The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1883-10-09
From the Washington Star. Sept. 20.
WAY DOWN On EHE SUWANEC-
The Land Of Flowers and Sunshine
"A Lecture ON Florida by var.
Columbus Drew.


"A Lecture ON Florida by VAR. .
Columbus Drew.
A map of Florida was hung on the
wall of the cozy lecture room OF the !.
NJ. {. n. rooms Saturday night, ani ind:-
Gated the subject 10 which the evening
was to be devoted The audience presens
taxed the seating capacity of the rooms
to the utmost The lecturer was Mf
Columbus Drew, formerly of this city,
who has resided many years in Florida.
and now holds the post of lmmigratioH
Agent of that State Mr.. Drew devoted
himself to his task in a manner that in.
dicated that he was as much actuated bv
the spirit of the true enthusiast as by Off.
cial zeal In describing the beauty OF
the land of flowers and dwelling upon
its romantic history, he discoursed mOrt
in the language of the poet than the stalc
and formal dictiou of an immigration
agent. Withal, his representations were;
modest, and bore on their face evidencei
OF their truth. He described the railroadl
enterprises recently completed, which,
have given easy access now to the most:
interesting parts of the state, and del
voted some time TO the poetic nomen-,
clature of the State. He described ini
glowing terms the picturesque scenery of
the Suwannee river George Christv, the
minstrel, he said, conceived the idea of
the song,
Way down upon the Suwanee river"
when dwelling At Ellavile, on the banks
of the river, In 1915. Proceeding with
his lecture, Mr. Drew carried his hearers,
in an imaginary tour, over the railroad
lines of the State, beginning with the
east, or the oldest portion of the State
settled by an American population, de-
scribing the weird aud sombre scenery of
the level country or pine barrens between
jacksonville and Lake City, and passing
on To the picturesque portion of the State
between the Snwannee aud the Apalachi-
cola with its varied woods.
The soils were SO various as to be diff
cult of description. The average amount
of good land was equal to that in the
rolling lands Of the Middle States In
entering Middle Florida the roads show
clay or red soil. 1t was not tenacious
clay. but contains mixture of reddish
sand, through which water soon sinks
into the earth. The land through the
upper portion Of Middle Florida is high
and rolling, although there is a long strip
of level pine country along the coast.
Tracts of land Of large size could be pur-
chased from private owners, in some cases
at prices less than that asked for public
lands.
The lecturer sketched geographically
the country about Tampa bay, with its
great harbor, and passed on to the Keys,
with their chain OF ocean gems The
" Ten Thousand Islands," now thinlv set
tied, would, he said, sometime form one
of the greatest health resorts in the
world. OF the St. Johns river, he said
it was one Of the grAndt>t streams in the
country. It's general features near it's
mouth We're said 10 resemble the lower
Potomac. Above Falatka it becomes
more tropical In scenery, and the resein-
blance to the Potomac ceases.
The springs OF Florida, with their
limpid waters, rejecting everything with
prlSmatic cOlOrs great national reser-
voirs larger than any ever built to feed
city-he described as one OF the wonders
of the world The lecturer said that from
IS to 100 orange trees could be planted
upon an acre. 1t takes from seven to ten
NcdlS W SSCulC d Plolt6pic OtdTluO OF
chard. One hundred orange trees will
bear 100000 oranges, which are now sell
ing at $40 per thousand As to the
health Of Florida, the speaker said that
the changes in the climate were all proba-
bly, in favor Of Florida Malaria de-
creased with cultivation. He noted the
entire absence of stagnant marshes In
the thirty-hve years OF his residence there
he had never known case of sunstroke
or hydrophobia. 1t was impossible to in
dicate the best point for settlers to locate
For those intending to cultivate the cit
rus fruits, the presumption was in favor
of the more tropical south. The frost
line is myth, climatic jumping jack,
fitting about from place to place The
climate of Florida was one which may
indeed impart additional charms to human
existence.