The Story of Manhattan Beach.
Copyright, 1879.
THE STORY
MANHATTAN BHACH:
jl |lnirlioiil' mill ;j)li-tiii'csi|iir Si'l'iiicdlimi
Its History, Development and Attractions,
DESIGNED TO SHOW THE PLEASURE-SEEKER
HOW TO SPEND A DAY OR A LONGER PERIOD AT THE SEA-SIDE
WITH THE GREATEST ADVANTAGE,
CONEY ISLAND
FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES, WITH MANY INTERESTING FACTS CONCERNING
ITS TRANSFORMATION FROM A SAND-DESERT INTO A FASHION-
ABLE RESORT, AND A DESCRIPTION OF THE WAYS
NEW.yORK:
Francis Hart & Co., Printers and Stationers, 63 and 65 Murray St.
1879.
INTRODUCTIOX.
TT is believed that of the thousands i^dio daily
seek reereation at Manhattan Beach very
fezv arc aware of the varied historical interest
ivliicli attaches to it, and the folhnving pages
have been ivrittcn to elucidate luU nicrclv the
evoits attending its dcvcloptncut, but also its
numerous charms and the tmsurpassed facili-
ties it affords for holidays on the ocean. As
compactly as possible, the icriter has endeavored
to present much material that will be neiu to
even the habitncs of the Beach, and his prin-
cipal design has been to inform the reader of
the matters 'which cannot fail to enhance the
pleasure of a visit to this no'w famous zvatcr-
iug-place.
MANHATTAN BEACH.
WITHIN easy distance of the metropolis
and almost directly south of it, lies a
long low spit of silvery white sand which is
separated from Long Island by a narrow
creek; it is beyond the portals of the upper
bay, and the water that breaks in ermine
surf along its shore is the pungent and
undiluted brine of the Atlantic ; the ripples are
homogeneous with those that play in the fierce
heat of Africa, and the vast basin reaching out-
ward has no nearer boundary than the Eastern
hemisphere.
One morning last Autumn, some Americans
who had been absent from their country for
12 The Story of
several years, stood on the deck of an inward
bound steamer, and gazed at this reach of
sand as their vessel veered into the great ship
channel ; the white surf made the sand seem
golden; the sunshine was all-pervading, and
a variety of buildings flying bunting and having
a holiday aspect, led toward the eastern end
to a cluster of palace-like structures which were
quite new to the Americans. "That," said one
of the oflScers, indicating the picturesque cluster
with a sweep of his hand, — "that is Manhattan
Beach," and it was a fact that, in the absence
of the tourists, this handsome watering-place
had sprung out of a region [jreviously unoccu-
pied and uninviting.
About two hundred and seventy years ago
(April, 1609), Hendrick Hudson, having sailed
from Amsterdam in search of a western path
to the East Indies, stood off the same shore.
His little vessel, the Halve Maetic, had for five
months buffeted the storms, and been driven
from Greenland to the Carolinas, when, upon
the 3d of September, he sighted " three great
rivers," one of which was probably the Hudson,
the other Raritan Bay, and the third Rockaway
Inlet. On the day following, according to his
journal, he sent a number of his men ashore in
a boat, " wlio caught ten great mullet and a
ray as great as four men could haul into the
Manhattan Beach.
13
ship." Tliey found large numbers of plum-trees
loaded with fruit and surrounded by luxuriant
grape-vines. The natives who came to meet
them were amazed at the size of their ship, and
vastly interested in their dress, language and
color. They had no houses, but slept with
the sky for a counterpane, on mats made of
14 The Story of
bushes and leaves. They were clothed in the
skins of elk, foxes and other wild animals, and
armed with bows and arrows. Now if it were
necessarj- to establish a precedent for visitors
to Manhattan Beach, we could find it in the
valorous old explorer who sought the Orient
through the Hudson River.
Hudson's intercourse with the Indians was
amicable in the beginning; they came on board
his ship and traded tobacco, maize and fruit for
knives and beads ; but on the third day, whilst
some of the sailors were ashore, the savages —
probably not without provocation — attacked
them. John Coleman was killed b}' an arrow
wound in the throat, and two others were
wounded. This disaster gave the name to a
neighboring point, which perpetuates Coleman's
memory ; and although the Indians were dis-
posed to resume their peaceful relations with
Hudson afterward, he distrusted them, and
moved to an anchorage in Gravesend Bay,
which is bounded on the south by the western
extremit)' of the sand-spit which lies so white
in the sunshine.
Manhattan Beach is the name of modern
times given to the eastern end, and the whole
reach is called Coney Island, the derivation of
which nomenclature is ascribed to various
sources: perhaps it came from an early Dutch
Alaiihattaii Beach. 15
settler named Coneynen ; perhaps from the
ill-fated Coleman, or perhaps from the numbers
of rabbits or conies which populated the island ;
the latter origin seems most likely, and at all
events the name has attached to it since 1644.
The island extends some five miles from east
to west, with an average width of not more
than half a mile, and is about eleven miles
directly south of the city of New-York. The
western end, as we have said, forms Gravesend
Bay and projects toward the Narrows, and the
eastern end is Manhattan Beach, which has a
sea frontage of nearly two and a half miles,
facing the south.
When Hudson landed, the shore was hilly
and the water-line was probably two or three
miles further seaward than it now is. Almost
in the memory of living men grass was abun-
dant on a part of the beach now invisible
under the oscillations of the sea, and the growth
of cedars afforded the inhabitants of the main-
land a sufficiency of fuel for their winter fires.
The soil is alluvial, except a small tract of
tertiary, and the creek that separates it from
Long Island winds through a marsh of vivid
green, in which numerous wild birds are found.
In approaching the island the passenger
traverses a region of deep and varied historic
interest. Opposite and on the mainland is
16 The Story of
the old town of Gravesend, which was settled
in 1635, by a few English colonists, including
a number of Quakers who had been expelled
from the neighborhood of Boston, and it is
probable that the name given to this settle-
ment was brought from the old town near the
mouth of the Thames, in England. Among
the Quakers was a woman of rank, education
and wealth, — the Lady Deborah Moody, —
whose influence on the settlement was both
powerful and beneficent. When the town
was laid off in squares and inclosed by a
stockade. Lady Moody and her companions
found that, although liberty of conscience had
been guaranteed them, a spirit of persecution
was rife among the surrounding settlers, and
she was arraigned by the authorities of New
Amsterdam for repudiating infant baptism as an
ordinance of God. Her defence was so elo-
quent, however, that she escaped conviction, and
she then applied herself to obtain the liberation
of her companions, who were cliarged with sim-
ilar "frightful heresies." Until her death in
1659, this gifted woman exercised not only
great influence in the affairs of the Colony, but
also exerted herself for the elevation and im-
provement of those who had persecuted her.
