Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-04-26
A TALK WITH TALLAHAssEE.
Items OF Interest Gathered from Field
and Fireside.

what protraeted season of dry weather
/ this section was visited by a cOpious rain
/ ON yesterday; not a shower, but a regular
rain storm. All day Sunday there was a
! strong wind from the south, which con.
tinued through the night. Finally, at :
a. M, the ardent wish of the truckers was
gratitied, and the rain came down in tor,
rents. Gentle showers would have been
more acceptable, but our gardeners do not
murmur. The dull season, from the close
/ OF the cotton TO the opening of the truck.
ing season, is soon over. Already a
I llttIe more activity prevails,
ments OF garden truck are being
made. In short time our streets will
present a comparatively busy appearance.
and returns from sales of cabbages. pota-
toes, etc., will be anXiOusly looked for bv
scores of our energetic farmers. Our new
comers from the North, who purchase. in
February and March, though too late for
the spring crops, are busily engaged in
getting ready for their fall and winter
crops, repairing fences and other work in
cidental to new purchase. They all eX-
press themselves well pleased, and saw
that quite a number of their old neighbOrs
in the States where they moved from will
follow them in the fall.
Leon county is famed for its rich but
ter. Much of it is as Olden colOred asg
the famous Goshen. This home product
here exceeds that Of any other county in
the State. So great is the supply that but
very little is imported. One firm alone
fills orders for 200 pounds every Saturday.
SO celebrated is this vicinity for its dairy
products, so admirably adapted is the soil
for grazing that during the past season par
ties from Kansas, Ohio and Canada have
determined to establish stock and dairy
farms in this county. Some have al
ready purchased, others have selected.
While others have announced their inten-
ton OF selecting very soon. Too long has
Middle Florida hid her light under a
bushe, but now that her resources are
being made known, her people are
eXultant over her future prosperity.
South Florida may boast of her tropical
fruit, but this section is destined to be
the land ''fiowing with milk and honey"
The Leon Hotel was closed for the sea-
son last week, and will be opened again
on the 1st of November next. Though
not opened until tire I'd of January last it
did thriving business, and its popular
and experienced lessee, DR.. HowertOn,
was so we'll pleased that he insisted on It's
being enlarged for another season, which
suggestion will no doubt be acted on. The
number of arrivals during the past fall
and winter at the different hotels was
greatly IN excess of the number Ofthe pre-
YiOus year, being over four thousand,
and as there will be still better and
more ample accommodations next fall,
as Tallahassee will be more in the line of
travel than ever before, it is hoped and
expected that next season there will be a
still greater increase. The hard roads,
the beautiful lakes! !nestling between lofty
hills, the fine forests of oak, and beautiful
scenery present such q contrast to the
heavy sand and general monetony of some
other sections that the surprise of the visi-
tor, as well as his delight, results in
preference of this section for a winter
resort. No one has ever visited here with
out desiring to come again.
In former days Tallahassee and vicinity
boasted not only of the lcedlth, but the jn-
telligepce of the people. Here was located
the best institutions of learning in the
State. The State Seminary here had sew
eral hundred pupils on its rolls, large
and efficient corps of teachers, and col
lege curriculum of studies. Since 'the
late unpleasantness" there has been for a
number of years decadence of
interest in matters educational. But
our people, ''thOugh cast down,
were not destroyed" With
the infusion of new vigOr in the various
branches of industry and in public i'm
provement, comes the same vigOr in edu-
cation. Articles of Incorporation under
the general incorporation act have been
filed in the Office of the Secretary of State
for Incorporating the Florida University.
For the present there will be but two de-
partments, the West Florida Seminary
being the literary and the Tallahassee
College of Medicine and Surgery the
medical department. The faculty of the
latter will consist of ten Professors,
their Dean being j. KOrt, NJ. D., Ii. D.,
late Professor in Adrian University,
Michigan. The term will begin on Sd De-
cember next, and end on Goth of April fol-
lowing. In time a law and polytechnic
department will be added. EX-GOv. D.
S. Walker has been elected Chancellor of
the University, and among the regents are
Gov. W. d. BlOXham, Hon. w. ID. Barnes
and Rev. Chas. Fl. Beecher. 1t will thus
be seen that our good people are moving
all along the line and are determined to
make this section as attractive in every
respect as possible. 4 letter from the
dean of the medical faculty to a citizen
of this placel states that already he has
received a number of students, and he
feels confident of opening the session with
no less than ninety. 4 noted feature in
this college will be that there will be lee
turers both in allOpathy and homeopathy.
Gen. John b. Gordon, who has become
as distinguished in railroad matters as he
was in the field, and later as a statesman,
visited our city last week on business con-
nected with his great railroad extending
from Jacksonville to Key West. There
are some croakers who doubt the success
of his scheme. But the General is a man
who knows no such word as fail. Alike
successful as a soldier and statesman, he
has in the short space of three years ac-
cOmplished wonders as a railroad de-
velOper. He carefully natures his plans
and then goes confidently TO work. Such
was his reputation for integrity and
ability that during the late session of our
Legislature he experienced but little
difficulty in obtaining legislative
sanction for the franchises and
grants asked for in his bill
of incorporation - this, too, in the
face of sO-called conflicting interests from
certain localities. Within thirty DAYS
from the passage and approval of the act
ground was broken and the work COM
menced. Some three hundred hands are
now engaged at different points, and more
will be forwarded so soon as the labOrers
can be obtained. Surely this does not
look as though the General was not in .
earnest. Why then these doubling Thom-
ases? Are they sincere, or are some of
their schemes interfered with? It is said
his scheme does not meet with favor from
some lines along the route of his road.
Can this be the cause Of the doubts ex-
pressed?
hear Ofno preparations for the formal
observance of Memorial day in our COM.
munity. Up to within two years ago,
this day, hallowed' by so many touching
memories of the past, was duly observed
by appropriate ceremonies. The schools
would give holiday, many Of the stores
would be closed, and some one who had
''wOrn the grey" would be selected as the
orator Of the occasion. But, though there
may not be any formal observance of the
day, our people are by no means unmind--
full OF the memory of those who fell in the
lost cause. While no orator may
remind us of those who fell at Malvern
Hill, at Fredericksburg, Charlottesville
and Gettysburg, yet woman will remem-
Der TO decorate with flowers the graves of
those who died in the service of their
country. The neat little plot of ground
in our cemetery where the few COnfede-
rates lay has been already cleared off.
and when Memorial day shall come the
crowds that go there with their floral Of
ierings will attest louder than words that
our gallant soldiers of the South who fell
in cause they deemed to- be right still
live in our memory. In Monticello the
day will be more formally observed, and
Governor W. D. BloXham will deliver an
address.
a new book by Tallahassee lady has
created quite sensation among us. Its
title is FLORIDA BreeZes,'' its author Mrs.
Ellen Call Long, the gifted daughter of
the late Gen. Il. X. Call. To the old resi-
dents of Tallahassee il is deeply interest
ing, containing, as it does, so many remin-
iscences of the happy golden days of the
past; while to strangers it shows what we
were, what we are, and what we