The Republican journal., 1886-07-29
Our Georges Letter.

$1,000
At Jeckyl Island Chicago man has the super
vision of laying out the grounds, and drives
will be made, Il large club house erected
and numerous cottages built this season, and
within few years we shall hear of this resort
as being one of the most attractive on the
coast
In my last letter l mentioned the bad condi-
ton of the streets in Brunswick. and ought
to have added that fund has been raised by
private subscription and shell road will be
built along the water front, some three mile,
in length. When they want to make real
gilt edge street down south they make it out of
shells, and it does make a beautiful drive and it
looks as if it had just been whitewashcd. The
only trouble with them is that the shells grind
into fine powdered dust which contains a
large amount of lime, and when one takes n
ride on windy day and gets a spoonful of
dust in each eye he feels as if he had been
washing them with sand soap. | ought also to
have mentioned that Brunswick will have a
new modern hotel, which is an institution
much needed, as the present ones are hardly
sufficient for the local wants Of the city The
will be arranged with all the modern appliances
of first class hotel. But when completed
the owners do not want to forget that hotel
cannot keep itself and that the ideal landlord
and the poet is born, not made.
The ride from Brunswick to Jacksonville
occupies about seven hours. and we arrived
here in the early evening and took quarters at
the Duval House which is the only winter
hotel that keeps open all summer. The large
winter houses, like the ST. James, Everett,
Windsor, Grand Union and some others
close after the season is over and do not open
until the following winter.
Jacksonville has changed considerably for
the better since | was here last, Il few years
ago. Bay street has been paved the electric
lights have been introduced. new lines of
street cars have been added, and old lines eX-
tended, and many handsome buildings and
residences erected The new block of stores
put up by Chas. b. liaZeltine Esq. OF Belfast
il quite an addition to the business portion OF
the city and is a valuable piece Of property for
Mr.. lIaZctine. He has also greatly improved
the interior of his other block and the two
are among the most valuable pieces of
property in the city.
called into Drew. IIazcItinc 4 Livingston's
and found them well and chock full Of buSi-
ness. doc" Livingston had Il barrel of silver
winch he was paying out 10 crew of darkeys.
| and noticed the same smile Of satisfaction ON
their black faces when they received Il hand
full of silver cart wheels that spreads over a
white mans face under like conditions. !
| opme that we are all about alike when food or
| money is thrown at Us. The schr. p. X. Hazel
| tine was i'll port and had the pleasure of call
| "a 1 Al.
wendtd my way to the office of DIR. CASH Davis
and arrived just in time TO hear Il woman yell
murder and to see the DIR. waving il huge
molar in the air We sat down, and the way
that tooth carpenter went through me for Bel
fast news was good to hear. 1T is Il very cold
day when you meet an Old Belfast boy that has
lost all interest in our little city. DR.. Davis
has u line practice and is very much liked in
Jacksonville. He says that there are days in
August when he does not wear his heavy vim
ter ulster when ut work, but that most of the
time it is quite comfortable, (thc weather |
mean.
The morning after our arrival We took the
train on the jacksonville Tampa Il Key West
X. X. for sanford When here few wears
since | went to Sanford on the steamer, which
then was the only means of tray ell and it took
| Il day and half to go. Now YOU can leave
Jacksonville at in the morning, 20 to Sanford,
have an hour there and be back in Jackson
vile at early evening. The result is that the
steamer lines are about killed though in winter
few run for eXcursonSt> and a night line
runs through the entire year. The j. I. Il II.
w. road follows the course of the St. Johns :
river crossing it twice | think and running
along its banks in numerous places giving one
a chance to see the scenery. The trip b, car.
however, cannot compare with that by boat, fur
the scenery up the st. Johns is so wild and
tropical, that it pays to take il by water when
one goes simply for pleasure, but as the steam
q II n fear 10 I,,ut
three or four hundred miles as was a little out
of practice. had a letter to the conductor and
he was very polite and furnished me with much
information about Florida 1t is surprising
how many northern men one meets down here.