When the English settled Gravesend, they
were required to take an oath of allegiance to
Manhattan Beach. 17
the Dutch authorities, but the)- were never
thoroughly loyal, and in the frequent contro-
versies between the Dutch and English as to
the sovereignty of Long Island, they espoused
the cause of their native country, suffering
much from the tyranny of the authorities in
consequence. In 1655, they openly disa-
vowed the Dutch, and announced themselves
as subjects of Great Britain. Five years
later, a force of eighty Englishmen rode into
the town, declared that it belonged to the
king, deposed the magistrates, and appointed
new ones.
The first town meeting was held in 1646,
when every inhabitant was ordered to help in
building a fence to inclose a common field of
corn, and a herdsman was appointed to look
after the cattle running at large. A court-
house was built in 1668, and the following was
one of the earliest judgments recorded :
" Whereas, during this Court of Sessions,
there hath been several misdemeanors com-
mitted in contempt of authority in this town
of Gravesend, by one pulling down the fences,
throwing down the stocks, and such crimes ;
the Court also finds there was no watch in the
town, which might have prevented it ; and
being the offenders cannot be discovered, it is
ordered that the town stand fine in five
2
18 The Story of
pounds, till they have made a discovery of
the offenders."
In 1669, a ship was built, measuring about
seventy tons, and during the war of Independ-
ence, an English corvette of twenty guns was
captured off Coney Island. Gravesend Bay
was also the scene of General Howe's landing
as he removed his forces from Staten Island to
Long Island, previous to the battle on the
Heights. He compelled the inhabitants to
work on the fortifications, and to guide his
foraging parties ; he took possession of their
houses, and quartered his soldiers with them.
At the same time, he guaranteed their per-
sonal security, and ordered them to attend at
his head-quarters, where certificates were issued
to them, and each man was ordered to fasten a
piece of red flannel to his hat. The demand
for fabrics of this sanguinary color was so great
in consequence, that the women tore up their
flannel petticoats to meet it, and with this
badge of servitude over their brows, the citi-
zens of Gravesend whispered threats of ven-
geance among themselves. The disastrous
battle of Long Island, in wliich Howe was so
successful, deferred the realization of their
schemes, however, and those who were unwill-
ing or unable to effect an escape to the Amer-
ican lines had to bear much derision from the
Manhattan Beach.
19
bluff, hard-drinking, and hard-swearing soldiers
of the King.
The capture of the corvette previously
referred to was accomplished in this wise : She
anchored late one night off Coney Island,
whence she was bound to Halifax, and a gal-
lant old whaler named Huyler, smarting per-
ning of Corvette off Coney Island.
haps under the wrongs suffered at the hands
of the red-coats, conceived the bold idea of
seizing and destroying her. A few trusty
friends co-operated with him in the exploit ;
they muffled their oars, and rowed under the
stern of the ship ; no watch was on deck, and
the officers could be seen through the cabin
20 The Story of
windows playing a game of cards. A second
boat stood some distance behind the first, and,
at a signal, one crew boarded the corvette over
the port side and the other over the starboard.
Both the officers and men were completely
surprised. They were secured and lowered
into the boats, and the corvette was then set
on fire. The captors pulled over toward the
Jersey shore with their prisoners, and the
captain of the corvette is said to have wept
bitterly — whether from the mellowing effects
of wine or chagrin is not known. "To be sur-
prised and taken by two d d egg-shells is
too bad," he complained. He praised the gal-
lant enterprise of Huyler, and told him that
there were forty thousand dollars on board the
ship that was now illuminating the whole bay
with its flames ; but the treasure was not
secured.
Near Gravesend is the town of New Utrecht,
which is also of historic interest. It was settled
in 1654 by about twenty families from Holland,
who erected a block-house for their protection
from Indians, robbers and pirates, and it is
now the site of many pretty villas. It includes
Fort Hamilton, which commands the entrance
to New- York harbor. Near Fort Hamilton
stands insular Fort Lafayette, in which many
political prisoners were confined during the
ManJiattait Beach. 21
civil war, and on the opposite shore of Staten
Island are f'ort Richmond and Fort Wads-
worth, which complete an almost impregnable
system of fortifications. The Indian name of
the neighborhood around Fort Hamilton was
Nyack, and it was here that Colonel Richard
Nichols, afterward Governor of New-York,
wrote to Governor Stuyvesant, demanding the
surrender of the New Netherlands. Here also,
off Fort Hamilton, the British anchored thirty-
seven men-of-war and four hundred transports,
carrying twenty-seven thousand soldiers, pre-
vious to the battle of Long Island.
22
Tlie Story of
Chapter II.
HILE the new
republic was
grovMng into
one of the first powers
,' in the world, and the
city on Manhattan Island was attaining pro-
portions that made it a compeer of Paris
and London, the beach on which Hudson
landed two hundred and seventy years ago
was utterly neglected ; the Indians disap-
peared, and the wind and sea leveled its high
conformation, and swept away the cedars and
grape-vines. Newport, Atlantic City, Long
Branch, Cape May, and a score of other water-
Manhattan Beach. 23
ing-places, sprang into existence, and were
resorted to by the scented and furbelowed
crowds of the fashionable world. But except
the natural changes on its surface that we have
mentioned, Coney Island met with no other
mutations than the heat of summer and the
storms of winter. It presented the same
aspect to the mariner of a century ago that it
did to the commander of the ocean steamer
of modern times. It was low, white, and
desolate. Occasionally a vessel went ashore
on the beach, and the inhabitants of the main-
land flocked over with succor. A few "clam-
mers " and oystermen lived in huts along the
creek separating it from the mainland, and now
and then a sportsman came in winter after
game. These were the only visitors or resi-
dents the island had, and while it was within
eleven miles of the throbbing city, it was as
isolated as the Labrador.
