Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1885-04-16
A PARADISE FOR LAZY MEN.

In many respects this is the most re-
markable spot In Uncle Sans domain.
There must be brilliant 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 Gull
| almost unknown to the world. and car
| ing nothing about the worlds manners
Or customs. 1t is alike peculiar in eli
mate. situation, structure, and popula-
| ton. 1t is the furthest south OF the most
southerly State; and is indeed the very
end of the United States. When the
sun has traced the highest point OF his
spiral course on the twenty-hrst OF
June, he is almost directly over Key
West, as it lies in latitude twenty-four
| deg, thirty-two min., and the border
of the tropics is only sixty miles south.
On the map you will notice a chain of
little dots trailing south-southwest from
the Flor da Pen nsula. They are keys
and at the end is Key West. Speaking
strictly there are several keys still far
| Their west and south. but they are mere
| " speck in the water sufficient to
| hold lighthouse, with the exception
of the Tortugas, on which Mr.. Jeffer-
| son Davis. when Secretary of War, built
| a fourteen-m lion dollar fort, now in
charge of garrison of one ordnance
| 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 tenn
| perature ever recorded was Al deg.
| about thirty years ago; the lowest in
1884 was 81 deg. Tue average tenn
perature for January, 1885, was -
deg: for the months of July and Au-
| gust it is about 81 deg. The daily
range of temperature is very snail,
rarely more than 10 deg. and some
times as low as , deg; and the highest
| temperature in summer seldom ex-
ceeds ga deg. During the northers OF
the winter months, a temperature OF
60 deg. is low enough to SILVER the en-
tire community, and overcoats with
fur collars are in great demand. Dur
ing the recent cold snap, when the Mt
Washington Signal Station reported SO
deg. below zero, the Key West station
was ~ deg. above-a small matter OF
| 122 deg. difference. Lying in the track
of the northeast trades, with the Cult
| Stream a dozen miles to the south,
Key West has, without exception, the
finest climate in the United States.
There is always a breeze and rarely
a gale, and you may wear straw
hat with propriety every day in the
year. 1t is solely due to the monu-
mental sluggishness of the popula-
ton that Key West is almost unknown
to the tourist and health seeker.
Key West is reached by steamers from
New Y FORK, 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 fiat as a pancake, the
highest point being sixteen feet above
mean sea level. To the casual visitor
it looks as though the sea, particularly
in a storm, would submerge this insg-
nifcant rise; but it is a matter of rec
ord that it never has. The city proper
covers the western end of the key. 1t
is densely settled, and about as I'M
American as possible. bearing strong
resemblance to a West Indian town.
The houses are of wood. plainly built.
and. with a few exceptions, painted
| white. There are, 1 think, only three
| brick buildings, certainly not more
| than six. Piazzas abound, and occa-
s:ona!Iy some lattice work is seen, but
| there is no attempt at decoration OF
display. Many of the business houses
| have no signs and there is a general
air of don Observation-Disclosures
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 1900,
land is precious. Lots are divided and
sub divided. and houses built in yards
and gardens are wedged in here. there
and everywhere, facing sixteen ways
for Sunday. Where there is no room
for house they build stable or pig
pen, and sprinkle chickens around in
the corners. The richest people do not
disda n to thus add from three to six
dollars month to their income, al
though it destroys Their privacy and
dsiigures Their grounds.
The streets are of good width. toler-
ably straight, and passably clean. The
roadway Is coral rock. There is ne
soil. What passes for soil is merely
triturated coral, wonderfully rich in
phosphates, and making an excellent
fertilizer, but, by itsrlf. deficient in fat
To garden, you must use pick instead
of hoe. No vegetables are raised on
the key, and the vegetation is confined
mainly to cocoanut trees. Here and
there you will find pine or an clean
der, a star of India, or royal poin-
ciana; but in the main there is GRIM
inal lack of foliage. The nature of the
population is thus shown. The key
has been settled for fifty years; every
tropical or semi-tropical tree, shrub.
or flowers known to man has but to be
planted to grow. and the city is bare,
| hot. and verdurelesS.
| The white houses. without vine OF
climbing flower, the dazzling streets
without tree. and with no sidewalks
dusty and glazing wherever you look
| it is enough to make you wish for a
hurricane to stir the city's blood. Yet,
to the student of sociology, the expla-
nation is plain. The population is to
blame, and the climate makes the pop
ulation.-Key Vest Cor. n. Y. Sun.
Judge Green. of Washington Ter.
ritory, who was holding court in the
town of Laconner, being DESTROYS of
reaching Seattle by Thursday evening.
III =