentioned for the enlightenment of those who have heard much 
 of Oakhurst, Pinehurst, Willowhurst and the like, that hurst 
 means wood or grove. It is used instead of grove, because it 
 is English. Cedarhurst is a place for private residence exclu- 
 sively, and the word exclusively has its full implication here. 
 It has its nucleus in a park of four hundred acres, with ten or 
 a dozen miles of road and path winding through it, and the 
 restrictions against things that would interfere with the privacy 
 or pleasure of the inhabitants are rigid. The people of Cedar- 
 hurst are mostly of the leisure class, but they work very hard 
 with horses and at games. In spite of its distance from the 
 shore it is said that the village enjoys a summer temperature 
 perceptibly cooler than that of the cities almost within sight of 
 
it, and the same modifying cause, the sea, insures a winter 
 average at least six'degrees higher than that of the same cities. 
 The groves of cedar, pine, oak, maple and other trees that en- 
 viron and impinge upon the property add to its health, its shade 
 and its beauty. In addition to the fitments of the club house, 
 which include a restaurant, post-office and games, there are, 
 belonging to the community a gymnasium, stables, kennels, 
 game preserves, polo grounds and tennis courts. The hunts 
 and runs of the club are showy and much talked about, and 
 the village is as lively as the town on the days of the meets. 
 Working on toward the southern branch of the railroad we 
 pass through Woodsburgh, named after a rich Brooklyn ite, 
 Samuel Wood, whose wise and generous intentions with regard 
 to his money and his land were for a long time nullified by con- 
 testants of his will. The result of the legal troubles was to set 
 the district back at a standstill and to destroy the charities and 
 
 TO THE HUNT. 
 
 benefits that Mr. Wood had devised. The large hotel was closed 
 and a forlorn air pervaded the place. But recently the troubles 
 have been settled and clear titles are given to all purchasers of 
 lots. The result has been made apparent in a quick growth and 
 in the erection of some delightful villas here. Some of them 
 stand on Boulevard Avenue, Which is a hundred feet wide and 
 
shaded with the spreading branches of maples and other trees. 
 A little to the northward of Woodsburgh is Fenhurst, a promis- 
 ing village in surroundings of pleasant scenery and rich gardens. 
 
 Long Beach is separated by the irregular waters of 
 Hempstead Bay from the main island, but this, too, being shal- 
 low, has been bridged by the railroad, and one is landed 
 directly in the rear of the immense hotel and of the cottages that 
 extend for some distance beyond it as annexes. During 
 last summer the hotel was a sort of headquarters for an 
 Association on the Chautauqua plan, and many conventions 
 and meetings were held here. The cottagers are, however, the 
 main stay of the beach, and those who have once summered 
 here are the most eager to go again. The beach is clean and 
 hard and has so slight a slope that one may venture out a con- 
 siderable distance without losing footing. When a big storm is 
 raging the spectacle is here to be viewed at its grandest. Fine 
 boating and fishing are of course obtainable both in lively water 
 and in the quiet bay. 
 
 The plains, meadows, beaches and great hotels of the south 
 side attract a large number of people. The bathing, boating, 
 yachting, hunting and fishing are unsurpassed, and the excel- 
 lent train service gives ready access to these points of interest 
 from the cities. The porous soil insures freedom from malaria, 
 and there is diversity of scenery in spite of the general flatness, 
 because the woods form backgrounds and the northern hills 
 peep into sight ever and anon. Antiquarians will be delighted 
 at the quaint old houses and inns that abound among the 
 villages, and many a housewife who visits this region alights 
 upon treasures in the way of old china, tall clocks, brass and- 
 irons and the like that money can hardly win away from her, if 
 she has the good fortune to get hold of them. The roads are 
 generally firm and broad and shaded with venerable maples 
 and oaks. Although everything through the farming belt is as 
 rustic as could be wished, there is none of the rustiness and 
 drowsiness so common to the remoter country. The ex- 
 penditure of money through the summer has been a good 
 thing for the villages : they are better built, better kept, 
 have better hotels, better shops and better schools than of yore, 
 and are in all ways more suited for a summer sojourn. Not 
 only on the south side, but in all directions the bicyclists can 
 be assured of good roads and excellent accommodations at 
 moderate rates at nearly every stopping place. 
 
In going over the southern line of the Long Island road 
 the main track is left just beyond Jamaica and the train turns 
 somewhat to the southward across broad and fertile farm lands- 
 The first stop is made at Springfield. This, like all the other 
 villages of the island, has awakened from its torpor and has 
 taken on modern manners and appearances. It resembles the 
 parks along the main line, and in fact, for six or eight miles 
 one passes through a regular chain of parks, mostly lacking 
 development as yet but, if well begun is half done no fault 
 need be found with them. Restrictions have been laid against 
 nuisances and offences of all kinds, as it is proper that they 
 should be, and the people are so well satisfied with their 
 little town that they have just spent several thousand dollars 
 in putting up a new school house for it. There are pure 
 springs here, and that is how it came by its name. One of 
 the springs has been amplified into a sparkling lakelet. 
 
 Rosedale — pretty name — is a new place that is in process 
 of development. The place has schools and other advantages, 
 not to mention its thick woods, its extensive views, its good 
 drainage and its generous soil. A little farther we reach 
 
 ON THE BAY. 
 
 Valley Stream, the junction for the Far Rockaway Branch, 
 with its colonial house or two, its modern shops and churches, 
 its pleasant fields and groves, and its confidence in its own 
 future. Although some of the trains go to Far Rockaway by 
 way of Valley Stream, there is a direct line that carries the trav- 
 eler from Woodhaven Junction across the shallow waters and 
 marshes of Jamaica Bay. One may go by one line and return 
 by the other, making a round, trip that is interesting and enjoy- 
 able. There is a particular exhilaration in the ride on the long 
 
 23 
 
bridge across the bay. One seems to be sailing rather than run- 
 ning on rails. The water spreads out blue and bright on 
 either side, but landlocked and still, and marshy islands tuft its 
 surface. Along the shore are the huts of bay men who fish 
 or rake clams and oysters or take hunters out a-gunning or 
 fishermen out a-trolling. Boats dot the quiet lagoons, and 
 quaint little settlements on piles, where one may wet his whistle 
 or buy bait, recall the pictures of the early lake dwellers. 
 There are several clear brooks, and throughout this section the 
 notice of the journey er will be drawn to the little lakes, each 
 with a margin of clear sand or pebbles and a pumping station 
 at hand. These are fresh additions to Brooklyn's water 
 supply. The man with a wallet full of names has been going 
 through this country and putting some of them on the places 
 that used to be called after cross roads, shopkeepers, or 
 North, South, East or West Smithville, and the like. There is 
 Pearsall's for example. They call it Lynbrook now, and it 
 sounds better. It is not unlike Valley Stream in appearance, 
 but there is more of it; and its hotels, restaurants, shops, 
 offices, chapels, schools, nurseries and industries entitle it 
 to some more distinctive name than Pearsall's. It is the 
 junction for Long Beach. To the south, on the railroad 
 to Long Beach, is East Rockaway, attractive for its boat- 
 ing and fishing. Rockville Center is yet larger and more 
 town like. Its industries and local commerce are consid- 
 erable, its educational institutions grade up to a high school, 
 which has a fine house of brick, and it is well supplied with 
 churches. Though there are small hotels there are not many 
 boarders. It is a place of homes, and probably if boarders 
 were to go there they would fret because they were not far 
 enough away from home to think they were having a good time. 
 There is an average amount of human nature in boarders. 
 The ground has a little roll as we go on, but it isn't enough to 
 make anyone seasick. Lakes and reservoirs twinkle up out of 
 the woods and fields like blue eyes whose lashes are trees and 
 flowers. Then we see laborers cutting out new streets, 
 and that means that we have got to Millburn which was 
 Baldwin's once, but never will be again. The slender white 
 spire of the village church looks across fields of green velvet, 
 but clustered about it are shops and schools. Indications of 
 growth are noted on every side. 
 
 Freeport, a bright, happy, refined looking place, one of 
 
AT FREEPORT. 
 
 those rare spots of earth that do not seem tojj>include any con- 
 spicuous examples of poverty. It looks as if everyone owned 
 his house and enjoyed living here, and maybe one reason why 
 he does is that the oysters they gather just off here in the 
 ( xreat South Bay are ranked 
 as the very princes of their 
 species. The shops are large 
 and well stocked, the schools 
 and churches and societies 
 are marks of pride, and when 
 you throw in a dry bracing 
 climate with ponds and 
 brooks and shaded lanes, 
 what more does one want ? 
 There are two large parks in 
 this village with many hand- 
 some cottages in them and 
 easy access to the bay has 
 recently been made by means 
 of an artificial water way. 
 Leaving Freeport with some regrets the woods thicken and 
 shut out the view for a time, though the cuttings that are made 
 for Brooklyn's water pipes open vistas among the trees. Then 
 we rather suddenly find ourselves among the red and yellow 
 houses of Merrick, which are forerunners of others that will 
 presently give a new character to the village. A model farm, 
 a dairy and trout preserves are among Merrick's objects of 
 interest, but the greatest of these is the camp meeting that 
 is held here in the summer. The camp grounds are exten- 
 sive, and during the season they are populous and are resonant 
 with prayers, exhortations and hymns. 
 
 Bellmore, sparsely inhabited, but wide and sunny, has a 
 creek heading hereabout that vessels of fair draft can enter, 
 and there is fishing in both salt and fresh water. The scent of 
 bay and wild roses is in the air, and in the conservatories are 
 cultivated flowers as well. Ridgewood, which was not much 
 of a ridge and had no more wood than a number of adjacent 
 villages, has received the Indian name of Wantagh, which 
 sounds better, even if you don't know what it means. It has 
 within a few seasons gained a shop or two, neat cottages with 
 contiguous lawns, a school, a green-house, some lumbering 
 interests and two or three villas of pretension. 
 
South Oyster Bay was another of those unfortunate 
 names of a past generation that fortunately did not stick, 
 because there is an Oyster Bay that is not south and that is 
 away over on the other side of the Island. Now it is on the 
 map as Massapequa, a name that can be rolled under the 
 tongue and has sonority in it. It is divided between wood 
 and farm, with a hint of marine associations, too. We get a 
 sniff of sea air when the wind is southerly and can see the 
 dunes across the meadows. Churches, schools, villas, a hand- 
 some new brick station and, chiefly, a fine new hotel whose 
 guests have ready access to salt water by means of the creek 
 that runs back into the land to within a few rods of the hostel- 
 ry, are among late improvements. 
 
 Amityville is a place of about three thousand people — a 
 town of a good deal of drive and go-ahead. It is partly sur- 
 rounded by second growth forest with a purple line of hills away 
 over in the north lined against the horizon and the bay close at 
 hand on the south. Of the four or five good hotels the New 
 Point is the newest and largest. It is lighted by gas and elec- 
 tricity, and commands a water view from every side. The prin- 
 cipal religious denominations are represented here and have 
 their chapels and churches. Factories and shops have also been 
 established in such numbers that the country character of 
 Amityville is fast disappearing. On the north of the tracks 
 may be seen the large buildings of a private asylum. A 
 convent is also conspicuous in the place. The improvements 
 in recent years have been the means of attracting many 
 visitors to this enterprising place. 
 
 When Lindenhurst was younger it was Breslau. It was 
 settled by German mechanics who had been drawn here by the 
 establishment of factories and who received homes and lots on 
 advantageous terms. Hence it is but natural they should have 
 named it after one of their own cities. Miles to the north the 
 backbone of Long Island shows in a long line of dark color, 
 while one has but to face in the other direction to see the 
 gleam of the Atlantic, with white sails dotting the bay that is 
 shut in from it by the sandy key and the pennon of smoke 
 afar that denotes where some big steamer is plowing the deep 
 on her way to the old world. 
 
 And then we come to Babylon. Some of the trains for the 
 south side do not pass through the villages just enumerated, but 
 run through the central section and Garden City. The color of 
 
 26 
 
strong yellow-green seen on a clear afternoon as one looks east- 
 ward along this central branch is glorious. Where the pines thin 
 down it is noticed that oaks spring in their places. Thoreau, 
 whose sharp eye took in many things so common that nobody 
 else saw them, has written on this natural adjustment of 
 rotation in forest crops, and has named the squirrels and other 
 wild animals as the seed sowers that bring it about. 
 
 Babylon does not vividly suggest its ancient namesake. 
 It lacks the roar and multitude, it has no bronze gates, its gar- 
 dens do not hang, though it has a good many on the ground 
 that are worth seeing ; still, it is big enough to talk of its north 
 
 THE ARGYLE HOTEL. 
 
 side and to brag of its fine hotels, its especially fine hotel, The 
 Argyle, with its ornamental grounds and waters, its gas and 
 electric lights, its eminent citizens, its village greens, its lake 
 and its old mill, its churches and well appointed shops, its clubs 
 and game preserves, its cool breezes and pretty streams that 
 flow into the sea near this point after a brief career among the 
 woods to the north. The vicinity has been compared with 
 Newport and Nantucket and even with Florida, but compari- 
 sons are odious if they are introduced to throw discredit on its 
 own attractions, for which it is able to stand up sturdily. Out- 
 wardly it resembles one of the old established towns of Massa- 
 chusetts more than anything else, but there is not about it the 
 coldness and formality, the lingering restraints of puritanism, 
 
that are complained of 
 in those towns. No 
 place on the island 
 has more attractive 
 homes, and a walk 
 along the old post 
 road, as it is still occa- 
 sionally called, will be 
 a revelation of wealth 
 and taste. The West- 
 
 minster Kennel Club brings to this 
 region many people of social and 
 sporting proclivities, and the display 
 of fashion is worth looking at, 
 while at the same time it has little 
 or none of the snobbery and dis- 
 dain that are peculiar to a limited 
 aristocracy in New York, and that 
 are apt to be carried into the 
 favorite summer haunts of those 
 people. At this point one can reach 
 by steamer Oak Island Beach, a 
 promising new settlement with its 
 summer school. Near Oak Island 
 are the headquarters of the 
 
 28 
 
mm 
 
 r 
 
 'B»f " 
 
 WESTMINSTER KENNEL 
 
 Wawayanda and the Short Beach Clubs and Jessie Smith's 
 famous " Armory." 
 
