The Republican journal., 1873-01-30
Gllmpses si the South.
Correspondence of the journal.

| hands,; that he was going to land of wil,!
beasts and wilder men, and like the friends of
| the Apostle, we "sorrowed that we should
his face no more > but he did come back, safe
and sound, and died at last, ripe in years.
| now find myself in that same Jacksonville,
| occupying a room in a very finely equipped
hotel, the st. james, and have not seen since
my arrival wilder beast than wild turkey.
| nor wilder man than the one who brings to
my room, uncalled for, semi-daily, pitcher OF
ice water. MAY his shadow never be less!" 1t
is Of the Jacksonville of to-day that propose
to write to you.
You know, for you have read Letters from
| Florida enough to stereotype the fact in youi
memory, that it is situated on the n. w. bank
of the st. Johns river, about $50 miles eas.
from Tallahassee, the capital of the State. Il
has railroad communication with T. on the
| west, and by another route with Cedar KEYS Oh
the Gulf, where connection is made with line of
steamers plying between New Orleans, Key
West and Cuba, and with the North and West
by various routes. 1t has communication with
| Savannah and Charleston by line of steamer
plying regularly tr-weekly, and by some nod
with the interior of the State on the waters ri
the magnificent river St. Johns. 1t is located
near the point where the river, having pursued
| its course in northery direction from its
| source in the marshy tracts of the in1eror,
changes its course and runs in eastcrly direc-
ton until it reaches the Atlantic.
The population OF the city proper is not far
from nine thousand; twelve thousand including
its suburbs; those suburbs being so closely con
| nected with it that to the eye of the stranger
they appear to be part and parcel If ii. 1t is
| laid out with great regularity in blocks, til
streets running parallel with the river, inter
| Sected by other streets running at right angles
| the principal material of those streets being
sand and dust. The natural soil appears to
be entirely sand; vet in that sani garden yege-
tables, orange trees, the live and water oak, the
magnolia grandora, the 0ieander and various
flowing shrubs grow luxuriantly. Within few
rods Of the st. James Hotel | see. As | pa,-
daily, Il tree bearing oranges and lemons.
name this simply as a curiosity; trees laden
with oranges in every direction The city might
with propriety claim the appellation Of the
Forest City, 50 numerous are the ornaments
trees scattered throughout its borders.
The principal business street is Bay street,
running near to and parallel with the river
| There are numerous handsome brick blocks o.
stores on it; one of the finest built and owno
by Capt. A, J. Ross and our fellow citizen G.
b. HazeItine, Esq. If the rents paid by its or-
cupants are any indication of the present and
prospective of the property, our friends have
not made bad investment. There are Il great
many verv fine dwelling houses; rs 4 general
thing, however, they are inferior in style of
architecture and finish to buildings of the same
class in Belfast; they are not kept so well paint
ed; tha hot weather of summer being grel'
devourer of paint; neither are the fences aroun
the Enclosures, gardens, &C., so tasteful as Our.
Hotels, boarding houses, eating and drinking
saloons abound. The principal hotels lre the
st. James and the Metropolitan; a new one
capable OF accommodating two hundred guests
is nearly completed. There are three newspa-
perS the Union and the Republican, publishe
| weekly and tri-weeky, and the Comier, ,weel, .v
| The souls and bodies of the good people of j,
| are well cared for, so far at least as the numbri
of ministers and doctors is mdcatiyc of th.l
fact. There are twelve religious societies
| Methodist, Presbyterian, EpScopalian, Baptist
Roman Catholic, Jewish, and in Brooklyn, one
of the suburbs, the Second Advcntsts, with
their Elder, await the coming of the day when
Us the poet sings, "the awful pomp shall break :"
| OF doctors, there are twelve of the allopathir
school. three of the homeopathic, ana schbl
of "erlcytcs," &c., &c.
If solomon was correct when he uttered thu
proverb, "In the multitude ofcounscllors thep
is safety" Jacksonville with its Twenty-Five
CounSelors ut Law is surely safe Some fro-
plr who are vain enough to think thtt they
Nnow more than solomon did may entertain 4
different opinion.
Secret Societies, us they are styled, flourish
here As well as at the North. There u.c two
! Masonic I.olgeS, Il Chapter, and a Commandrry,
Wo lodges of Odd Fellows, "a division Of the
sons of Temperance, and q Lodge Of Goo
remplals.
The city government consists Of Mayor AMI
Eight Aldermen; four of the present Board are
Of the "eolored persuasion; !" as also are the
City Marshal Clerk, and Assessor For aught
can learn to the contrary, these sblacli s,irits
md white, minge mingle. minclt" As harmoni.
ouSly as the witches did when they cooked the
broth for Macbeth; the mess they cook I, often.
times full as ncongruolls and unpalatabe; 10
am told.
There is but one bank here, the Freedman,
Savings and Trust Company, a branch of tn .
National Savings Bank. Deposits OF any
amount are received and interests thereon paid
IN January and July, at the rate of six percent.
per annum. Deposits are received also snbirr-
to check ut sight, and interest thereon allowed
There are two private Banking Houses Thc
/ j. Iit in,
two steam fire engines, TWO hose companies
and one hook and ladder company.
lankee-land is literally represented here Ir
the various trades and professions; Maine
fully and ably. NJ. w. Drew, one of the lead
ing business men of the place, and lee King of
all the region hereabouts, IS from Houlton.
John II. CrowelI, the largest boot and Shoe
dealer, whose store exhibits a stock twice a,
large at least as any in your place, is from
| WinterpOrt. Your old associate in the etlitori!
fraternity, n. X. Sawyer, formerly Of the ELS
| worth American, sits now in the sanctum ol
the Florida Republican. j. C. Greeley, one OF
| the Assessors of Internal Revenue, and holdin.
several offices of trust here, is a native of
| Palermo, and has resided here since 1852, with
| the exception of few years of involuntary Alb
! NtHtt curing lne war on account OF his Union
| proclivities. Belfast is represented in the per
son of our old friend, Capt. A. j, Ross who re
sides in handsome house on Forsvthe street
retired from active business, and ENJOYING fi.
better health, his numerous friends in Be!
fast and vicinity will be gratified to learn than
| when he left them. His home il one of my
tavorite and almost daily haunts. | am indebt-
ed to him, and you will be of course, for II
large portion of the most valuable local inf r.
nation have obtained since came here Al
bert A. Roix, brother of the highly esteemed
Captain of the Katahdin, also resides here AMI
keeps an establishment for the sale of Florida
speciaties, from ten dollar agator's tooth to
fifty cent orange stick, shells and BIRDS wings
of infinite varieties, well as the ''goldeu
orange" and other fruits indigenous to the coun-
try.
| Duval County, which is substantially jack
Ia mil