St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1877-06-15
Florida Delusions.
MISTAKEN INVALIDS-THE ORANGE
GROVE SNARE.
AUGUSTA. Ga. Nav 1877

AUGUSTA, Oa., May, 1S//.
When closed my last at ST. Angus
tine, had not touched upon certain
points of vital interest connected with
Florida, and ought, like the serial mag
azine writers, to have added, '.to be
continued" | want to say few words
upon what | should call the delusions
of Florida. My stay there was so short
that it becomes me to present my views
modestly ; out ut the same time | shall
give them, with entire conviction of
their truth. There can be no question
but that the people of the North greatly
overestimate the advantages of the eli
mate there, and our leading physicians
are largely responsible for it, That the
air is mild, and soft and grateful to
weak lungs, in contrast with our harsh
New England air, there can he no ques-
tion, and the poor invalids, being as
sured of this, hurry off by scores and
hundreds to breathe it. You let a con-
sumptive consult any of our leading
physicians in New York or Boston. and
the invariable dictum is, SEQ South
Most of the practitioners have never
been there themselves, and, knowing
that they are powerless to aid the poor
victim, they hurry him off to Florida.
filled with the hope that he will find
there the fountain of perpetual youth,
and the result is very often disappoint-
ment and death. AS | said above, the
air is mild, but there are serious draw
backs. The ST. Johns river, along
which the invalids sojourn, is certainly
malariOus, and many of them suffer ter
ribly from it. The hotels are most of
them cheaply built and poorly kept,
and the feeble tourists lose more from
lack of proper nourishment than they
gain from balmy air. The consumptive
requires, above all things, wholesome,
nicely prepared food, and it is almost
an impossibility to obtain palatable
piece of meat in all Florida Then the
long and wearing journey from and to
the North SO racks and exhausts an en-
feebled frame, that if some little i'm
prOvement has been received it is apt
to be lost again before the patient
reaches home. There is no sadder sight
than to witness the crowds of wasted
lnvallds, talking over their symptoms,
and dragging their poor bodies to this
and that place, vainly seeking for that
which they can never secure. Every
case of improvement is trumpeted from
one end of the state to the other, but
the far greater number of fatal cases
are never referred to. The undertakers'
shops, however, in every little hamlet,
provided with every arrangement fOr
sending back the dead, tell their own
story. If the diseases can he taken
early enough (whO ever knew a CON
sumptive to do that p when the patient
is comparatively strong, is able to rough
it il little and improve thereby, then
Florida is good place during the cold
est winter months, when the malaria
along the river is inert but for the
majority of cases that are sent there, |
am confident the gain is more than
counterbalanced by the discomforts and
positive sutferings that are endured
And those who do gain by their soiourn
invariably return just when they ought
to stay on. Many of them go back the
last of March or the early part of April,
when every sensible physician in the
South will tell them that they ought
not to set foot in New England till the
Strawberries are in bloom. To leave
the mild, rather enervating air of Flori-
da and plunge III three days, as so many
do, into our biting spring winds, is 81
senseless, that it would be ludicrous,
were it not so sad. Most of those who
have been cured are persons who came
early and have made it their home, liv-
ing here year after year, and never 60
ing North, except occasionally during
the hottest summer months. This view
OF the case is, | am aware, far from
rOSeate, but nevertheless | believe it is
correct.
Another delus:on not so serious, but
which ought to be exploded, is the
somewhat prevalent one that the long
sought Ell Dorado has really been found
here. The orange grove "bonanzan be-
comes on closer inspection a very small
and sickly shrub, requiring the most
careful nursing to keep it alive long
enough to induce some easily -gulled
nOrtheIner to invest in its future. The
statements of the natives ''pan OUT
on paper-as brilliantly as any of the
ventures of Col. Sellers or Mr. Micawber,
but, at the first breath of honest criti-
cism, they vanish like house of cards.
The st. Johns river is dotted with
groves of dead and dying orange shrubs
planted and abandoned by spectators
hViS SuhSuihC bulu WISE. udU IDcIt
are fine orange groves in Florida, bring
ing in a handsome revenue to their
owners, cannot be denied, and that in
dustry and patience, buttressed by Il
moderate capital, will in time accomplish
the same thing for others, is also true :;
but the same might be said of nearly
every kind of business, all over our
land. The truth is, Florida is penin-
sula of sand, and, for successful growth.
the land needs constant irrigation, and
this requires labor and care and money.
If man is willing to leave New Eng
land to give up schools and libraries
and newspapers and social comforts,
and dwell in Il comparative wilderness :;
if he can endure the protracted summer
heat. with mosquitoes, feas, and sand
flies, i'll any quantity, thrown in +; if he
is ready to pay 500 an acre for sand
which he must irrigate with pump or
windmill if he has the means to sup
port himself for ten years while he is
waiting for the orange trees to grow,
after that time he is moderately certain
to get remunerative income, but not
otherwise. Young men of integrity,
who are equipped with good trade
that will support them during the years
of enforced waiting, will do well in
Florida, but, for that matter, such men
will succeed anywhere. If / wished to
leave the Overcrowded East, l would