 Babylon is the place of departure for the popular resort 
 known as Fire Island — a curious, long sand spit that extends 
 from east to west for the better part of forty miles off the coast, 
 and that is at no part of its length over a mile wide. A few 
 years ago it was purchased by the State of New York. At 
 this place is the look-out from which incoming steamers are 
 sighted, and the fact of their appearance telegraphed to their 
 offices in New York and to the press. The hotel there has 
 been in years past oneof the best known and best kept on the 
 coast, and its fish dinners have been famous. You can stare 
 up at the immensely tall light house with its electric beacon of 
 23,000,000 candle power, the most powerful light in the country, 
 and wonder how many miles it can be seen at sea and how 
 many thousands of ships it has warned into safe channels. 
 The bathing is fine, as it is everywhere along the south keys. 
 A few miles east of Fire Island Hotel is the new settlement 
 of Point o'Woods, which has recently come into promi- 
 nence on account of its religious and educational gatherings. 
 It has become known as the Long Island Chautauqua Assembly. 
 Cottages and hotels have been erected and plans made for 
 building improvements on a large scale. The location is 
 delightful, and access is had by steamer from Bay Shore 
 and Sayville. 
 
 Once more the conductor cries ''All aboard ! " We resume 
 our seats in the train and make a quick passage through a 
 jungle where no doubt the bear and wolf lurked not so many 
 
 29 
 
years ago, and' where nobody would be surprised to see a deer 
 or a fox to-day. Then we emerge into a dry, healthy woodland 
 with a sandy soil, in which we suddenly discover 
 
 Bay Shore with its large hotel and several smaller ones, 
 its churches where the good can find nearly any religion 
 to their liking, its modern schools, its brick and stone shops, 
 its parked grounds, its nurseries, and its ample roadways. 
 Bay Shore has been rapidly losing its ephemeral character 
 and exchanging it for stability. Land is not given away 
 here, but it is not so expensive either that one can not 
 afford to keep some of it about his premises. Its houses 
 
 THE SOUTH SIDE CLUB. 
 
 are hospitably schemed, with broad verandas, and spacious 
 lawns. Some of the finest residences on the Island are to be 
 found in this vicinity. Bay Shore is a deservedly popular 
 place, and has in recent years grown with great rapidity. 
 No finer drives can be had anywhere along the south shore. 
 The roads are well made and are kept free from dust. The 
 Olympic Club has an attractive place here, the Bay Shore 
 Driving Park Association has large grounds, and indeed the 
 country clubs are beginning to appropriate quite a little of 
 Long Island. There is no part of the land where such a vari- 
 ety of delights is provided with such access to the city. 
 
 Islip is much like Bay Shore, with pure country air and 
 cool breezes always obtainable. There is a large and wealthy 
 
summer population. Here we can take up our abodes in 
 Stillinworth's famous Lake House or in other well kept 
 hotels. If one wants to find out what can be done with an acre 
 or so of ground in this vicinity, with occasional access to tne 
 water with a fishing line or an oyster fork he is recommend- 
 ed to read a little book from the pen of a sojourner on the 
 Great South Bay, styled "Liberty and a Living." It is a 
 book that ought to be put into the hands of the million 
 poor of New York as a tract. 
 
 An extensive forest of pine and young oak, with lakes 
 dotted through it in silver shields, threaded by fine, dry roads 
 that invite to wheeling no less than to walking and driving — 
 and wheeling is a recreation for good roads only — brings the 
 resort of Lakewood to mind. It is every bit as good as 
 Lakewood, and to live hereabout imposes no restraints as to 
 dress and deportment. Some of this wood has been bought 
 by one of the Vanderbilts ; but a great deal of it is embraced 
 in what is still called the Nicoll patent, and was granted two 
 centuries ago to the ancestor of the present owner, who had 
 been instrumental in the seizure of New York by the English 
 after it had been settled by the Dutch. These lands have 
 greatly increased in value within a few years, like all land on 
 the island. Occasional openings in the wood disclose a dry 
 soil, so that there is no malaria, while there is a sufficient 
 covering of vegetable mould to insure a strong and ready 
 growth, either of trees or of agricultural crops. Oakdale 
 occurs in this wooded section, and it is known as the place 
 where W. K. Van- 
 derbilt has one of 
 his summer resi- 
 dences. Mr. Van- 
 derbilt's stables 
 here are believed 
 to be the finest in 
 this country, nat- 
 urally, therefore, 
 the finest in the 
 world. Near here 
 we find the South 
 Side Sportsman's 
 Club in handsome 
 quarters, with its 
 
 
famous trout preserves and spacious hunting grounds. St. 
 
 John's church in this place is one hundred and thirty years old. 
 
 At Sayville many cottages are offered for rent during the 
 
 summer. It is a cheery, roomy village, with winding roads lately 
 
 improved, a large 
 hotel, several near sayville. 
 
 minor hostelries and boarding houses. The houses look like 
 homes, and they are homes — they have come to stay. Much 
 of the adjacent wood is placed under restriction by its owners; 
 trespassing is forbidden, and fires are especially guarded 
 against. Among the trout ponds that begin to be numerous 
 as we ride eastward is one attached to the home and farm of 
 Mr. R. B. Roosevelt. Not far away is Blue Point, and every- 
 body who has had any gastronomic fun in this world knows 
 what that means, for the name attaches to the finest oyster 
 that grows. 
 
Around Bayport the woods open, so that we get inspiring 
 glimpses off upon the hills, which once more recall the vast 
 reaches of Colorado and Alberta; but the river cutting through 
 the wood and reflecting the cool, green shadows of the trees, 
 is something that the West does not afford to us. Hereabout 
 are many visitors every summer, and the neighborhood is alive 
 with excursion parties then. 
 
 Patchogue, the nearest to a city of any of the south side 
 towns, is built on a dry soil, though near the water, and is sur- 
 rounded with wood. It is a clean, tidy place, with arbors, 
 trees, gardens, lawns and greenhouses; yet it has quite a little 
 of the city character, and its common, with a soldiers' monu- 
 ment, its well stocked shops, its well kept streets, its pretty 
 churches and its comfortable cottages, are worthy of many of 
 the manufacturing centers that sport a mayor and board of 
 aldermen. There are fully five thousand people in Patchogue, 
 and the census for 1900 will doubtless show at least ten thou- 
 sand. It has electric lighting and gas, the telephone service is 
 excellent, the hotels are many and well kept, and the town is 
 reached by fourteen trains a day. It is a fine place for boating 
 and fishing, and the boat building industry is considerable. A 
 good channel runs through the bay and, in the reasonable 
 
 WRECK NEAR WATER ISLAND. 
 33 
 
expectation of commerce, it has been made a port of entry. In 
 the ponds and streams are many trout and other fish for those 
 who prefer to whip fresh water for their finny game. Patch- 
 ogue Lake, four miles long, is a favorite resort. Every one 
 who has listened to a few of the aboriginal names of Long 
 Island localities will recognize Patchogue as Indian. It is not 
 the prettiest name in the world, but we are not to forget that 
 there are more melodious ones here, such as Ronkonkoma, 
 Massapequa and Amagansett. It has been suggested that the 
 Indian tribes on Long Island must have formed their language 
 on the sounds that they heard in the woods and among the 
 marshes, and there is certainly a suggestion of frogs and tree 
 toads in Quogue, Ponquogue, Peconic, Moriches, Speonk, 
 Shinnecock, Sagg and Cutchogue. These names have charac- 
 ter, however, and are far and away ahead of the namby-pamby 
 titles that a few Philistines have tried to saddle on these vener- 
 able places — names like Smithville, Jonesville, Juggins' Center 
 and Johnson's Point. It is hoped that the time will come 
 when the people will weary of these common-places, and if 
 any names are to be changed a second time, that they will give 
 place to the sonorous old Indian names again. 
 
 Bellport stands on a height of land which is rather 
 unusual on the south shore, and great development is expected 
 here in the immediate future. Town lots have been staked off 
 for several miles around the present settlement, and streets are 
 not only cut but graded and planted with shade trees. It is 
 only a question of time, and not of a long time either, when 
 this, like many other pleasant spots on Long Island, will be the 
 center of a large and well-housed population. The low pine 
 forest that grows about here gives an impression of vastness. 
 The bay at this point is three miles wide, and offers many a 
 lively scene when hot weather drives the people from the 
 cities. An enviable reputation for health and coolness has 
 been secured by Bellport, and they show to the town man ther- 
 mometrical records for the summer that make him doubt his 
 eyes, for this is less than sixty miles from New York. There 
 are several pretentious houses in this village, but what is more 
 to the purpose, there are many comfortable ones. The hotels 
 alone will house nearly two thousand guests. 
 
 Brookhaven is invisible from the railroad. It lies over 
 behind the wood to the south, in sound of the roaring of the 
 ocean as it tumbles on the outer beaches, New roads are 
 
being pushed in all directions, and the effect of the deciduous 
 trees against the dark walls of the pines is one that a Rousseau 
 might delight to paint. Many little streams cut through the 
 wood, falling slowly down the slope that stretches from the 
 northern hills to the sea, and in these are many fish. The 
 hunting of this district is famous, and probaoly more game can 
 be shot here than at any other point within an equal distance 
 either of miles or of time from the metropolis. 
 
 MASTIC RIVER. 
 
 Mastic, another half oasis in an Adirondack-like wilder- 
 ness, is a sedate, rather sleepy spot, in the center of a wild 
 country where the deer roam. It is an ideal resting-place for 
 one tired of the town, with its everlasting ceremony and 
 dress and its social obligations. The only obligation one feels 
 under in a village like this is to get into harmony with nature, 
 and enjoy himself after the manner of the natural man. An 
 important advantage of life in such a place, if a man will be 
 sensible, and go to bed at seasonable hours, and breathe pure 
 air at night as well as by day, is the health it guarantees. 
 Without counting the cities at the west end of the island, it is 
 shown by statistics that mortality here is low. It seems almost 
 unbelievable that in 1890-91, when the statistics were made up 
 by -the census officers, the average of life in Queens and 
 Suffolk Counties should have mounted to over sixty years. 
 
CAPTURED ON THE LONG ISLAND SHORE. 
 
 The average of life is increasing, as any life insurance man will 
 tell you; but its chances are still best out here where there is 
 ozone enough, and where the air is sweetened both by vegeta- 
 tion and the breathing of the sea. 
 
 . MORICHES TO SAG HARBOR, 
 
 Moriches is a place of more alertness, though there are 
 orchards, pastures and cornfields here which look as prosper- 
 ous as the houses. The village lies on the bay a mile from the 
 station, and as there are three divisions of it communication 
 is established between them by stage — a slow but inexpensive 
 and picturesque way of travel that is still extant in odd corners 
 of the island. The Hotel Brooklyn is a fine modern structure, 
 and there are numerous lesser hotels and well-kept boarding 
 places. Like most of the settlements along here, one com- 
 mands from it a view over still water, which is most esteemed 
 by those who have children that they are afraid will tumble 
 into it; but it is a short and easy sail to the strip of beach that 
 divides the inclosed water from the ocean, and here the big 
 billows tumble with a roar that is like a summons. 
 
 Eastport is another of the places that have come into 
 new life in the last decade. It is laid off on slightly rolling 
 ground that enables one to see not merely the still water of 
 the bay, but that darker space diversified with distant sails and 
 fringed with the smoke of European steamers — the space that 
 ends at the white sands where the Atlantic surges eternally 
 
 36 
 
thunder. You would know that you were near the sea now — 
 you not only see it, but you smell it ; it is in the air ; it 
 affects the thermometer; the vegetation shows it. The Long 
 Island Country Club has set up its penates here; it could 
 not find a better spot ; and the summer resident has left his, 
 and more particularly her, impress on the village. Farming 
 about here is remunerative, because it is skillful and scientific, 
 and there is a considerable doing in the raising of poultry. 
 The roads are so well drained that they do not stay muddy 
 after rains. Several blue ponds, made by the damming of 
 rivers, suggest trout and other toothsome members of the finny 
 tribe, and from the train windows one looks across the larger 
 of these ponds at the club house which has been mentioned. 
 
 Speonk, a place that certainly sounds like the call of a 
 frog, is a small village with a population which is nearly 
 
 SUMMER SCENES AT MORICHI 
 
 37 
 
doubled in summer when boating, bathing and other forms of 
 country pleasuring are at their height. A fenny brook or two 
 coursing through hollows of the land divides pastures that are 
 half overgrown with scrub pines, to which the woodman's ax 
 has lately been applied. There is a Presbyterian church here 
 and several pretty cottages. 
 
 Westhampton is the first of the several and famous Hamp- 
 tons of Long Island. Here the bar thins away, and one may 
 
 DUCK FARM AT WESTHAMPTON. 
 
 drive right down to blue wacer. A dense wood concha's a part 
 of the village from the track, and notice is drawn to it because 
 there is someth'ng of a lumbering industry here. A broad park- 
 way has been laid out to the beach, and clean, sandy roads run 
 in several directions, promising agreeable drives and walks. The 
 real estate boomers are at their work, and they feel a justifiable 
 cor.fidence in the success of the : r schemes. There are Metho- 
 dist, Presbyterian and Catholic churches, and a summer society 
 that includes many professional men. Here is the old " Dix 
 place " that was owned by General Dix, author of the order to 
 shoot any man who tried to pull down the American flag. The 
 farm is now the summer home of the general's son, Rev. Dr. 
 Morgan Dix, of Trinity Church, New York. 
 
 Quogue stands on ground that is agitated by long, slisht 
 waves, the forerunners of the more broken Shnnecock Hills. 
 The wood is more open, but the r gion is lonely. It is a game- 
 haumed country, with small, 1 »cal habitations, and the fine white 
 smd that one sees here and there indicates that the sea is not far 
 away. A number of dainty cottages have been put up recently, 
 
 38 
 
and there are many large boarding 
 
 houses. The place has become famous 
 
 for its bathing. A bulletin is put up 
 
 daily at about the bathing hour, giving 
 
 the temperature of the water, the state 
 
 of the tide, and indicating the safest 
 
 places for bathing. De Witt Clinton 
 
 and Daniel Webster used to come 
 
 here for the bathing and fishing and 
 
 for the fish dinners, and their example 
 
 is now followed by a number of city 
 
 men. Crabbing is one of the local 
 
 excitements. The old village character 
 
 that so long pertained to Quogue is still 
 
 maintained, in so far as the place is 
 
 one of rest and freedom ; but it is 
 
 more modern than it was when its 
 
 first hotels were built, and the city ponquogue light. 
 
 visitor need not fear that he will find himself hopelessly cut off 
 
 from the comforts and necessities he has enjoyed in town. 
 
