The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1884-03-16
JOHN NJ. CoRNs, Chairman.
An Interesting Letter From Fair
Kissimmec.
KISSINMEE CITY. March

kISSIMMEE CITY, March 10th.
EDITORS PALATKA NEws:-Allow us to
send you greeting, and wish your new
paper every success. It is a bright, new
sy sheet-a credit to those who get it up.
May it live long and flourish!
Our little city continues to prosper and
grow; several new business establish
ments, among them hardware store and
a feed and grain house, have opened up
within the past ten days; half a dozen
| buildings in course of construction can
be seen from our office; newcomers are
locating with us, and in every way this
place bids fair to soon outstrip its sister
towns in south Florida in the way of i'm
prOvements and growth.
Captain Rose, superintendent Of the
OkeechObee Drainage Company, has
kindly placed their splendid steamer
'Okeechobee' upon the lake as a regular
packet, making four excursions weekly
between our city and Southport, the
| mouth of the canal connecting lakes
Tehopekaliga and Cypress, and site Of
Hamilton Disstons sugar farms. She
leaves Sundays at a. m, and on Tues
days, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 2 p.
M, after arrival Of trains from Sanford
bringing passengers from the steamers
City of Jacksonville" and H. B.
Plant touching at Picnic Park, most
lovely place by the way, both going and
coming, remains at South Port couple
of hours, which is ample time for the
| tourists to view the beautiful scenery Of
the surrounding country; the land-hunter
to satisfy himself of the wonderful fer
tility of soil which less than two years
since was an impenetrable prairie where
cattle dared not venture to feed for fear
| of begging up, or the sportsman to catch
a string of beautiful fish in the canal, or
shoot a dozen or more rabbits.
These latter the fennel which has taken
the place of the saw grass of the prairie
since its drainage, is literally filled with.
The men employed on the sugar farm
frequently go out in the evening and kill
half dozen with sticks.
The sugar plantation at present covers
but ten acres, being planted as an eX-
perimental farm, merely to prove the
strength and fertility of the soil. Where
it is located, before the drainage COM
pany began operations two years ago,
was some two or three feet under water;
now it is high and dry and without an
exception the best soil in the state for ag-
ricultural purposes. Mr.. Clay johnson,
an experienced agriculturist from Louis
lana, of years experience in the growth
of sugar-cane, rice, ETC., is in charge of
operations.
The dredge is now engaged cutting a
canal to connect our lake TehOpekaliga
with Little Tehopekaliga" lake, just
east of us, which when completed
will open up navigation and bring to
Kissimmee the trade of the new English
colony recently located on the last named
lake by Sir Philip Clarke. The distance
is about three and a half miles from our
lake to the other, and the dredge has cut
already about one and three quarters.
A new dredge is being built at the
Okeechobee ship yard by superintendent
Rose, which when completed will be the
largest and most powerful in the world.
1t is constructed under a recent patent,
he being one of the inventors, and is
quite an improvement on the one now in
use.
More anon. FLORIDA"