Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1869-04-14

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finding Door accommodations, slim
fare and high prices, make up thei
minds that st. Augustine is "bore.
In this soft and equable atmOspher
disease cannot lurk, and in its pres
ence and under its influence tn,
languid invalid reviveS, and the pal
lid cOnsumptive becomes strong ant
animated. Not only the sea breez
which daily fans your cheek and in
vigorates the chest of the broken
down invalid, but you have the sea
the breakers and their roar within
sight and sound. You have the beau
tiful bay, with Matangas and st. Sc
bastian rivers for sailing, boating
fishing and hunting. You have tn,
sea-wall as a magnificent place for &;
promenade, this alone would be m
object of interest and attraction, anC
worth a visit here. The Pier anC
| PalaZa, though not different from 9th
er places, make delightful place "a
lounge, as also to listen to the excel
| lent music discoursed by the band, ana
see the guard mounting and parade
! Such places, or similar ones, othel
cities may have in this country, but
no where else on this side the Allan
tic do you find such a place as "Old
San Marco" Venerable and renOwn-
ed, a structure of ancient military
art; gray with hoary age, and peeu-
liar in the variety of the shape and
style of the houses and narrow and
irregular streets-it makes those who
have seen or read Of old Spanish cities,
think that one had been picked up
and set down on this shore. All COM
bined giveit singularity and strange
ness and general Out-landishness that
no other city possesses.
In the Y. Z. part of the limits,
stand the city gates. These ruins and
the old fort are the most perfect of the
ancient architecture and quite a treas
ure to the artist. The gates are hand
somely built of stone, and carved in
the Moorish style; containing sentry
boxes in their thickness, and thewings
to them remain almost perfect. To
the right or Z. of this and command
ing the bay and the surrounding land,
stands the "old fort, - a part of which
was built in about 1910, by the Huge
nOts. After Menendez butchered them
and took possession of their all, he
rebuilt the fort, heightened the ram
parts, constructed boom proof vaults,
made deeper and wider the moat, and
fortified the ramparts and parapets
with heavier guns. 1t was then sup
posed TO be as formidable and impreg
nable as any in Europe.
General O9lethorpe, who was con-
sidered one of the greatest and most
successful commanders OF the age,
made twelve different attacks, but the
besiegers had TO retire, and British
foot was never set within the brave
little fort until it was ceded by treaty
10 them in 1868. 1t has been re-chris-
tened as many times as it has chang
ed hands-the first was San Juan, then
st. Mark, &C., and when Florida was
purchased in 1872 by the Z. s, from
Spain, the fort was christianed Fort
Marion. 1t is constructed entirely of
Coquene stone which is quarried from
Anastasia Island, which liesacross the
bay and s. Z. of st. Augustine. The
stoneis a marvelOf itself and is formed
of a concrete of small shells, which
seemtO be cemented togetherand form
inga hard rock, but each shell is perfect
" distinct and visible, and sometimes
as complete as though they had been
glued together but yesterday. I was
anxious to see the place from whence
this came, and of which nearly every
house and wall in the city is built of,
and have spent two days in visiting
all the different quarries, and have
learned that the whole Island, which
is is miles long and from l to miles
in width, is one solid mass, and after
removing two feet of the surface you
come on the solid rock.
I also found on-the east side of this
Island some very fine shells which
had been washed on shore, and with
other collections have added several
pieces of COquene stone, specimens
from the quarry, one from the fort and
one from the ruins of the first house
erected, and must be that it has been
exposed for three hundred years. 1
will take great pleasuere, when home,
in showing them to any one who may
have the curiosity to come and exam
inc them.
The fort in the interior, is an open
space, perhaps a quarter of an acre, of
oval shape. Cannon ball and shells
are piled up in regular fashion, ready
for use. At either side lies old Span
ish guns, some u feet long but which
are rusty and useless the cells and
rooms have the appearance of vaulted
alcoves formed inside Notifications
Of this period. The latter are % in
and were used for store
houses, to sleep and cook in when
besieged, or when expecting attacks
from the Indians. One of these rooms
was supposed to have been used as 4
chapel, for the altar stone is still in q
state of preservation, and alcoves on
each side and of the altar for the vir-
gin and saints. Another of the rooms
for Court of Inquiry, by the Span
ish Inquisitors; q large platform
in the back end where the selected
twelve sat and dealt out judgment to
the trembling criminal according to
their own views. In this cells where
the wild and romantic Indian, chief
Of the Seminoles, COaeuchee, or better
known here as "Wild Cat,n was con-
fined. You would wonder how one
could climb a perpendicular wall so
high and escape through an aperture
so small. But the story as related to
us by our guide is as follows:
By some dexterity not possessed by
every one, he succeeded in reaching
the aperture, and there being two iron
bars across, succeeded in getting only
one out, and on trial found that he
could not get through, made vain
efforts to force the other from its fast
ening, and when he found that this
could not be accomplished replaced
the other temporarily, to blind the
eyes of his keeper, and commenced
the process of starvation until he be-
came thin and wasted, and by tearing
his blankets in strips fastened them
to the remaining bar and lowered
himself the distance of thirty feet in
to the mOat, scaled the ramparts, and
made his escape.
In 1886, when drawing heavy artil-
lery on the top, the arch of hidden
cell gave way, and a discovery made
which Is worth relating. It was found
that on close inspection this cell had
had an entrance from the adjoining
one, but was closed by a mastery
hand, and so accurately that it was
to detect it from the cell
from which it led, but noticeable from
the inside. This led the commander
to infer that beyond this was also an
other, and an old soldier that is now
alive, and living in this place, was set
to work, and in time found access to
still another that revealed a tragical
sight. Two iron cages, one at either
end, was seen and in them two skele-
tons, beside each cage was bottle of
water and clay pipe. These crimi-