The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-02-22
The Florida Boom.

Tho bottom appears to be dropping out
of the Southern California boom. Neither
immigrants nor tourists are going there in
such numbers this winter as they did last.
Florida is the State toward which the faces
of tourists are turned this winter. The
number of her visitors thus far this year
is greater than that of any previous year,
and there is no doubt that it viii continue
to increase each year. Her attractions as
winter resort are greater than those of any
other State, and the appreciation of them
is steadily growing
The Ithaca, n. Y, Journal of a late date
prints rather amusing letter from Walter
q. Smith, an eX member of the Legislature
Of that State who is now IN Southern Cali
fornia. Mr. Smith, month or 50 ago, was
lured to Southern California by the reports
of fortunes TO be made there in real estate. He
also desired to spend winter in the alleged
magnificent climate of that section of coun-
try This is his letter: "lf you are max
ing living in the State of New York
curb your nomadic impulses and stay there
1t is Gods own country. You do not APP
preciate that fact as well as | do sitting
among the sand hills and disputing a right
to them with the fieas; sitting here amid
frosts and rain and cold and heat, and look
ing forward to eight months of drouth. 1t
may seem little enough to you, but as for
us, we want to see the grand procession of
the Eastern seasons-the snowbanks of
winter, the Frightening bloom of spring
the rich garniture of summer, the scarlet
and gold of autumn. We want to see a
stream of fresh water and a well of the
same. We want to see silk hats and short
hair. We want something good to eat, and
to be where we can find decent home to
live in for less than $50 month"
If Mr.. Smith had come to Southern Geor-
gia, or gone to Florida, he would have
written very different letter. He would
have invited his friends to sell out their pos
sessions in New York and join him. He
would have told them that while they could
not make fortunes in a year, they could
easily find places where they could earn a
living at once, with fair prospect of ac-
cumulating competency within reason
able time by the exercise of industry and
intelligence.
Florida, and all the coast country of
Georgia, South and North Carolina are
bound IN the course of years to become
thickly covered with gardens, from which
the supply Of early fruits and vegetables
and oranges for the great Northern cities
will be drawn. Fast trains and swift
steamers have brought New York and this
part of the South in such close connection
that the best products of Southern orchards
and farms can be put into Northern and
Western cities without losing their fresh
ness These cities are now the markets of
this part of the South, and as they are grow
ing markets there is no reason to fear that
the supply will exceed the demand, however
great the supply may be.
Now is the time for the young men of the
North to seek homes in this part of the
South. Lands are cheap, but they will not
remain so long The oemand for them is
pushing the price of them up. 1t will not
be long before they will command as much
as the lands of the truck farmers of New
Jersey.
What Inducements are there for New
Englanders and Middle States people to seek
homes i'll either drought-cursed Arizona and
California, or blizzard-killing Montana and
Dakotas In Southern Georgia and in Flori-
da they can find all the conditions that are
necessary to secure health, happiness and
comfortable homes. If they are wise they
will seek the South, not the West