The Republican journal., 1884-01-24
Our George at st. Augustine.
LETTER NO. 8.


this place, the people of st. Augustine probab-
ly went fishing on Sunday, though where they
dug their worms, history does not state; but
about the year 1893. they commenced building
the Catholic Cathedral, which is one of the
sights of the town. 1t fronts the Plaza, and is
built in the Moorish style of architecture. The
walls are composed of coquina stone, and if my
memory serves me, are succeed with some kind
of a white cement on the outside The belfry
is very peculiar looking. Ii presents some
thing the shape of a section of bell. In it, are
four distinct sections, containing a chime of
Tour bells There is Il clock below the belfry,
and rising above it, instead of Il spire is a cross.
one of the bells, the oldest, is marked 1882
There is a vast amount of sentiment connected
with these bells, and It's considered the correct
thing to admire the chimes. and play that they
make charming music, but when YOU try to
make four notes form a tune, it is asking too
much of them, for it tires them all out and
they don't accomplish anything either. When
| heard them. ! wandered off to the SULPHUR
spring, where the smell was so loud that |
could not hear the bells at all. | think the
fragrance from this fountain would make it so
still in boiler factory that YOU could see IA pin
drop. ln>tnctively | wandered inside the
cathedral to inspect it. 1t was open, 50 did
not have TO crawl in the window. 1t was about
noonime, and there was no service being held,
50 | had good opportunity to look around.
From some unaccountable reason, there gener-
ally is no service being held, when | enter
church, and have about come 10 the conclusion
that don't go at the right time They don't
try to draw crowd here by their elegantly up
hostered seats. They are simply boards, with
the hardest side up, and the deyout but lean
Christian doe, not sit as comfortably as
his fat sinner friend. There were the usu-
al amount of wax candles, and statues of
The Saviour and the Virgin Mary, and on the
walls were some Spanish paintings. represent
ing Scriptural scenes. Possibly they were
works of art, but to me, they looked like
very near blood relation to a tea chrome. One
of the paintings was called, THE first mass
held in fifteen hundred" and something. As
looked at it, il occurred to me, that the wor-
shippers who come here, and sit out long
service, On these hard benches and have to
took at those pictures, must sigh for the happy
Old days of the Spanish inquisition What |
know Of Spain is very meagro. do remem-
Der one little Spanish custom, that was taught
me at school, by some of my loving playmateS,
who had 4 hundred pages more size than |. Ii
60 not err. left hand seized the collar of my
Jacket. and a strong right hand grasped the
seat of my trousers, and was lifted up on my
toes. and propelled ahead at a liberal gait and
was informed that was ''waking Spanish"
think | got prejudice against Spain then,
that have never fully gotten over Oh. those
happy school days, How | would like to be
John J.. sullivan, boiled down into the small
boy used to be, and go back to school once
more for about two terms. with dozen school
mates that | shall never forget. 1t makes me
laugh 70 think how | should surprise them
---hut this has nothing to do with Florida.
Having inspected the cathedral. | >troIled
into the Magnolia House and cot dinner, and
then went out for Il walk about town 1t is
impossible to give any comprehensive. or in
tclligcnt description of the way this town looks
There is nothing to describe it by and one
cannot imagine how queer and odd it looks.
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