USA > New Jersey > The New Jersey coast in three centuries; history of the New Jersey coast with genealogical and historic-biographical appendix, Vol. II > Part 9
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of the power to make any money for itself, and compelled the placing of any profits upon improvements for the general good. The by-laws de- fined the doctrine as "The promotion of holiness," and forbade all forms of speculation by its members, and adopted such regulations as made it difficult for others to do so. In this the provision empowering the mem- bers to elect their own successors has proved to be of the utmost importance.
In a matter of religious doctrine, a submission to whatever might be the popular majority of opinion for the time has disintegrated every asso- ciation which has experimented it, and will do so whenever it is attempted. The clamoring of private interests and the caprices of public judgment would d'o the same thing for the property so dedicated, but a regular succes- sion of men pledged to the doctrine and the uses of the doctrine would naturally keep both on its original lines.
Human nature requires special separation from ordinary pursuits in order to special preparation for extraordinary ones. The opportunities of the severest concentration of all the faculties upon the one object need to be present, and no outside affairs may be permitted to intrude. The necessity for breaking off in a momentous plan 'by simply ordering a din- ner has often made a plan non-effective. The plan needed the perfection of an undivided attention, and its failure in that small point made the', destruction of whatever might have been the great plan then shaping in the mind. All great men have felt its need and used it for their needs, whether of war or finance, or the special heights to be gained in religious life or religious triumphs. Abraham had his solitudes of preparation; Moses was often alone with God in getting ready for the successful leader- ship of a great people. The great leaders of religion in every age and na- tion from Buddha to Mahommed have emerged from the solitudes. The prophets retired to their seclusion in order to receive the Divine impres- sions, and Jesus, in obtaining a readiness for the severest trials of his mission to men, went for forty days into the wilderness. The Roman church has always felt that a large part of the strength of the mighty force evolved from their brainy priesthood has been gathered from their frequent retirement for meditation, unannoyed by the common cares of daily life. The Protestant Episcopal church has seen its value and pro- vided retreats.
The same sense of values has malle itself felt in the establishment of Ocean Grove. Religion needs rest to gather strength as certainly as does the body, and rest will not connect with the continued pressure of the or- dinary affairs of life. The seclusion is afforded to churches of all classes in the general formulations of government, and demands that the neces- sary privacy shall be respected. It was on this line that Ocean Grove-
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sought and obtained its exclusiveness. Long prayers may be made in public places, but the real communion is found in the secrecies of isolation from outside affairs. The place is intended for recuperative religion as well as recuperative vigor. It has been purchased in accordance with that intention. The sacrifices of time and money have been made in order to that end. Its exercises of religion have that continually in view. Its restriction of amusements have the idea of keeping the soul in the one direc- tion. There is neither right or manners in an insistence to invade it. It would be as seemly to drive fast horses through the aisles of a church during service time, or through an oratory built on private grounds while the devotees were at worship, as at Ocean Grove. It is only the greediest selfish- ness which demands the abrogation of the rights of another, to secure a trifle of pleasure of its own, that would permit it. Its seclusiveness is no more than is demanded in household sleeping apartments, or in a private car wherein a man pays to ride, or than any demand for themselves, who de- sire to break it up for Ocean Grove.
The date of the first meeting ever held in Ocean Grove in what is now Thompson Park is religiously kept on the spot where the service was held at six o'clock in the evening of July 31st. A chapter is read descrip- tive of the blossoming of the wilderness, a succinct account is given of the first meeting and short speeches illustrative of the aims of the organization are made, interspersed with singing and prayer. It is so interwoven with the habits of the people that it is not probable that it will ever fall into disuse.
Another of the occasions which bring the people together is the anni- versary reception, always given in Association Hall, as near as may be, a couple of days before the Christmas festival, which was the date of the organization. In this reception the Christmas greetings are freely passed, and old coldnesses pass into genial warmth. Piquant speeches are sand- wiched between musical renderings. Refreshments are provided, and the rich and the poor meet on terms of equality. The merchant and the la- borer with their wives forget the artificial distinctiveness of society. The children have a good time with the lemonade and cakes and each other, speeches are made by both cultured and uncultured people, and a general feeling of good fellowship is established between the association and its people, and the mutual confidence necessary to success realizes a firmer grasp.
In the inception of the place, very few sanitary rules were necessary Nature had provided what was needed, provided nature was not crowded too closely. The first rule was pits for excreta and garbage. The in- coming crowds soon made larger provision necessary, and public com-
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modes were constructed. Then came the danger to water pollution, and iron tanks or cemented vaults were substituted, which were emptied after the sea- son and their contents placed in a shallow well away from the residences and covered as rapidly as deposited with earth from the swamps, which compost gave the impetus to the grass and flowers cultivated, which is now! in vogue. This was followed by earth closets, whose inconvenience soon caused their discarding. All these systems were finally abandoned by the introduction of water, with its sewer system, extending twelve hundred feet into the sea, and discharging under water, so that neither the earth cr the ocean of the grove is polluted. An inspector, who is a physician, visits every property twice each year, and oftener, if necessary, enforcing the fullest sanitary rules. Infectious or epidemiical diseases are met in their inception and without regard to what it may cost are so stamped that none have obtained a foothold.
