The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1883-05-15
A TRIP OVER THE TRANSIT
RAHT.Hk(HAnh


them to the Eastern part of the State, have YER,
litile idea ol the material progress, the great in
lux ol immigration, the important industries, on
the rapid development of the country along the
line of the Transit Railroad, which connects
Fernandina, the best haibor on onr Atlantic
coast, with the important port of Cedar Key. on
the EnIl OF Mexico; nor is il possible in the
short scope of one letter 10 convey more than =
general view of this very important portion OF
the State The traveller from Middle Florida,
after night spent in the comfortable slccnerS Of
the Florida Central and Western Railroad. which
is under The efficient management of Major W
NJ Davidson, Middle Florida man. strikes the
Transit road at
BALDWIN.
long a very important transfer point for lrciglts
Tor the line OF the Transit road, Cedar Kew and
the Gnli coast, which f rmcrly came from the
North and West via Savannah and Live Oak :
but which, since the completion oil the WaVcroes
" Short Line, is now delivered To the Transit
system at Callahan, twenty miles north of Bald
WIN Your correspondent was. however, graft
fled To observe several car loads of miscellaneous
freight being Transferred here TO the Florida
Central and Western, for points on the new Pen
stcola and Atlantic Railroad which had come
from New York via Fcrnandina, by the Mallory
Steamship line. This was due to The indcatgl-
bile energy and kncen business Sagacity of Col
F. b. Papy the General Freight Agent of The
Transit and Peninsula roads, in connection with
The officers of the above named popular steam
ship line II should be a very gratifying rcflcc-
t"n to Middle Flordans. that the two most i'm
portant trunk lines OF the State are under the
management and control of gentlemen from this
section, who by their business capacity and per
sonal merit have attained the positions they
spcctivcly occupy. refer to Captain u. f. Max
well. Superintendent and Col F. r. Papv Gen
eral Freight Agent OF the Transit, both old Tai
lahasseeans; and to Major Davidson, General
Manager, and Mr.. VIM O. Amcs. General
Freight and Passenger Agent Of the Florida
Central and Western, the former Il native oi
Quincy and the latter of Tallahassee. With
such officers there is no reason why the large
cotton crop of the Western counties along the
line of the Pensacola & Atlantic Road and The
Apalachicola and Cha,tahoochce rivers should
not be diverted over this, our home route and
delivered to the Mallory Line at Fernandina
thus contributing our own produce 10 build up
our own port, and restoring Baldwin To lis former
importance as a functional point
Many old Contcdcrates from this section have
vivid il not very pleasant memories of Baldwin
during the war, and some few perhaps, have sim
liar ones from meeting with its Bunko men since
Leaving Baldwin and nrOcrrlinQ south we
find the road in good condition aud the trains
making remarkably good time, being under The
control of experienced and courteous conductors
who chcertully give any information the tour
isl may desire One feature of the manage
ment OF this road is that separate coaches of
equal accommodations arc provided for the two
races, and while the blacks are not permitted 10
intrude themselves into the coach reserved for
white passengers, neither the whites permitted
10 ride or smoke in the coach reserved for the
blacks. This arrangement seems to give iiiS
faction to both classes OF DaSScnyriS
The lumber industry along this road is i'm
mcnse, as is attcsed by the long trains of heavily
loaded flat cars which were passed at various
points in fact, the monotony of the pine forest
was almost constantly broken by a panorama OF
saw mills, young orange groves and handsome
residences seen from the car windows a we
sped along, all proving the existence of an in
dusirious and thrifty population, each contribu-
ting his quota 10 the prosperity Of the road and
the material progress of the State The towns
OF Highland, Lawty and Temples were passed
when the brakeman called out
"sTARKE,
twenty minutes for dinner :" and alightng from
the train we proceeded to the Railroad House"
kept by Mr.. klcinsmdt an industrious German,
who owns q farm and orange grove near town,
while his cstimable wife and charming daughters
vie with each other in serving the tired traveller
with all the good things which 30 to make up
first-class dinner When you 90 To Sarke don't
fail 10 stop at the railroad House
Those who think of Starke as only n dinner
station on the Transit road are very much out of
their reckoning. 1t is a town about the size Of
Madison, neatly laid out with level streets and
pretty residences, shaded by well-kept orange
trees. There are several groves in the vicinity,
some bearing, while most of them are young
In the town new houses are going up on all
sides and the song of the saw and hammer is the
music which greets one at every turn. Lumber
is cheap and plentiful, on account OF the prox-
unity of Temples mill, while that genial gentle
man, Colonel McWlliams, has established one
of his brick yards at this point and a we'll
ordered livery stable furnishes fol a small con-
sideratOn good teams to transport the aforesaid
building material Here met another old-time
Talahasscean, in the person of Colonel Bill
Moore, of the Telegraph. Time has dealt lightly
with the Colonel, and his blue eyes sparkle and
his tat sides shake in appreciation OF a good joke
as mcrrily as they did in the days of yOre. His
journal ranks with the first in the State, and
infer has brought him substantial evidence OF its
popularity Speeding along we soon reached
WALDO
the junction of the Transit with the Pcninsular
Rails0ad Here We switched off the through
coach which is run daily from jacksonville 10
WILDWOOD thus obvialing the necessity of
change of cars between these points Waldo
has fine hotel, cigar factory, several stores
and churches, and is the terminal point OF the
Santa Fe Canal, which brings the fine orange
country of the lake region within easy access of
the railroad.
From this point the PeninsUlar Railroad (man-
aged and operated by the same company as the
TransiD diverges in a sOutheastcrly direction,
passing the beautiful Orange Lake with its lovely
groves and profitable truck farms; crossing the
Florida Southern Road at Ocala, and termina-
ting for the present at Wildwood, thus develop
ing two of the richest and most important of our
Southern counties, Marion and Sumter. soon ii
is hoped TO be pushed forward again, pausing no
more until the scream of its locomotives is heard
over the blue waves of Tampa Bay. Our next
stopping place,
GAINESVILLE,
the metropolis of East Florida, is a city of
about four thousand inhabitants and the county
site of Alachua, one of the richest agricultural
counties in the State Here is located the East
Florida Scminay, frst among our institutions of
learning, under the able management of Prot.
F. p. Cater with Lieutenant Wagner, L. 5. A,
in charge ot the Military Department. One can
almost imagine himself in the midst OF mill
tary encampment when he is rOustd at early
morn by the call OF the bugle, sees the stacked
arms and the pacing sentinel, and the neatly uni
formed cadets" swiftly forming into the ranks of
war" If the attainments of the cadets in their
studies is in keeping with their gentlemanly de-
pertinent and universal courtesy, particularly to
strangers, when off duty, the officers in charge
l. !. $50 irat reasOn In feel nrOul of Them Resides