The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-08-26
THE ROMANCE OF A ROSE.
A Florida Flower That Was Fed
ON Human Blood
One of the Mysteries of Nature Account
ed for In . Singular Manner
by Melancholy uis-
tory.

In the western part OF JEFFERSON couD-
| ty, Florida, grows and blossoms into
curious and magnificent b y rose
that seems to be indigenous > a small
area of country, but will not ~snrish in
| any other latitude. The bus = strong
and vigorous and the leave are very
light but glossy green Thepg sals curve
slightly inward and are the color OF
bright arterial blood The odor is pun
gent and slightly sickening, fasoinal-
| ing, and yet unpleasant to marked de-
gree. The popularity of the rose is
that the dew that drops therefrom is OF
faint, pinkish cast, a marvel seen IN
no other flower, the battling wonder OF
those who have witnessed IL 1t is
called the Grant rose. and ii has sad
and melancholy history, which is told
in the San Francisco Call. It's origin is
one of the mysteries with ". :atr-e
at times delights to astopish her wo.a-
dering devotees-
In 1884 John Grant and Nellie Lowry
| were married. Soon after they selected
as their future home farm in Jeffer-
son county, near the Aucella river, and
in the spring of 1885 a child was born
to them. Soon after that the Seminoles
went on the warpath. September so.
1885, was an unusually warm day, and
young Grant, having business at the
county store, delayed his trip until the
cool of the evening, when he mounted
his horse and started off, expecting to
return at about a. N. He kissed his
hand to his wife and the Growing baby
as he rode away. Six miles from homo
his horse stopped with q quick snort of
fear and turned so violently that he
was almost unseated. Supposing that
it had been excited by some shadow Of
bush or brier, he urged it on, but .
clump of underground near him became
alive. and. after sharp, ringing sound
and a puff of smoke, his horse, shot
through the heart, trembled and fell
under him. Before he had time to ex-
tricate himself the red fiends, with a
warwhoop of fendish triumph, were
upon him His scalp was taken by
savage and his warm body flung into
the river.
One o'clock came and the young wife
in the cabin put aside her sewing and
listened intently for footsteps The
night had become very dark. The
moon was hidden behind bank OF
dense clouds, and whisper of rain was
in the atmosphere. The yellow hound
became restless and whined as he
shifted the air. Another hour passed
and she was about to go 10 the door
when yell blanched her cheek. For
moment she stood helpless and trem-
bling, then, clasping her child, she
raised loose plank from the floor,
dropped through 20 the ground and
crept into the woods. Soon afterward
she saw the glare of the burning cabin.
Her fight was discovered and she was
overtaken about two miles from home.
Two days afterward a party of hunters
found the mother and babe and buried
them. Near by little pool of blood
had collected and had not been abb
sorbed by the soil. In the spring the
husband and father was found en-
tangled in roots at the bottom of the
river.
A few years later hunter, one of the
party that had found the bodies, hap
pened TO be in the same locality. and
on the spot where the blood had gath
cred he saw a vigorous bush bearing
the rose that hes been described He
cut some slips from it and took them
to the settlement, where he related his
discovery. Such romantic and singu-
lar story excited the curiosity of many
in the adjacent counties. and repeated
efforts were made to secure a growth
of the slips in other places, but failed
of success. Within an area Of five miles
from the scene of the tragedy, it is said.
the rose can be found, with its tall and
sturdy stock, its pale green leaves, its
incurred crimson petals and its bloody
dew.