 At Good Ground the prosperity of the farms and comfort 
 
 of the old-fashioned houses seem to declare the name well 
 
 chosen ; and it is believed that the attempt to do away with it 
 
 and substitute one of those meaningless names like Smithport 
 
 will fail, as it ought to do. Low hills, dark with wood, appear 
 
 in the north, and the tall lighthouse of Ponquogue looms across 
 
 the verdure on the south. Outside of the immeJiate space of 
 
 settlement the 
 country is as 
 wild as Maine, 
 but within the 
 settled belt 
 there is a pleas- 
 ing sense of 
 antiquity and 
 content. Ifone 
 stops here at 
 any one of the 
 well-appointed 
 boarding places 
 he will often be 
 moved to walk 
 
 CANOE PLACE INN. 
 
or drive a little to the north or east of the place and enjoy one 
 of the most magnificent views on the Atlantic or any other 
 coast. Indeed, as the traveler who has "done" Europe sees 
 it, he is reminded more of the famous Bay of Naples than of any 
 other spot. There is no Vesuvius in the distance, throwing up 
 its lazy column of hot dust, but there is a reach of water as blue 
 as that of Naples — the Great Peconic Bay, nearly landlocked, 
 yet full of the strength and freshness of the sea. It is sur- 
 rounded by hilly, wooded shores that break down in slides of 
 silvery sand at the edge of the water, and the view in all directions 
 is of noble breadth and inspiring character. 
 
 The train slowly climbs the Shinnecock Hills after leaving 
 Good Ground, and we find ourselves on one of the most peculiar 
 and picturesque spots on Long Island. Its present and pros- 
 pective vogue is due to the artists who discovered it, so to speak, 
 and the result of their celebrations in paint and illustration has 
 been the erection of a group of fine manors on the windy heights 
 overlooking both the sea on the south and Peconic Bay on the 
 north. At Canoe Place the narrow isthmus between the two 
 has been pierced by a canal, and here has been erected an inn 
 that reproduces in its architectural features the pleasant country 
 inns of England. Needless to remark that it is much better 
 kept than they are and sets a better table. An older tavern 
 hereabout, which has been known to fishermen and sportsmen 
 for a hundred years, and was a stopping place for British 
 officers longer ago than that, has two big willows growing before 
 
 SHINNECOCK HIL 
 
 40 
 
From "Illustrated American. 
 
 it that were started from 
 sprouts brought from St. 
 Helena ; and another notice- 
 able exterior decoration is the 
 wooden statue of Hercules, 
 weighing over a ton, from the 
 U. S. warship "Ohio. " Rev. 
 Paul Cuffee, the last of the 
 Indian missionaries, is buried 
 near by, and hrre may be 
 seen the little church where 
 he preached, as well as the 
 remains of an old fort erected 
 in 1776. About ten years ago 
 most of this property passed 
 into the hands of an improvement company of wealthy men, and 
 an immense rise in value occurred. Before that time the hills were 
 accounted as absolutely worthless. That was because their value 
 was gauged by their agricultural non-productiveness, and no ac- 
 count was taken of air, surf, sport or scenery. About a hundred 
 Shinnecocks occupy the little reservation two or three miles from 
 here, and have homes and farms of their own. They would 
 seem queerly out of place in their original estate were they to 
 present themselves among these bare and windy hills to-day — 
 their ancient hunting ground. In places the ground rises one 
 hundred and forty feet above the sea, and where no villa is in 
 sight one is forcibly reminded of the descriptions of the moors in 
 " Lorna Doone. " If his imagination is still young and active, 
 he fancies that he can see a band of the Doone robbers riding 
 down the track ; but on closer approach the robbers prove to be 
 innocent bicyclers making a "century run" back to Brooklyn. 
 On over the sand, clothed sparsely with short grass and infre- 
 quent clumps of bay and gnarly old cedars, we speed, with the 
 ocean still in view on our right and on our left Peconic, a vast 
 salt lake with scattered cabins on its shore, and presently the 
 name of Southampton is called at the car door. We. have de- 
 scended the dunes and are amid gentler scenery. The fields are 
 broad and green, and have a look of long settlement that is not 
 belied by facts, for the town was settled in 1640, soon after the. 
 pilgrims had got to housekeeping at Plymouth. Job's Lane, 
 still in use, was opened in 1663, and a few of the houses are 
 more than two centuries old. A gravestone in the cemetery 
 
bears the date of 1686. The wandering stranger can put up in 
 Southampton if he likes, but it is distinctly a place of homes, 
 and its advance in population and condition is a gratifying token 
 of the improving taste of the American people and their increas- 
 ing appreciation of the benefits of a rural life, at least in summer. 
 The largest number of lots and in the best places, along the 
 shores of a charming lake, are owned by New Yorkers. South- 
 ampton owes. much of its advance, in fact, to their taste and 
 liberality. All the modern improvements to be expected are 
 here, and there are several that might not be expected. Real 
 estate values are nearly the same as in Brooklyn. Jn its archi- 
 tectural features it rivals, if it does not surpass, any town in this 
 part of the country. Whales are seen now and then off the 
 shore, and last summer three of them were chased and killed by 
 the old salts who still abide here, their carcasses — those of the 
 whales, not the sailors — bringing in about $1000 each. It is 
 good fun to get hold of one of these old fellows — a weather- 
 beaten man of sixty, most likely, with a peck of whiskers under 
 his chin that have defied the Atlantic gales — and after soothing 
 him with a town cigar or possibly a tankard at one of the three 
 bar-rooms in Southampton, to get him to tell tales of adventure 
 on the sea and in " forring parts," in the days when the Ameri- 
 can flag was seen in every sea and whale oil made small but 
 steady fortunes. These veterans are now to be found employed 
 about the boat-letting stations or in charge of yachts, and in the 
 pay of men who never saw a whale or crossed blue water. The 
 history of the town is honorable, especially in the list of its sailors 
 and men of affairs. Before Commodore Perry had opened the 
 
 WATER MILLS. 
 42 
 
ports of Japan and started that empire on its career of civiliza- 
 tion, it was a Southampton whaler, Mercator Cooper, who had 
 put in at Tokio and paved the way to Perry's further action, by 
 returning to their homes a company of shipwrecked Japanese 
 sailors. From the window of the car, on the left of the track, 
 may be seen the first of' several quaint old windmills that are to 
 be found at the east end of the island. Later purposes and de- 
 velopments are indicated in the commodious quarters of the 
 Hampton Club. 
 
 Water Mills is a pleasant farming district with an old 
 mill and views in the open country and along the inclosed water 
 that have been the delight of many artists. There are groves 
 and plantations, and still along the north we see the wall of 
 dark hills. 
 
 Bridgehampton is yet another of these Hamptons, well 
 nigh as perplexing to the stranger as the Haddams of Connecti- 
 cut, a thrifty old village with white houses and white churches, 
 and an old windmill that is a delight to the heart of the antiquary. 
 It is near the sea, and is, therefore, cool and healthful; and from 
 being a self-supporting population of farmers and fishermen, it 
 has grown to be a summer resort of some size and account. 
 Boarders and visitors find here a good library, with Methodist 
 and Presbyterian churches, a hotel of good repute among more 
 than the local population, and a new park around the settlement 
 that has just sprung up along the banks of Georgica Lake. 
 
 Now the road turns northward, leaving the sea and crossing 
 the neck of land four miles wide that divides it from Peconic 
 Bay. Presently a picturesque town looms across the meadows, 
 and the iron horse stops panting after his long run, at the end of 
 the line, in the ancient Sag Harbor. One doesn't hear as much 
 of this old place as he should, for the tide of travel and the trend 
 of interest has been toward the surf, and this town fronts on in- 
 closed water ; but whoever makes a journey out on the island 
 and omits Sag Harbor omits one of the best things on it. It is 
 an old whaling town, like Nantucket and Portsmouth, and is as 
 quaint as ihey. A century ago its tonnage was as large as that 
 of New York, and half a century ago its income from the whale 
 fisheries was close on a million a year. Old settlers will tell you 
 that they can remember the day w r hen no less than sixty-three 
 staunch whalers lay at their wharves or at anchor in their chan- 
 nel, and the sailors coming ashore after voyages that sometimes 
 continued for over five years, would spend their money as freely 
 
WINDMILLS AT THE HAMPTONS. 
 
as water, as it was always the way of seafaring men to do. Where 
 are these old ships now? Alas ! some lie at the bottom of the 
 sea, and even those who mourned their dead are at rest on the 
 hill where, on the mossy stones, one still spells the names of a 
 former generation : Tobias, Peleg, Eliphalet, Caleb, Jemima, 
 Abigail, Deborah and Mehitabel. When the fisheries began to 
 play out many of the ships and crews found occupation in carry- 
 ing pilgrims to California, for the gold fever had set in strong; 
 and having arrived there the crews were affected by the same 
 disorder, and refused to return. Several of these noble ships 
 rotted on the sands of that far-off coast ; and it is related that 
 the bones of one of them were visible at the foot of a San Fran- 
 cisco street until a few years ago. Sag Harbor is one of those 
 towns that just happened. The cows must have made the 
 original streets, and little attempt has been made to rectify them 
 since. Except for the main thoroughfare, which is relatively 
 direct, and is lined with good shops and hotels, they shoot off 
 at all kinds of tangents and bring up in all kinds of unexpected 
 places. This adds greatly to the quaintness of the place. Sag 
 Harbor has gas, running water, schools, and one of the great 
 Brooklyn bazaars has established a branch here. There is a large 
 convent school, and all the leading denominations are repre- 
 sented in the churches, one of which, the Presbyterian, stands on 
 high ground, and is one of the architectural marvels of the land 
 — a combination of Egyptian, Corinthian and Chinese that would 
 be found nowhere else in the world, and that amply justifies 
 itself by its oddity. There is a large watch-case factory and other 
 industries here, and the immense piles of scollop shells along the 
 water front look as if everybody had enough to eat. The sur- 
 rounding scenery is delightful, with low hills clothed to their 
 tops with vegetation and young woods, where the children go to 
 gather wintergreen. Several handsome houses, with spacious 
 grounds and conservatories, have been erected in the neighbor- 
 hood of Sag Harbor, and a hunting and fishing club has bought 
 a quaniity of land fronting on the water. Sag Harb >r was the 
 seat of Indian settlements long ago, and there are a few remains 
 of them in the mounds and kitchen middens that lie, for the 
 larger part, in the yards of the citizens. Mr. William Wall ice 
 Tooktr, of this place, has made a special study of the Long 
 Island Indians, and has a large and interesting collection of relics 
 that he has gathered and exhumed in this part of the island. 
 Among these relics is the only primitive wooden paddle in 
 
 4 6 
 
existence. The old houses of Sag Harbor easily bear out the 
 appearance or allegation of age that the town enjoys, or endures ; 
 but there is comfort and conservatism everywhere, and there never 
 was a town where the people seemed to be so fond of flowers. 
 The windows and gardens are full of them. 
 
 TOLL-GATE NEAR EASTHAMPTON. 
 
 EASTHAMPTON AND MONTAUK POINT. 
 
 The railroad this year has been extended from Bridge- 
 hampton to Amagansett. Easthampton of all the Hamptons is 
 the most delightful. It is the home of many men of mind and 
 influence, and among others, of artists who have painted its 
 beaches, its shaded streets, its old windmill, its fruitful fields and 
 its ancient but comfortable residences. The main street is of 
 magnificent breadth. It was laid out when people did not have 
 to think about real estate values. It is over one hundred and 
 thirty feet wide and is lined with superb old trees. There is 
 no beach in the world superior to the one here. The site of 
 the town was visited before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, 
 and the settlement was one of the earliest in this part of 
 the country. The list of famous men who have gone forth 
 from here, or who have made their homes in its delightful 
 shades, is a long one. It must suffice to mention John 
 Howard Payne, whose "home, sweet home" is one of the 
 first places of the village that the visitor seeks ; Lyman 
 Beecher, " the father of more brains than any man who ever 
 lived;" Lion Gardiner, whose tomb is surmounted by a knight 
 
 47 
 
in armor recumbent; John Alexander Tyler, Roscoe Conkling, 
 Rev. T. De Witt Talmage and Thomas Moran, the painter of 
 western scenery. An old cemetery, a sunken pool where it is 
 said that the will-o'-the-wisp can be seen on still nights, the 
 queer old Clinton Academy and the three Dutch windmills 
 are things by which Easthampton is known far and near ; but 
 it is best known by its refined society, its delightful and health- 
 ful climate, its invigorating pleasures and its lovely setting. A 
 little east of it, in a rich farming district, lies the tiny hamlet 
 
 of Amagansett, 
 and it is at this 
 point that the 
 most picturesque 
 part of the island 
 begins. If one 
 has time he should 
 by all means make 
 the trip to the end 
 of it about ten 
 miles away, and 
 probably before 
 the season is over 
 the railroad will 
 be in operation. 
 Montauk Point is 
 unique; it is a 
 long, bare peninsula, rising above the sea to a height of any- 
 where from fifty to over one hundred feet, its surface rolling and 
 in the hollows many pools where the water lily lifts its ivory star 
 of perfume to the sky, and the air is also sweet with the spicy 
 odors of sweet fern and hay. On the seaward side the hills break 
 down into cliffs of gravel, often nearly sheer and thirty yards 
 more in height, the billows at their bases lashing the w( 
 grown bowlders which from time to time have fallen from 
 heights. The remains of several good ships have strewn tl 
 shores in spite of the ample warnings from the lighthov 
 but the loss of life has been comparatively slight, as there is 
 excellent life saving service here. A dozen years ago tl 
 were but three houses in the whole twenty miles of the Pc 
 but it will not be long before the region is filled with settl 
 A village, parked and neatly built, has already been established 
 far out where the winds come fresh from ocean and where 
 
 BIRTHPLACE OF JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. 
 
 48 
 
p. f tfl 
 
 •^M-Wrn. 
 
 W- 
 
 &':&rs- ?m B 53 ^''-!' "Try 
 
 - .11BP II - 1 i! ! 
 
 CLINTON ACADEMY, EASTHAMPTON. 
 
 imagination roves seaward, finding no land to the south on this 
 side of the West Indies, and none to the east short of the 
 coasts of Portugal and Spain. The land was long used as a 
 cattle pasture, and whoever tramped along the trail here was 
 liable to be startled as he rounded a sand dune or emerged 
 from a clump of brush, at finding himself in a herd of cows 
 with perhaps a fractious bull or two in their company. The 
 great rolling plain of the Point is bright with sunlight, swept 
 by every wind, and is exhilarating in spite of its loneliness. 
 The old houses, about seven miles apart, offer their hospitalities 
 to the belated or storm bound traveler, and on a pinch one 
 might get shelter at the lighthouse, although Government 
 desires that visitors shall not protract their visits until their 
 welcome is worn out. The lighthouse is a tall, conspicuous 
 tower of white, at the eastern extremity of the Point, topped 
 with a powerful Fresnel light that sends its blaze in meteor 
 flashes for twenty miles across the sea and land. Neat houses 
 of the keepers have been erected near its base. The Indian 
 has an eye for natural beauty, as western explorers know, and 
 it was on this point that old chief Wayandance or Wyandank 
 had his headquarters. Remains of his settlement may still be 
 seen. There are harbors here with beautifully curving shores, 
 
and one of them, Fort Pond Bay, will one day become the 
 scene of important activities ; for it is designed to shorten the 
 runs of the great European steamers for the better part of a 
 day by bringing them to dock here, instead of at Jersey 
 City and New York. A great saving of time, both in the 
 transportation of passengers and the delivery of mail and 
 freight, would thus be made, and the time on the ocean ferry 
 would be reduced to about five days, for express trains could 
 be made to cover the one hundred and twenty miles from the 
 bay to Brooklyn in a few hours. One leaves Montauk with 
 regret. It lacks hotel accommodations as yet, though it will 
 not lack them long after the arrival of the railroad, but the 
 inducements to campers and yachtsmen are great. The air 
 and scenery are superb, and the paean of old ocean never 
 sounds forth with greater majesty then when it is rhymed and 
 thundered against the bluffs of Montauk. 
 
