OUR BEAUTIFUL ISLE OF THE SEA. 65 



bratory and rattling, nerve-shaking sounds of the "L" trains; the 

 wild, bewildering, confusing movements of a mass of human beings — 

 men, women and children — hurrying along as though life itself de- 

 pended on a few moments time. 



No wonder that we are becoming a nation of dyspeptics ! 



No wonder that brain disorders are wrecking men's minds in every 

 direction! 



It would be a marvel were it otherwise. 



Our cities, too, are not what they were. Instead of two-story 

 houses with a shade tree protecting the windows, and a green grass 

 plat front or in the rear, we have built houses and stores where roofs 

 pierce the clouds ; we crowd thousands of people in a few buildings 

 devoted to offices, making them breathe and inhale the same poisoned 

 atmosphere, hour after hour; we have valued city land by the inch, 

 and so the oxygen-giving shade tree and the green grass have had to 

 go to give place to many-storied buildings. 



The only hope of the business man — the only chance he has to 

 prolong his days is to sleep in the country. 



What a relief it is to leave behind "the madding crowd," to lock 

 up our business cares in our office safe, and steam across the beauti- 

 ful bay, filling our lungs with the ozone from the Atlantic and reach- 

 ing our Island home for a few hours of recuperation. 



Travel the world over, seek rest amid the forests of Germany, 

 wander by the banks of the glorious Rhine ; sit and dream by Ge- 

 neva's beautiful lakes, whose "waters glassing softest skies, cloud- 

 less, save with rare and roseate shadows"; or climb the rugged Alps 

 and contemplate the grandeur and sublimity of nature; journey 

 through the magnificent fertile plains of Italy; in fact, "put a girdle 

 round the earth," and no more beautiful, healthy, or peaceful place can 

 be found than our "beautiful isle of the sea." Easy of access to the 

 city man, unequalled in beauty and unsurpassed for its healthfulness, 

 with the Atlantic washing its shores, and its woods filling the air 

 with life-giving balsamic odors, Staten Island ought to be pre-emi- 

 nently the city of homes. To the } T oung it is full of attractions; its 

 shady walks and pretty valleys incline the soul to love, and though 

 its scenery is beautiful yet — 



"Lovelier than all are its beautiful daughters 

 Whose smiles are like sunbeams that gladden the earth." 