In the selection of a camp meeting, the water question was one of essential import. Is there pure water, and the best of it, are among the first tests made of the suitability of any place for that purpose. It is easy to imagine the pleasure with which the announcement that water whose purity was vouched for by the highest chemical analysis, was abundant everywhere, and reached at from fifteen to thirty feet. All that was needed was to put a point on an iron pipe and drive it the required depth, and set a pump on it, and the water was there, flowing all the twenty-four hours if desired. A stratum of solid clay was passed in reaching it, which stratum extended under the ocean bed, and, as a matter of curiosity, a pipe was sunk out in the ocean surf, and a flow of pure water answered the sinking. For several years these surface pumps answered all demands, and, until the crowds of population so saturated the surface that there began to be fears of its pollution, when it was decided to see what could be found deeper down. Borings were made to the depth of four hundred and fifty feet, when water as pure as that originally found near the surface gushed up in great abundance. There are twenty-three of these wells in existence, though only three or four are in general use, and an abundance of water running through pipes in every street, reachable by every family, forced by a plant with all the modern appliances of science, so constructed that its waste shall flush all the sewers, and, in connection with Asbury Park, is always available in case of fires. Leading hygienists ascribe the freedom of Ocean Grove from disease to the purity and plenty of its water plant- which gives no sign of diminution for the future.
The conceptions of hygiene have always connected health with water. It has been accepted everywhere as the chief agent of fertility and vigor. So great is its value in the mind of the Creator that two-thirds of the earth
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is covered with it. Wherever it runs its way through the earth, there is. fertility ; without it, all is sterile desert. Eden had rivers everywhere, and the coming world has its river of life, where there will be no more sea. While this world lasts, sea with its saltness is essential, and the springs with their freshness are alike necessary, the one for the outer and the other for the inner man. Both these were found at Ocean Grove-water of the- freshest purity for table use and water of the saltest purity for outward cleansing. Personal physical purity was recognized in the creed of Holi- ness, and the best opportunities for sea bathing were included in the pro- gram. The first arrangements were primitive. There were no seclusions except what might be afforded by the trees and absence of people. The men went off to a distance and disrobed, taking baths in the garb of nature. The women found secluded places where in garments whose days of useful- ness were passed, they enjoyed the refreshing. This, however, soon gave- place to something better. People who cared to do so began the erection of private bath houses of their own along the shore, in which they not only accommodated their own families but frequently their neighbors and friends. As the number of bathers increased, more care was taken in the apparel, and bathing suits were introduced so largely that it soon was found to be unpopular to bathe in the unfitting and discarded garments of ancient days. A bathing master was employed, in whose care the houses were left in the absence of the proprietors. Soon the population had so in- creased that it was found practicable to have the entire business placed under the charge of one man, and Captain Street, who understood salt water per- fectly, was granted a franchise to erect and rent bathing houses and dresses. His mind was a practical one, and he conceived the lessening of danger by staking out the distances to which a bather might safely go. To this he added his own invention of safety-lines, fastened to stakes, to which timid or weakly people might hold, and enjoy the vigor-inspiring surf without the exhaustion of a struggle with the waves. These precautions made bathing popular, and crowds of excursionists, attracted by the safety, began to fill the shore. There was no other spot on the entire shore equalling Ocean Grove and Asbury Park for safety and comfort, and it soon became known over many of the inland towns and cities. Mr. Joseph Ross suc- ceeded Captain Street, under whom still greater improvements were made,- and in 1874 the bathing advantages were greatly increased by the estab- lishment of hot salt-water baths in connection with ocean bathing.
Heated salt water had been found a specific for rheumatic complaints, and the bathing proprietors were not slow to utilize it. To meet the con- ditions, the salt water was brought from between the ocean bed and sur- face, where it was always purest, through pipcs into tanks where it was:
HISTORY OF THE NEW JERSEY COAST.
heated and distributed into receptacles for bathing, where people could lie in repose and enjoy a siesta of rest, which passed into invigoration by the introduction of cold water from another pipe close at hand. The sys- tem was not only adopted by the two greater establishments of Ross and Lillagore, but the "Sheldon," then in the height of its popularity, made them one of its great attractions. Improvements have continuously been made in them and their surroundings. Porcelain takes the place of wooden tubs ; luxurious towels with finest soaps for cleansing and drying; the softest couches for after-repose; and sun parlors, tabled with current literature, occupy the attention while resting. Then the ice cream and soda refreshments invite them as they are ready to leave. So popular have they become that numbers take them for the mere luxury of their enjoy- ment during the entire season.
