The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1879-07-03
Oun FLORIDA CORRESPONDENCE.
ALAFIA, FLA, June 20, 1870.

NnIBnt (l'Oncc de IscOn) who had become
rich in honOrs and high I'm command, bul
to whom had succredu,, also gray hairs
! lufud by the tales Of his mistress Of &
| spring on the coast of the great Mexican
Gulf, "whOsc waters would bring back
the fires Of youth and renew his wasted
years" set sail In search OF this fountain
and landed among the mangrovc bow crs
and painted birds of tho Western Coas
on Easter Day." or day of flowers
somewhere about tho year 1912, and bap
tiHcd the newly discovered land by tn,
naino of Florida! And the legend O
those scns isl .lIaving iUund tho long
sought fountain Of perpetual youth tho
Knight with his followers still lives
wandering where the coral bowers make
forests Of beauty where Tho cards ar,
strc#cd with jcms md Mc summer ncre
mdn,sr ~
This is Il pretty picture, well calculated
in that age of romance and discovery tt
excite the aiventurcr, and while have
mover met with any Of these gentry, there
is enough of beauty here to make one
doubt If Hans Andcrsons pictures o
"fairy land" are wholly Imaginary.
In seeking country, however, tho
emigrant, unlike the advcnturer, gives
little thought or care to tho ideal, but re-
CARDS things really as thoy exist; and
| from this standpoint I will cndeavOr to
fulfil the promise made to some of the
readers of the INTELLIuESCEn to give
them some description of this country,
| 81.
advantages AMI disadvantages what may
he accomplished here In the way OF a
| living, and what Inducements it offers to
the settler. In attempting this can only
hop to give II very imperfect idca rs
have been herr but little over Il year, and
while shall st'ak from my own cxpe-
| ricncc and observation in that time,
| shall have TO draw from what / have
heard from others, who have been here
longer and nrc consequently not only
better informed, but better able to give
practical demonstr ration by their sur
rOundings of what has been ACCOMPLISHED
here, and we are generally agreed that
what has been done once can bo done
again; provided, always, that the same
its accomplishment. That Florida has
been considerably written up by tourists
! am well aware, ana the views of oppo-
site extremists have grossly misrcprescn-
ted tho State; diverting, too, it is to note.
how different the Impressions made upon
minds too contracted to take in more than
one thing mt time. Thus, one viewing
everything through rose-colored glass,
Will draw you picture all Of sunshine
and flowers: and his imagination RIM
ming wild with him at tho sight of an
orange or banana grove y ,ndant with
golden fruit, or perhaps fragrant with
beautiful flowers; or the luke scenery or
bay view; the earth covered with it's va
riegatcd carpcting, anu tho waters spark
ling with miriatls of fish, cries out in his
fullncss, "Eurckaw Another, seeing
through the glass darkly, will tell you
that this is land of alligators, snakes,
mosquitoes, sand flies, &C., and even
these can hardly live here in any cnjoy-
ment of health and comfort. / say these
arc narrow and contracted views. be-
cause thoy do not represent the general
condition of things
There arc sections hero where, from n
well regulated flower garden, one may
obtain fresh and beautiful bouquet of
flowers rs we'll at Christmas as on the 4th
of July, and where fish can be had in
abundance all the year round and there
are sections where one may count fifty
nlliSators ut ono time. some of them II
or 10 feet long, and tho country has the
appearance of being so unhealthful "that
q respectable tadpole could not live and
enjoy good health all tho year" But
these arc isolated spots, sucl rs NAV be
found lii the swamps of South Carolina,
and furnish no criterion from which TO
Judge q country.
Health being paramount to overy thing
else, 1t may bc appropriate in this con-
nection for me to say, and l speak. of
course, of Hillshoro county, as my OBJ
servation has been confined principally
10 It's limits, that the endemic diseases OF
the county, while of n malarial type, are
mild and quite remedial to treatment.
lndeai, o congestive type of remittcnt
fever Is not known here, and my practical
experience and observation will Justify
me in saying that the only endemic dis
case of this county Is intermittent fever.
Since have been here have iiiet some
sporadic cnses OF disease o:.io- than in
termittents, but few that aro not of that
type. 1t is an accepted fact now that
typhoid fever and diphtheria, that are
much dreaded whero they have been
known, arc infectious diseases, and as
the tide of emigration flows In, they NAV
bo introduced; SO with the eruptivc
fevors-incasles. scarlet fover and small
pox, mono of which have come under nv
experience since 1 have been here, but
arc common to ali sections where mate
rial exists. Pneumonia is said, by resi-
dent physicians, to be oxtromely rare.
and bowel affections, whom they exist.
are generally the result OF improprieties
in diet, and rarely of malignant charac-
tor. l have met some here who claim
that when they came here they were
physical wrecks from pulmonary dis
ease, but are now halo and hearty and
could not live elsewhere. There Is some
thing so painful in tho terrible march of
this disease, snatching away in the very
primo of life tho most cherished objects
of human affection, that should lil;o to
bo able to write THAT rad found i. .,,:,s
climate. so delightful in many respects,
panacea for the most incurable of all
diseases, pulmonary tubercle. But not
so. Many come here cherishing this
vain hope; but, alas to die. And while