So it remained until a comparatively recent
period, when its convenience and natural ex-
cellence as a sea-side resort began in a measure
to be recognized. A few scattered restaurants,
" pavilions " and bath-houses were erected
midway between the western end and the
present site of " Cable's " hotel. Communica-
tion with the city was established by a line
of horse-cars from Brooklyn, and a line of
24 The Story of
steamers from East and North River landings.
A few years later saw the opening of a single-
track railway from Greenwood. As the horse-
cars took about three hours to make the
journey, and were started only at long inter-
vals, while the steamers were of inferior char-
acter, and the railway trains were dispatched
not oftener than once an hour, the influ.x of
visitors did not overtax the limited accom-
modations provided for them. Those whose
patience was sufficient to endure the tedium
of the journey, found a beach, which either
for bathing purposes or promenade could not
be surpassed. It was firm, clean, and so
inclined, that while the sea always formed a
surf, the waves were not too boisterous.
There were no quicksands, and no shells to
wound the feet, and the air was pure and
exhilarating. But though it was naturally
superior to Long Branch, an objectionable class
of visitors took possession of it, and their
presence gave it a reputation which excluded
the more desirable element. It is no exag-
geration to say that a man with respect for
himself, much less a woman or child, could not
travel by the steamers. Scenes of riot and
violence were of frequent occurrence on board.
The writer distinctly remembers a visit paid
by him to the island some seven years ago.
Mnnhattan Bcacli. 25
The sail down the bay was made in an anti-
quated steamer. At the hmding there was a
barn-Hke dining-room, with a still more barn-
like bar-room attached ; chops, steaks, and
chowder, of a very inferior quality, were pur-
veyed at the prices of fashionable city restau-
rants, and, if in addition to refreshments the
visitor desired a bath, he was directed to a
dilapidated shanty, where twenty-five cents
were charged for a bathing-suit, and a similar
sum for the deposit of his purse or -Avatch.
" Three-card monte " swindlers had their tables
along the beach, and they plied their trade
with considerable success. At the end of a
vacuous day the visitor returned to the city,
lucky if he escaped robbery or insult, and he
did not usually repeat his visit.
Between 1874 and 1876, some improvements
were made, and a better class of people
appeared disposed to use their influence in
making one of the finest beaches in the world
available. New steamers were put on the
water route, and the hotel accommodations
were extended. But the island ranked far
below the neighboring Long Branch, or even
Rockaway, and what was actually the best part
of the beach was a terra incognita which the
most venturesome pedestrians seldom explored.
" How obvious it was that here could be
26 The Story of
developed a sea-side resort absolutely un-
equaled in attractions and in the means of
access, — a sea-side resort that would become
more popular than Long Branch, Rockaway or
Newport ! " the visionary of to-day proclaims,
as he gazes upon what has been accomplished.
How obvious also was it that in the vapor
which James Watt sav/ issuing from his
mother's tea-kettle reposed the power which
propels " Great Easterns " and draws trains of
palace- cars across a continent; that a cord of
gutta percha, hemp and wire, could convey
messages around the world in twenty minutes,
as Puck prophetically hath it ; that Union
Square would one day be the center of New-
York, — how obvious in the retrospect, and
yet the theories of Watt were laughed at ; the
projectors of the Atlantic cable sought for sup-
porters to their enterprise in vain, and the most
sagacious Knickerbocker who sauntered after
dinner as far as the City Hall, and gazed on
the waste land beyond, probably thought it as
poor an investment as he could possibly make.
A Columbus or a Fulton crystallizes an idea
which has found lodgment in the brains of
thousands who could never formulate it, and
when it is expressed these thousands exclaim :
" How true — how often we have felt it !" But
it is the genius of prophetic intuition that
Manhattan Beach. 27
makes the successful engineer, the successful
inventor, and the successful capitalist, — the
capacity to foresee that which everybody
lightly says, when the object has been attained,
might have been foreseen by an infant.
This digression leads to the second discovery
of Coney Island, which was still more eventful
than the first discovery by Hendrick Hudson.
A New- York banker had an invalid child for
whom sea-air was prescribed by the physicians
as a cure, and as his business compelled his
daily presence in the city, he decided to locate
his family on Coney Island, whither he went
with his horses and carriages, finding quarters
in the only family hotel available there pre-
vious to 1874. The child improved rapidly, and
the father perceived that in ignored, ill-reputed
Coney Island were all the requisites of a most
desirable sea-side resort. Mr. Austin Corbin
— such was the banker's name — did not make
any pretence to the possession of extraor-
dinary shrewdness in deciding that he had dis-
covered the site of a watering-place that would
reveal undreamed-of pleasures to the over-
worked New-Yorkers. He saw that with the
elimination of the old class of visitors and the
introduction of suitable accommodations for a
better class, the island might take the place
intended for it by nature. More than this, he
28 The Story of
carefully explored the unfrequented eastern half
of the island, and found there advantages which
the other half did not possess, — a stretch of
beach as firm as asphalt, which was washed by
the sea on both sides ; which would afford still-
water as well as surf bathing, besides boating
and fishing ; and which, finally, was not merely
at the sea-side, but practically at sea. If the
reader will consult a map, he will find that for
nearly half its length the island is bounded on
the north by an ample bay, which separates it
from the mainland, and while the southern
shore is edged by unceasing surf, its northern
border is played upon by the gentle ripples of
this bay. Another point discovered was that
the undertow, which is the great drawback of
many Atlantic watering-places, was absent
here. The ocean currents setting from the
eastward, and those flowing through the Nar-
rows, meet opposite the eastern end of Coney
Island and create a sort of pool, which escapes
the suction common elsewhere on the coast.
What more could be desired ? Where, on the
shores of Great Britain, France, or the United
States, could the combined excellences lav-
ished by nature on this neglected spot be
found? A few friends — gentlemen of influ-
ence and of capital — were got together ;
the New- York and Manhattan Beach Railway
Manhattan Beach. 29
Company was formed ; the titles and leases of
the ground were bought up, and the active
operations begun which have resulted in the
brilliant transformation that the eastern half of
Coney Island has undergone during the last
three years. It was the original design to
create a resort which should be eminently
select, and from which every objectionable
character should be excluded. This design has
been steadfastly adhered to, the sole proprie-
torship of the land which the company pos-
sesses enabling it to control the character of its
visitors; consequently, at no watering-place i.s
the representation of the best social classes
larger than at Manhattan Beach.
