San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-09-04

They were crackers That is the name
which one native Floridian applies to other
native Floridians whom he does not like.
They had orange groves, to be sure, but
they did not seem to be growing rich on
their crops. This | attributed to their
shiftless method of agriculture. Instead
of clearing their land of the big pine trees
that numbered it they merely girdled the
trees and left them standing, dead and
bare, u constant menace to paSsers by and to
the young orange trees which were planted
among their roots, as well as an eyesore on
the landscape.
CLEARING UP.
~ determined to cut my trees down in
the good old New England fashion, clear
the land thoroughly and raise vegetables
between the rows of orange trees till they
were old enough 70 bean a golden harvest.
First | set to work on the underbrush, and
then came my first experience with pal
metto roots.
"Well, by the time | had two acres of
palmetto roots pulled out and a wilder
ness Of big trees down on top of them my
back was almost broken, my ready money
all gone and no prospect of "a crop in sight.
| had come down in the early fall and now
it was about Christmas. The season had
been a pretty dry one, and the legs looked
so full of sap that l thought they would
burn, though too green to burn fast. So |
set them on fire.
'"That was the most disastrous fire | ever
lit. forgot that the sap of these trees was
mostly resin. The way the flame crept
along through that mass of underbrush
and leaped up every resinOus pine tree it
met was terrific. | fought it as long as |
could move a limb and then dropped, ex-
hausted and despairing, and watched it
roar oil through the woods like an evil
spirit that | had raised and was powerless
to control. 1t was shutdown when | gave
uD the fight and | could do nothing more
that night.
The exhaustion made me sleep far into
the next day, and ! was awakened a little
after noon by loud knocks on my door.
Opening it, | was confronted by five or six
big, rough men. all armed with shOtguns
and with an OminOus look on their faces.
They strobe into my cabin and shut the
door behind them.
Stranger said the spokesman gruf1y,
You haveStarted a fire here in your darned
Yankee ignorance of farmin', and all the
good ye've lone is to burn the rawsun and
VIC JAIN Val q - VI SlSCh NaSCS' NHu nv"
you've got Il lot of black logs on yer hands
that are Il deTned sight meaner to handle
than ever. But Yer derned fire has spread
into the groves of yer neighbors, where the
dead trees were still ~a-standin', and they
nave been burned to the ground, rs any
body but a natural born fool might "a
knOwcd they would, and our orange trees
is ruined with them. Such varmint as you
isn't fit TO live in this country. Say yer
prayers, mister, for we're going to plant
you before we 90 back
CLEARING OUT.
81 was terribly frightened, for | could
see they were in dead earnest. My teeth
began to chatter, but a bright thought
struck me. | had deposited some money
in a bank ut Jacksonville on my way down,
and hHd a check book with some blank
checks left in it, though the money had all
been drawn out long ago.
"'Grutlemen.' | said, L am clearing this
place for a northern syndicate. who are
going TO make extensive plantations here,
and | can DRY YOU on the spot for YOUR
losses. caused bv my ignorance of Florida
forests and | assure Won that such a thing
will not hammer ayain' With this | whip
ned ONT my check book. took up a pencil
and preDarpd 70 write with as much show
of confidence as I could muster undo the
circu.istaDces
81 had been nrettv free with the five or
siv hupdro 6o6Ilars 7 had hrougbt down