See America First

by Orville O. Hiestand; Charles J. Herr

NEWPORT

To one who wishes to carry away something of the solemn grandeur of the sea, its vast immensity, immeasurable energy and ageless haunting mystery we would say, "go to Newport."

The authentic discovery of this harbor dates back to April, 1524, and to the French explorer, Verrazano, who anchored two weeks in the harbor and was visited by the Indians of the island. About 1726 Dean Berkley of the English Church built White Hall which still stands, much in its original condition. Trinity is claimed to be the oldest Episcopal church in the United States. But we have traces of an earlier discovery in the old stone tower still standing in Touro park, probably erected by the Norsemen as early as 1000 A. D. But, out in the ocean where the blue water is flecked with myriads of shifting whitecaps rise dark gray rocks, telling of an earlier time than Verrazano, or the Norsemen, and repeating fragments of that great epic of the Past.

One finds his impression confused on first entering this city. The population is as variable as the breezes that blow over the ocean, for Newport has gained fame the world over as one of America's most fashionable watering places. As early as 1830 it began to attract health seekers and others wishing a brief respite from toil in the unnumbered factories in the east, and the movement has continued until the section of the island adjacent to Newport is dotted all over with cottages. villas and cheerful, luxurious homes.

One is delighted to find well paved streets and a city that is withal sunny, gay, and full of color.

You never want for new beauty here, for the face of the sea is as changeable as a human countenance. Then, too, it is interesting to try and separate the motley throngs into their various elements. You find it useless to attempt to catch and paint its fluctuating character. It is as capricious as the hues of the ocean. Here, as at Atlantic City, from morning till night, and night till morning, flows that human tide; some attracted by the beauty of the place, others by the glamour of social gayety, and still others seeking health in the life- giving breezes. People of all ages and climes are captivated by the majesty and grandeur found in the ocean. The step of the old is quickened as if at last they had found the "Fountain of Youth." Here the sublime ocean scenery and the health-giving winds are much less tolerant of disease than most anywhere one knows.

There are many people who continue to pursue pleasure while they pretend to hunt for health. Here as at Aix-les-Bains, Baden- Baden, and Ostend, it is the glitter and pomp of the place which attract them. Here fashion and folly, side by side, call them with siren voices, instead of the medicinal qualities of their healing waters. If they can't furnish as an excuse that they have a pain under the left shoulder blade and are fearful for their lung, then they may say they have a twitching of the upper right eyelid and are almost certain of a nervous breakdown unless they secure a few weeks' rest beside the life-giving sea. Even if they are unable to furnish such justifiable excuses as these, they might take some aged, wealthy relative to a health resort for the purpose of boiling the rheumatism out of him. Then, after tucking him away for the night, how much easier to spend the evening at the dance or card party!

The days for elegant ladies to trail elaborate gowns along the hotel corridors are past. How styles do change!

There are more people thronging the bathing beaches, who know a good poker hand when they see one, than those who can appreciate a fine ocean scene, and even though the states have all gone dry, alas how many still prefer champagne to mineral water from a spring! As Thoreau put it: "More people used to be attracted to the ocean by the wine than the brine."

At Newport you constantly hear jokes, laughter and song, but studying the drama of the various faces one sees pride, sensuality, cruelty, and fear that no ocean brine can cleanse. Mingled with these, too, are noble countenances lighted up by the fires of holy living within, whose radiance seems to overflow in kindly thoughts and deeds, attracting those sublime qualities to them as the moon the tides. How grand it is to see here the faces of age wearing that calm look of serene hope; victory over self and purity of soul plainly dramatized there! Then, too, how glorious the face of youth glowing with life's enthusiasm, whose dream of the yet unclouded future is the Fata Morgana which he pursues. A noble ambition seems to linger in his soul and transfigure his countenance until we see the light of joy and nobleness shining there. What a contrast the dejected look of those who travel the paths of ease and self-indulgence affords!