One of the earliest and most vital considera-
tions was the means of transportation from the
city. No matter how attractive a watering-
place might be, it was evident that few would
patronize it until it became more accessible
than the east half of Coney Island was in
1874. The journey by horse-car through
Brooklyn took too much time ; a resident of
New- York living above Twenty-third street
could not by this route, in connection with the
railway from Greenwood, reach the island in
less than two hours, and the same length of
time was consumed by the return trip. It was
seen that a convenient, quick and agreeable
30 The Story of
transportation was as essential as a superb
cuisine or a luxurious hotel. A railway ex-
tended from Bay Ridge toward Jamaica, Long
Island, which was secured and diverted from a
point near Deerfoot Park to the beach. Con-
nections with the city were made at Bay Ridge
by a fine line of steamers, and by this route
passengers living above Twenty-third street
were landed at the island within an hour of
their departure from their homes, and those
living farther down town were landed in a still
shorter time. A second line was extended
through East New- York to Greenpoint, by
which the residents of the city could reach the
island in thirty-five minutes. The depot at
Greenpoint was on the East River, and con-
nected with Tenth and Twenty-third street
ferries. By the latter "all rail" route the island
is now brought within less than an hour's dis-
tance to the up-town residents of New-York,
and a gentleman leaving Madison Square at
five in the afternoon can be back by eleven
o'clock, after dining and spending four hours
by the sea-side. The whole line of double
track was laid with steel rails ; rolling stock of
the best description was purchased, and thirty
thousand passengers could be carried to and
fro daily, without inconvenience or danger.
The equipment included air-brakes, parlor cars,
Manhattan Beach. 31
and every other feature which could possibly
increase the comfort of passengers.
The hotel was built, and in the summer of
1877 this new watering-place was opened to
the public, and at once became the fashion ;
neither Newport nor Long Branch attracted
more brilliant throngs. In the summer of
1878 the accommodations were extended,
and they are now increased again for the
summer of 1879. The place was considered
such a boon that many notable citizens, in
no way interested in it pecuniarily, publicly
commended it, among others the president of
the Board of Education of New-York City,
who, in an address to the pupils of the Normal
College, described Manhattan Beach as the
most attractive resort he had ever visited. The
newspapers devoted columns of description to
it, and the people recognized that for the first
time New- York had acquired a practicable sea-
side resort, — practicable in the sense of com-
bined accessibility, economy, comfort and
decorum. What a revelation and a blessing
the beach became to the thousands whose
business compelled them to reside in the city
during midsummer, we need not say. For-
merly, as we have seen, a trip to Coney Island
meant tedium and execrable fare, compensated
for in a measure by the sea-bathing and the
32
The Story of
air. Now the
sea-bathing
and exhilarat-
ing air were
procurable
with every
imaginable
auxiliary for
the promotion of comfort.
Landing on the beach the visitor found a
splendid hotel, with spacious piazzas, magnifi-
cent halls, luxurious apartments, and a restau-
rant in which both the cuisine and the service
Manhattan Beach. 33
were of the highest excellence. He found
unique bathing-houses and a superb beach,
uninvaded by troublesome side-shows and
hucksters' stands. After a bath and a dinner,
he resigned himself to a bliss as complete as
mortal may expect to attain. A wondrously
beautiful light fell on the ocean, and the distant
heights of the Neversink became a purple
tinged with gold. The ships seemed still and
spectral ; the night came up in a heavy blue,
and there was solace in the rhythmic beat of
the waves. In front of the balcony on which
he rested, a fine -band played, and the music
was indescribably softened by the contiguity
of the water. A crowd of promenaders surged
through the halls and piazzas. There were
animation, variety, brilliancy, and at the same
time the communicative repose and exhilara-
tion of the sea. We have only described the
mood of an hour. There were other times in
the day when the water twinkled with myriad
diamond-points of reflected sunshine, and the
East was belted with a delicate violet haze ;
when the lower bay was dotted with the white
sails of yachts, and the foliage of the Highlands
was visible in a dark blue-green, and when the
beach was crowded with ladies, children and
nurses. Again, there were the morning hours,
soft, hazy, cool, and the moonlight nights,
34 The Story of
luminous, tranquil and silent. In every mood
and phase, Manhattan Beach was charming ;
the selectness designed for it by its projectors
was maintained, and no element of permanent
success was lacking.
Let us change the tense. Manhattan Beach
is an accomplished fact, a splendid achieve-
ment ; but it is progressive, and the attractions
that we have enumerated as being offered to
the visitor last summer are supplemented this
season by others. An extensive addition has
been made to the hotel ; the accommodations
for bathing have been increased, and more
space has been given to excursionists who
come provided with their own luncheons. It
is, perhaps, a criterion of the character and
resources of the hotel that two of the most
exclusive and prominent clubs in New- York,
the Union and the Union League, have
selected it for a sea-beach branch, and have
rented suites of the largest rooms permanently.
There are two large restaurants in the main
building, besides dining accommodations on
the piazzas. There are also many private
dining-rooms, and a visitor may see nearly
four hundred tables, with at least four seats to
each, occupied at the same time. The pavil-
ion for excursionists has seats for one thousand
five hundred people, and has a culinary capac-
Alauliattau Beach. 35
ity for five thousand persons a day. The
kitchen in the main building has all the requi-
sites for providing for ten thousand a day, and in
several instances twenty thousand visitors have
been dined with complete satisfaction to them-
selves. One part of the pavilion is devoted to
fish dinners, which are prepared by a special
cook, and another part is reserved for the
gratuitous use of the excursionists. There are
several hundred bedrooms of ample size, and
the hotel is furnished in all departments after
the fashionable Eastlake stj'le. The floors are
of oiled woods, and there is no veneer or
meretricious decoration. The fresh water is
obtained from a well on the mainland, and is
almost chemically pure. The beach is pa-
trolled by detectives and special policemen,
whose vigilance leads to the prompt ejection
of any disorderly characters who have smug-
gled themselves on to the grounds. But above
all other arrangements are those for bathing,
which, we venture to affirm, are infinitely
superior to those at any other watering-place,
not excepting Brighton, Scarborough, Rams-
gate, or Margate, England ; Trouville, France ;
or Long Branch, Newport or Cape May
in the United States. The bathing-house
has a frontage of five hundred and twenty
feet, and comprises sixteen hundred and
36
The Story of
fifty dressing-rooms for gentlemen, and six
hundred rooms for ladies. All these rooms are
constructed of the best hard wood, tastefully
painted inside and out, and all are supplied
w ith running water and gas. The gentlemen's
pavilion is a three-story structure, measuring
eighty-four by one hundred and thirty feet;
Bathing Pavilion.
the ladies' pavilion is of the same height, and
measures eighty-four by forty-five feet. Be-
tween the two is a spacious amphitheatre, ^\ith
seats for two thousand persons, who are thu •>
afforded a view of the bathers and the ocean.