 MONTAUK POINT. 
 
A SUBURBAN DRIVE. 
 
 SUBURBAN TOWNS. 
 
 Trains going eastward leave Long Island City and Brook- 
 lyn, the former a place of many industries, the latter a summer 
 and winter resort of a million people who boast of their parks, 
 the boulevards, their churches and their bridge. Assuming 
 that the traveler is trying to escape from town, however, we 
 will not detain him long. He will be pleased to find that his 
 transit across the city is all above ground and past streets 
 guarded from the track by fences and falling gates instead of 
 through a dark and smoky tunnel, like nearly all the other rail 
 approaches to the metropolis. Brooklyn covers more ground 
 than New York, because few of its people live in flats and 
 tenements; but the edge of the town is soon reached, and after 
 the customary suburban spectacle of real estate signs and 
 cemeteries has been offered, the traveler finds himself among 
 green fields and pure air, and breathes deeper. To the south, 
 or right, the land is level and stretches toward the ocean. On 
 the north it rolls up into the ridge known as the backbone of 
 Long Island, a range of hills that extend throughout its length. 
 Ages ago the glacier that buried half of North America under 
 thousands of square miles of ice, ended at Long Island, which 
 indeed is composed of fragments torn from the New York and 
 New England hills in the slow but resistless southward progress 
 of the frozen mass. The remarkable variety of material found 
 here makes the island no less interesting to geologists and 
 mineralogists than its mode of deposit makes it attractive to 
 
artists and lovers of graceful scenery ; for the scenery has now 
 no hint of chill and desolation. We enter upon rich, warm 
 fields as soon as we are clear of Brooklyn, and directly we find 
 ourselves among a congeries of new parks, pleasant places, very 
 delightful to the man of moderate means, with perhaps a num- 
 ber of children who need the educational advantages of the 
 town, but who are the better for living in fresh air and having 
 green things about them. These parks are restricted against 
 nuisances of all kinds. Prices of lots are reasonable, and 
 the train service is frequent. Morris Park, for example, 
 has more than forty trains a day. A pretty place it is, and 
 
 Richmond Hill is 
 another, somewhat 
 older and more se- 
 date, and showing 
 the result of longer 
 residence in its 
 broad streets and 
 charming lawns and 
 gardens, its neat 
 churches and its 
 
 tICHMOND HILL. 
 
 homes, that are obviously the abodes of taste, if not of wealth. 
 Superbly located, with sufficient elevation to secure perfect 
 drainage and a magnificent view of the surrounding country, it 
 has hardly a rival among suburban competitors. Everybody 
 who travels by the Long Island Railroad has an eye out for the 
 private parks at Woodhaven, with their beds of flowers, their 
 
ponds and bridges, their statuary and greenhouses. This region 
 is filling up rapidly, and one does not have to be very old or 
 reminiscential when he tells how he used to see the haymakers 
 getting in their loads where graded streets now run,. and about 
 apples growing where trim cottages and rows of houses stand. 
 
 The first important stop after leaving Brooklyn is Jamaica, 
 settled in 1656, and containing a few interesting relics of 
 the colonial period. In the days when the Union Race 
 Course was in operation near Jamaica, it enjoyed a national 
 reputation, and its name appeared in the papers of the 
 land at least as often as any other town three times as big. 
 After the decline of its sporting interests it fell into apparent 
 desuetude for a few years, but it is now a busy and fast- 
 growing place of six thousand inhabitants, with three papers, 
 churches of all denominations, fine shops, good schools and 
 ready access to town. It has been selected as the site for 
 a new State Normal School. Unfortunately for himself, the 
 traveler who is ticketed to eastern stations sees very little of 
 this town, for the railroad runs, for a part of its course, 
 through a cut, and it is environed, as railroads are apt to be in 
 such places, with shops, sheds, lumber piles, and the like. 
 Jamaica is the railroad center of Long Island, for here the road 
 forks to Brooklyn, to Bushwick, to Long Island City, to the 
 main and southern divisions, and all trains for Oyster Bay, 
 Northport, Port Jefferson, Greenport and Sag Harbor pass 
 through it. Whoso lives in Jamaica has his choice of many 
 pleasant walks, rides and drives in the neighborhood, and of 
 cheap excursions by rail. Of course it has electric lights, gas, 
 local surface cars, creditable public buildings, and all other 
 things that make the town a modern and comfortable place of 
 residence. To its very edge it has a sound and settled look 
 which is different from the transition state of things on the east- 
 ern edge of Brooklyn. There is a comfortable hotel here for such 
 as have occasion to visit the place, and if summer board is wanted 
 it can be had in a number of houses, for you are ten miles from 
 New York, and the air is fresher than it is on the shores of the 
 East River. 
 
 Around Jamaica are many vegetable gardens, and people 
 who cross the great Brooklyn Bridge late at night have met the 
 huge covered wagons rumbling over that structure on their way 
 to the markets, driven by the farmers, and laden with lettuce, 
 cauliflower, corn, and what not. Long Island eggs are the 
 
 54 
 
standard in near-by cities, and Long Island potatoes have the 
 reputation of being the best grown outside of Bermuda. 
 
 Hollis is an attractive place, where the houses stand at inde- 
 pendent angles to each other, and are surrounded with generous 
 yards and brightened by many posy patches. The Queen Anne 
 style of architecture, that was so persistent about ten years ago, is 
 still popular ; but its rigors have modified, and if a Hollis man has 
 a fondness for some other style, say the colonial or even the plain 
 modern American, the neighbors will not send out a vigilance 
 committee to inquire about it. The driveway that runs through 
 Hollis and takes the traveler upon the ridge to the north, opens 
 up to his view a vision of rare loveliness, embracing ocean and 
 earth, plain and hill, solitude and town, with the hills of Jersey 
 seen through the incessant vapor and smoke that drift from the 
 chimneys of New York — the incense that is burned at the altar of 
 commerce and industry. The trees that were set out by the 
 founders of the town have already acquired a sturdy growth, and 
 are a delight to the eye and a refreshment to the sense on a warm 
 day in summer. 
 
 A little farther on is Queens, a village built upon a 
 rolling and diversified surface more suggestive of the hill 
 districts of places "up the State" than of what nine people 
 in ten suppose Long Island to be ; for there are still a good many 
 persons who imagine the island to be as flat as a pancake from 
 end to end, and some who hold the notion that their grandfathers 
 entertained, that it is a region of pine barrens. The old church 
 standing among the cedars is quaint, and the athletic grounds 
 close by the station seem to offer a promise of abundant sport. 
 The local muscle of the place, however, is more immediately 
 concerned in the building of houses and the raising of fruit and 
 vegetables for the towns and for the satisfaction of the appetites of 
 boarders in these precincts, the aforesaid appetites being daily 
 sharpened to a wolfish edge by a bracing air and the salt flavor of 
 the same. Long hills with sentinel trees stretch across the north 
 to what seems an infinity of distance. They are the glacial mo- 
 raine, the backbone of the island. At their feet begins the wide 
 plain that spreads in a sheet of green to the south, merging into 
 the marshy edges of the sea, and divided from the surf of ocean 
 by narrow keys of sand with their many hotels and cottages, and 
 an intervening lagoon of still water that extends for ninety miles 
 with hardly a break along the outer or seaward side of the island. 
 Holland is half suggested in the mellow gardens that we look out 
 
 55 
 
upon, with cattle grazing contentedly in fat pastures, and more 
 especially is it suggested in the windmills that are whirling in the 
 breeze and raising water for the benefit of people and stock alike ; 
 for it is one of the advantages of this part of the country that the 
 water supply is unlimited, and that even in the driest seasons the 
 wells and springs are little affected. Of course these windmills 
 are not of the Old World pattern, though we shall see a few of 
 them in the Hamptons. 
 
 North of Queens is Creedmoor, a pleasant hamlet, near 
 which is the most celebrated of American rifle ranges. National 
 guardsmen come here to practise almost daily, and it has been 
 the place where the great international matches have been held. 
 
 Floral Park is a new village, and is what its name implies. 
 The Hon. John Lewis Childs started it when he established his 
 extensive nurseries and greenhouses here ; for Long Island is also 
 known as a famous seed-growing country, and there is no reason 
 why the business of flower-raising, that is pursued to such advan- 
 tage in places along the Hudson and in Pennsylvania, a hundred 
 miles and more from the metropolis, to which the best of the 
 product is sent, should not be followed to still greater profit in 
 these warm, even-temperatured plains within an hour's reach of 
 the great city. Floral Park takes its name directly, perhaps, from 
 the little park that is reached just before running in at the station, 
 and that in the summer months is kept in an absolute glory of 
 bloom. A little observatory that stands at the end of this park 
 offers a view finer than one might suppose to be possible, consid- 
 ering its height, and that, in the extent of the prospect, may truly 
 be called grand. Many fine houses and cozy cottages have been 
 erected here within a couple of years, and the little place supports 
 a newspaper and a magazine. 
 
 East Hinsdale is an enterprising community, where are lo- 
 cated some of the most extensive seed and flower nurseries in the 
 State. It is well worth a visit. Any one interested in horticulture 
 will be well repaid by an examination of these gardens. Now we 
 emerge upon the plains of Garden City in Hempstead, a township 
 large enough for a county and fertile and pleasant enough to sup- 
 port a population of thousands, yet as easy to reach from New 
 York as many of the New Jersey towns that have been in the en- 
 joyment of popularity for dozens of years without half as much to 
 recommend them, either in natural resources, accessibility to the 
 cities, or in cheapness of real estate. The center of interest in the 
 township is Garden City, which was founded by the late A. T. 
 
 56 
 
Stewart on land bought by him from the township, and designed 
 as a place of abode for men and women of moderate means. If 
 it has failed in some of the respects for which it was created it has 
 gained in other and perhaps more important ones, for it is becom- 
 ing a place of lovely homes. Imposing mansions show from the 
 hills'; it has fine private schools, with ample ball-fields and other 
 accessories of the modern institution of learning, while its 
 exquisite cathedral, a miniature of the famous Gothic fanes 
 of England, from its situation forcibly suggests that of Salis- 
 bury. This beautiful building, while it does not vie in size 
 with some of the more famous churches, is better worthy of study 
 than most of those in New York. In its architectural scheme it 
 is more finished and harmonious than most of them, and its situ- 
 ation in a green park sets it off to advantage. Here, also, the 
 bishop of the diocese has his home, and the services are of such 
 interest and the music of such rare artistic quality that many peo- 
 ple come here from the cities to attend church. The cathedral 
 is, incidentally, the Stewart family mausoleum. Some years ago 
 they used to call this part of the township the Hempstead Bar- 
 rens ; but on looking out over the farms that have been opened in 
 these levels, and in walking along the shaded streets with their 
 many gardens, it is hard to understand why such a name was ever 
 applied to them. There is something invigorating, however, in 
 the breadth of view that is had, even from the streets. It costs 
 about a hundred dollars to see the prairies of the West. You can 
 get all the effects of vastness and impressiveness here for a dollar. 
 It must not be forgotten, either, that there are few, if any, places on 
 the prairies that offer accommodations so enjoyable as those you 
 find here at the hotel in Garden City, with its baths, elevators, smok- 
 ing and billiard rooms, steam heat, open fire-places and running 
 water. The hotel has been greatly enlarged and improved in the 
 past year, and is now one of the best suburban hotels about New 
 York. Hempstead, which lies only a mile or so from Garden City, 
 is one of the older towns, but it is fast growing back to a state of 
 youth. The old houses that g ive it so much character are slowly 
 disappearing or are being remodeled out of recognition, though 
 the place retains and points with pride, as the political speakers 
 have it, at the Episcopal Church with its communion service given 
 to it by Queen Anne, the hotel where Washington stopped, the 
 ancient town hall, the buttonball trees one hundred and fifty years 
 old, and the houses that were standing during the British occupation 
 of the place, which continued nearly throughout the Revolution. 
 
All sorts of modern improvements have been made in Hempstead, 
 including running water, a high-class fire service with millionaires 
 among the firemen, electric lights, macadamized highways, and 
 its inhabitants are to have an opera house. Near here are the 
 headquarters of the famous Meadow Brook and Farm Kennel 
 Clubs, which number in their membership some of the best known 
 society men and millionaires of New York. The place has five 
 churches, two schools, two newspapers, six hotels, and a society 
 distinguished for its vivacity and brightness. The first railroad on 
 the island ran to Hempstead sixty years ago, and it was eight 
 years after that the line was extended to Greenport. 
 
 The main line and the southern division of the railroad are 
 connected by a line running from Garden City to Valley Stream, 
 on which are located West Hempstead, Hempstead Gardens and 
 Norwood. 
 
 
 frW^m - 
 
 58 
 
GARDEN CITY HOTEL. 
 
 THE CENTRAL SECTION. 
 
 Leaving Jamaica on the main line of the railroad, we pass 
 through the central belt of the island, which presents at every 
 point scenery entirely different from that on either the north side 
 or south side. 
 
 Hyde Park is built up with modern houses, and a good 
 many of them have gone up in the last few years. It is a pleasant, 
 fertile and accessible village, as is 
 
 Mineola, celebrated in this part of the country for its 
 agricultural fairs, it being the seat of the Queens County So- 
 ciety, whereat there is a great display of prize corn, pump- 
 kins, potatoes, hogs and cattle. This is the center of a 
 farming country that gave Long Island a good name in the 
 old days. The soil is light but rich, and a good many nur- 
 series and floricultural industries bear testimony to the fact. 
 Mineola is a typical country village. The views out in the open 
 are fine, and among the objects included in them are the needle 
 of the Garden City cathedral piercing the sky on the south, and 
 towers, windmills and villa roofs topping the hillside on the 
 north. 
 
 Westbury is a dry, healthy place, slightly rolling, a fine 
 country either to farm, to tramp through, to hunt over, or just to 
 own a piece of. Stabling seems to be a specialty here, and the 
 roads are in good condition for bicycling. A new church and 
 good stores will be found here, and back on the edge of the 
 hills or on commanding sites on their sides are handsome villas 
 and club houses. 
 
