New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-05-24
SOME FLORIDA TRAITS
PORTRAYED BY JOHN PAUL
so1IFIc pEAcH-BoATs AND BoATs-THE ROSES
aSD TUR THORNS.

=. ;tho,t lsos Other domestic animals can be dis
pensed with, but boat must be had. for "ouuAe
PROFESSIONS, funeral professions, business VI
pleasure a high jnks of any kind' ooa'S arc
necessary. So It was that in the beginning e'oiy
man became perforce boat-builder. And mere was
the beach but rev miles distant 10 iur'n'"
supplies For a long while this kindly oeach was
the almoner of the region. Wrecks had here gwen
ND their treasures And planks. cordage, "copper"
iron-eyen galvanized ron--were to be had LOT tho
nero picking up. Even now you may see inc ioii0o
of wrecks on every hand. The halyard DlocK d.
the masthead of Harry's sixteentoot Skin once uiu
similar duty, fancy on big Dig. anu ms
halyards may well have been that Drigs oeS'
hawser On the shore Wonder. waiting ior al
adaptation to some want, lie iron straps tnat huS'
have belonged to the brace-blocks OF some squsre
rugged vessel Tho anchors which the goou heis
Doctor gave me for my decoy ducks are Dlts u
broken CONFER bolts Even the Gotten with when
INV pelicans are stuffed the birds have shot VIII
he so much more comfortable during the summer
relieved of their flesh and nicely filled out with
cotton that think my apparent cruelty VIII 10
condoned) was picked up on the beach. And whas
has that generous beach not given, what Wouiu IL
not give from whip-saw to whale! Nineteen
whales not whip-saws, and sperm at tnaV-"ero
thrown ashore at Cape Canaveral not many years
ago. The people at the lighthouse had no barrels
smbergris likely they had never heard Yet each OF
these whales in all probability contained within
HMM his blasted insldes if you will pardon the
expression-a potentiality of wealth beyond the
most unbounded dreams of avarce For it Is the
accretion of ambergris in his great mains ana
branches, a blocking up of all his vast pipes ana
conduits by the drug, that causes the whale 10
sicken and seek the shore And ambergr1s averages
In worth about So the ounce. Each of these whales
was pharmacy in himself If only tile next SICK
school of spermacetis on the the first symptom OF
suffering will steer for Nantucket and beach them-
selves either at Great Point or on the South Shore'
nv word for it that Captains Jennegan. Swain.
winslow and Bunker will know what to do for
them But Heaven, as the proverb has it. sends
almonds with unvary Ting regularity to those who
have no teethl
How the treasures of this beach are distributed
Visiting grove OIL the mainland one day, round
the well rugged with a wheel-a ships wheel. OF
mighty circumference, mahogany, brassrlvetted'
and inlad with costly and curious woods "hlri-
ing that wheel to bring up the bucket seemed 20
hear the grutf command from some bronze-faced
skipper Steady as you go. there" or, Mind your
luh, We lubberp And there was a stranng OF
cordage creaking of timbers. and a whistling OF
winds IN my ears the while strangely at variance
with the truit-laden orange trees and blossom
burdened zephyrs which surrounded me- treat
Cesar 1 mentally calculated. Yes. Great
Cesar dead and turned 70 clay. may" but the
quotation is trite. Think of it, though Taken
from the guidance CT great ship over the deep
whisked inland, at that-to wind up not brlmming
buckets at the end of Inglorious rope from
shallow hole in the ground-lteraly
dropping buckets into empty wells.
And growing old Ia drawing nothing OUT
Yet this is what this grand old wheel was doing |
And it did it uncomplaningly if not uncreakingly
Wearled but persistent applicants for political
prefermcnt. sometimes relegated to private
station, behold parallel and be comfotted
CHAPTER ON BOATS.
Rnt about boats The ingenuity of some of the
native builders and riggers-self taught. of cours
passes ALL understanding 1t would never occur
to me- and doubt if ever it has occurred to any one
elsewhere to place halyard cleats on deck. Just
forward of the notwithstanding with leader blocks
so that after having at some inconvenience
behaved the halyards in event of wishing to start
them suddenly, it is only necessary to crawl for
ward into the boats eyes, stand on your head and
let 60 Yet this is favorite rig on the river Aud
no matter what your education has been nor where
YOU have been graduated, if you would here sail
with credit 10 yourself lin native boat and avoid
getting spilled, new apprenticeship to the art Is
necessary So beware how you venture out. IL the
boat be Dative one, better native skipper. IL
you must be alone and will not be sailed, better SIT
on the wharf and fish. For this Indian River Is
uuite as wet as any other water, and it is mistake
to suppose it will nOt.drown. shore half mile
oh ii you cannot reach II, Is quite as distant LOT
All practical purposes as though twere an hundred
aud two feet over your head is no less ehectual
than ten fathOms. Ships are launched from
WAYS" but boats carry their ways with them. all
their life thrDugh-like women; ana as THESE ways
are sometimes rather peculiar. IL IS Wiser W leave
their management to familiar hands. .
II very fond of sailing not at all fond of being
sailed and somewhat particular as to what you san
IN. better borrow an idea from the pearly nautilus
the turtle the razor back clam, and travel with
your own boat your back. Tho expense OF
bringing one here cannot be very great w., anu v sne
habit in all winds of making your sheet last IL
we'll perhaps to Leave your Eoat az nUS
and sec what you can OF the indian River country
OH foot. This is my dry advice.
THORNs AND ROSES.
NV praise Of the present weather has been so
instituted that it may be thought ndorse Florida
weather generally and hold myself responsible for
IT, Now | could not tell lie about country
unless owned considerable of it or were passed
through in state and luxury, with change oil
mues at every station and of sheets at OF the
inns So | will now say that the weather has not
always been delicious; some of it has been
diabolcal There have been days of "nerth-
srsv and of rain when, if a brick house warmed by
a furnace had come floating down the river I'd have
boarded it and asked the upstairsgirl to give me
dry dressing gown, and steer for an open fireplace
For this is not land of ireplaces, and chmneys
nre exceptional Yet the thermometer has not been
below ~ In the absence of sun it was sometimes
difficult TO dry my hunting clothes But the Indian
River oranges are the finest in the world. Florida
beef can not be consistently praised-though do
not remember to have ever seen beef with more
consistency. But the vegetables are superb. There
Is bureau in any Of rooms, but not one OF us
has had a cold, and even the. catarrhs that some
proyidenty brought along are forgotten. Mutton
man went through here the other day who lad