coolly, and a
man could endure many years if need be without a thought of a regular
vacation, while those who did go from the city to the mountains or
seashore in the summer months were those who could afford it as a
luxury, rather than so doing as a matter of physical or mental economy.
Then again, country accommodations were very limited, and facilities for
travel were exceedingly meagre as compared with the present. This was
the case no more than a score of years ago. The era of great summer
hotels, of "special trains for the season," and of swift and commodious
steamboats to the beaches had not begun. Now the vast amount of summer
travel forms almost a world of itself. All classes are included. The
rich merchant resorts to his beautiful cottage by the sea, or to the
splendid hotel in the mountains, for a stay of perhaps three or four
months; the family of moderate means engage board at some one of the
multitude of "resorts"; the ill-paid clerk or poor artisan may arrange
for a week or two in the country, or, at least, may enjoy a few Saturday
afternoons at the beaches; and now, God bless them! even the half-fed
children of the narrowest street and lane may have a run in the green
fields or shady woods on some hot summer day. That ways exist for the
relief of so many, rich and poor, from the pent-up city in the sultry
months is indeed a blessing, and, like all others, it requires
intelligence for its proper use and appreciation. To work and worry
eleven months at fever heat, and then relax both brain and body for one,
may not afford a longer or more happy life than a continuous routine of
labor performed in a more temperate, less-exciting way; but if we _must_
work at such high pressure in this age, let us make the most of our
times of rest. Woe to the man who carries with him to the cool mountains
or the quiet beach such a paraphernalia of civilization (?) and fashion
that he comes back to town more jaded than he went.

* * * * *

The impudence of newspaper reporters has furnished material for many a
good-natured joke, but there is getting to be more truth than humor in
the imputation. This became very apparent during the weeks preceding the
marriage of the President, but it reached its climax when the horde of
men and youth attached to various newspapers rushed to Deer Park and
almost literally besieged the cottage to which the distinguished couple
had retired. Such actions would be