Hicksville has been so modernized of late that some of its 
 older inhabitants would hardly know it if they were suddenly pre- 
 cipitated into its streets after a long absence. Its factories have 
 grown in number, size and output ; it has new chapels. and stores ; 
 
 it is well lighted. 
 Neat new cottages 
 have been put up 
 for workmen. Indi- 
 cations of the extent 
 of the seed and fertil- 
 izer industries are 
 saen near the rail- 
 road ; but, after all, 
 the things that please 
 the visitor most are 
 the wide, clean, 
 shaded main street, 
 and the healthy, 
 thrifty look of things. 
 Central Park lies 
 in another splendid 
 reach of farming 
 country, across which 
 the eye may rove for 
 
 GARDEN CITY CATHEDRAL AND SAINT PAUL'S SCHOOL. 
 60 
 
leagues from any slight elevation. Though a little place, Central 
 Park has better shops and hostelries than many places of larger 
 size, and its roads are a delight merely to look upon. Around it 
 is a young pine wood, sweetening the air with balsamic odors; and 
 as you continue eastward you find that for a space this gives place 
 to an oak forest, clothing the low hills with green. In one of the 
 well-attended intervals we come upon the northern and more 
 sedate section of Farmingdale, with its churches, schools and 
 factories, and presently enter the Comae Hills, among which is 
 West Deer Park, in the tender green of sproutlands, with areas of 
 older wood about them, and occasional gashes of black where the 
 vegetation has been burned off. Some springs in this neighbor- 
 hood were formerly esteemed for their supposed medicinal value. 
 
 
 
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 THE MEADOW BROOK HOUNDS. 
 
 There is space, the air is bracing, and the forest is large enough to 
 give room for the hunter for weeks at a time. The forest thickens, 
 the trees grow taller, and here and there among them we find the 
 cuttings of old wood roads that were abandoned back in the six- 
 ties and have long since grown to underbrush and weeds. 
 
 Deer Park has begun to feel the stimulus of improvement. 
 A company has taken possession of large areas of its land, and 
 has begun to develop it in earnest. Houses of the old type are 
 beginning to be deserted, but sound and attractive new ones are 
 taking their places. 
 
 Brentwood is the capital of the pine belt. For a long time 
 it was known merely as a place of trim farms and gardens, nur- 
 series and stock stables. Then rumors of its benefit as a 
 
sanitarium, in cases of pulmonary trouble, were repeated here and 
 there, and presently people began to investigate for them- 
 selves. Some who were of weak lungs found themselves 
 benefited by a short stay, and many others whose lungs were 
 perfectly sound found that it was an equally good place for them. 
 The air, coming pure and strong from the sea and passing over 
 a big tract of evergreen wood, is of the sort to put life into a 
 mummy. Here are located two well-appointed hotels, the 
 "Austral" and the "Brentwood." There is no more delightful 
 place in the State than Brentwood, a town of homes with their 
 gardens hedged by spruces and cedars, and the health-giving 
 forest forming a barrier from the rest of the world. Although 
 much of this forest is preserved against trespass by its owners, 
 even where it is wildest, there is still room for the botanist and 
 nature-lover to get away from the roads here and there. A 
 pretty chapel, which has recently been built, is but one of the 
 indications that the refinements and amenities of life are not 
 forgotten in a district so seemingly remote and so purposely and 
 desirably secluded. 
 
 Central Islip, also in the pine belt, is an attractive, home- 
 like district, while its schools and some of its churches form 
 charming features in the landscape. Its fields are well fenced 
 and well tilled. Eastward from the village one passes a large 
 town of brick buildings, all substantially alike and spread out as 
 if the land cost nothing. This is one of New York City's 
 asylums, and the patients placed here for treatment show the 
 improving effect of pure air and quiet. The land and buildings 
 cost about half a million dollars. There are about three 
 hundred patients. 
 
 A bit of fenland, remarkable for its rarity in these parts of 
 the island, is passed, and the train slows up at the village of Ron- 
 konkoma, a long-drawn settlement whose farms merge into those 
 of Waverly, partly owned by the Waverly Gun Club. This is 
 good farming land, and the little red or white houses, often with 
 the old oaken bucket hanging in the well before their doors, make 
 as sweet a picture of peace and content as could be imagined. 
 
 Ronkonkoma is the name of a lake about a mile north of 
 the station that has the same name, and it has become one of the 
 most deservedly popular spots on the island. It is about three 
 miles around, is pear-shaped, and is supplied by springs that well 
 up at the bottom of its basin, which is in parts over sixty feet in 
 depth. Trees surround it and shade the lawns of cottages and 
 
homes that have been set up here, and the walks and drives of 
 the neighborhood are delightful. The beach is of fine white 
 sand, bordered with a road, and the water is of singular purity, 
 while the picture that it reflects on a still morning, when the trees 
 
 LAKE RONKONKuMA. 
 
 droop their great branches toward its edge and the sloping banks 
 seem to sparkle with daisies and other wild flowers, is one th.at 
 the eye never tires of. The meaning of the name is "sand 
 pond," and it sounds better than it means, for usually the old 
 Indian titles were poetic. It is the largest body of fresh water on 
 the island, and is fifty-five feet above sea level. For some unex- 
 plained reason it has periods of recession and refilling that cannot 
 possibly be connected with the tides. In its depths bass, catfish 
 and perch are found, and on its surface many wild birds alight in 
 their flight to the meadows or the shore. It has an atmosphere of 
 its own that always seems to be cool and sweet, but the sweet- 
 ness is doubtless that of the flowers that grow both wild along 
 the banks and in the many gardens St. Mary's-by-the-Lake is a 
 little church on the south side of the water, and within ready 
 reach are the churches of various denominations. There is a good 
 hotel, and the boarding houses are satisfactory. Of course such 
 a thing of beauty as this lake has its poems, and has had its pict- 
 ure often taken by the painters and illustrators and photographers. 
 It also has its legend about a love-lorn Indian maiden in a phan- 
 tom canoe, not unlike the one written by Thomas Moore about 
 the ghosts of the Dismal Swamp. But no legend could make 
 Ronkonkoma dismal. It is all bright and fair : a sapphire in an 
 
 emerald setting. 
 
 63 
 
Medford shows little of itself to the spectator at the car 
 window, but the most careless passenger draws freer breath among 
 these immense reaches of plain and wood — reaches so great that 
 he wonders how the world can be called small when. Long Island 
 is so big. A hunter, a recluse, an old-fashioned hermit could 
 be as much alone here as St. Simeon Stylites or St. Kevin. 
 
 The fields of Yaphank are next in view. Artists go to 
 Holland and to Normandy and run risks of Roman fever on 
 the Campagna to paint less attractive ones. Earth smiles in 
 green, and the fine old woods in the background, cut by long, 
 straight roads, seem to the stimulated fancy the abodes of nymphs 
 and fauns and satyrs — the creatures with which the pantheistic 
 Greek peopled his Vale of Tempe and that frisked in his vineyard 
 in the moonlit night. Notice the queer old shingled house by the 
 station. Of course you will notice the fine, large hotel to the 
 north of the track. True, that hotel, so clean and hospitable in 
 its appearance, is the county poorhouse ; but doesn't it look as 
 if you could spend a summer there in comfort? Perhaps the resi- 
 dents do. There is a small stream here, and more fens around 
 Manor, with its ancient tavern and houses, its big ancestral trees, 
 its new shops and improvements. There are two churches and 
 a hotel, and board can be had in many of the farm houses at 
 reasonable rates. 
 
 Baiting Hollow lies among the hills and woods, though 
 the forest is much broken ; for there are fine farms here, and the 
 people who work them say it is the best soil for keeping weeds 
 out of that they ever knew. Cauliflower, potatoes, cranberries 
 and strawberries are standard crops. The woods include now- 
 many deciduous trees, and white birches are frequently seen, their 
 stems shining against the dark green of the pines. It continues 
 to be a rolling country as we go on, but we see more water, 
 and there is quite a bit of it when we come to 
 
 Riverhead. This is more like a city than anything we have 
 seen since leaving Jamaica. About three thousand people have 
 their permanent residence here, and in summer as many more are 
 added to the population as the hotels and boarding houses can ac- 
 commodate. There are even more shops than a town of the size 
 would ordinarily support — about fifty, it is said, besides lumber 
 yards, a cigar factory, moulding mills and flour mills. There is a 
 bank and schools, together with churches of various denominations. 
 Navigation up Peconic Bay is feasible to this point, for River- 
 head has considerable commerce in fruit and produce, and 
 
 6 4 
 
is at least as well entitled to governmental consideration as the 
 celebrated Cheesequakes Creek. The houses are well built, and 
 seldom have the ephemeral look of summer residences. The 
 streets are shaded, and in all directions the view, though not ex- 
 citing, is full of grace and pleasantness. The ground surface is 
 slightly rolling, hills rise along the horizon both north and 
 south, and the shining, quiet water is in the field of vision from 
 every high point. The holding of court and the annual recurrence 
 of the county fair in this town afford enlivening days. The At- 
 lantic is within an hour's drive of Riverhead, the Sound within 
 half an hour, Peconic Bay about as far, and the clear sheet of 
 water known as Great Pond within twenty minutes' walk. Flan- 
 ders, a couple of miles away on the bay, may be regarded as River- 
 head's watering place. There you may fish, shoot, row and bathe 
 to your satisfaction. 
 
 v 
 
 65 
 
ALONG PECONIC BAY. 
 
 The lovely salt water called Peconic Bay has attractions for 
 some that the open sea does not, for there are many who prefer 
 quiet bathing and safe boating to a tussle with the big rollers. 
 After leaving Riverhead the train rolls out upon the north fluke of 
 Long Island's tail, or peninsula, if you like. 
 
 Aquebogue, the first settlement, suggests that its origin 
 might be mixed Latin and Saxon, for water and bog are its bay 
 front. It has an old church. The views over the bay are less 
 inspiring from these low meadows than from the hills on the 
 south side of the island, and from the rises of ground that will 
 be met a little farther on. 
 
 Jamesport straggles back on either side of the road to heights 
 where old churches stand and houses peep through the trees. 
 Gardens and farms extend in every direction, and there is just 
 sand enough in the rich soil to keep it from souring and getting 
 heavy. The town is one of the most popular places on the island 
 in proportion to its size, and during recent years the boarders who 
 have desired to come here have had to speak early. The hotels 
 and farm houses have been sometimes crowded to discomfort, and 
 this has led to a movement for the erection of cottages. 
 
 Franklinville is a prosperous village for one that makes no 
 noise in the world. Flower culture has been taken up in a 
 modest way. 
 
PECONIC BAY, NEAR CUTCHOGUE. 
 
 The modest village of Mattituck, with its charming water 
 vistas, its good taverns and its sound old farm houses, is another 
 comfortable place that is in present favor, and increasing in 
 popularity all the time. A creek heads in from the Sound, and 
 in it are many crabs waiting to be caught, while in both the bay 
 and the sea are fish. Two hotels take care of the visitors, and 
 the leading religious denominations have chapels and churches. 
 
 Cutchogue is not large, but it is sightly, and is one of the 
 chain of towns pierced by the long straight road that runs from 
 Riverhead to Orient, and is accounted as one of the finest 
 in the country ; for there is no excuse for not having good roads 
 on Long Island, since the surface and character of the soil en- 
 courage their construction. The drainage is good ; there are no 
 ledges and beds of rock thrust up through the earth to make bar- 
 riers that it is expensive to blast away ; the grades are never 
 steep, except at the ocean's edge, 
 and land is not so expensive that 
 roads cannot be widened and im- 
 proved when necessary. Indeed, 
 as bicyclers know, the superiors 
 of the Long Island roads are few 
 in this country, which, as a land, 
 has but just awakened to the 
 
 6 7 
 
need and the economical sense of safe and solid highways. 
 There are no more popular runs among wheelmen than those 
 from the east end of the island to Brooklyn, or vice versa. Cut- 
 chogue village lies about half a mile south of the track, among 
 broad fields and young woods and paying farms. It has churches, 
 a hall, an agricultural society, hotels and shops, and it has 
 coolness and pleasing views. The broad, shaded street of 
 Peconic puts one in regard for that old place before he alights 
 from the train, and his liking increases on better acquaintance with 
 its nice old houses. Peconic Park is a headland that juts out from 
 here. Southold thinks itself the oldest, as it thinks itself one of the 
 finest, settlements in this part of the world. Unfortunately for 
 the claims of both, it cannot be definitely stated whether the first 
 settlers landed at Southold or Southampton. Whoever it was that 
 first came, it is known that in 1640 the people of Southold had 
 obtained a formal concession from the Indians and had organized 
 a church. Its two hundred and fiftieth anniversary was cele- 
 brated with considerable eclat in August, 1890. It is a scattered 
 place, with a populous center where shops, schools, churches, 
 a newspaper office and other up-to-date appliances and benefits 
 are to be found. So fine is the climate, with the winds coming 
 from the sea whichever way it may blow, that you are pretty sure 
 to meet one or two of those people during a summer's visit who 
 will testify that Southold people may get to be old people, 
 but they never die. Endurance is even shown by the houses, 
 and there are two of them at least that are coeval with the 
 foundation of the village. The end of the main line is reached 
 at Greenport, a bright and agreeable town of three thousand 
 people, who have most of the advantages of living that cities of 
 five times that number can command in some other parts of the 
 country. It fronts on Peconic Bay, with the wooded heights 
 and tawny landslides of Shelter Island rising from the placid 
 water. Though it is the end of the road, it has a commerce 
 worthy of a railroad center. In the season boat communication 
 is provided here with Shelter Island, New London and Sag 
 Harbor ; and its harbor could shelter a navy, for it is said to be 
 bigger and freer from bars than that of New York. The cottagers 
 and boarders here come from New England and the West as 
 well as from Brooklyn and New York. The hotels here are 
 comfortable and long established. There are large shops and 
 commercial enterprises. The main street is handsome and 
 well appointed ; there are electric lights and water-works ; the 
 
 68 
 
streets cross each other at a fair approach to the rectangular sys- 
 tem. The churches are large and handsome ; the schools 
 are efficient, and the new high school is a matter for local 
 pride. Theatrical entertainments and lectures enliven even the 
 winter here, and in summer, of course, much more is a-doing. 
 Of the several marine industries of the town the one that is 
 
 most obvious to the eye is the 
 scollop fishery. Tons and tons of 
 the shells, with crabs and starfish 
 and other strange things mixed up 
 with them, are piled on the beach 
 about half a mile from the station. 
 The boating, sailing, fishing and 
 shooting around this part of the 
 
 island are fine ; but the 
 visitor should ' not leave 
 until he has made the ac- 
 quaintance of the Sound, 
 behind the town. Follow- 
 ing the northward extension 
 of the main street, he presently 
 comes out upon the top of a bluff 
 of gravel, and has his breath taken away by the suddenness and 
 extent of the view ; for he is standing eighty or ninety feet above 
 the Sound, and it is spread out below him for ten or a dozen 
 miles, straight across to the Connecticut shore, while to east and 
 
 6 9 
 
west the sky closes down on the sea-line. Capes jut out from the 
 bluffs that the traveler stands upon, and one of them bears the 
 spire of Horton's Point light. At the sea's verge enormous boul- 
 ders lie in chaotic masses, some of them as large as a house, and 
 about them on windy days the water churns and froths magnifi- 
 cently. The water is surprisingly pure, and the beach of pebbles 
 is as clean as the floor of a Holland kitchen, and no doubt a 
 little cleaner, for it is washed every few seconds. The prevalence 
 of large pebbles of milky quartz is one of the peculiar features of 
 the beach. They are as smooth as eggs and white as new-fallen 
 snow. At high-water line masses of seaweed are found, and Ice- 
 land moss can be gathered here. As sand beaches have their sing- 
 ing sound under foot, so this shingle gives forth a curious tubby 
 note as if one were walking over a cellar. A little westward from 
 the terminus of the road is a smooth sand strip that is streaked 
 with powdered iron and garnet, the blotting sand of our ancestors, 
 and so rich is this sand that when it occurs in large quantities it 
 can be worked at a profit. 
 