Concerts are given in the amphitheatre daily,
Manhattan Beach. 37
and the beach in fnmt is reserved exclusively
for bathers, who, in entering the water and
emerging, are thus protected from the intrusion
of spectators. The laundry is the most won-
derful laundry ever heard of. In the old times
at Coney Island, if a visitor wanted to bathe,
he was provided with a suit that was still wet
from previous use, with towels in a clammy
state of moisture, and witli a toilet-room of
unplaned boards. Ladies were compelled to
use rooms next to those of offensive men,
whose conversation could be distinctly over-
heard. At Manhattan Beach, the toilet accom-
modations for the sexes arc separated as we
have seen, and each bathing-suit is thoroughly
washed and dried before it is loaned to a
second person. There arc twenty thousand
towels and twel\"e thousand suits, and the
laundry has facilities for washing two thousand
suits an hour. Two endless belts convey wet
clothes from the bath-rooms to the laundry,
and pneumatic tubes are used to convey the
clothes, when they are washed and dried, from
the laundry to the distributing department. A
pump with an engine of sixty horse-power
supplies the bath-rooms with si.x hundred gal-
lons a minute ; two Marvin safes are provided
for the deposit of valuables during the bath ;
an electric light enables bathing to be contin-
38 The Story of
ued after dark, and life-guardsmen in boats
patrol the water to prevent accidents.
" Anything more ? "
"Yes, my dear sir," we say to the reader;
"a great deal more : notably, the hot and cold
salt-water baths in the buildings." If perfect
privacy is desired, or if the sea-water at its
natural temperature is too severe, the person
so inclined may enjoy in-doors a bath
heated to any degree that suits him. " It
seems like a superfluity for a physician to
recommend sea-bathing," says Dr. Wm. A.
Hammond, the eminent neurologist, " but
if there are any who doubt its advan-
tages, to the overworked New-Yorker espe-
cially, I am perfectly willing to give whatever
weight my statement may have to the assur-
ance, that if there is any better hygienic power
than the air and sea of Manhattan Beach, I
do not know what it is." Dr. Hammond is
undoubtedly correct. Twenty minutes or half
an hour in the surf at Manhattan Beach is
better than a dozen doses of the most potent
elixir of life ever concocted. You land at the
beach, say at three in the afternoon, and when
you have cooled yourself under the piazzas
you enter one of the dressing-rooms and dis-
robe ; then you roll in the surf for a while,
and dress ; then saunter along the shore, with
Manliattan Beach.
39
a breeze fanning you that is cool in the
extremest dog-days. Finally you dine and
light a cigar, and no Eastern potentate can
appreciate the meaning of superlative luxury
as well as you at this moment.
A narrow-gauge railway extends along the
margin of the beach for most of its length, and '
by it steam transportation is afforded to the
eastern extremity of the island, where old-
fashioned clam-roasts are served, and where
sail and row boats may be hired for use on the
quiet waters of the bay or outside the bar.
Another attraction is the captive balloon,
similar to that of the recent Paris Exposition,
by which visitors can ascend in the care of an
experienced aeronaut to a height which gives
40 The Story of
them an idea of life in the clouds, and at the
same time discloses a wide and beautiful reach
of sea and land.
Pyrotechnic displays of a novelty and
grandeur hitherto unknown in America will
be presented at intervals during the season by
the " Alexandra Exhibition Company " ; an
inclosure of several acres, convenient to the
hotel, has been secured for the purpose, and
the company propose to repeat their wonderful
exhibitions which have become so famous at
the Alexandra and Crystal Palace Company's
grounds in London.
A little to the east of the hotel is one of the
life-saving stations of the United States, which,
though it is unoccupied from May until
November, is w'ell worth inspection. During
the winter months the beach is patrolled by
the surf-men of the station every night. Each
patrolman carries a beach lantern and a red
Coston hand-light, and on the discover)' of a
vessel in distress he burns the latter, both to
alarm his companions at the station and to give
notice to those on the wreck that succo • \ ar.
Let us suppose that it is a wild 1^' :r
night, with a blustering, poignant North-easter
blowing. A big fire is blazing in the station-
house, and four of the men, with the keeper,
are taking their ease around it, or lying in their
Maithattan Beach. 41
bunks, while the two others are putting on
their coats and mufflers, and looking longingly
toward the hearth. The latter are going out
on patrol, and as they are human they delay
as much as possible, re-adjusting their dress,
pressing their pilot-caps over their heads,
pulling their gloves farther on, and giving their
neck-cloths a final twist. The duty is inexo-
rable, and, with a last glance at the fire, they
plunge into the outer night. The wind is full
of needle-points and cuts them like a knife,
and the darkness blinds them for a moment,
and extends in every direction, except around
their feet, over which the lanterns cast a ring
of white light, and in the window of the station,
which glows with warmth. Above the moan-
ing of the air is the loud beat of the sea, as
the waves break on the shore and recede with
a sibilant sound, and the spray is lifted and
dri\'en in-shore by the wind in feathery streaks.
The big hotel of Manhattan Beach, which in
summer is illuminated from basement to roof,
the handsome pa\'ilions, the piazzas and prome-
nades, are utterly dark and deserted. Not a
sign of human life is visible. The two patrol-
men say " good-night " and separate ; one looks
back to see the lantern of the other swinging
to and fro on the sands, and decreasing in
brilliancy until it is altogether lost behind a
42 The Story of
low ridge of sand, and he then feels absolutely
alone amid an unreal silence that would not be
as awful were the wind and sea completely
still. The walk would have many terrors for
a nervous or superstitious man, or for any one
of sensitive organization ; and the patrolman
is superstitious ; but he is so familiar with the
darkness, the loneliness and the roar that he
treads along the beach in a reverie — not a
reverie on the deep secrets over which Nature
is brooding, but on so prosaic a matter as the
care of a small family who are now fast asleep
on the mainland — until he fancies he discovers
a light fastened to the black wall that seems
to be built up from the sea. He stands still,
and looks for it again ; it has disappeared. In
a minute it re-appears ; and now the first light,
that has stood at the mast-head of a vessel in
distress, is augmented by the flare of a rocket
and the blue fire of a signal, which reveal a
schooner close in-shore and in extreme peril.
