Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-01-18
A FLoURIsHING FLoRIpA cIrY.
The Central Railroad Eject of the Cold
Snap ON the Orange Trees-Alachua
County's Resources Gainesviite'E
schools and NJ erehAnts, Statistics. Etc.

/ correspondent journey "a from MdCpu y
Savannah over that pioneer Of Georgis
. railroads, the old Central and, as usual
! everything moved with the precision anc
regularity of cl0ckwork. One veteran
/ pa senger called attention to the remark
able smOcrhuess Of The track and the con
sequent absence Of all j0ltiny Alhei'
gong az a speed Of IS miles per nUur
. unless viewing passing Obi cts without
( the motion seemed almost impercepiib.e
Never has the Central, which has done g.
much o. develop the material Interests al
the commonw wealth, been better managed
than at present.
AT SAVANNAH WE WERE QUICKLY CON.
NENED
70 the ~creveu mousse which was found Ia
be al that II is represented. tvs Just as
good d hoLel as is to be found anywhere IN
the south.
AT an early hour in the morning the
writer left tor Florida on the savannah,
Florida and Western railway. NotWitH-
landing the uni V0rablC condition OF the
track, caused 10y the extreme cold
veal her, the tram made excellent time.
The Florida and Georgia people have rea-
son 10 be proud of this magnificent road.
When about forty miles from Gaines
vile the train was brought an all stand
ing by the swapping OF brittle rail,
winch threw OFF the tender Of the engine
at III ut angles 10 the track, without dis
placing any OF the coaches. A long and
tedious delay was the result, and il was
not until a. m. that We reached Gaines
vile, where quarters were found at the
Holel ROchemont.
The Rochemont has recently been en-
larged, and is now the most capacious
hotel IN Gainesville, and Inc peer OF any
OF them.
The morning after my arrival while sit
ting around the fire in the fbce with a
crow d OF ''drummePs," one OF them from
away down "EasU deserted a number Of
buZzards perche upon the chimney tons
ot he adjacent houses and asked what
they We're. A wag replied, ''they are the
town seavengers, ana have stopped work
10 warm themselves. The : ank bounced
out of mis- chair, with the exclamation :
Now have got something 10 write to
the home folks"
EFFECT or THE COLD UPON THE ORANGE
TREES.
Your readers have already been posted.
by wire and otherwise, as 10 the mad
freaks of the mercury in this erstwhile
sunny land. In two instances it Is
claimed 10 have fallen to II deg. above
zero in this place, but 10 dec. is the gen
orally accredited lowest figure.
The fate Of the old trees eth remains in
doubt. d cannot be decided until a gem
eral tDaw sets in. The nurseries and
young groves are conceded to be dead.
When the trees cast their leaves it is re-
garded as an effort OF nature TO recover
rom the asphiXiatiOn caust by the cold
but when t0ey wither and hang on the in
Jury ls deemed fatal. The writer visited
the extensive grove OF Col. J.. A. Barnes
this afternoon dan. "a and found all the
nurseries and year-Oiu stocks perfectly
dead. The old trees, d. ia thought, for the
most part, viii recover. though tney will
lose their leaves and tender wigs. A few
DAYS will tell the whole story All the
frult ungathercd is a total loss. Already
it is in a soft and faced condition. The
thermometer at this writing, 9 p. m,
marks over so deg, and the frost Is rapidly
dlssolving: but the last five days will long
be remembered in the annals OF Florida.
GAINESVILLE.
This handsome little city is pleasantly
situated on a dry and elevated PLAN,
and claims a population OF 1000 souls.
Il is the capital OF AlacuUa, which IS the
richest and most thickly settled county
in the stale. Il is also Que OF the largest
geographical divisions, containing DO less
than 1899 square miles and 26, 100 inhabi-
tauts. The shipments OF vegetables
amount TO 300. 900 packages annually.
Welding net return of At least ST each.
They embrace potatoes, CaUbages, beans,
tomatoes, squashes and cucumbers.
There are 200 orange groves il the county,
covering an area OF 1000 acres, many of
them in full bearing. iHe taxable values.
we learn from the geutemaulY collector,
ii. &. Denton, Esq, foot up So. 25O. 600,
which is not more than half of the actual
worth of the property. The soil Is fertile
and diversified, large proportion being
rich hammock, while much Of The pine
land has a good clay foundation and is
very productive Cotton, corn. rice, sugar
cane and oats thrive luXuriantly, and this
is claimed to be the garden spot OF Florida
Gainesville is noted for its enterprise.
and boasts court house, erected by Mr.
Il. J. Campbell, at cost, with the ele-
giant furniture, of $62,0 600. II is a model
of beauty and convenience, and is built
after the Renaissance style. The court
room and auditorium will accommodate
near Loco spectators, and is elegantly
fitted up.
Gainesville contains nine churches
four white and five cOlored-one bank
with ample capital, four hotels. promi-
nent among which are the R0chemOnt,
Alachua. Arlington and oliver houses.
- boarding houses, and "a places of busi-
ness. One greatiactor for good is the
DAILY NEWS,
under the editorial charge OF Messrs.
White and McCreary TO whom the writer
is indebted for MANY COurte- Ies. They
also on Dlish a valuable weekly called the
ddtoC0t1.
Twelve lawyers champion the cause
OF Justice, and tour physicians look after
the ailments 90 the people. Among the
legal firms that Of Messrs. Ashley. scott
& EErasner is deservedls prominent. Mr.
W. L. DunsOn is also promising Young
barrister, and Judge Bell is wei known
IN the state. The pride Of the town 5 the
EAST FLORIDA SEMINAR.
state institution, which is also a mill
itarv school. About 800 pupils are IN at
te dance Tine writer witnessed drll
o. tue cHdcfs under the command of lieut..
keruau, a W est PuiHter. who has been
detached from the army to instruct the
young men lu military tactics. The eyn-
iutons, manual and marching. were
highly creditabie tO the instructor ami his
Young soldiers. The lieutenant is a
native OF Florida aud an accomplished
officer.
system OF public schools is m opera
ton here and several private institutions.
Three railroads centre ia Gainesville. aud
the town contains many handsome stores
and solid mercantile establishments.
Among these we recall the following: n.
r. Dutton a. CO., bankers and cotton fac
tors, handle one-hith OF the sea island