Many there are who meet here not on the common ground of the brotherhood of man, but of human appetite and desire. Whether they hail from Japan, Spain, or Turkey, or whether they come from Maine or California, they all succumb to the same allurements. The test here is the manner in which people use the wealth they have acquired. "Almost any man may quarry marble or stone," but how few can build a Rheims or "create an Apollo." When one thinks of the gambling, quackery, and other vocations far less respectable upon which vast fortunes are spent he thinks how dreadful the results of all of this spending. "What if all this wealth that is spent foolishly were used to advance the common interests of mankind? What if all this indulgence could be used to promote helpful and healthful ideals so that they could be disseminated to all points from which tourists come? Surely a reformation would spread to the uttermost parts of the earth; but as has been in days past, games, feasts, and the dance have far more force than the highest ideals, the most sane theories of improvement and helpfulness," and the careful observer does not need to come to Newport for this discovery.

One evening, on entering the city, Nature seemed to be planning to run the gaily attired tourists from the place. How sombre and sullen appeared the sea, seen through the dim perspective of the murky, mist-drenched air. Over this vast expanse, low-hung clouds trailed their gray tattered edges in long misty streaks which hid the setting sun. It was a gloomy prospect, this, with the darkening water beneath a leaden sky that gave no promise of a brighter view. It was as if suddenly we had landed at Brest, and our view of the dark gray rocks and the penetrating air made the picture so real our teeth began to chatter.

We soon arrived at our comfortable quarters where we hastily withdrew, for the rumbling thunder that followed the vivid flashes of lightning which darted from the black masses of flying clouds told us that a storm was imminent. While partaking of our evening meal we heard the mingled sound of wind and waves. As soon as we had finished we passed through a spacious room which led to a long veranda, from which a commanding view of the ocean and surrounding country could be had.

What a scene! All was now darkness save the crests of the breakers that pierced the gloom with their silvery whiteness. The sea was torn and shattered by the wild raging wind and hid its far-sounding waves in a mystery of dread. Several people paced to and from the veranda, appearing suddenly and as suddenly vanishing in the gloom. Only the light of a vessel far out at sea penetrated the darkness and shone with a muffled, sullen glare. The red flashes of lightning revealed low-hung clouds of inky blackness rolling toward us; and the deep roar of the advancing storm, broken only by the loud booming breakers, became awesome.

Fiercer and louder shrieked the gale; while the doleful sound of a bell on a buoy warned mariners of impending danger as it rocked upon the bewildered sea. The water was invisible save where the long flashing lines of the surf plunged from the gray gloom. Their immense volumes rose in pyramidal heaps, whose tops shone white where they seemed to gather at one point and then their silvery lines spread slowly away on both sides as though unseen hands were pulling them out in even terraces that broke tip on the rocks with a deafening roar. Back of the first wave was another, and farther back still others, that advanced to a certain point and then spread out evenly, like terraced cascades of purest marble.

The loud crashes of thunder mingled with the shriek of the wind, the booming breakers became more awful, and we could imagine unknown foes advancing to combat along the shore. Like phalanxes with walls of silver shields they followed each other swiftly and disappeared like a line of soldiers cut down in battle. The howling wind and moaning waves "were like laments for the vanquished hosts." This ceaseless welter of the elements became more awe-inspiring as another boat appeared in the distance like some fiery monster of the deep. It seemed the very spirit of the sullen storm. As it drew nearer we beheld a vast fortress besieged by the angry waves.

The desolateness of the scene was heightened by listening to George relate his tales of storm and disaster while homeward bound on the U. S. S. Roanoke in Mine Squadron One.

"We left England in the month of December. The first day at sea was fine. No fear or anxious moments were ours. We sped swiftly over the peaceful water that glittered with a dazzling metallic luster. In the level rays of the morning sun we beheld a gradation of rare tints 'infinitely harmonious and yet superlatively rich.' A short distance away from us the ocean was deep blue; nearer it was light green, while far out toward the horizon it attained that iridescence which is indescribable. Everyone on board was supremely happy. All ten mine layers with the flagship had their homeward bound pennants flying. We gazed for hours at the play of light on the water, ever discovering new and wonderful combinations.