In the early periods, as the people began to populate the lower part
WASHOUT AT OCEAN GROVE.
of the grounds, there were complaints of the distance between them and Wesley Lake, and another establishment was conceded at the foot of Fletcher Lake, and put in operation under Mr. T. W. Lillagore, whose energetic management under exceptionally unfavorable circumstances has made it a continual success. Twice it has been torn away by the storms, and twice been rebuilt, and each time in better form than before.
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Fish were always abundant off Ocean Grove. The scanty living of the first inhabitants was largely derived from the waters. Many people who came here were piscatorial in their tastes, and greatly enjoyed the process. At first they went out in boats, as many do still, for the fishing, but num- bers coud not bear the ocean, and after a few years a pier was constructed,
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extending now five hundred and fifty feet into the ccean, along which on every day, pleasant and unpleasant, there can be found the patient disciples of Ezak Walton waiting like little Willie "for the fish to find a hook." The fishing relieves many an hour of semi-invalidism on lines where a weaker nervous system is strengthened by the salt breezes which con- stantly blow upon then.
The removal of the "Sand Dunes," which was nature's barrier against further incursions from the sea upon the shorc, laid the grove open to the fierceness of the storm centers which frequently visited the Atlantic coast. Over and over again the shore had been greatly disturbed, and once or twice almost destroyed. Efforts had been made to arrest the destruction by planking the shore line, but the first stormy sea washed it away. Then came piling, with plank between, which also failed in time of need. After some years in futile experiment, the plan of the New Jersey Southern Road on its Sandy Hook brauch, which consisted of jetties run into the sea, was adopted, and a series of them from Wesley to Fletcher Lake were placed about one hundred yards apart, and the same distance into the ocean. They were fastened to double rows of planking to correspond. They proceeded on the scientific fact that nature, like other forces, found its strongest power in union -- that where a wave could strike with its whole force at any given point, outside of a mountain. it was practically irresistible, but, if the force could be divided, it was weakened in proportion to the division, and the jetties divided the waves. The experiment was entirely success- ful. In the decade of their existence, nature has entirely restored the dis- rupted shore, and there has never been any retrocession of the land. The association now feels reasonably secure against any future caprice of a storm in destroying its coast.
Ocean. Pathway is a pair of streets enclosing a beautiful park and lined with tasteful residences and hotels. It has a width of three hundred feet, mostly occupied with its parks, whose door is the ocean sand overlaid with marl and earth and fertilizers, applied over and over again until the foundation for a soil has been icached, and gives during the summer a. lawn of grass, watered by fountain and interspersed with floral beds, whose bloom adds attractiveness to the tens of thousands who use its walks on their way from the Auditorium to the sea.
The principal feature of the old camp system retained in the new is the occupancy of tents. These are now in the best styles of comfort, with flooring, bedsteads, chairs, tables, bureaus, et cetera, and a comfortable room with stove for both cocking and warmth in the apartment in the rear. Flower gardens with vines in the front make an attractive appearance.
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There are several blocks occupied with them, and there is no form of life more acceptable to the people than life in the tents.
Boating in the lakes has always been a special reason why people desire to reside at the Grove. While those of mature age perhaps cared comparatively little, yet the younger people, especially children, found in it an unceasing pleasure. What was true then is true now, and the lakes are sources of unfailing delight which do not stale with familiarity. In later years an annual carnival has been added which has proved a delight to the thousands of people who come to witness it. The boats are all gaily decorated with national and private flags, and lights blazing from them in every direction. They are arranged in naval fashion of squadrons under an admiral, and they deploy and change position, crossing and recrossing ac- cording to naval tactics in forms which challenge admiration for their skill. The bridges under which they pass are lined with flags and glow with lights, while bands of music enliven the scene. There is also a system of prizes for different degrees of worth. in which friends of the parties take a deep interest. A large number of boys earn a fair amount of summer money by running their boats like cabs on a low fare from one end of the lake to the other.
Although in the open freedom of the ocean, through all parts of the Grove, parks would seem to be scarcely a necessity, yet for beauty and resting places they were essential. In the plans concerning them, the first spot used for religious services was so set apart and named Thompson, after a bishop of the church. A place near the auditorium is called Me- morial, where trees are planted bearing the names of deceased dignitaries of the church and members of the association; another further up, for its verdant beauty, is named Greenleaf: further on still, is one on higher ground bearing the cognomen of Park Heights ; one is now occupied by the church was Park Square; one more on Main avenue is called Woodlawn, and one at the entrance opposite the great school building is named Ever- green. These are favorite resting places for the crowds of excursionists who come during the season, and become weary in their explorations of every part of the grove.