 Orient, a town of a thousand people, is the last town on the 
 Island. It is delightful in many ways. 
 
&i:-'J ■ .y • -fir.i 1 
 
 3T 'I 
 
 tte 
 
 fa. 
 
 SHELTER ISLAND. 
 
 Shelter Island is reached by ferry from Greenport. This 
 balmy land, that seems to float dream-like on the surface of the 
 turquois sea, is really sheltered from the winds on almost every 
 side by the inclosing capes and other islands, and the Indians 
 called it "the island sheltered by islands"; but it is not to that 
 circumstance that its name is due. The name commemorates 
 the fact that it was a shelter for the Quakers when they were driven 
 from New England by the intolerance of men who had left Eng- 
 land to escape intolerance. Thanks to the lord of the manor, 
 Nathaniel Sylvester, they secured a place to live, or at least to die, 
 although Sylvester was not a Quaker himself. Whittier, the 
 Quaker poet, has left a noble and beautiful tribute to his mem- 
 ory. The present manor occupies almost the site of the original 
 one, and is over a century old. It was occupied in summer by 
 the late Prof. Hosford, of Harvard, who was instrumental in erect- 
 ing a monument commemorating the landing of the Quakers so 
 long ago. The island is of irregular form, and lies between the 
 flukes of Long Island, as one writer has expressed it, ''like a 
 nut in the jaw of a nutcracker." Viewing Shelter Island as it 
 stands to-day, it is difficult to believe that it is practically but 
 twenty years old. It was discovered, as it were, by the Method- 
 ists, who planted a camp-meeting ground here. But while it was 
 admirable for residence, it was at that time a trifle out of the way 
 for the large number of people who desired to attend the meetings, 
 
some of them for only a day, and Merrick and th< 
 New Jersey resorts, which were nearer and 
 more accessible, in a little time took 
 away the prestige of the place. 
 But its fame had gone abroad, 
 and it was not long ere cot- 
 tages began to dot the fields 
 and to peep among the 
 groves. 
 
 There is great 
 variety of soil and 
 contour on Shel- 
 ter Island. 
 
 Opposite Green- 
 port it breaks 
 sharply down to the 
 water's edge in long, 
 steep slides, and elsewhere 
 are to be found shaded 
 coves and clean beaches, where 
 one may bathe in security or may 
 take boat for voyages around the 
 bay. The summer residents are 
 people in professional life, and consti- 
 tute a society that is unrivalled among the cities. 
 Indeed, the society of the island has been choice, it 
 formerly limited, from the earliest times. The old manor was the 
 
SHELTER ISLAND. 
 
 scene ot many gayeties 
 and hospitalities, and was 
 regarded as an architect- 
 ural wonder in its time. 
 For the original structure 
 bricks were shipped from 
 Holland, as well as scrip- 
 tural tile for the chim- 
 neys, and the doors and 
 windows from England or Barbadoes. Roses and other flower- 
 ing plants were sent over for the gardens, and there is a box- 
 tree, planted by the original occupants of the house, which 
 is still flourishing, green and tall and strong; and perhaps 
 the miles of box-hedge, old-fashioned and beautiful, to be 
 found in Sag Harbor, Greenport and other east-end villages, 
 came from that parent stock. A hawthorn hedge on the ground 
 of the manor is of about the same date. The woods at that pe- 
 riod were cut away to make hogsheads of their timber, for Mr. 
 Sylvester was engaged in the sugar trade in the West Indies when 
 the Quakers came to him begging shelter from his compatriots. 
 It is recorded that George Fox, founder of their order, preached 
 to the Indians from the front-door steps. Here, likewise, were 
 tenderly entreated the unhappy Lawrence and Cassandra South- 
 wick, who had been imprisoned, whipped and banished from 
 Boston because their faith was not that of the Puritans. Their 
 son and daughter were ordered to be sold into slavery, but the 
 manly old sea captain who was charged with taking them to the 
 markets of Virginia roared out a round of big D's that no doubt 
 
shocked the pious people, and refused the job. The elder South- 
 wicks died in the manor, their last days solaced by the loving 
 care of the only people they had found in America who seemed to 
 be possessed of common humanity. It is of interest to know that 
 Mr. Sylvester's rent for this splendid and fertile domain was one 
 lamb a year, should the same be demanded on the first of May. 
 It would take a whole sheep-yard to buy one lot there now. Con- 
 spicuous on the shore is the great Manhanset Hotel, one of the 
 handsomest and best appointed on the coast, and one that has be- 
 come highly popular. Cottagers can take their meals there if they 
 wish to avoid the troubles and anxieties of housekeeping. It has 
 accommodations for 700 people, and its splendid frontage of 725 
 feet on the water affords fine views. There is a Shelter Island 
 Yacht Club, and the New York Yacht Club has a house there. 
 The Shelter Island Association, organized to build cottages and 
 improve the real estate at the location known as Shelter Island 
 Heights, has secured a supply of pure spring water for the houses, 
 laid out paths and roads, and established restrictions for the well- 
 being of the community. It also erected a hotel, the Prospect 
 House, which has a well-earned reputation. 
 
 Robins Island, west of Shelter Island, farther in the bay, has 
 been famous for generations as a hunting and fishing center. It is 
 owned by the Robins Island Gun Club. East of Shelter Island, well 
 out to sea, are Gardiner's Island and Block Island. Gardiner's 
 Island is still in possession of one of the Gardiner family, to whom 
 it was granted. His ancestor, Lion Gardiner, was the first man of 
 English blood to settle in New York State. He bought this lonely 
 tract from the Indians in 1639. It is a delightful spot with a fertile 
 
 THE OLD HOMESTEAD ON GARDINER S ISLAND. 
 
soil and bracing winds that secure to the residents cool nights 
 and comfortable days ; but until the owner decides to sell it — an 
 unlikely event — the public will know little of it. The Squire's 
 Hall is a venerable place, and among its treasures and curios are 
 a silk shawl that was given to one of the Gardiner dames by the 
 redoubtable Captain Kidd. The resident population of the island 
 is small, not over a hundred people, and it is employed in the 
 maintenance of the estate, in farming, gardening and the raising 
 of stock. 
 
 ALONG THE SOUND SHORE AT GREAT NECK. 
 
 ALONG THE NORTH SHORE. 
 
 The Catskill Mountains possess charms which are distinct- 
 ively their own ; the Adirondack region has beauties which are 
 peculiar to that wonderful country, but the attractions of Long 
 Island are no Jess peculiar and no less entrancing to those in 
 search of summer change and recreation. Variety is imparted 
 to the scenery by the water. On the south side it is the grand 
 old ocean and the Great South Bay, and on the north it is the 
 Sound and numerous bays and inlets which indent the shore at 
 various points and render the aspect of the country extremely 
 picturesque. The tourist who visits the north shore of the Island 
 for the first time is astonished at the boldness of the hills and the 
 
magnificent views of the Sound which are obtained from them. 
 If his travels have previously been confined to the south side he 
 will constantly compare the rolling country which he sees with 
 the level districts nearer the ocean. It is this wonderful diversity 
 of scenery which has made Long Island a paradise for the tourist. 
 Those travelers who are only familiar with the south side can form 
 no idea of the attractions which await them on the north. In the 
 latter region tired people find rest and refreshment in riding for 
 
 MOONLIGHT ON LONG ISLAND SOUND. 
 
miles along country roads, where every now and then they are 
 treated to charming glimpses of the broad expanse of Long 
 Island Sound, with views of steam and sailing craft passing over 
 this great water highway. It may be a stately passenger steamer, 
 or a ponderous freighter, or a long tow of coal barges which 
 move so slowly that they scarcely seem to move at all. Beside 
 all these are the trim sail-boats and yachts, which, throughout the 
 season frequent these parts in great numbers and add to the 
 picturesqueness of all water views. But if the glimpses of the 
 water from the roads and elevated places are refreshing, what 
 should be said of the delights of sailing along the shore of the 
 Sound and now and then making excursions into the numerous 
 harbors which are found for almost its entire length ? In this sort 
 of recreation, the tourist who selects the north shore finds unend- 
 ing satisfaction, and he can say most feelingly with Byron : 
 
 " This quiet sail is as a noiseless wing 
 To waft me from distraction." 
 
 A short distance out from Long Island City the attention of 
 the traveler is attracted to the large number of florist establish- 
 ments which are located in the villages through which the train 
 passes. The first station is Woodside, a suburban town of many 
 attractions, and adjoining is Winfield, a place similar in character. 
 Newtown is one of the old towns of the island. The Episcopal 
 church is over a hundred years old. There are several hotels 
 and boarding houses. A typical country place is Corona, with 
 many handsome cottages. Less than a mile distant is Bowery 
 Bay, a popular resort for excursionists. The country roads here- 
 about are excellent for driving and wheeling. 
 
 Flushing is the largest town on this branch of the railroad. 
 It claims a population of 18,000 to 20,000 people. It is purely 
 a residence town, there being few manufacturing interests 
 centered here. The streets are wide and regularly laid out and 
 thoroughly macadamized, making it a paradise for riding, driving 
 and bicycling. There are many handsome residences surrounded 
 with well kept lawns, and there are a large number of first-class 
 boarding houses. The churches are as beautiful as any in 
 the country. The town is not on the Sound, but access is 
 had to it by Flushing Creek which forms a safe harbor for small 
 sail-boats. There is a public park with a handsome fountain 
 which is kept playing during the hot summer months, and a 
 monument erected by the town to the memory of the volunteers 
 
who fell in the war of the Rebellion. Its accessibility to New 
 York makes it a popular place in which to spend the summer, 
 and a great many New York business men live there the year 
 round. It is lighted by electricity, has a first-class water plant 
 and an excellent fire department, a public library and many 
 fine educational institutions. 
 
 College Point is one and one-half miles from Flushing. 
 The business part of the town is on a sort of a ridge and the 
 residence district is on the northern slope overlooking the water. 
 There are a number of very fine country residences here, and 
 also a silk and rubber factory. In the vicinity of Whitestone are 
 excursion resorts where Long Island clam bakes are the most 
 attractive feature. Although an old town, Bayside has the ap- 
 pearance of being a comparatively new one. There are many 
 beautiful residences, and no better roads for wheeling and driving 
 can be found. The town is the center of one of the finest 
 agricultural districts of the northern shore, the soil is very fertile, 
 and farming is the chief industry of the permanent residents. 
 
 Little Neck Bay is a great resort for hunters and fishermen. 
 Two fresh water trout ponds are near by so that the angler may 
 have his choice between fresh and salt water fishing. 
 
 Douglaston is but a few minutes' ride from Bayside. Here 
 the country becomes more hilly. It is a small town, and is the 
 home in summer of a great many wealthy New Yorkers. The 
 roads are excellent for driving, and the country residences are 
 very fine — in many cases palatial — and surrounded by extensive 
 grounds overlooking the bay. Little Neck is a small village 
 adjoining. 
 
 Great Neck is the terminus of this branch of the road. 
 It is fourteen miles from New York. The village immediately 
 near the railroad is called Thomaston. The population of 
 this part of Great Neck is largely made up of permanent 
 residents who own their own homes and are for the most 
 part business men in Brooklyn and New York. About 
 a mile distant is located the village proper. The bluffs over- 
 looking the water are high and commanding, and the tourist 
 is treated to superb views of the water. Here ex-Mayor Grace 
 of New York has a fine place known as Graceland. From 
 Great Neck a number of exceedingly picturesque places are ac- 
 cessible including Port Washington, Manhasset and Sands Point. 
 
 The summer visitor, as he drives along the roads of this sec- 
 tion, meets with surprises. It may be a tide mill which arouses 
 
 78 
 
GRACELAND AT GREAT 
 
 his curiosity or an ancient 
 farm house which has shel- 
 tered many generations ot 
 tillers of the soil, but he is 
 sure to find enough to keep 
 him entertained in what- 
 ever direction he may drive. 
 Port Washington is a 
 village in which many 
 changes have taken place 
 during recent years, and there is a quaintness about it which 
 visitors from the city are sure to appreciate. Near here, too, 
 is a location to which has been given the name of "The 
 Marine Graveyard"' because of the fact that many noted vessels 
 have been brought to it to be burned after they had outlived 
 their days of usefulness. 
 
 Along the highways of this section great quantities of wild 
 flowers abound. Some of these are very beautiful. No section 
 of the country offers such advantages to the botanist as does this. 
 There is a vast variety of flowers and plants growing in the fields 
 and along the roads which well repay examination by the student. 
 The time by railroad from Great Neck to New York is about 
 thirty minutes, and there are a sufficient number of trains to afford 
 
ample accommodations to summer sojourners. Abiding places 
 may be found in the village and vicinity, and within a short 
 distance of the great city the purest and most satisfactory of 
 rural delights may be indulged in. At Sands Point magnificent 
 displays of yachting craft can often be seen, and a view of the 
 Sound when it is dotted o'er with these white wings is one never 
 to be forgotten. The whole region through which the North 
 Side Division runs is well worth exploration by those who are 
 not yet familiar with it. Within its borders will be found villages 
 which may be classed as suburbs of the great city, while others 
 are almost as primitive as they were when stage coaches had not 
 yet made way for the iron horse. 
 
 
 

 s£ii5p£> 
 
 ROSLYN TO OYSTER BAY. 
 