According to his instructions, the patrolman
instantly ignites his red light, which is done
by striking the holder against his knee, which
action explodes a percussion cap, and he is
surrounded for several seconds by a flood of
crimson so vivid and so vigorous that no wind
or rain is strong enough to extinguish it.
When the light expires he hastens back to the
]\[anliatta7i BcacJi.
43
station with the news, and that quiet outpost
is suddenly put into as tumultuous a state as
the storm outside. The life-boat is placed on
a carriage, the carriage having very broad tires
to its wheels, so
that they can-
not sink in the
loose sand, and
the life-car, with
other apparatus,
is placed in an-
other vehicle,
both b e i n I
drawn to the
point neaiLst
the w r e c
where efforts
are made to ob-
tain communi-
cation with it. There are three possible means
of communication — the life-boat, the life-car
and the life- raft. The first two are in use at
all stations, and the last has been adopted at a
44 The Story of
few, but it is only under very favorable cir-
cumstances, or in extremities, that the boat is
used. A line is thrown over the wreck either
by a rocket or a mortar and shell, several
efforts being made before success is attained,
and the first line is attached to a stronger one
that is secured to the mast of the vessel and to
the shore. The life-car is suspended from the
line and hauled on board the distressed ship;
three or four persons are put inside it, and it
is hauled back again, repeating the journey
until all are safely landed. But the work, as
is the case with most things, is easier to describe
than to perform. If the wind is blowing on
shore, rocket after rocket flies on its meteor-like
course through the tempest, falling short, or
being carried too far ahead or astern by the
wind ; sometimes the rocket fails altogether,
and the boat or life-raft is the only resource
left.
The life-raft resembles a covered boat with a
few air-holes in the top, the perforations having
raised edges to prevent the water from enter-
ing, and it has a ring at each end, with a
hawser attached, that enables it to be drawn
through the surf The " boatswain's chair "
and the " breeches buoy " are similar, though
older and less efficacious devices.
Having seen the patrolman's red light burn-
Manhattan Beach. 45
ing, the crew of the wrecked ship utter a
glad cry of dcHverance and wait for the brilliant
spurt of the rocket bearing the line to them.
;- .;: - I to the end of the line is a board with
i ::..j.i3 ill several languages, and if they are
wed, communication is soon established
w ith the shore.
The \isitor to Manhattan Beach — in the
winter season — may sometimes see the coast-
wreckers at work on some vessel which has
stranded or sunk, and may witness the exceed-
ingly interesting operation of raising a large
ship. The mode of operation, in- brief, is as
follows : three or more heavy cables are
lowered to the bottom of the sea and dragged
under the hull, by divers ; when these are
properly adjusted, huge wooden pontoons are
towed over the wreck, and the cables are
passed up through water-tight well- holes and
then drawn upward by hydraulic power. This
part of the work costs severe effort and much
time, but when it is done, the injured vessel, as
a doctor would say, is in a fair way to recovery.
The cables are drawn up through the wells,
link by link, and are gradually tightened, until
the wreck lifts. It rises slowly, and the pon-
toons groan from the weight bearing upon
them. For some time yet the wreck is out of
sight, but at last the deck is seen dimly
46
The Story of
through the waves, and soon afterward it is
above water. Then the cargo has to be
removed in whole or in part ; the divers are
sent down to discover the leaks, and, when
discovered, to patch them with canvas and
thin planking. Then steam pumps, of enor-
mous capacity, quickly clear the vessel of
water, and she is towed to a dry dock for
repairs.
The mackerel and blue-fishing off Manhattan
Beach is exceedingly good, and this suggests
another means of recreation within reach of the
visitor. Let him form a party of good fellows,
who are " never, never, or hardly ever, sick at
sea," and bring them down to the beach in the
evening. After dinner, let him saunter in the
lovely evening light, when the shore is looking
Ilaiihattaii Beach. 47
its prettiest, as far as the eastern end of the
island, and engage a man and a boat for the
morning; let liim retire early, and when the
sun is mounting the eastern sk}-, suffusing
the little world in view with rose-color and
gold, making a ruby wine of the dark waters,
— let him embark and cross the bar. The
waves are crisp, glassy and fringed with foam ;
as they leap into peaks the light flashes
through them and shows how green they are ;
but a surface-glow lies upon them, and shifts
about, appearing and disappearing, and losing
intensity of color as the sun rises higher. The
wake of the little boat, as she dances over the
undulations, sparkles and bubbles as with mill-
ions of diamonds, and the sea exhales a com-
municative vitality which soon puts the party
in the highest possible condition of exuberance.
With the lines trolling astern, it is not long
before you have some fish shining and pris-
matic in the bottom of the boat, and when you
have exhausted the sport you recross the bar,
and land. The probabilities are that your
appetite will not allow you to bathe before
breakfast, and, seated under the piazza of the
hotel, with the sea-breeze playing around you,
you consult the vicim. The table is spread
with snowy linen and sparkles with crystal
ware ; the gaijon is ci\ il and intelligent. What
48 The Story of
shall we order ? Some grapes or peaches to
begin with, certainly ; then some half-shell
clams with a bottle of Chablis ; then 2. filet oi
sole, sauce tartare ; or, do you not like smelts,
breaded, with dry toast and a cup of fragrant
Mocha ? The fish-cook of the Manhattan
Beach hotel develops unsuspected delicacy of
flavor in his dishes ; and while you are discuss-
ing the filet of sole w^ith sauce tartare, or the
breaded smelts, an ever-changing animated
throng of promenaders enlivens the beach, and
hundreds of bathers in the water divert you
and seem to become rhythmic in their motions
responsively to the strains of the band. Look-
ing beyond the surf, an unbroken fleet of ves-
sels are coming and going by the great ship
channel, — perhaps two or three of the le\ia-
thans of modern ocean steamship lines, — and
}'ou become emulous of the power of the
marine painter to transfer some of this beauty
to canvas.
We have scarcely left ourselves sufficient
space to describe the various routes to Man-
hattan Beach, each of which has some interest-
ing features. The pleasantest, no doubt, for
the stranger, is by steamer to Bay Ridge, and
thence by rail. The boats are of the finest
class, — large, swift, and handsomely fitted up.