Public ·lighting has had its embarrassments from the beginning. An improvised lamp on a post or swinging from a tree covered a few feet of the surrounding distance, only leaving the darkness more invisible be- yonkl. A few public lamps were placed by the association, relieving partly the situation. These were superseded by a system of manufactured gas in- troduced by Mr. Thomas Pierce. Various shaping of illuminants succeeded until, by the general consent of the people an electric light system of incandescent light was introduced, which has been supplemented with the
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arc system for the streets, while the incandescent lights still remain for com- mercial and family use. The plant has been pronounced by the inspectors among the most complete and safest in the country and is scarcely ever out of order. The poles are used for the lines of the telegraph and tele- phone companies, and are thus all practically under the control of the asso- ciation.
In the beginning there was no available postoffice nearer than Long Branch or Squan. Arrangements were made with these offices and with the stages to bring the mail from these offices after distribution there, upon individual orders. This plan, though inconvenient, obtained until 1871, when an application was made at Washington for a postoffice at the grove, which was granted, and the Rev. Mr. Beegle, who was clerk and superin- tendent, was placed in charge, in which he continued until in the changes of administration it passed to Rev. George W. Evans, when in another turn of administration it passed to Rev. A. E. Ballard, and for the same reason again to Mr. Evans, who, when the political complexion changed again, vacated for Mr. W. H. Hamilton, who entered it as the first boy under Mr. Beegle, and who in one capacity or another had been in connec- tion with the office from the beginning, and who understands its workings as no other man possibly could. The office has grown to the position of second class of the first grade, and during the season does all the work of a first class office. Efforts have been made at various times to consolidate it with Asbury Park, but the peculiar autonomy of the Grove has caused the protest of its citizens, and it has never been consummated. The office itself, in all its appointments, has been pronounced by the department one of the finest in the State, and its working, notwithstanding the pressure and uncertainty of summer population, one of the least friction and com- plaint. It is now located in the Association building, which supplies it with fire, water and electric light.
Very soon after the establishment of a postoffice the Western Union Telegraph Company introduced their wires into Ocean Grove. It was connected with the postoffice building and its operators were partly em- ployees. Mr. Hamilton, the present postmaster, soon became an expert in telegraphy and the superintendency, as well as its operating, was soon confided to his hands, in which it has been managed successfully from the beginning. It has suffered the usual amount of destruction from the coast storms, but so far no one has ever been seriously injured by them. Its business steadily increases, and it is now among the important stations of the company.
The first superintendent was Rev. W. B. Osborn, in whom all the executive duties at the first seemed to inhere. The purchase of the grounds
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was first negotiated through him, and their plotting into streets and lots were assigned to his oversight. The names of the streets were largely of his selection, as well as the sale of the lots with their boundaries. His connection with the superintendency ceased in an appointment to a pre- siding eldership in Florida, and Rev. H. B. Beegle, a retired clergyman, discharged the duties of the office for a few years, when Captain Lewis Rainear, who had served through the Civil war as captain in a New Jersey regiment, was appointed to the position, which he held through long years of faithful service up to 1901, when he felt it his duty, in view of larger advantages elsewhere, to resign the position. All the most important work of the Grove was done and done well while the post was occupied by him. By clear intelligence and upright conduct he had earned the respect of the community as well as that of the association, who would have continued his position if he had chosen to retain it. He was suc- ceeded by Mr. W. E. Crane, a gentleman of large experience in similar work, who, in connection with other institutions, looks after Ocean Grove, while General Patterson, chief of police, practically assumes the duties of the position.
The first arrangement for protection from the danger of fire was a notification to the people to keep from two to four pails of water in every tent for immediate use, which was generally observed, and several smali blazes were rendered harmless in this way. This was supplemented by the purchase of an old style machine working with horizontal bar handles and a company of volunteers was organized to man it. After this came a chemical engine and a hook and ladder truck, and following this a small steamer which had outlived its usefulness elsewhere. These were left to a merited repose until sold for use in other places. Then a chemical engine was purchased, named for the President, and a company formed for that : then a first class steamer was procured, and fire districts formed, which now include a chemical engine at West Grove, and others at Bradley Beach, West Park and Avon, with one steamer in the Grove and two at Asbury Park, all coming into use whenever there comes a need. A hook and ladder company is also located in the Grove, whose usefulness has proven itself at every fire. There is also a hook and ladder company at Asbury Park. Most of the firemen are abstainers from intoxicants and the companies are formed from among the best people in these places, and are held in the highest estimation.
The fire engine house at the Grove is a spacious brick structure with all the appliances of modern comfort-parlors, reading room, writing room, lavatory, refreshment room, with all arrangements for rapid action in case of a conflagration.
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