The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1881-05-10


Orleans Trade.
A small party of gentlemen, consisting Of Mr..
George A. Beard. Captain D. B. Maxwell. and .
FLoRIDIAN reporter, visited st. Marks on
Wednesday, the Attn inst, as the guests Of Mr..
w. T. Lyle, agent for r. B. Post & Son, mer-
chants of New Orleans, and part-owners Of the
Steamship Amite, now plying regularly between
ST. Marks and New Orleans, and touching at in
ternediate ports.
The party took position on the engine and
tender, wherever they could find tender spet
for a seat, and the ride TO the Gulf was very ex-
hilerating, The fresh morning air invigOratng
the lungs and entire system At every breath, and
the monotony of the trip being varied by the ex
element of watching the track, which is just
now one of the most remarkable pieces of patch
work of its kind extant The wheels sometimes
jumped gaps in the iron several inches wide
and held the crooked rails with marvellous tenac-
ity in places where the ends would branch off
from the joint toward Apalachicola so much
that they looked like switches. In one place
the ancient ties had all DISAPPEARED, and the iron
seemed to lie directly on the sand. Near Belair,
the track for one or two miles is made of scraps
from to feet in length. The only safeguard
against accidents was sheer luck" as embodied
in the persons of Engineer Butler and Conduc-
tor Bull, who brought US safely through.
Arrived at ST. Marks the scene was all activity.
There lay the great steamer alongside the ancient
wharf, (Which, by the way, is little more than a
rotten pile Of logs and plank, which will give
way some day and dump ship-load of freight
intO tho rivrrl on1 from hnr hAloc
crowd of laborers, swarming like ants, each
with his load.
The Anite is a staunch and capacious vessel Of
23S tons, built in 1879 at jacksonville, La, and is
licensed to carry twenty passengers, fifteen first
class, and five on deck. She is splendidly of
cered by j. 0. Hulse Masteran old seaman
whose twenty-five years afloat have given him
the ampest experience, as well as fund of good
humor that makes friends for him wherever he
goes; w Ermon, Purser; VIM. Weber, Pilot;
Chas. Markley, Chief Engineer; ]. Sanders, Sec
ond Engineer, and H. Thompson, Mate.
The cargo Of the AmiS this voyage consisted
of2,57l packages of freight, of which 2,O71 were
for the j. p. and NJ r. r., 1875 for St. Marks, 173
for the Chattahoochee river, 70 for Fort Bar
rancas and co for Apaachicola The j., p. and
NJ. freight consisted of $50 sacks, corn, oats,
&c, 354 barrels flour, &c, 81 boxes meat, soap,
&c, 3 tieroes hams, &c, 9 kegs and one bale
The cargo was not quite large usual but
the vessel is doing good trade, as evidenced by
the fact that on her last two previous voyages
she was obliged 10 refuse freights offered. She
made a quick run this time, having left New
Orleans on Friday evening at o'clock, Pensa-
nol ON do rr;v Cd c.
at ) o'clock Monday morning. She will leave
New Orleans next trip on the 14th and possibly
arrive al st. Marks ON the 18th or 10Th inst. She
carried back this trip 90 or 30 bales of cotton
and about so deck passengers, being lot of
hands engaged in East Florida to work on some
new road in Texas.
Messrs. r. B. Post & Son, and Messrs Miller
IL Henderson, of Tampa, (the latter firm being
tile first TO move in the matter, entitled to the
credit of this successful effort to re-establish the
commerce of ST. Marks which in the olden time,
before the days of railroads was very large, and
supplied the entire region of Middle Florida,
Southern Georgia and Alabama, and was the
gateway for an export trade which quarter of
century ago amounted TO over two and quar-
ter millions of dollars per annum.
The enterprise of Messrs. Post & Son should
receive the heartest encouragement from the
people of Middle Florida, whose complaints con-
corning transportation facilities have been loud
and long, and it is TO be hoped that the fact
that so large and desirable a trade between this
region and New Orleans is being vigorously fos-
tered by New Orleans merchants and capital,
will open the eyes of railroad men whose atten-
ton has SO often been directed to the matter of
direct railroad communication between Middle
Florida and the Northwest by short link, easily
constructed, between Tallahassee and Thomas
Vile, TO connect us directly with the Georgia
railway system