"The second day out we ran into a storm that lasted three days and nights. The dismal curtains of the sky were drawn and we could hear the sullen tone of the advancing storm as onward we plowed through the ever-growing foam-crested waves. The second day the sea became awesome, and breathlessly we watched each mountain wave that swept past leaving us still unharmed. Great masses of frothing billows came hurtling out of the gloom, which grew blacker and more menacing every hour. The sight of the ships tossing upon the mountainous masses was ominous, almost appalling. The billows broke with deafening roar, hurling tons of water on board, often filling the spacious decks fore and aft with their seething flood.

"About the middle of the second day the storm began gradually to abate. The few cheerless gleams on the third day revealed a most awe-inspiring view. Far as the eye could see in every direction the ocean was torn into snowy foam by the raging wind. After the storm we had but five of the original ten ships left in the fleet. Several were disabled and three of the other boats towed them to near ports.

"After the fourth day out we had fine weather for several days. On Christmas morn we ran into a heavy fog. We could not see from one end of the boat to the other, but no accidents befell us. This day brought many thoughts of home, especially at dinner time, for our menu was simply beans and nothing more, our supplies of other edibles being exhausted. We each received a cigar as a present. At eight o'clock on Christmas eve I went on lifeboat watch. The relieved watch all went below and crawled up in their hammocks for the night. The lights from the boat showed she was groping her way through fantastic wreaths of fog, whose dense white masses enclosed us like a wall. We were unable to see the lights of the other ships, and when at one end of ours we could not distinguish the lights at the other.

"'An ominous stillness seemed to pervade the atmosphere—a stillness which was oppressive and awesome like that which reigns in the home where death is.' Only the dull rumbling sound of the engines broke the silence. Soon all the fellows who were on lifeboat watch were gathered in a group about the smoke stack, where they had procured a number of life-preservers from a near-by locker and arranged them for beds in available places on the deck. Here some reclined as best they could and others sat up telling stories or woke the echoes with their ringing songs. Sleep became impossible, and no wonder, for they were too glad to sleep, even had the rest of the gang permitted it. Soon a lusty-lunged Gob, the 'Caruso' of the gang, was singing the official song of Mine Squadron One in his deep sonorous voice, which drowned all other sounds. The title is 'The Force of Mine,' and it goes like this:

We sailed across the water,
We sailed across the foam
For fourteen days and fourteen nights
We sailed away from home.
But now three thousand miles away
We love our country more,
Let's give three cheers for Uncle Sam
From off the German shore.

"The rest of the fellows all joined in the chorus:

It's a mine here and a mine there,
Over the ocean everywhere;
Now our ships can cross the sea
And win the war for Liberty;
Uncle Sammy brought his ships
To France' and Belgium's shores.
That force of mine has done its share;
We've fixed the U-boat fair and square;
When victory comes they'll all declare
That mines have won the war.

"Then the strong voice of 'Caruso' again was heard:

We may not look like dreadnaughts,
But from all present signs
Davy Jones has told the Kaiser
That "we're there" on laying mines.
Awhile ago the subs, you know,
Thought they had the gravy,
But when they hit our mine fields, Oh!
They leave the Germany navy.

"By this time the crew on the boat next the Roanoke had caught the spirit and both lookouts joined in the swelling chorus:

It's a mine here and a mine there,
Over the ocean everywhere.
Now our ships can cross the sea
And win the war for Lib—

"Just at that part of the chorus we felt a crash which broke suddenly into the song with the thrilling tones of the siren's danger signal. Instantly those on watch rushed to the lifeboats and hurriedly unlashed them, ready to drop at the proper signal.

"Our ship carried eight hundred and forty mines at the time she was struck.

"The men below came up through the hatches like bees. Many were in their night clothes, others were only half dressed. Some were crying, others praying, all thought that the boat was sinking. One of the fellows was so frightened he tried to jump overboard. He was hit on the head by a comrade and dragged down below. It was with great difficulty that order was again restored and the hatches had to be guarded by men with revolvers. Finally the panic-stricken sailors, who were running here and there on the deck, were forced below. Several boats came alongside and threw lights on our ship. The light revealed a hole cut in her side from about ten feet below the water line clear to the top.

