Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1884-03-06
Surprising To Northerners.

y
York San, says, At almost any book
store in this State you can buy score
of books, pamphlets and periodicals
devoted exclusively to Florida topics.
Some of them contain a good deal of
information. Yet, having read all of
them, the northerner in Florida is con-
tinually coming upon facts that are
new and surprising to him. You may
be surprised:
To observe that region which was
discovered nearly four hundred years
ago, and is said to be so inviting to
man, has found so few to accept the in
vitation.
To find Notwithstanding all you
read concerning Florida winters) the
January sun so warm at midday.
To find lin view of all you have ready
so few wild or cultivated blossoms
thriving in the suns rays, and so little
fragrance in them.
To find so few birds, barring hawks
and other birds of prey, warmed into a
voiceful mood by the semi-tropical sun
to find so few birds of any descrip-
ton.
That the duration of twilight is so
brief.
To find how little covering you re-
quire on your bed upon retiring, and
to find how much covering you wish
you had when you wake up toward
morning.
To see, upon going outdoors, that
the ground is not covered with frost.
and that the flowers (such as they are)
are not killed.
To note how little soil there is, and
how many empty tin cans there are
above the sand.
To see orange trees, with rich green
leaves and loaded with yellow fruit,
growing out of the gray sand.
To come across gardens in which
plants and vegetables are growing in
great variety and luxuriantly in this
same sand.
To observe that so few persons have
these fiourishing gardens, and to be
told that not many can afford to buy
the quantity of fertilizer this luxury
calls for.
To find the sidewalks shaded by
orange trees weighted down by tempt
ing golden fruit.
To discover that this golden fruit is
wild oranges and very sour.
To be told that strangers should be
careful about drinking much of the
water at first.
To learn how little self-denial the OBJ
servance of this caution calls for.
To see how yellow most of the native
and acclimated citizens are.
To discover before long that you are
turning yellow yourself.
To note how few persons there are
who are past 20 years of age.
To see so many idle negro men; to
observe that nearly all wear heavy
wooden caps. and to learn that their
heads are still cold.
To be told by so many of them that
they were ''bo' n in the norf.
That the negroes in the docks can't
work without making such a bedlam.
That they can do any work while
making it.
To discover that your water-tight
top boots leak sand, and to be told
tain more or less sand.
To be forced to the conclusion that
wherever there is sand there are red
ants also.
To hear the voice Of the nocturnal
mosquito in midWinter.
To wait in vain for him to settle
down and bite, so that you can get
whack at him, and to be told in the
morning that mosquitoes haven't ener-
gy enough in winter to do much biting.
To find yourselves wondering wheth-
er they, too, are yellow and bilious.
To be assured by a plain and candid
appearing white man that the mosqui-
toes were so thick here last summer
that they not only darkened the air at
high noon, but put out the lamps which
were lighted in the stores.
To find that there are bigger and less
harmless liars than he in nearly every
neighborhoOd.
To have to fight SO many flies in the
houses in the winter.
TO be told that the flies do not come
into the houses in the summer.
To reflect that you permitted your
self to be surprised at this information,
when it would have been so much more
reasonable to assume that your in
formant lied.
To come face to face in the sandy
wilderness with pack of gaunt, bony,
shaggy beasts of almost every color
and resembling nothing you have ever
seen before.
To be informed afterward that they
were Mr.. Julius Lemons shOats.
To be assured that Mr.. Lemon and
his family contemplate eating them
ultimately.
80 a
A Good Time to Paint Houses.