is; 



(U.lCANINCiS IN BHlv Cl'LTrRK. 



WluMi Uk- lH)al w.is protly woU loa.kd, so tin- 

 rebound was iimisiially s^reat, it sccincd as if 

 sonic i>f the inmates were thrown nearly two 

 feet above their seits; but as they chinjr to- 

 ijcther, anil came down all rii;ht with no one 

 hurt, the proi^^ram kept beiny re])eated all day 

 and away int.) the niiijiit. I'inally, when it was 

 announced that one oi our exjiert cyclers was 

 to ride ilown that incline on a Tc/irr/, jjreat 

 crowds jiathered all around the banks of the 

 lake. \Ve were afraid we should not be able 

 to see him clearly; but when we found he 

 carried a lot of fireworks attached to either 

 handle-bar we were pretty well sati.sfietl in 

 this respect. Down, down he went, with 

 terrific speed. It made me think of some of 

 uiy adventurers in s^i".^ down long steep hills. 

 Just when everybody was holding his breath, 

 when the wheel was up to its very highest 

 speed, the rider dropped his fireworks, and 

 sprang from his wheel just in time to dive 

 down into the water. He came up safe and 

 sound somewhere out in the middle of the 

 pool, then swam ashore while a boat near by 

 fished out of the water his dripping wheeL 

 Then the crowd was called up to witness the 

 play of the electric fountains. This was much 

 like the one at the World's Fair, except that 

 it was much more elaborate. While we sat 

 entranced by the brilliant sparkling sprays of 

 the water, listening in the meanwhile to the 

 most exquisite strains of miisic from one of 

 the finest bands the world can probably fur- 

 nish, through the misty waters some dim 

 phantom-like object seemed slowly rising. 

 Was it imagination ? or were there reallv .some 

 letters that meant something through that 

 sparkling, radiant combination of rainbow- 

 colors and sparkling waters? Oh, yes! there 

 were the words, " Welcome, L. A. W.," rising 

 right out of the water; yes, and there seemed 

 to be human hands holding aloft a beautiful 

 banner; and finalh- up out of the water itself 

 came three Graces in woman form — veritable 

 mermaids rising up out of the depths of the 

 sea, holding aloft their banner. Somebody 

 who stood by me .said, " Surely, they can not 

 be living figures, although they are astonish- 

 ing]}- true to life." But at ju.st that moment 

 the central goddess — yes, she would have 

 made a \ery good Goddess of Libert}- — waved 

 her hand and bestowed a most bew-itching 

 smile upon the crowds of American wheelmen. 

 Now, this naiad who rose up out of the water 

 was not clothed w-ith very much of any thing; 

 in fact, a w-ater-nymph would not be supposed 

 to need zrrv })iuch drapers-, even though she 

 appeared before a great audience. The daz- 

 zling .spray and the rippling water clothed her 

 as w-ith a halo. I su])pose you know- your old 

 friend who w-rites these Home Papers has been 

 more or less critical in regard to things of this 

 kind — circuses, theaters, and the like. Well, 

 for once I was .somewliat jiuzzled. The me- 

 chanical effects produced l)v these w-onderful 

 electric fountains were grand, and there w^as 

 nothing objectionable about them. The ac- 

 companying music was also entrancing. The 

 beautiful grounds and shade-trees seemed to 

 make the place a little paradise on earth; and 

 that figure of the beautiful w-oman, so artisti- 



cally coml)ined with the otlier environuK'nts, 

 need not necessarily have been objectionable. 

 If I am making any mistake, I pray that Die 

 Holy S])iril may set me right. 



Tile next day our good friend .Sel.ser, who 

 re])resents our Philadelphia house, insi.sted 

 that I must make at least a brief visit to At- 

 lantic City before leaving Philadelphia. He 

 did not tell me what I should see, but asked 

 me to trust him. Our passage of (10 miles was 

 made in ").") minutes, including one sto]) ; and 

 this railw-ay, so straight and level and beauti- 

 ful in all its appointments, is in the habit of 

 making this speed right along. If I am cor- 

 rect, it is the fastest train in the world. 



Atlantic City is a place of 200, 000 people— 

 at least, that is the number at this season of 

 the year. In the winter time it shrinks down 

 to t'cceuty thou.sand. I will tell you wdiy ; it is 

 one of the most celebrated bathing-places in 

 the world. It is all hotels, bathing-liou.ses, 

 and such places of business as usually congre- 

 gate under such circumstances. When' I first 

 caught sight of a group of perhaps fifty or a 

 hundred bathers on the shore, I wanted to 

 .stop a little ; but friend Selser had a different 

 plan. " Come," said he ; " let us take a little 

 stroll through ' Vanity Fair. ' Perhaps that is 

 not quite the proper name, but it may make 

 you think of it. We will look at the bathers 

 a little further on." 



I have not time here to describe the beauti- 

 ful pavilions, machinery of all sorts for plea- 

 sure and recreation, curiosities exhibited for 

 sale from all parts of the earth, mechanical 

 inventions in the w-ay of electricity, chemis- 

 try, optics, etc. Finally we came to the cen- 

 ter of attraction. Almost as far as the eye 

 could reach, human beings were dow-n in the 

 surf getting health and recreation amid the 

 deafening roar of the salt-water breakers. 

 Hundreds does not tell the story. There were 

 literally thousands of human beings, all mixed 

 up, some under water, .some on top of it, and 

 all enjoying themselves. Mr. .Selser did not 

 urge ; but when I expressed a wish to join 

 them he .said " All right." There was such a 

 crowd for bathing-suits that we had to wait 

 quite a spell. I soon became accustomed to 

 men and women all around me in their novel 

 dresses (or ?^ //dress, ) looking like a lot of 

 frolicsome juveniles instead of grow-n-up men 

 and w-omen. My preconceived notions for a 

 while rebelled against this sudden departure 

 from ordinary decorum, but I made up ni}- 

 mind that it w-as my business to obser\-e and 

 inquire, rather than to criticise. The first 

 thing that struck me was that such a bathing- 

 place is of itself a great leveler. Poor people 

 and rich people, as well as old and young, 

 were all mixed up indiscriminately. The 

 millionaire and his wife and daughters, w^hen 

 they threw off their costly clothing, also threw 

 off, at least to a certain extent, their pride — 

 and I came pretty near saying arrogance. 

 May be it is the right w-ord. it took me a lit- 

 tle time to get over the chill of first going into 

 the briny water ; and, remembering that I had 

 only recently thrown off my overcoat and fur 

 cap", I felt a'little anxiety. " In a short time, 

 however, I was tumbling around with the rest, 



