The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1888-05-10
MILLIONS IN A HOTEL.
A VISIT TO THE WONDERFUL PAL
ACES OF FLORIDA.

Description of these Magnificent Estab-
lishments--Talks With the Proprietor OF
the Ponce do Leon and NIcazar.
Correspondence of the Atlanta Constitutton.)
ST.. AUGUSTINE, Fla, May 2.-There
were only four of us. And yet the party
represented sixty million dollars, not
counting me.
1t was on the "Oneida," Commodore
Benedict's famous yacht, from the upper
deck of which Thomas Bailey Aldrich
vomiting into the ocean, groaned with
watery eyes and pendulous rejected
contributions to the Atlantic" Behind
Ills lay st. Augustine, ancient and lazy.
TO the front the ocean doomed, the
white caps growing under westerly
wind. Over head flock Of pigeon, re-
minding one Of that other Venice, drifted
here and there, their wings breaking
against the sunshine of tho upper deep,
as the crisp waves broke two hundred
feet below.
But who made up the party thus COM
fortably ciroumstanced?
Let the writer rest under the nom de
plume which your journalist carries, as
the Spanish gallant carried his cloak--to
hide the rapier with which he went q
hating or the lutte with which he went O
loving. Let Mr.. T.. O. Benedict, prince
Of good fellows, rest after his cruise
through tropical seas, before he is put
through his PAGES in print. Let Mr.. II.
b. Plant, tremendous developer and
builder, prosecute his great work in
peace for while. 1t is with the fourth
member of the party that we have to do
at present.
And one of the most remarkable men
Of this day he is.
but not inert-gray eyes that gaze at
you unwinking from beneath steady lids
square and resolute jaws--a broad,
deep forehead-a fnely-shaped, we'll
poised head-a slow-motioned man, con-
veying the suggestion of repressed en-
ergies-soft-spoken and deliberate of
speecb--laughing low, but not infre-
quently-alert, but with the quiet watch
tulness Of the waiting eagle poised in the
blue-charming, in the deeper sense of
strength with kindliness-that is Henry
M. Flagler, the most talked of man in
this country for the past year-the build
or of Ponce dc Leon Hotel.
marvellous career has Mr.. Flagler
had
Briefly this. He left western New
York where he was born, a poor young
fellow and went into Ohio. There he
formed q partnership with Mr.. Rocka-
feller in the oil business. Through years
of struggle these two men carried their
business in Cleveland, until the partner
chip was merged into stock company,
the capital of which was 81, 900, 600.
Now watch the growth of this young
company under the management of
Messrs. Flagler a. Rockafeller. In 1872
the capital stock was increased to 81, 50O,-
000-two and half times the original
In 1873 to $500, 900 and in 1886 to
$40, 900, ,O00-seventy times the original
issue. This last stock is now selling at
ITS, making the cash value of the origi-
nel partnership SIP, 900. OF course,
! much of this stock has gone into other
hands, but the management has practi-
cally rested, from the first, with the
men who organized and built up the
business. Many outside Investments
have been made by the company. A
single Investment of $12,000,000 in
Michigan suggests the stupendous scope
of its operations. "The ''Standard Oil"
men, for so the company is named, have
uniformly hung together in their invest
ments. In the Ponce de Leon outlay
Mr.. Flagler is alone. 81 suppose" he
said, with quaint smile, 81 was the
only fool in the company-so am alone
in my investments here"
Now, let us see about that Investment!
Mr.. Flagler will have spent $4,000, 900
on the Hotel Alcazar and grounds when
he has finished This is etupendous, but
it gives him the finest hotel in the world.
General Sanford, who was minister to
Belgium, ana who has spent years on
the continent, says there is nothing in
Europe to approach it in beauty or
magnifcence. Mr.. II. b. Plant says:
"I have studied it closely, and it is
the greatest individual enterprise / have
any record of. 1t is amazing that any
man should have had the courage to
spend millions so lavishly in an old and
dead city"
Let me explain the investment. The
"Ponce de Leon" is tho hotel proper
the "Alcazar" is separate building
across the street. 1t was originally in
tended to hold the cafes, baths, bar
billiard rooms, tennis courts, etc, fol
the great hotel, but it has outgrown its
original design. The Ponce de Leon has
been open for the winter, the Alcazar il
not yet finished. The Ponce dc Leo1
cost about 50, ,500,0 600; the Alcazar vii
The Ponce de Leon has been repeat
edly described. 1t is q hotel for the
accommodation of 800 to 1000 guests
with q court of several acres enclosed by
wings having two rows of rooms, q cen
trail hall, and immense brick piazzf
Why's, covered. 1t has immense Moorish
Rateways for entrances. Over 1926, 00(
was spent in decorating the walls anG
ceilings Of the rotunda and dining room
and $I7, 900 was spent for one mantle
piece alone. The splendor of the hote
has been the. wonder of the world for {
season.
But the Alcazar will outstrip it il
beauty and elegance. The Alcazar cover
twenty eight acres of ground. You ap
proaoh it from broad asphalt streets. l
is fronted by on open garden, through
which runs walks as smooth as marble
turned at the sides with white copings
Within these copings arc flower-beds o
indescribable richness. In the oentra
walks are enormous marble basins from
which rise fountains with counties
-. sprays and jets. This garden cover
three or four acres, and is simply