"She had been struck on the starboard stern while some of the men were crawling into their hammocks for the night. An English vessel stood by us with her nose rammed into the side of our ship. Breathlessly, expectant we all waited by our boats ready to lower them. The biggest job I had was in keeping some of the men out of mine. So violent had been the impact that the sailor in the hammock near the side where the ship was struck was pitched over three others. A few of the men were scalded by the hot water and steam from the broken pipes. Our chaplain, who was just in the act of getting into his hammock, was thrown violently down, cutting the side of his head open, which necessitated his removal to the hospital.

"The collision mat was dropped down the side of the ship, which stopped the inpour of the water. All the large pumps in the ship were started and the water was pumped out as fast as it came in. The hole was patched up with a prodigious quantity of cement and at 12:30 the old ship was under way again."

Thus ended the story of those terrible nights at sea. We went to our rooms, but not to sleep, for through the semi-conscious hours that came and went we seemed to hear voices calling for help from sinking ships and to see again those frightful billows of the boundless deep.

"Late to bed and early to rise; makes tired travelers rub sore eyes," said George, as we rapped on his door at what he considered an unearthly hour for rising. On asking him "why the trouble with his eyes" he exclaimed, "too much sea in them." We told him that to sleep away the wondrous beauty of the dawn instead of imbibing the fragrance and freshness of the morning hours would be a sin of omission that would require yards of sack-cloth and barrels of ashes for forgiveness. He arose in due time (also dew-time), though he at first murmured and grumbled like a soldier on hearing reveille.

Out in the east a faint glimmer was seen to delicately edge the pearl gray of the sky along the horizon. The sheen spread swiftly toward the zenith; pale bars of light shot up like advance guards to herald the coming splendor. Along the far blue rim of the ocean a narrow saffron band was seen, which soon became a broader belt, blazing like molten gold. The western horizon flushed like a rose-colored sea in which floated clouds of crimson. How grand this morning pageant and how quickly the king of day was ushered in! The chafing ocean wore on its bosom a tender turquoise bloom decked with millions of flashing jewels. Later it resembled a sapphire sky coruscating with tremulous stars. As we felt the soft south breeze, which rustled the leaves of the trees, in which birds were just beginning to stir, we seemed to catch the delicious melody of Long fellow's "Daybreak," which is like the fragrance of roses in a dreamy south wind.

A wind came up out of the sea,
And said, "O mists, make room for me."

It hailed the ships and cried, "Sail on,
Ye mariners, the night is gone."

And hurried landward far away.
Crying, "Awake, it is the day."

It said unto the forest, "Shout!
Hang all your leafy banners out."

It touched the wood-bird's folded wing,
And said, "O Bird, awake and sing."

And o'er the farms, "O Chanticleer,
Your clarion blow, the day is near."

It whispered to the fields of corn,
"Bow down and hail the coming morn."

It shouted through the belfry tower,
"Awake, O bell! proclaim the hour."

It crossed the churchyard with a sigh,
And said, "not yet! in quiet lie."

Words fail to describe the exhilarating effect of the morning air, the marvelous beauty of the vast expanse of sea and sky seen through the luminous trembling haze, or the vines, flowers and shrubs that grow with wonderful luxuriance, which in many places presented an almost tropical aspect. If we add to this the most startling contrasts and picturesque details with a delightful breeze blowing over all you have still but a faint idea of the picture.

How bright the morning was! "The leaves were newly washed, every flower refreshed, their colors. flashing with brighter tints like new dyes just put on." How pure the air was made! There was no contamination by smoke or dust and the very breeze came like a tonic, and we breathed deeply and thanked the Creator for each potent draught. There was an exuberance of joy in the dance of the waves as they came rolling in to shore, and the swaying branches of the trees were only wordless rhythmical songs that the birds were singing among their branches.

