The Newtown bee., 1890-01-31
VISIONS OF FLORIDA.

IS hours Dy steamer OGaIe ol IcAas oA the Mallory line, we entered the port of Brunswick, Ga. Except for few squalls experienced off Cape Hatteras, we had continued smooth sailing. None of the gentlemen and only two of the ladies on board were seasick.
 Brunswick is good town to stop in, one day. It is one of the oldest towns in the State, but boom has taken hold of it and it has grown from 5000 to l20o0 population in the past five. years, large per cent. of whom are negroes 1t has nearly all the modern Improvements, on poor scale; electric lights, gas, horse cars (drawn by mules), telephone, etc. Two of the largest cotton congresses in the world are located here. Its chief and principal business is shipping vast quan- titles of freight, principally rosn, cotton and lumber. Thousands of barrels of rosin and hundreds of bales of cotton are on the docks awaiting transportation; l over 130, ,000 bales of cotton were ham dled, last year. The longshoremen are all negroes. The work is all done by ! them, as a white man would scorn to be seen working with them. They are used i for everything, foremen, clerks, car drivers, etc. The town is overrun with young men looking for positions, worse than any of the cities at the North. Still there is d call for competent young men for various positions of trust. The chief attraction of the place is the Oglethorpe, one of the largest and most beautiful hotels in the South. It is con- structed of brick, three stories high. The main building has frontage of 267 feet, with wings at both ends extending back l40 feet. Alohg the front is d wide porch, atfording a covered promenade 240 feet in length. The building is cap ped by graceful towers ill the center and at the corners, adding greatly to it's 1 beauty. Between the wings, the open 1 space toward the water front forms small park, in the center of which is handsome fountain. There arc, also, two pretty fountains on the neat lawn on either side of the entrance walk. With in, the large rotunda and railways are tiled with marble, while the mantels which adorn the parlor, reception room and some of the finer apartments are gen uine works of art of carved wood highly | finished. The dining room has d capac- ity for comfortably seating 300 guests. There are no back rooms, each one faces the street or overlooks the harbor An artesiau we'll 100 feet deep supplies the i hotel at the rate ot 375 gallons of water per minute, if necessary. raised by du- pleX pump. The place is doing no busi- ness, this Winter, and they told me that they did very little, last season. When it was first built, they had to refuse 80 and GO applications day. It is an ele- gant structure, owned by a stock con- pgny, but is on the decline and the stock, I am told, can be bought at 9.
 We passed, just northerly from Bruns-
 wick, near the coast, St. Simon's island, called one of the greatest garden truck producing places in the world. South from St. Simon's Jekyl island, famous as the location of one Of the finest club houses in the country. It is owned by
 
 to be plentiful with game, as the general public is not allowed to hunt on it's bor- ders.
 Leaving Brunswick, it was only six
 hours sail to Fernandina. After week s
 stay in Florida, am satisfied that it is
 one of the most misrepresented and most wilfuliy lied about place of any State in the Union. Fernandina is desolate,
 lonesome place and any one who lives
 there deserves to lead the life of her
 init. I only staid there long enough to
 skip through the town. The climate has
 also been much misrepresented. It is
 true, it is warm and mild, but sultry and
 oppressive in the middle of the day, yet
 at evening and night, it is very damp, so
 much so that, if one is out for any length of time, the dampness will almost pene-
 trate to the skin. Florida is suffering at
 present from protracted drouth, no
 rain of any account having fallen since = September and consequently, everything
 is very dry and dusty. Several forest fires have occurred lately, burning over large tracts of land.
 . Florida is thing of the past. The on r ly beauty is it's orange groves and flow - CTS. Roses may lie seen in full bloom al
 most anywhere where they are cultivat
 ed. Nothing else of any value can bt . grown here, except few early vege
 tables like strawberries, peas, etc., plen ty of which are now ill the market
 Strawberries are selling for only 35c e quart.
 a aeksonville is one of the most immor h al and wicked cities for it's size in tn
 United States. It is infested with crooks
 black legs and prostitutes. The ncgroe ' prize their character It nominal sum Nearly every night for the past week
 several robberies have been reported
 Only six dwelling houses were reported
 broken into, last night and booty to tn
 value of $25 to S400 was taken. One 0 : the houses entered was policcman's {. from which they stole his uniform, clu $ and silver watch, while he was sleep y ing. St. James, thee largest hotel, wa !, gone through, Tuesday night, and larg if amount secured. The police are yer l. slow and care more to capture q coo ? that has stolen a chicken than to secur !, !, a burglar.
 !: Jacksonville is principally Il city ofhe ,; tels and boarding houses, Of which th ,e St. James and Windsor are the larges !, and finest. The St. James has beaut a- ful little park in front, crossed here an i'd there with concrete walks with lare . k .a- |: fountain in the center and, on all side <, are beautiful orange trees loaded wit If ripe fruit, making a beautiful picture ! CT night under the glare of the electr e light There are over 90 (called fir = D class) hotels and as many as 300 boar, ks ing houses ill the place, which depel