The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1885-07-10

sdHNo SiAu beauty OIL tne lOuS-lOsG years,
And hears again the song Of summer brooks,
30 if from troubled dreams I could awake
And feel thy warm soft kisses on my face,
l think the sweetness Of thy winsome grace
Would touch me-only for the old loves sake!
ADDIE DAY RALsToN,
PARADISE FOR lazy MEN.
Life in Key west-The One Spot in All the
United States Where Men Are Born
Tired.
From the New York Sun.
In many respects Key West, Florida,
is the most remarkable spot in Uncle
Sans domain. There must be o brill
iant future in store for Key West, as it
has no past and very little present.
While the rest of the Union has been up
and doing, this coral key has slumbered
in the gulf, almost unknown to the
world and caring nothing about the
worlds name or customs. It is alike
peculiar in climate situation, struct-
ure and population. It is the
furthest south of the most south
erly State, and is indeed the very end
of the United States. When the sun
has traced the highest point of his spir-
al course on the 21st of June he is al
most directly Owe Key West, as it lies
in latitude "a degrees 80 minutes, and
the border of the tropics is only sixty
miles south. On the map you will no.
tlce a chain Of little dots trailing south
southwest of the Florida peninsula.
They are keys, and OF the end is Key
West. Speaking strictly, there are
several keys still further west and
south, but they are merely a speck in
the water sufficient to hold a lighthouse
with the exception of the Tortugas, on
which Jefferson Davis, when Secretary
of War, built a $14. 900, 900 fort, o in
charge of garrison of n ordinance
sergeant, and somewhat in need of re-
pair.
The climate is essentially tropical.
This is the only city in the United States
where neither snow nor frost has ever
been seen. The lowest temperature ev-
er recorded was Al degrees about thirty
years ago; the lowest in 1884 was 81 de-
grees. The average temperature for
January, 1885, was 70 degrees; for the
months of July and August it is about
"a degrees. The daily range of tenn
p%erature is very small, rarely more than
10 degrees, and sometimes as low as 2
degrees; and the highest temperature
in summer seldom exceeds "a degrees.
During the northers of the winter
months, a temperature OF 60 degrees is
low enough to SILVER the entire commu-
nifty, and overcoats with fur collars are
in great demand. During the recent
cold snap, when the Mount Washington
signal station reported SO degrees below
zero, the Key West station was y de-
grees above-a small matter of 122 de-
grees difference. Lying in the track of
the northeast trades, with the Gulf
Stream o dozen miles to the south, Key
West has, without exception, the finest
climate in the United States. There is
always q breeze and rarely o gale, and
you may wear q straw hat with propriety
every day in the year. It is solely due
to the monumental sluggishness of the
population that Key West is almost
unknown to the tourist and health
seeker.
Key West is reached by steamers from
New York, from New Orleans and by a
mail steamer from Tampa Bay. The
key has about as much shape as a camel,
but in a general way lies east and west,
and contains about six square miles.
1t is as fat as a pancake, the highest
point being sixteen feet above the mean
sea level. To the casual visitor it looks
as though the sea, particularly in q
storm. would submerge this insignif-
cant rise; but it is a matter of record
that it never has. The city
proper covers the western end of the
key. It is densely settled, and about
as un-American as possible, bearing .
strong resemblance to a West Indian
town. The houses are of wood, plainly
built, and, with few exceptions, paint.
ed white. There are, I think, only
three brick buildings, certenly not more
than six. Piazzas abound, and occa-
sionally some lattice work is seen, but
there is nc attempt at decoration or dis
play. Many Of the business houses
have no signs, and there is q general
air of MISUNDERSTANDING
about the shops. The houses are Of all
sizes, jumbled up in the oldest way,
and anywhere but on the line of the
street. The interior Of each block is
filled up with one-story shanties, access
to which is had by going up alleys,
through fences, or over somebody
else's yard. The population being IA
600, land is precious. Lots are divided
and %subdivided, and houses bu;ltin yards
and gardens are wedged in here, there
and everywhere, facing sixteen ways for
Sunday. Where there is no room for
a house, they build q stable or a pig
pen, and sprinkle chickens around in
the The richest people do
not disdain to thus add from So to Sc
q month to their income, although it
destroys their privacy and disfigures
their grounds.
This key is settled by Cubans, ne
groes, Conks and Americans. Placing
the population at IA, 900, the proper
tons are about six, four, three and a
half. These proportions live in an
agreeable state of contempt and dis
cord. The Cubans hate the Conks
(natives of the Bahamas are so called
by everybody except themselves), the
Conks cordially detest them Cubans"
and both unite in despising the mig
gers" The little band of Americans
and English are generally employed in
seheming to get away from the island.
There is Conk town, Niger town and
Cuban village, with very ill-defined
limits, however. Each has its own oc-