The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1886-08-21
\ Hriet Description 1T the Surround
ing Country. Nam Industries. His
toricaI Remains, aud no Place Like
the Gem City.

lIu1EE tATuOSA,
Fore Myers, Fla, Aug. II.
special Correspondence PALATKA NEWS
presume there are but few " your
readers who have not heard Of Fort Ny.
crs. and will venture To say not one in
ten who have heard Of the place have
any thing like correct idea of its topo-
graphical situation.
The prevailing ilea If tina, all the land
south II the Caloosal.atcllcc river, and
letWt,t he Everglades and the Gulf, il
mostly ! y, Hat lan,l, and but littl. Of it
tit for cultivation. Bat such is not the
fact. From 'unta Rassa, at the mouth
of the Caloosohatch,e, to this place,
distance of eighteen miles, the right or
south side Of the river Is IA Hat pine
woods, similar to the low pine land in
the vicinity of palatka. Though low,
there il sufficient elevation for good
drainage and thus. as tar as | can learn,
seems To lg the general character Of the
land over the entire peninsula between
the Gulf and Everglades. From here to
Key West, one hundred miles south. inst
what the resources OF this section of
country ARE, either from an agricultural
or genealogical standpoint, IL rather hard
to determine, rs owing to the distance
from all markets ther. has never been
any stimulus to test or develop any Ger.
tam industry. Cattle raising has been
the man source Of revenue upon which
the country could depend, hut even that
is fast falling oil, as the rapid extension
| Of railroads over the whole country has
given outlets to sections Of grazing conn
try that furnish "A better grade Of bs
cattle, consequently large tracts Of thus
portion Of the State now held for lraH.
my purposes, are available for such pro-
luctions as are best suited to lts location
climate, etc. This would include "A very
large per cent of the more tender fruits
which cannot he successfully grown far
Their north.
The riNer at this point is one and a half
miles wide, and for "A distance Of some
three hundred yards from the shore quite
shallow, making it necessary to build
docks some four hundred yards into the
river to secure a sufficient depth Of wa.
ter for large SIZED vessels. The streets Of
the town are run parallel with the river,
with many fine Residences in fact. II
larger proportion than any Of its size that
have found in the state
Although three hundred mllrs south of
falatka, have not yet found the frost
line None of the citrus family seem
10 have suffered very materially from
the last severe winter but cocuanut,
mango guava, in fact all the more ten.
der fruit trees, uro more or less in lnred
Some killed to the ground, but mostly
they viii come up from the roots again,
ST. that by another season they will again
h. in hearing.
Prof. Edison has Il fine tract Of land "A
short distance below the town, on which
he has erected a tine residence and quite
large laboratory where. during the
winter he can. away from the noise ana
turmoil of the great city, dive deeper
into the great mysteries of electricity.
spent several hours very pleasantly
with Mr. Thompson. the Professor
head man." whom find to le quite Il
social and entertaining gentleman. There
are many things of historical interest t,
be- found here, among which is dat,
, palm planted by ten. Hancock during
the Indian war. The old government
commissary building. /, large stone cis
tern. built by the government. and III,
building IN which Gen. Hancock had III,
, headquarters besides man, other thing,
. that would occupy too much space &,
, mention. Md lastly. as to the people
and | believe have got acquainted witt
, nearly ever, body in town. | can trul,
say that they. III IA very marked degree
carry the characteristic If the true
southern people for | eau truly say thai
Il more social wholesotiled set Of folk.
, it would hc hard to find and it is wit
. sincere regret that leave them.
, But kind reader do not for IA momcI
: suppose that this pleasant little towL
, nor its kind people. can win my allie
+ glance from Palatka. my adopted hon,
for can find in all my travels and WA
behring's through the state, no place
, compare with the item Ity.
r MNNuuIn.