On some bland morning like this when you view the breezy, sparkling sea, whereon the haze lies like the soft bloom on grapes, everything will appear dreamy and beautiful, while recollections of Nice, Monaco and Monte Carlo with their majestic shore lines rising from a sea of sapphire, are recalled. Those dazzling white buildings rising as they seem to do from the sea, steeped in that effulgent golden haze, seem almost unearthly in their splendor. One wonders if he has not gotten to heaven before his time, for here are terraced garden walls where fall cascades of exquisite blossoms, vast sheets of delicate pink geraniums, purple of clematis, lustrous yellow of mimosas, scarlet anemones and variegated tulips that hang poised before you like glorious curtains of richly wrought mosaic.

The broad fronds of the palms catch the gold of the morning sunbeams. The air is laden with the fragrance of myriads of flowers and has the softness of sea-born breezes. Rose wreathed villas with their pure white or cream tinted walls; shutters of turquoise blue and red tile roofs only add to the glory of the tropical luxuriance and charming views of mountain and sea.

And such a sea! How futile are words to describe. Its blue has been characterized as a "vast expanse of sapphire sparkling with diamonds." It does not owe its marvelous effects to reflections from the sky, for no sky ever had such an intense blue, filled with lambent light. Then its greens, blues, and purples, seen from the lovely mountain roads, especially from the road leading from Monte Carlo, seem more like leaping prismatic flame than a vast expanse of water. Then the old gold, red, and orange colored sails of the boats, gliding like magic through the water, add their picturesque touches to the scene. The sound of boatmen calling to one another with their soft musical voices is like the trilling of the nightingale from some leafy bower. Having felt the charm of those magical scenes you will enjoy the ocean at Newport none the less.

Always amid Nature's most powerful manifestations one observes the frailest and most delicate types of creation. Here along the beach were shells, exquisitely tinted like a sunset sky, cast on shore by the cruel waves. Tender mosses and fragile sea-weed lay upon the sand revealing the infinite tenderness of these frail children of the boundless deep. Looking upon the seething, surging mass of water that rolled on the troubled sea only last night, who would have thought it the home of such delicate beauty? "Truly," we said, as we gazed in admiration and wonder at the fair scene before us, "the sea as well as the heavens declares the glory of God and showeth His handiwork." But alas! "how prone we are to forget the Power that calms the fiercest storms and so quickly makes all nature glow with beauty again."

One is well repaid for the time he spends along the charming Cliff Walk, but space forbids us to attempt to describe it. But then, what is the use?

We were particularly impressed with the beauty of the coast near Newport. At one place lovely velvety meadows run down near the sea and form a remarkable contrast to most ocean views. Here we saw a group of dark gray rocks which formed a sort of a promontory that jutted out into the ocean. So fantastic did these rocks appear from a distance that we readily peopled them with sirens. Standing on the shore opposite them, we watched the breakers dash themselves to pieces at their feet and the gulls, those fairy squadrons of air craft, whirling above them. The bell on the buoy gave forth its warning sound, but the siren voices kept calling from rocks with a melody that was irresistible, and heeding not the threnody of the bell, we were soon looking down in triumph at the broken array of restless waters from the hollow crest of a great boulder.

>From this point the sea appears as a vast poem, "one of those charming idyls in which no element of beauty or power is lacking." From this rough pulpit of masonry we gazed at the booming breakers rolling in with their crests of gleaming silver, that were shattered to fragments immediately below us. Their long sprays of phosphorescent blossoms vanished like stars in the golden light of dawn. The sea was now bathed in a flood of mellow light and its gradations of color revealed palest amethyst along the horizon, while nearer it glowed with brightest sapphire. In such a place and at such a time as this you take no note of time. "Your soul is flooded with a sense of such celestial beauty as you ne'er dreamed of before, and a nameless inexpressible music enthralls you."

Here we saw forty destroyers in the harbor and two others entering it. As we gazed at these groups of vessels lying at anchor, we wondered whether America would always need these grim objects of destruction and death to guard her liberty. Looking at these vessels, what memories were revived! Our hearts sickened at the thought of those thirteen awful days spent in crossing the ocean, when we were packed like livestock in those horrible quarters. Ah, God! the memory of it yet brings a sickening sensation. Then, too, that tempestuous wintry sea that grew black and white as death with horrible billows, while the storm raged, cruel, inexorable, unmerciful, bitter. But why let one's thoughts dwell upon such terrible scenes while standing on the fair shores of our beloved homeland, over which waves the glorious flag, now doubly dear to us.