The North River landings are at West Twenty-
Manhattan Beach. 49
second street, Le Roy street, Pier Eight
(foot of Rector street), and the Battery.
The Twenty-second street landing is easily
reached by cars which traverse Twenty-
third street and connect with all other lines
in the city; it is about se\'en minutes dis-
tant from Madison square. The Le Roy
street landing is passed by the Belt line cars,
and is within two or three blocks of the
Houston street cars. It is also the terminus
of the Hoboken ferry, the Blue line of cars
running through P'ourteenth street. Union
square and Seventeenth street to East Twenty-
third street, the White cars running through
Eighth street across to\\'n, and the Cream-
colored cars running through Fourteenth street
to Union square. Passengers living as far up-
town as Central Park may, by taking the
Metropolitan Elevated Road to Eighth street,
and the street cars thence to Christopher street,
reach the landing within twenty minutes, and
the beach within seventy minutes, while pre-
vious to the opening of the Bay Ridge route,
the same trip would have occupied two hours
and a half The Rector street landing is within
a few minutes' walk of Wall street and of all
that portion of the city below City Hall Park.
The landing at the Battery — foot of Whitehall
street — is made by a special boat, connecting
MANHATTAN BEACH R.R.&
NEWYORK CQJsINECTIONS
3Iaiihaitan Bcacli. 51
witli both elevated roads, and is the shortest
water route to the beach.
The varied traffic of the river, the activities
of the \vhar\'es and the beauties of the upper
bay combine to make the sail to Bay Ridge
one of the most attractive in the world. The
Hudson washes thirteen miles of the city's shore
line, every foot of \\'hich is available for vessels
of the largest tonnage, and the upper bay has
fourteen square miles of anchorage. Over
two-thirds of all the duties collected on imports
in the United States are paid through New-
York, and while the total value of all exports
from this country is about $682,000,000 an-
nually, the total value of those from New-York
alone is nearly $345,000,000 of this amount.
Nearly 6,000 vessels, measuring 5,000,000
tons, come into the harbor every year from
foreign ports, besides about 2,500 vessels
engaged in the coastwise trade. The water is
plowed in every direction by all kinds of
vessels, and the air is resonant with tlie vehe-
ment whistling of the steamers. Squat, tur-
tle-like ferry-boats, black with passengers ;
palatial river-steamers with tier above tier
of state-rooms ; capacious barges ; cockle-shell
row-boats ; solid-looking dredging machines ;
coasting steamers and full-rigged ships — not
52 The Story of
only those which are common to all harbors,
but many varieties of less familiar appearance,
churn the water into foam and dodge each
other so dexterously that the collision Avhich
seems inevitable is constantly averted. The
stranger strains his eyes and his understanding
in a vain endeavor to discover the nature of
two heavy barges, which are fitted with rail-
way tracks, and from which the cars are trans-
ferred to another track in the city. A further
illustration of this characteristically American
expedient may be seen in the " Maryland," a
leviathan railway ferry-boat, that forges her
way daily from the Harlem River- to Jersey
City, bearing a whole train of passenger cars
a distance of over eight miles, and forming an
all-rail route from Boston and the East to
Philadelphia and the South.
Another strange-looking craft is the floating
derrick of the Dock Department ; and stranger
still are the grain elevators, which look like
houses afloat. The roofs and the straggling
water-front, with its embattlements of sail-lofts
and stores ; the long fringe of shipping, with
its forests of masts and black net- work of
cordage, are all that we can see of the city
from the river, but the reverberations of its
noisy heart-beatings come to the ear in low
Maiiliattan Bcaclt. 53
surges, and mingle with the lapping and splash
of the water. The ceiulean overhead is not
perceptibly dimmed by the filmy smoke of the
anthracite coal, which is the common fuel, and
the water, though it is not the deep blue and
green of the sea, is still green compared with
the water of Liverpool, London, Philadelphia
and Baltimore. The picturesqueness of the
harbor is attested by the frequency with which
it is selected for illustration by the best Amer-
ican painters.
The stranger is impressed with the apparent
inconsistency in the names of the North and
East rivers. The North, which is the Hudson,
appears to be so named after the point of the
compass from which it flows, while the direc-
tion of the East River, which borders the city
on the eastern side, seems never to have been
taken into consideration in its nomenclature.
The fact is, however, that the North Ri\-er was
so named by the early Dutch, to distinguish it
from the Delaware, which was called the South
River.
Near the Twenty-second street landing of
the Manhattan Heach steamers, on the North
River, we see the immense grain warehouses,
built for the use of the New- York Central
Railwa\', where the grain is transferred -in
54 The Story of
bulk from the cars which have brought it
from the West to large ocean steamers for
conveyance to Europe ; and in the same
vicinity is the handsome building known
as Manhattan Market, which is now used
for other purposes than those for which it was
i.itended. Between the Le Roy street landing
and Canal street are clustered the wharves of
the principal transatlantic lines, — the Cunard,
White Star, Inman, Guion, National, Anchor,
State and French lines, and a representa-
tive steamer of each is usually in dock.
Probably no other port in the world harbors
in the same concentrated space as many
superb vessels. It is not unusual to see eight
steamers here at one time measuring nearly
forty thousand tons, and aggregating about
four million dollars in value. The view is
imposing in the extreme.
Below Canal street, the various Southern
steamers are seen at their piers, — steamers for
Richmond, Charleston, Savannah, New Orleans,
Galveston, Bermuda and Mexico, besides the
sumptuous vessels used in navigating the
Sound and the Hudson. Now and then a
glimpse is caught of the Brooklyn Bridge
towers, and the many commercial palaces on
Broadway loom up magnificently. The circu-
Manliattan Beach. 5-5
lar structure in the Battery Park is Castle Gar-
den, where tlie newly arrived immigrant is
landed and cared for. He is taken from the
sliip by tenders into the vast rotunda, where
all his reasonable wants are supplied. His
biography is tabulated in a voluminous regis-
ter ; should he become sick within a certain
time after his arrival, the Commissioners of
Emigration are bound to admit him to their
hospital ; should his ultimate destination be
beyond the city, responsible agents of railway
companies are on hand to supply him with
tickets at the lowest rate ; his thalers, sover-
eigns or napoleons are exchanged for United
States currency ; means of communication with
absent friends are opened to him, and, in brief,
everything possible is done to protect him from
swindlers and help him on his way.