 Travelers by the Oyster Bay branch of the railroad are 
 treated to the two distinctive features of Long Island scenery. 
 After leaving Jamaica they look out upon the level Hempstead 
 plains, stretching out as far as the eye can reach, and then at 
 Mineola the line turns sharply to the north and soon takes the 
 traveler through a rolling country, where, in some cases, the 
 elevations deserve the dignity of being termed hills. The 
 extension of the road to Oyster Bay has afforded the searchers 
 for inviting resting places during the summer a large number to 
 choose from, and at the same time has opened up a region of 
 country which cannot be excelled for romantic beauty. The 
 principal points of attraction in this section are : Roslyn, Glen 
 Head, Sea ClifT, Glen Cove, Locust Valley and Oyster Bay. 
 
 At Roslyn a foretaste is obtained of the hills which abound 
 along the north shore, and which are a never-ending source of de- 
 light to the lovers of the picturesque. The village is in the valley, 
 and possesses the attractions which visitors from the city most de- 
 sire — refinement and comfort, and at the same time genuine rural 
 flavor. The name of William Cullen Bryant is always associated 
 with Roslyn, for here he made his country home for many 
 years, and here he wrote some of the poems which have become 
 famous the world over. Hempstead Harbor sets in from the 
 Sound, giving to the village water privileges of great value. 
 Summer visitors greatly enjoy the delightful quiet of the village 
 
and surrounding country, the many attractive rides and unsur- 
 passed boating facilities. There is a commanding hill at the 
 back of the village, which is the highest elevation on Long 
 Island. From this position magnificent views are obtained of 
 the adjacent territory. The wide expanse of the Sound shimmers 
 
 in the summer sun, while the 
 rolling country makes a pano- 
 rama which is unexcelled any- 
 where on the island. Beyond 
 
 Roslyn is Glen 
 Head, a picturesque 
 and growing resort, 
 and next is 
 
 Sea Cliff, which has been cor- 
 rectly named, for bold cliffs rise 
 directly from the Sound, giving 
 
 a boldness to the scenery which has made the place exceedingly 
 popular as a summer resort. The bathing at Sea Cliff is ex- 
 cellent, while the walks and drives are most delightful. There 
 is a fine growth of shade trees which afford abundant pro- 
 tection during midsummer, and the breezes from the water 
 make the atmosphere agreeable during the entire season. 
 This place was selected for a camp meeting site many years 
 
ago, but like other interesting localities on Long Island this 
 feature has given place entirely to the uses of a summer resort. 
 Beside the advantages already named, the boating is excellent, 
 
 NEAR SEA CLIFF. 
 
 and a great number of pleasure craft hail from this point during 
 the summer season. There are many good hotels and boarding 
 places, and the number of cottages occupied by city people 
 is constantly increasing. 
 
 Good roads lead to the village of Glen Cove, which has 
 the appearance of a thriving town. There is a good deal of 
 traffic in the main streets, while the manufactory of the Duryea 
 Starch Company gives employment to a large number of 
 hands. The Pratt estate is one of the largest in the village, 
 comprising eight hundred acres, having a frontage on Long 
 Island Sound and beautifully situated. Here is the Pratt 
 mausoleum, containing the remains of the late Charles Pratt, 
 who endeared himself to the residents of the village from 
 the time he first located his country home there. He 
 planned a model school building for the place, which was 
 erected after his death by his sons, and was dedicated with 
 impressive ceremonies on May 24th, 1893. The Agricultural 
 Department of the Pratt Institute is located on the Pratt estate, 
 
 83 
 
/<"; 
 
 )YSTER BAY HARBOR — LOOKING FROM THE HILL. 
 
 and here young men are given practical instruction in agri- 
 culture. The estate of Hon. Charles A. Dana, known as 
 Dosoris, adjoins the Pratt estate, and is known the world over 
 for the remarkable collection of plants which it contains. Mr. 
 Dana has laid the whole world under contribution, and has one 
 of the largest collection of trees in existence. At Glen Cove and 
 vicinity summer sojourners can enjoy refreshing breezes through- 
 out the season, sail over the blue waters of the Sound to their 
 hearts' content, drive over good roads through the picturesque 
 country, and at the same time be within easy reach of the city, 
 should necessity demand their presence there. All the resorts on 
 this branch of the railroad are sufficiently near the metropolis to 
 permit of going to business daily. Besides the boating, driving 
 and bathing, there are plover and bay snipe for the gunner from 
 July to December. 
 
 Just beyond Glen Cove is Locust Valley, which possesses 
 many of the advantages for the summer visitor which pertain 
 to the whole district along the Sound from Roslyn to Oyster 
 Bay. From this point a good view of the Connecticut shore 
 can be obtained. The Friends' Academy here is a noted 
 educational institution, drawing its patrons from various parts of 
 Long Island and other localities as well. It was endowed by 
 Gideon Frost more than a century ago, but has renewed its youth 
 
 8 4 
 
from time to time and is still vigorous. Locust Valley is in the 
 center of a rich farming country, particularly noted for the pro- 
 duction of asparagus, for which the soil seems to be peculiarly 
 adapted. The drives in this section are inviting. There is also 
 good fishing and sailing. The Downing Vacation House, for 
 the benefit of working women, is located here, and a number of 
 deserving persons are afforded a delightful outing every summer. 
 At Oyster Bay, the terminus of this branch of the road, the 
 old and new meet in a most charming manner. There are 
 several ancient landmarks, old dwellings, which remind the be- 
 holder of the early days of the settlement, and then there are the 
 smart new places which mark the era which commenced with 
 the extension of the road from Locust Valley. But what the 
 summer traveler is most concerned about is the magnificent 
 bay which renders this place an ideal summer resort. Here the 
 Seawanhaka Yacht Club has its handsome club house, superbly 
 located at the entrance to the bay. The village has many 
 
 ^AJWJOlfclli iTiiu, 
 
 fc 
 
 — 
 
 SEAWANHAKA YACHT CLUB. 
 
 Ss 
 
attractions. Antiquarians will delight to trace out the history of 
 the Quakers, and will find pleasure looking into the ancient 
 history of the place. Prime, in his history of Long Island, states 
 that several early attempts by the English to effect a settlement 
 here were frustrated by the hostility of the Dutch, so that it was 
 not until after the treaty of 1650 that any of these efforts were 
 crowned with success. In 1653 a company often persons, prin- 
 cipally from Sandwich, Mass., made a purchase of the Matine- 
 cock Indians, and commenced a settlement on the site of the 
 present village. When George Fox, the Quaker preacher, 
 visited this country in 1672, he hurried hither in order to be 
 present at the " half-yearly meeting." No finer drives can be 
 had about Long Island than in the region of Oyster Bay. 
 
NORTHPORT. 
 
 THE PORT JEFFERSON BRANCH. 
 
 Sailing parties going out of Oyster Bay to the Sound get a 
 good view of Cold Spring Harbor, stretched as it is about the 
 shores of another bay or harbor, which takes the shape of an 
 immense horseshoe. It is located on the Port Jefferson branch, 
 which leaves the main line at Hicksville. The ride from the 
 station to the village is about three miles in extent, and is most 
 romantic and beautiful, passing three fresh water ponds which 
 connect with each other and finally empty into the harbor just as 
 the road reaches the main street of the village. This road in 
 some places runs through a perfect arch of trees, and the shade, 
 the singing birds, the view of the water, and the abundance of 
 wild flowers, all unite to please the summer visitor. 
 
 Cold Spring Harbor was once the seat of extensive whale 
 fisheries, and many relics of these by-gone days remain. These 
 consist of the buildings where the oil barrels were made, the 
 mills which manufactured cloth for the sailors, and the store 
 where the ships were fitted out for their long voyages. One of 
 the principal fish hatcheries of the State is located here, and 
 millions of young fish, the product of this establishment, are 
 annually planted in the waters of Long Island and in other parts 
 of this State. 
 
 The Biological Laboratory of the Brooklyn Institute has 
 recently become an important feature of life here during the 
 
 8 7 
 
summer. This brings some of the most noted scholars of 
 the country, who deliver lectures on various subjects in the 
 biological course. This, with the large company of students, 
 gives the village somewhat the air of a college town. Sum- 
 mer visitors have always found the place exceedingly attract- 
 ive, and there have usually been more applicants for board than 
 could be accommodated. Good roads invite driving and 
 bicycling, and the routes lead through regions which are a 
 constant delight to the visitor. One of these is to Lloyd's Neck, 
 ^^ mmmma __ ki _ mmmiii ___ mm _ mm which affords a number 
 of most delightful water 
 views and glimpses of 
 rustic scenes. When the 
 beautiful harbor and the 
 Sound, with its blue waters 
 are seen, the words of 
 Moore are recalled where 
 he says : 
 
 "There is not in the wide 
 world a valley so sweet, 
 
 As that vale in whose bosom 
 the bright waters meet." 
 
 COLD SPRING HARBOR. 
 
A favorite drive from Cold Spring Harbor is to Hunting 
 ton, which is the next stop on the railroad. This village is a 
 bustling place with considerable traffic. It has a bank, large 
 stores, a street railroad and other signs of thrift and prosperity. 
 The natural attractions are many. There are a number of bold 
 hills which line the harbor, and remind the traveler of Sea Cliff 
 and Roslyn. There are abundant opportunities for sailing and 
 other aquatic sports, and in the village and in many cozy nooks 
 in the outskirts of the town summer visitors are welcomed. A 
 memorial to Nathan Hale, the martyr spy of the Revolution, 
 has been erected by the public spirited citizens of Huntington. 
 It was upon the shore near by that Hale landed on his perilous 
 journey to spy out the British camps and fortifications on the 
 western end of Long Island, and to carry this information to 
 Washington. Hale fulfilled his mission, and was just about to 
 embark on his return journey to Connecticut, when he was 
 recognized by a tory, and his true character reported to a British 
 officer, who arrested him and took him to New York, where he 
 was hung as a spy, dying in a most heroic manner, and leaving 
 a name which is dear to the heart of every patriot. There is a 
 public library erected as a memorial to the men who gave up 
 their lives to their country during the war for the Union. The 
 first purchase from the natives was made by Gov. Eaton of New 
 Haven, in 1646, and consisted of the neck which is now known 
 as Eaton's Neck, where a Government Life Saving Station is 
 located, and which is a romantic and interesting spot. The 
 Academy at Huntington is an excellent institution, drawing 
 many of its patrons from a distance. The quaint old structure 
 occupied by the First Fresbyterian Church was erected in 1784. 
 It is the successor of a church edifice which was built in 171 5, 
 used by the British as a barracks, and destroyed by them on 
 their evacuation of the town. The first Presbyterian Society 
 was organized in 1665. There are a number of beautiful 
 places at Huntington which have been laid out at great expense 
 by New York and Brooklyn men, and new tracts are constantly 
 being taken up for improvement and sale for villa sites. 
 
 Centreport has .the same advantages that belong to other 
 localities along the Sound wjjich have already been described. 
 There are many summer sojourners who come back here year 
 after year, and find no end of amusement in boating and 
 fishing, and in driving along the well shaded roads which are 
 to be found in every direction and afford many rural delights. 
 
Here are to be found genuine country scenes which denizens 
 of the city so much desire. About two miles south of 
 Centreport is Greenlawn, which is not less inviting than its 
 name would indicate. It possesses hospitable farm houses and 
 boarding houses, where tired workers from the city, in search 
 of rest and recreation, can find entertainment. The same 
 feature of rolling country which are peculiar to the entire 
 north shore, is maintained, and there are any number of attract- 
 ive points within easy reach. Beyond Greenlawn is 
 
 Northport, which has one of the most beautiful harbors to be 
 found anywhere on Long Island. It appears to the casual ob- 
 server to have no outlet, but on more careful examination it is 
 seen that the water sets in from Huntington Bay, the long sand 
 spit formed by Eaton Neck guarding it well from the Sound and 
 making it a secure haven. Years ago shipbuilding nourished 
 here, and a number of trim craft were constructed which made 
 records for themselves in the lines of trade as well as sporting. 
 Vessels of considerable size have been launched here, and a 
 number are still engaged in the coasting trade, while there is 
 quite a number of vessels engaged in fishing, this occupation 
 affording many residents of Long Island a livelihood. 
 
 Kings Park is next beyond Northport, which is more 
 familiar under the name of St. Johnland. The place first 
 became popularly known by reason of the noble work of Dr. 
 Muhlenberg, who established here a number of philanthropic 
 institutions which have had a wonderful success, and have been 
 the means of doing an immense amount of good. No section 
 of country within fifty miles of New York is so admirably 
 adapted for the purposes which Dr. Muhlenberg had in view, 
 for the scenery is enchanting, the air during the summer is 
 cool and bracing, and all of the surroundings are calculated to 
 be restorative in their effects. These considerations moved the 
 authorities of Kings County to establish at this place a series of 
 institutions for the treatment of the insane, and to expend a 
 large sum of money in laying out and improving a tract of 
 nine hundred and fifty acres, which has become known as the 
 County Farm, and has recently been transferred to the State. 
 For a long distance in this vicinity well cultivated farms abound, 
 and hither come many persons in summer who long for a spot 
 where the contrast will be as strong as possible with their 
 environment in the city. Here they find it. This is the region 
 
 9 o 
 
RASSAPAQUE CLUB HOUSE AT SMITHTOWN. 
 
 such as is often described as "genuine country" by those whose 
 lives are spent in the crowded city. 
 
