The Bloomfield times. [volume] (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1867-187?, 1870-03-01
For The Bloomfield Times.
JACKSONVILLE, FLA, Feb. Is, 1870.

JACKSONVILLE, FLA, Feb. 10, 1870.
Mr.. Editor have been afloat again. This
time, | reached the land of flowers "The
Italy OF America" On my way hither l
stopped at fernando, considerable town
in size. The general appearance Of the
place indicates an enterprising and go
aheadative people but its location is irregu-
lar and operates materially against its pros
perity. Efforts are being made to connect
IT with terra tirma by means of bridge
This place (Jacksonville) is situated on the
st. Johns Rivera large but sluggish stream
and not near as beautiful as our Susquehan-
na, Juniata or Hudson. Jacksonville con-
tains about 5000 inhabitants, and is GER
tainly located beautifully, but the character
of its buildings and streets are decidedly
southern in appearance. About one half
of the inhabitants are cOlorCd, most OF
whom are Industrious. The whites are n
mixture OF chivalry and adventurers, with
a large proportion of invalids from the
north. There is no doubt III my mind as
to the benefits to be derived here by tho
consumptives, from the mildness of the
weather. Fire seems useless, the streets are
lined on either side with live oaks covered
with green foliage. In the yards and gar
denS are roses and other flowers in bloom
Green peas are common as well as most Of
our garden vegetables. The orange trees
are loaded with golden fruit. | saw one
twig with fourteen fine oranges on it, one
| measuring fourteen inches in circumfer-
ence. They are worth about as much here
as apples are in Perry. The soil is sandy
| beyond any | ever saw and were it not for
the evidence Of vegetation, | would not be-
lieve that anything would grow here, but
when | see cabbage and other vegetables
| growing i'll mid winter as luXuriantly as We
| baVp tbprn in mid c,1n111,nr I n,l1St oplxOoIU1-
edge that this soil is productive. The in
habitants here are generous and ready to
take i'll the stranger whoever he may be-
Boarding is from twelve to twenty-five dol
lars a week. and is only tolerable in quality.
One of the peculiarities is the colored pop
ulation walking about the streets, munching
sugar cane. Almost every grocery is sup
piled with stock of sugar cane, which is
sold at dime apiece about the size of q
large corn stalk | am informed that ono
of these contain about three half pints Of
juice when properly ground. Laziness Is
the only characteristic | observe in the ma
tives here. I deem them indolent beyond
any people l ever saw. When | told them
of my impression, they readily acknowl-
edged its TRUTH but insisted that were | to
remain few years. would become as lazy
as they are. All with whom | come i'll con-
tact express q hearty desire to have north
ern men come among them, and they GER
tainly seem kindly disposed toward such as
make their home among them, yet there
are here q class who have brought with
them the shrewdness of their native SOIL
New England has her representatives here,
who are ready to make the most of those
who visit this remote region. They talk
north or south to suit customers Most of
this class are concerned in land agencies
and are not delicate as to how they
make their money. My next will probably
be from the interior of this State.