\ OH come i'll contact with them in business on
the ears, boats and hotels and in the stores
asked this conductor if it was very hot here in
the summer. NO. he said. Il have suffered
Il good deal more on the Vermont Central.
when | was running there than ever have
here" About the hardest thing have tried to
lind is a genuine southerner. ! firmly believe
that if there had been no immigration South
after the war. that there wouldn't be ANYBODY
down here now excepting the darles.
Wefound the J. ia X. W. road be one Of
the best i'll every respect. The rolling stock is
first class, and the track in good condition and
very smooth. 1t is broad guage with steel rails.
The distance from Jacksonville to Sanford is
l23 miles, and Palatka is about half way up.
This city has exhibited good deal of get
and sand. 1t was nearly destroyed by fire in
Nov. 1884. but to-day it is in far better shape
than it was then Its buildings are far superior
to what they We're before the fire. and the
hotels are larger and better. There is an album
dant supply of water from arteSian wells but
it has the same Old smell that back number
eggs enjoy. From Palatka steamers run up the
celebrated Ocklawaha. which is the most
picturesque river in Florida. COL Hart resides
at Paatka and has one of the best known
orange groves in the State. If is ON the oppo-
site side of the river. Col. Hart has been here
many years. and his grove is an old one, and a
source OF immense revenue to him. As the
ears stopped at the town of Savillc. the con-
ductor called our attention to the station house
1t was built of hard pine logs. in LOG cabin
style. The bark is peeled from the logs. which
are then planned smooth, retaining the rounded
form outside, but hewn square on the inside.
The exterior and interior are then vanished.
Inside huge fireplace in Il brick chimney
cupies one side of the waiting room. and the
doors are old style i'll make, and hung with
huge iron strap hinges. 1t is the pretticst de-
pot | ever saw, and is quite an attraction on
the road, and an ornament to Savilie. We We're
favored with the sight of couple of live ALI
gators, though they are getting TO be rarity
on the st. Johns. All along, from Palatka to
Sanford, we passed through orange groves.
some of them noted ones. AT De Sofa is the
famous grove of Maj. Geo. III. Norris. The
grove consists of 200 acres, and contains IL 900
OF rather would had it not been for the
frost. There is no question but that the frost
did immense damage to the orange trees in
Florida, but the people are sensitive in talk
ing about it as if you We're accusing them of
having the itch. | know one gentleman who
had 5000 boxes of oranges on his trees. 900
he shipped before the frost, and the other ,
600 froZe on the trees. Some trees are only
stripped of their leaves, Others have their ull-
per limbs frozen, while some are killed clear to
the roots. Not only are the orange trees dam
aged, but the pamcttoes. lemon and others,
and from what ! can learn, it will be some
years before the groves are in as good condi-
ton as before the freeze. The crop of oranges
for 1856 is estimated at from onc-third to one
half the average.
We had an hour at Sanford to look about and
get dinner. Sanford is called the Gate CITY
Bpf Florida. ! have not been able to understand
this gate city business in the SOUTH or to dis
cover why one city is any more Il gate city than
another. Sanford is quite thriving town. |
saw a tank there containing about two bushels
of little alligators, from no long to about eight
inches in length. What anybody wants pet
alligator for can't imagine. | would as soon
have the leprosy. Sanford has the Holly svs-
TEN of water works, but | did not learn how
it was fixed for base ball clubs, which is of
much more importance.
| have mentioned about the South being the
land of flowers, which is not entirely an oriri-
nal remark, by the way. 1t was amusing to me,
to see the way Mrs. George" would Get load
ed down with flowers. Every one she was in
troduced to, on learning this was her first visit
South, would send her a huge bunch of magno-
liza blossoms. A blossom is about as BIG as a
good sized straw hat, and | invested in wheel
barrow to wheel her bouquets around in, as |
could not begin to carry them. The flower
that mashed me was the Cape jasmine |