 The section of the island which includes Kings Park, 
 Smithtown, St. James and Stony Brook, comprises a large 
 amount of excellent farming land, and there are many summer 
 guests who come here season after season for rest and recreation. 
 Smithtown is the home of the Brooklyn Gun Club, with a preserve 
 of seven hundred acres, owned by the club, and a very much 
 larger tract, which is leased from the farmers for the uses of 
 members of the organization. The tract owned by the club 
 
 THE OLD MILL Al 
 91 
 
includes the old Theodorus Smith homestead, of Revolutionary 
 fame, which has been twice rebuilt — once some thirty-five years 
 ago, and again when the property was purchased by the club. 
 In front of this house are two trout ponds, covering about twelve 
 acres. These ponds, which are really but links of the Smith- 
 town River, are well stocked with trout, and afford no end of 
 sport. In this vicinity is located the Rassapaque Club House. 
 It overlooks the Nissequogue River, and is one of the best ap- 
 pointed club houses on the island. The next stop on the rail- 
 road is Setauket, which is fifty-five miles ' from New York. 
 Here are to be found a great number of attractions, including 
 quiet bays, inlets and sheets of water tempting to the bather 
 
 or those who desire a 
 safe place for children 
 to enjoy boating and 
 fishing, and at the same 
 time afford opportuni- 
 ties for the bolder 
 sailors to exercise their 
 skill as mariners when 
 
 Se- 
 
 occasion requires, 
 tauket is a watering 
 place with w T hich it is 
 difficult to find any fault, 
 and it is just about far 
 enough away from the 
 city to lead the summer 
 sojourners to forget the 
 
 ,1 • 1-11 J VIEWS ON THE SOUND SHORE, PORT JEFFERSON BRANCH. 
 
 things which have vexed 
 
 them, and thus leave their minds free to enjoy the rural scenes 
 which abound on every side. A manufactory is located here 
 which makes pneumatic bicycle tires and other rubber goods. 
 Port Jefferson, two miles beyond Setauket, is full of inter- 
 est to all lovers of the quaint and peculiar. It has long been 
 noted for its yards for the building and repairing of vessels, and 
 as many as sixty yachts are laid up here for the winter, as the 
 harbor is unsurpassed for safety anywhere on the coast. It has 
 been found to be almost mathematically correct in its rectangu- 
 larly, and the bay, which lies in front of the village, is almost 
 
perfectly landlocked. Two arms, or spits of land, reach out 
 from either side, and leave only a narrow but deep channel into 
 the harbor of Port Jefferson. Many noted yachts, pilot boats 
 and even larger craft have been built here; and during more 
 recent years the crews of yachts have been shipped here and 
 trained in these waters preparatory to taking part in the great 
 races. The bold hills, which have been previously alluded to 
 as peculiar to the north shore, are found also at Port Jefferson, 
 and they contribute largely to the beauty of the place. This 
 locality was called Souwasset by the Indians and Drowned 
 Meadow by the English. There is a population of about two 
 thousand, a number of churches, several manufacturing estab- 
 lishments, well stocked stores, and other evidences of a prosperous 
 community. A number of hotels and boarding houses offer 
 entertainment to summer guests who visit this section. 
 
 Beyond Port Jefferson is Oldfield Point, which abounds in 
 beautiful water views, Mount Sinai, Rocky Point, Woodville and 
 other villages which have their peculiar charms, and Wading 
 River, the new terminus of the road, a place of beauty, and 
 having large possibilities for its future growth and development. 
 
 NEAR SETAUKET. 
 
 93 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 GENERAL INTRODUCTION . 
 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 5-9 
 
 RAILROAD SERVICE . 
 
 • 
 
 10 
 
 SHORE RESORTS NEAR TOWN . 
 
 
 n-i5 
 
 SUBURBAN TOWNS 
 
 . 
 
 52-58 
 
 THE SOUTH SHORE 
 
 
 [6-46 
 
 THE CENTRAL SECTION 
 
 • 
 
 59-74 
 
 THE NORTH SHORE 
 
 
 75-93 
 
 PAGE 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Amagansett . 4S 
 
 Gardiner's Island 
 
 74 
 
 Queens 
 
 • 55 
 
 Amityville . 
 
 26 
 
 Glen Cove . 
 
 83 
 
 Quogue 
 
 . 38 
 
 Arverne 
 
 16 
 
 Glen Head . 
 
 82 
 
 Richmond Hill 
 
 • 53 
 
 Atlanticville 
 
 39 
 
 Good Ground 
 
 39 
 
 Robins Island 
 
 . 74 
 
 Babylon 
 
 26 
 
 Great Neck . 
 
 78 
 
 Rockaway , 
 
 15 
 
 Baiting Hollow 
 
 64 
 
 Greenport . 
 
 68 
 
 Rocky Point 
 
 93 
 
 Bayport 
 
 33 
 
 Greenlawn . 
 
 90 
 
 Rockville Center 
 
 24 
 
 Bayside 
 
 78 
 
 Hempstead . 
 
 57 
 
 Riverhead . 
 
 64 
 
 Bay Shore . 
 
 30 
 
 Hicksville . 
 
 60 
 
 Ronkonkoma 
 
 62 
 
 Bayswater . 
 
 18 
 
 Hollis . 
 
 55 
 
 Rosedale 
 
 23 
 
 Bellmore 
 
 25 
 
 Huntington . 
 
 89 
 
 Roslyn 
 
 81 
 
 Bellport 
 
 34 
 
 Hyde Park . 
 
 59 
 
 Sag Harbor . 
 
 44 
 
 Brentwood . 
 
 61 
 
 Islip 
 
 30 
 
 Sands Point 
 
 80 
 
 Bridgehampton 
 
 44 
 
 Jamaica 
 
 54 
 
 Sayville 
 
 32 
 
 Brookhaven 
 
 34 
 
 Jamesport . 
 
 66 
 
 Sea Cliff 
 
 82 
 
 Cedarhurst . 
 
 20 
 
 Lawrence 
 
 20 
 
 Setauket 
 
 92 
 
 Central Park 
 
 60 
 
 Lindenhurst 
 
 26 
 
 Shinnecock Hills 
 
 40 
 
 Central Islip 
 
 62 
 
 Little Neck . 
 
 78 
 
 Sheepshead Bay 
 
 15 
 
 Centreport . 
 
 89 
 
 Locust Valley 
 
 84 
 
 Shelter Island 
 
 7i 
 
 College Point 
 
 78 
 
 Long Beach 
 
 22 
 
 Smithtown . 
 
 9i 
 
 Cold Spring 
 
 87 
 
 Lynbrook 
 
 24 
 
 Southold 
 
 68 
 
 Comae . 
 
 61 
 
 Manhasset . 
 
 78 
 
 Southampton 
 
 4i 
 
 Coney Island 
 
 11 
 
 Manhattan Beach 
 
 11 
 
 Speonk 
 
 37 
 
 Corona 
 
 77 
 
 Massapequa. 
 
 26 
 
 St. James 
 
 9i 
 
 Creedmoor . 
 
 56 
 
 Mastic . 
 
 35 
 
 St. Johnland 
 
 90 
 
 Cutchogue . 
 
 67 
 
 Manor . 
 
 64 
 
 Stony Brook 
 
 9 1 
 
 Deer Park . 
 
 61 
 
 Mattituck . 
 
 67 
 
 Valley Stream 
 
 23 
 
 Douglaston . 
 
 78 
 
 Medford 
 
 64 
 
 Wantagh 
 
 25 
 
 Easthampton 
 
 47 
 
 Merrick 
 
 25 
 
 Water Mills. 
 
 44 
 
 East Hinsdale 
 
 56 
 
 Millburn 
 
 24 
 
 Wave Crest . 
 
 17 
 
 Eastport 
 
 36 
 
 Mineola 
 
 59 
 
 Waverly 
 
 62 
 
 Edgemere . 
 
 17 
 
 Montauk Point 
 
 48 
 
 West bury 
 
 59 
 
 Far Rockaway 
 
 18 
 
 Moriches 
 
 36 
 
 West Brighton 
 
 15 
 
 Farmingdale 
 
 61 
 
 Newtown 
 
 77 
 
 West Hampton 
 
 38 
 
 Fenhurst 
 
 22 
 
 Northport 
 
 90 
 
 Whitestone . 
 
 78 
 
 Fire Island . 
 
 20. 
 
 Oakdale 
 
 31 
 
 Winfield 
 
 77 
 
 Floral Park . 
 
 56 
 
 Orient . 
 
 70 
 
 Woodhaven . 
 
 53 
 
 Flushing 
 
 77 
 
 Oldfield Point 
 
 93 
 
 Woodsburgh 
 
 21 
 
 Fort Pond Bay 
 
 5i 
 
 Oyster Bay . 
 
 85 
 
 Woodside . 
 
 77 
 
 Freeport 
 
 24 
 
 Port Jefferson 
 
 92 
 
 Yaphank 
 
 64 
 
 Franklinville 
 
 66 
 
 Patchogue . 
 
 33 
 
 
 
 Garden City 
 
 56 
 
 Ponquogue . 
 
 39 
 
 
 
 94 
 
The Great 
 
 Mirror-Stone 
 
 System. 
 
 ALL RAILROAD COMPANIES 
 SHOULD USE THIS SYSTEM. 
 
 FIRST. — It is more expeditious, enabling the Engines 
 and Passenger Cars to be put into service much 
 quicker than any other system, and thus add to 
 the revenues of their Companies. 
 
 SECOND. — It can be used in a greater variety 01 
 ways than any other system, thus meeting more 
 completely the exigencies of the different shops. 
 
 THIRD. — It can always be relied on under all con- 
 ditions. Engines and Passenger Cars primed, 
 surfaced and finished with this " System " will 
 always present a better appearance than those 
 finished with any other system. 
 
 N. Z. GRAVES & CO., 
 34 North Fifth St., 
 u «* L.noo.0 Philadelphia. 
 
 H. W. HARRIS, EASTERN MANAGER, I 
 
 51 WEST THIRTY-FIFTH ST., 
 NEW YORK, N. Y. 
 
COFRODE & SAYLOR, 
 
 INCORPORATED, 
 
 Civil Engineers 
 
 Bridge Builders, 
 
 PILE DRIVING, 
 
 WHARVES, 
 
 STORAGE WAREHOUSES, 
 
 ETC., ETC. 
 
 New York Office, 
 
 Central Building, 
 
 143 LIBERTY STREET. 
 
CARLISLE M'FG CO 
 
 CARLISLE, F»a. 
 
 MANUFACTURERS OF 
 
 STEAM, STREET and ELECTRIC RAILWAY 
 
 Frogs, Switches, Crossings, 
 
 SWITCH STANDS AND SIGNALS. 
 
 FREIGHT CARS OF EVERY KIND. 
 
 FROG AND SWITCH WORKS RECENTLY ENLARGED 
 WITH LATEST IMPROVED MACHINERY. 
 
 VERTICAL ENGINES. 
 
 U/m. Setyu/arzu/aelder 9 Qo. 
 
 Nos. 37 & 39 Fulton Street, 
 
 NEW YORK CITY, 
 
 MAKERS OF ALL KINDS OF 
 
 Desks and Office Furniture. 
 
 Highest Grade and Lowest Prices. 
 
 Important to the Owners of Horses and Cattle. 
 
 O. DONELAN'S ENGLISH CONDIMENT contains no minerals, 
 consisting of herbs costing only half a cent a feed. It keeps the kidneys 
 regular, blood pure, digestive organs healthy, prevents disease, colic, 
 etc., and completely builds up the constitution of the animal. The 
 Long Island Railroad Company and many prominent stock owners have 
 been using it for many years. « 
 
 Our HOOF AND SKIN SALVE cures every disease of the skin 
 and hoof. 
 
 •;r Dr. 0. DONELAN & CO., Laboratory, 1 553 Park Ave., N.Y. City. 
 
Kalamazoo R.R. Velocipede and Gar Co., Kalamazoo, Mich., U.S.A. 
 
 RAILWAY "SAFETY." 
 
 Weight only 55 lbs. 
 
 Ball Bearings, and 
 
 made throughout 
 
 similar to Road Bicycle. 
 
 MANUFACTURERS OF 
 
 Gasoline Motor 
 Inspection Cars, 
 
 Steel Velocipede Cars, 
 
 Steel-Wheeled Hand Cars, 
 
 Push Cars, 
 
 Inspection Cars, 
 
 Steam Inspection Cars, 
 
 AND 
 
 Metal Surface Cattle 
 Guards. 
 
 Send for Illustrated 
 Catalogue. 
 
 Weight, 500 lbs. 
 
 Furnished with Patented Malleable Center 
 
 Steel-tired Wheels. 
 
 Established 1845. 'Phone, 234 Greenpoint. 
 
 Jas. H. & Theo, L'Hommedieu, 
 
 SUCCESSORS TO JOHN C. PROVOST, 
 DEALERS IN COAL<9 
 
 Masons' Building Materials and Blue Stone, 
 
 office and yard: VERNON AVE. and NEWTOWN CREEK, adjoining bridge, 
 LONG ISLAND CITY, N. Y. 
 
 WM. BRODIE, Plumbing, Steam and Gas Fitting, 
 
 31 & 33 VERNON AV., Long Island City. 
 
 Hot Water and Steam Heaters ; Wrought Iron Pipes and Fittings ; 
 Brass and Iron Cock, Valves, &c; Tin, Copper, Sheet Iron and 
 Cornice Work ; Builders' Hardware ; Stoves, Ranges and House 
 Furnishing Goods ; Locksmithing and Bellhanging. 
 
 TELEPHONE CALL, 157 GREENPOINT. 
 
 C. H. TIEBOUT & SONS, 
 
 DEALERS IN 
 
 HARDWARE, IRON AND STEEL, 
 
 blacksmiths' supplies, and all 
 kinds of wagon materials, . . 
 
 31 Grand St. and 239 to 247 Kent Ave., 
 
 Brooklyn, E. D., N. Y. 
 
Ramapo Wheel & Foundry Co 
 
 RAMAPO, N.Y., 
 
 MANUFACTURES 
 
 Snow's Boltless Steel-Tired Car Wheels, 
 
 | Chilled Wheels, in Hollister 
 wmm Non-expanding Chillers, 
 
 _j|||p Congdon Brake Shoes, 
 
 Cylinder Packing Rings and 
 
 High Grade Castings. 
 
 BOLTLCSS FASTENING. 
 
 Ramapo Iron Works, 
 
 HILLBURN, N. Y., 
 
 MANUFACTURE 
 
 Ross and Ross-Meehan Brake Shoes, 
 
 For Steel-Tired Wheels, 
 
 Crossings, Switches, Automatic Stands, 
 Yoked, Bolted and Spring Rail Frogs, 
 Narrow Gauge Cars, Castings. 
 
When 
 
 "Out on Long Island" 
 
 And needing Paint, try the CHILTON. 
 This is a Paint most carefully made with the 
 best Linseed Oil; and in case you have never 
 used it, you can find out its quality from 
 plenty of people who are acquainted with its 
 character. 
 
 For Color Cards and prices inquire of local Agents, among whom are : 
 
 M. G. WIGGINS, .... Patchogue, L. I. 
 
 JOHN H. PHILLIPS, East Quogue, " 
 
 CLOCK BROS., Islip, " 
 
 H. H. HALL, Brentwood, " 
 
 W. H. BENHAM, . . . Centreport, " 
 
 WM. BRODIE, . . Long Island City, " 
 
 EDWARDS BROS Sag Harbor, " 
 
 J. L. VALENTINE, . . . Brookhaven, " 
 
 SEELEY BROS., . . . Southampton, " 
 
 D. KEESLER, Stony Point, " 
 
 C. S. HARRIS, . . Shelter Island Heights, " 
 
 B. A. GRIFFIN, . . . East Williston, " 
 
 VAN TASSELL & SMITH, . . Amityville, " 
 
 CHAMBERLAIN BROS., . . Sagaponack, " 
 
 PACKER & SONS, .... Jamaica, " 
 
 S. A. GREGORY & CO., . East Hampton, " 
 
 OR SEND DIRECT TO 
 
 CHILTON PAINT CO., 
 No. 147 FULTON STREET, NEW YORK. 
 
£m$