As we leave the South Ferry landing, the
vista of the East River is opened to us with
hundreds of magnificent barques, schooners,
brigs and sloops at the wharves. A little to
the east are the docks which receive the im-
mense freight of the Erie Canal. The princi-
pal lines of transportation from the West to the
East include about ten thousand miles of rail-
way, seven thousand miles of river, sixteen
hundred miles of lake, and sixteen hundred
-56 The Story of
miles of canal. The total freight carried over
them in a year is about ten million tons, one-
fourth of which comes through the Erie Canal
and down the Hudson River, whence it is
delivered near the Battery landing of the Man-
hattan Beach boats. Four ferries and two
elevated roads converge in the same locality —
two of the ferries from Staten Island, and two
from Brooklyn.
Our steamer now heads down the bay, with
Governor's Island on one side and Bedloe's
Island on the other. The low green line of
the Long Island shore toward Bay Ridge and
the heights of Staten Island are seen in the
distance. Governor's Island was the site of
the first settlement in New- York, and has had
a varied and eventful history ; it was a per-
quisite of the British governors " in the good
old colony times when we lived under a king,"
and hence its present name ; but it was pre-
viously known as Nutten Island, from the
number and excellence of the nuts which grew
upon it. It was also the first place of quaran-
tine in New-York, and was captured by
Admiral Howe as he moved his fleet up the
bay after the battle of Long Island. Two
batteries of artillery now occupy it, and it is
the head-quarters of the general commanding
Manliattau Beach. 57
the Department of the Atlantic. The smaller
island to the westward is Bedloe's, which is
also fortified, and this is the proposed site of
the colossal statue of Liberty. A strong,
exhilarating breeze blows in upon us from the
sea, and the water falls in crisp spray over the
bow. In a few minutes we are landed at Bay
Ridge, where the Manhattan Beach Railway
Company has erected a splendid pier, depot
and waiting-rooms, and where the passengers
are quickly transferred to the trains in waiting
for them. The view from the pier is very
beautiful. The bay reaches out toward the
Jersey coast and the Kill Von Kull, and the
Long Island shore is a vivid green to the
water's edge. We have already spoken of
the equipment of the railway, and we may
reiterate that it includes every invention that
can increase the comfort and safety of those
traveling by it. It extends at first in a south-
easterly direction, between high embankments
and underneath the various avenues, until it
emerges into a fertile and picturesque country ;
then it follows an easterly course, and near
Deerfoot Park passes under the fine Ocean
Parkway, connects with the Greenpoint branch,
and thejice extends in a direct southerly line
to the rear of the hotel on the beach.
58 The Story of
The Greenpoint route is not only a fast and
commodious way to the beach in summer, but
it also affords one-fourth of Brooklyn rapid
transit to business in New- York ; it is building
up and populating large portions of the eight-
eenth, twenty-first and twenty-fifth wards in
the former city, and it is a convenient means
of freight transportation from the East River
to the suburbs. The passenger trains in
Greenpoint are connected with the city by
steamers running from Twenty-third street
and Tenth street, where street-cars establish
communications with every part of the city.
The Twenty-third street (buff line) cars
intersect all the avenues and Broadway ; the
Houston street (yellow line) pass through
Lexington avenue to Forty-second street ; the
Seventeenth street (blue line) reach Union
square, and thence go down West Fourteenth
street; the Dry Dock line (green) and the Belt
line (red) touch nearly all the arterial thorough-
fares of the eastern district, and the White line
from Tenth street runs directly across the city.
The East River, at Tenth and Twenty-third
streets is not as variedly picturesque as the
North River, but it has many features of
interest. The great iron-works are in the
neighborhood of the former ; and steamers that
Manltattaii Beach. 59
are being dismantled lie at the adjacent piers,
which are covered with a miscellaneous heap
of fragments — the separated sections of marine
engines, rusty boiler-plates, battered smoke-
stacks, and green copper-sheathings. Not
long ago the ruined hulk of the " Ocean
Queen" was lying here, — a famous vessel;
in the palmy days of the Panama route
to California she had been true to her name,
but now her broken rigging draggled from
the masts and spars ; the seams between her
timbers gaped, and the paint was peeling
off The two funnels were battered and red
with rust. The once cozy little state-rooms
on the upper deck, in which the warm tropi-
cal winds had fanned the grateful passengers,
were dismal, chilly, and destitute of furni-
ture ; every bit of gilt and upholstery had been
stripped off her once gorgeous saloon ; and the
engine-room, in which her large heart of fire
had burned, was a shadowy, echoing void.
Close to her lay the iron-clad " Montauk " in a
still more woeful condition of wreck, her thick
plates dimpled with the hemispheres of hun-
dreds of cannon-balls which had struck them
in the civil war without penetrating them ; her
decks torn up by shells, and her smoke-stack
bent and indented. Side by side with these
60 The Story of
shattered veterans were new wliite river
steamers and larger sea-going steamers, into
which engines and boilers were being placed
by demon-like mechanics, — mechanics dressed
in .black and greasy overalls, whose fierce-
looking eyes were set in ebon faces, and
whose hammers were rained upon the bolts
and plates with vindictive energy. Most of
the ship-building of the port is done at Green-
point, and in the yards near the ferry may be
seen the skeleton-like frames of future ships
and steamers. At the foot of Twenty-sixth
street, Bellevue Hospital is conspicuous, and an
interesting object at the foot of Twenty-third
street is the " St. Mary's," an old war-ship
devoted to the education of boys for the
American mercantile marine.
In closing this sketch, we recapitulate briefly
the various routes to the beach.
The North River route by steamer to Bay
Ridge, and thence by rail ; the East River
route via Greenpoint ; and the South Ferry
route, also by water to Bay Ridge. The North
River boats receive passengers at Twenty-
second street, Leroy street, and Rector street.
All stations of the elevated roads sell tickets for
the beach via the South Ferry boats. On
the East River, ferries at Twenty-third and
Manhattan Beach.
61
Tenth streets connect half-hourly with trains
at Greenpoint. It will thus be seen that no
watering-place is so accessible to the crowded
population of New-York and vicinity as the
delightful resort which has been built up at
the eastern end of Coney Island.
No more remains for us, kind reader, than to
in\ite you to test the truth of the story we
have here given of Manhattan Beach.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
^**3D5S»fi
014 109 360 5 *
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