Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-04-07
Tropical Florida COntrasted with
Bleak Connecticut.
Waterbury American.

Those whose time and pecuniary cir
cumstances have allowed them the
reality of Southern trip need not read
this. To such it will appear flat and
stale, for they have been in that wonder
gardenland of sunny skies and tropical
luxuriance; have drunk in the beauties
| of Southern spring time and experienced
what others can but imagine. Conduc-
tor Prince of the Naugatuck road has
| just returned from Florida, and if the
work of pen could reproduce the vivid
ness of his descriptions its province
would be well flied Leaving here in
mid winter, the frosty air, the ice
covered earth, soon gave place to the
lavish wealth of tropical summer. Step
| into a green house with temperature
| of seventy five degrees upon the coolest
day, the stOrmiest day, the worst day
| you will ever experience, and you NAV
imagine a tithe of the difference
| between Connecticut and Florida in Feb
ruary. But then twill be but poor i'm
| agination. From Jacksonville the ST.
Johns river is navigable for 1876 miles to
Enterprise. Boats ply between those
| points, and the river flows through a
fairly representative portion of the State.
| Upon either side is presented the never
weary panorama of orange groves, pal
metto forests and brilliant flower grown
everglades. Everything tends to indo-
| lent luXuriOusness both in thought and
| feeling. The soft breeze. heavy with in
| tOXicating odors of fruits and flowers.
the arching palmetto palms intermipgle
| their broad leaves overhead till the boat
seems floating in fairy grotto, the home
| of natures magic artists The frost nit-
| ten, wind blown NOrtherner is astonished.
then delighted, and finally yields himself
a willing captive to ever changing and
renewedly fascinating charms. He for
| gets the rigors of the Northern winter.
the ice-fettered rivers, and drifts exult-
antly onward in the half-unconscious re-
| Election of having outwitted the Frost
King. But vacations will end and rude
awakenings follow happiest dreams.
Then, as the rushing train bears him
again nOrthward the rapid fading of the
bright picture impresses the traveller with
the magnitude of the transformation
which so lately seemed almost an abid.
| ing element of himself The lavish
wealth of field and forest dwindles per
ceptibly hour by hour The tropical grace
| gives way to sterner lines and these fast
grow sterner yet, till the wealth of bloom
and verdure is supplanted by simply
swelling bud of rugged, practical trees.
Keen gusts, too, now steal furtiveIy up
from brown fields and bring a shudder
of regret and vain longings to the fiVing
travelef as he gathers his wraps more
closely about him. Their back on the
mountain slopes glisten patches of snow
and, ere he can demonstrate, the short.
sunny dream of flowers and rest is over
and the stern, knotty problem of life is
presented, shorn of none of its uncouth-
ness. This is the hard part of Southern
winter trip-the return. But memory
will bring revivals of it, when the soul
can revel again beneath the rustling pal
mettoes and almost scent the subtle
sweets of far off orange blossoms.