As we watched the coming and going of the vessels we thought of the many experiences that must have been theirs! For what ports are those vessels bound? From what distant climes have these just returned? What perils they may have encountered! What refreshing memories of the magic beauty of southern seas!

Our reverie was broken by the plaintive cries of the sea birds circling around us. How the hours have slipped by unnoticed since we were out here! Slowly we retraced our steps, pausing now and then to gaze at the fishing boats putting out to sea, or to look at the hosts of gulls alighting and departing from the rocks, as restless as the ocean waves. Again we noted the wonderful blue bloom, like a tropical sea, on which a million points of light were glinting; now we found a delicate shell and marvelled at its exquisite colors; we turned again to look at the sea-birds to learn what the unusually loud clamor was about. At last the shore was gained and we reluctantly turned away from those rocks where Undine dwells in the silvery stream and melodies sweeter than those of the Lorelei still called to us across the waves.

We passed the old Jewish cemetery which gave Longfellow his theme, "The Old Jewish Burial Ground at Newport." What exiles, what persecutions have been theirs, yet here we repeat by the sounding sea the sad history of their race:

How strange it seems! These Hebrews in their graves;
Close by the street of this fair seaport town,
Silent beside the never silent waves,
At rest in all this moving up and down!

The trees are white with dust that o'er their sleep
Wave their broad curtains in the south wind's breath,
While underneath these leafy tents they keep
The long, mysterious exodus of Death.

And these sepulchral stones so old and brown,
That pave with level flags their burial place,
Seem like the tablets of the Law thrown down
And broken by Moses at the Mountain's base.

Gone are the living, but the dead remain
And not neglected, for a hand unseen,
Scattering its bounty, like a summer rain,
Still keeps their graves and their memories green.

How came they here? What burst of Christian hate,
What persecution, merciless and blind
Drove o'er the sea—that desert desolate—
These Ishmaels and Hagars of mankind?

Pride and humiliation hand in hand
Walked with them through the world where'er they went;
Trampled and beaten were they as the sand,
And yet unshaken as the continent.

For in the background figures vague and vast
Of patriarchs and prophets rose sublime,
And all the great traditions of the Past
Then saw reflected in the coming Time.

And then forever with reverted look
The mystic volume of the world they read,
Spelling it backward, like a Hebrew book,
Till life became a Legend of the Dead.

But ah! What once has been shall be no more!
The groaning earth in travail and in pain
Brings forth its races, but does not restore,
And the dead nations never rise again!

Leaving this quiet abode of the dead we were surprised to find multitudes of people strolling about the town. Of all that motley throng we met with no one save a solitary fisher out on the rocks, from which such glorious vistas of the sea may be had. Then we recalled how few there were who witnessed the wonderful pageant of the dawn. Surely influences of nature so beautiful and profound should touch our feeble hopes and lowly aspirations with new life, inspiring grander visions.

We should leave the frivolous things of life, like the surf, the offal, washed ashore. We should take back for our winter's need bits of brightness gleaned from our summer sojourn by the sea.

As we thought of our coming departure, these questions came to us: Have we treasured up a few of the tints in our lives like the rare colors of the dawn on the boundless sea? Have we filled our earthly horizon with golden thoughts, fair visions of the sea of memory that reach the infinite? Are they transient as the crimson and rose-colored west or shall they flash and gleam silent, yet eternal as the stars above?

How often will the ocean's clean-washed sands, those ever- changing hues and sunsets re-appear when we shall long have been absent from them! How often, too, shall we hear in fancy as we do now in reality the moaning of the storm and the booming breakers along the shore!

The sirens were still calling and their weird enticing melodies yet rippled through our memories. Out over the harbor beyond those enchanted rocks the water was o'erspread with the delicate blue bloom. Later they seemed to withdraw, fading slowly away into blue and mysterious shadows in the deepening twilight. "Far out toward the horizon we watched a vessel fade in the violet dusk; the evening star trembled low on the horizon as if enamored of the waters." Thus Newport passed into memory.