Times have changed since then, and what seemed to us the summit of achievement are the commonplaces of modern hotel equipment. But the old Sheldon always held its own and marched with the progress of the years. Several times it has changed hands, one of its owners having been M. M. Belding, of spool silk fame. Several times, also, it has been damaged by fire. On a September evening in 1901 flames destroyed the entire fourth story, many of the prominent residents and summer visitors being at the time enjoying a banquet with the Auditorium ushers and

their friends in the Temple, and some of them knowing nothing until afterward of the fire and the danger to the entire place so successfully averted by our excellent fire companies.

A few years ago the name of the hotel was changed by its then owner, Mr. L. J. Arthur, to "Fountain House," with reference to its proximity to and view of the Memorial Fountain in Founders' (formerly Thompson) Park. But to old timers it has always been the Sheldon House.

Many distinguished and honorable visitors-and of such Ocean Grove has had a goodly share-have been entertained here and have given flattering testimony to the treatment they have received. Many delightful "functions" have been held within the spacious rooms. Innumerable pleasant associations add poignancy to the sense of loss we feel at the passing of our first large hotel. That the fire which consumed the Fountain House did not sweep away a large part of Ocean Grove is due to Providence and the heroic efforts of a fire department unsurpassed for morale and efficiency.

Some of the surrounding buildings were more or less damaged, but the injuries have already been entirely repaired.

So another old landmark has vanished. It will be missed and much regretted. But that in the fine and eligible open space left by the clearing away of the debris a suitable and even more complete hostelry will in time succeed that which is gone no one can reasonably doubt.

RECREATIONS

ON THE SANDS AT OCEAN GROVE

Ocean Grove's playground, its real recreation center, is the mile of sandy beach that stretches along its eastern edge, between Wesley and Fletcher Lakes.

Just a mile-long stretch of level, pallid sand! Yet there is never an hour's dullness here, never a lack of that variety which is the spice of life, never a break in the attraction which it holds for everybody. Variety, indeed, is the secret of its charm. Every taste and temperament finds here its own fine gratification. And for all alike is the tonic and stimulant of air and sunshine.

At each end are the wide, bright pavilions, with their gay little bazaars,

their music and diverse amusements, their shady spaces and comfortable chairs, where groups of holiday acquaintances foregather with easy informality, and where every now and again the most unexpected encounters and delighted recognitions between old friends take place.

Close to the pavilions are the bathing grounds, always crowded on summer days with those who love the cool dip or plunge, the battle with the breakers or the refreshing shower of the spray, and no less attractive to thousands of spectators, who sit upon the sands and Board Walk benches or cluster close to the railings of the decklike pavilions, watching feats of swimming and diving, of the clumsy antics of happy novices, with unabating

zest.

Between are the quieter places, where little children "paddle" in the lapping waters of spent waves or build sand forts and houses, their flutelike laughter making music as sweet as that of the band or orchestra, still faintly heard in the distance. Here the dreamer dreams his dreams, as ships go sailing by. Here lovers sit in the shade of a big umbrella, in fitful talk or no less contented silence. Here poet or artist feasts eye and soul on the endless play of light and color and changing motion, surrendered heart and mind to the mysterious spell of the sea.

And overhead! This summer of 1918 in particular there has been the daily quickening interest of those marvelous ships of the air, which go humming by at such short and frequent intervals. Nowhere could be found a better place for watching the swift, fascinating movements of the air-planes than in these vast reaches of clear sky above the sands. Sometimes, bright as burnished silver, they look like giant dragon-flies in their smooth and graceful flight across the blue. Again, practicing their aerial maneuvers, they dart and swoop in thrilling fashion, making magic curves and spirals, "looping the loop," and now and then descending so low that we can see the figures of the intrepid aviators and the waving of their hands as we gaze in breathless wonderment. Even at night the big "dirigible," faintly illuminated, hovers silently above like a guardian spirit.

Be it morning, midday, or evening, in sunshine, starlight, or the white radiance of the harvest moon, there is always invitation and satisfaction on the sands at Ocean Grove.

BATHING

The recreation features of Ocean Grove-marked and prominentgave great anxiety to the founders "lest the religious element should become subservient to simple pleasure."

By no means an easy task should we find it to determine (offhand, at least) to what class of visitors the Ocean Grove bathing beach affords the most enjoyment-whether to the merry groups of frolickers among the

life-lines, to the expert swimmers and divers, disporting themselves in the deeper waters, to the tiny tots, with rolled-up trousers or pinned-up frocks, "paddling" in the rippling shallows sent up by the breaking waves, or to the greatest crowds of all, who, high and dry on the sands or in the pavilions, watch the lively scene through every summer morning and afternoon.

For sheer fun and recreation, along with the healthiest physical rebound and exhilaration, there is no institution in all these borders which can compete with the bathing plants.

It has been matter of common consent, for many years past, that the bathing facilities of Ocean Grove are unsurpassed, if equaled, by any on

the New Jersey coast. The gently sloping, sandy beach, the presence of a protecting sandbar at the most desirable distance, the no less important absence of holes and eddies, and the very moderate undertow-all these are the natural advantages of this part of the shore. To them are added exceptional and most efficient precautions against accidents of all kinds, secured by the setting apart of especially eligible and spacious bathing grounds, furnished with strong life-lines, well-manned relief and patrol boats, the best of bathing masters and guards, and—this summer for the first time-by the fencing of these bathing grounds with strong wire-mesh nets. as a still more complete safeguard against even remote possibilities of danger from within or without.

It is no wonder, then, that all the world, as the French say, frequents the bathing beaches and finds the utmost pleasure and benefit in so doing. To many persons the daily dip in the tonic salt water, the stimulus of breasting the big waves, or the delicious relaxation of floating, face up, on the buoyant, upbearing element, furnishes the chief refreshment of a seashore holiday. Hundreds have learned to swim here under the most favorable conditions. Many who are at first timid and fearful gain new confidence as they venture further and further in water so thoroughly safeguarded. Even for those who never don a bathing-suit and step into the surf at all there are thrills and tingles only less than those which the bathers themselves enjoy. Indeed, if one can judge by the throngs of spectators always in evidence at bathing hours, no form of entertainment provided by this place of many resources is equal in popularity to this. The ever-changing groups of stalwart forms and graceful figures in natty suits and caps, the appearance of an occasional oddity in person or in costume, who braves good-naturedly the smiles of amused onlookers, the sight of frequent fine swimming or diving feats, the laughing play of little children, even now and then a harmless mishap which ends in shouts of merriment— all make up a daily program whose charm seems never lessened.

After what may be termed a preliminary season, when only a few families had gathered in tents at Ocean Grove, it is said that during 1870 "two ranges of bathing houses forty feet long divided into twenty private rooms," were erected on the beach near the foot of Wesley Lake. The free use of these was granted to the visitors. It was then recommended that a larger number be erected during the next year, "some of which should be free and some rented." These were the beginnings of the bathing recreation at Ocean Grove.

During the first season of Ocean Grove, Dr. Ballard said: "Who that has luxuriated in the joy of an ocean bath, has not longed for the repetition? When once the body is arrayed-not exactly in purple and fine linen, but in the unique and graceful bathing dress, and has gone out into the