The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1885-03-18
SUCKED IN ON ORANGES
The "OId Mans" First Sensation of
Life in Florida.

Life in Florida.
Peck's Sun.
George w. Peck, the inventor of the
''Bad Boy" is just now sojourning in
Florida, in search of health and strength.
E'When I threw up the curtain my
first morning in Jacksonville" he writes,
''and looked out in the park in front OF
the hotel and saw green trees of all kinds
orange trees filled with ripe, yellow
fruit. shade trees outside the walks with
oranges on, and ladies with parasols, L
began to look around for the South Pole.
1t was an enchanting sight to a man
right fresh from sleigh ride in Milwau-
kee, and I got out into couple of pants
pretty quick and went out to wallow in
all this verdue. wanted to go and roll
| in the grass. l went down stairs with
out waiting for an elevator, rushed
through the office, forgetting all about
| breakfast, and began to walk about the
park and the town. The oranges didn't
| look right to me. I couldn't see how
they could grow there in the streets,
right within the reach of every little Mig
ger coon in town, without being stolen.
In the North, the sourest crab apple that
ever broke mans jaw or puckered up
pretty mouth would not be safe a mo-
ment as exposed as those oranges were,
and | could not believe that boys in the
South were more honest than boys in the
North. Then / got to thinking, and
made up my mind that the oranges were
tied on trees with pieces of wire, and
were intended to deceive Northern peo
pie. thought it was a mean deception,
and l made up my mind to expose it to
the world. | asked a colored man if
there was any objection to man pick
ing an orange, and he said he reckoned
not. So I reached up and got hold of
one and picked it. l looked for the wire
string, but it was actually growing or
ange. and l had more faith in Florida
than ever. 1 shall always believe that
the colored man smiled when he saw me
take out my knife and cut a piece out OF
that orange. Any way, he turned his
back when I started the piece of orange
towards my mouth. Many of my read
ers will remember my mouth as it was
when | lived North. 1t was pretty de-
cent sort of mouth to stub around home
! with. A plain, everyday sort of hole
with teeth and tongue and lips, when l
took that piece of orange in. Ye gods
The orange was as much sourer than
vinegar as vinegar is seurer than honey.
And bitter AloC5 and rhubarb and
quinine combined would be molasses be-
side that orange. My lips began to curl
6 up and draw around under my left ear,
nv teeth became loose and ratified around
like dice in a dice box, and my tongue
: Glove to the roof my mouth. One eye
: opened so wide that the eyeball looked
, like the face of six-shilling bulls eye
watch, and the other closed spasmodical
ly and winked 50 a colored nurse CIR
who thought was winking at her got of
= of a bench and hauled the baby wagor
away, and the baby cried as though ;
pin was sticking it, on account of tn
expression my face. reached arount
- to my pistol-pocket for handkerchief t.
4 cover my face until 1 could unscrew m.
- mouth and get it back in front of me
- and the colored man thought was goinj
to draw pistol, and started off on a run
l. Well, if had picture of my face whe
= l took mouthful of that orange, the
;, could sell them by the thousand in dim
museums as the wild man of Bornec
And that is the reason oranges are saf
growing in the streets. They are to
1e sour to eat. and boy will not steal any
10 thing he cannot eat.