The Portland daily press., 1893-12-23
FLORIDA IN WINTER.
somothing About New Smyrna and its
Surroundings,
Correspondence of the Press.l

lOoiJcSpOH06HC0 Oh tl0 FreSS.l
New Smyrna, Fla, Dec.1s. -This.is a
paradise for hunters and fishermen. and
one OF the most picturesquely beautiful
regions that can be found in the whole
United States. There is nothing grand
about the Florida scenery-nothing
which is awe-inspiring, and dwarfs the
man in the presence of majestic Nature,
and for this reason all lovers of nature
love the east coast scenerytof 'Florida.
There are no hills here-leastwise
people from rugged New England, or
from where the face of Nature has less
of sameness to it, would never dignity
these little humps which are met with
hereabouts with the name of @hills. !"
And am reminded in this connection
that well-known naturalist, Mr.. Brad
ford Torrey, has been moved to say
something very appropriate about this
charming stretch of coast-country,
which is attracting SO many of the leis-
urely class of Americans in winter, and
SO many ambitious farmers and fruit
growers as all-the -year-round residents.
In his article Along the Hillsborough"
in the November Atlantic Monthly Mr..
Torrey writes most. entertainingly of the
Shell mounds and of the possibility of
there being mountain range here some
day formed of the oyster shells to be
deposited by the new denizens instead
of the Indiana-and he adds:
Meanwhile it is long time to wait,
and tourists and residents alike must find
what comfort they can in the lesser hills
which, thanks to the good appetites of
their predecessors, are already theirs.
For my own part there is one such emf
nence of which cherish the imostsg CRATE
full recollections. 1t stands or stood
the road-makers had begun carting it
away-at bend in the road just south
of one of the Thumb bull canals. climbed
it often lit can hardly be less than is or
20 feet above the level of the sea) and
spent more than one pleasant hour upon
its grassy summit. Northward was New
Smyrna, a village IN the woods, and
farther away toward the lighthouse of
Mosquito Inlet. Along the eastern sky
stretched the long lines of the peninsula
i
which could be seen the rude cottages of
Coronado Beach To the south and west
were the forests. and in front, at my feet
lay the river with it's woody islands.
Many time have climbed mountain
and felt myself abundantly repaid by an
of-look less beautiful. This was the
spot to which l turned when had been
reading Keats and wanted to, see the
beauty of the world. Here were grassy
seat, the shadow Of orange trees and a
wide prospect. In all Florida l found
no better place in which a man who
wished to be both a naturalist and
nature-lover, who felt himself heir to
double inheritance. The clear eyes
mofety and the clear hearts past could
for the time sit still and be happy
1.-THE orange trees yielded other things
beside shadow-though perhaps nothing
better than that. They were resplendent
with fruit, and on my earlier visits were
also in bloom. One did not need to
climb the hill to learn that fact. For an
out-of-door sweetness it would be nard,
I think, to improve upon the scent of
orange blossoms"
J / have never had the quiet loneliness
pf the Florida east coast more truthfuIly
described than in this little pen picture
BY Mr.. Torrey. 1t is the quiet loneliness
that furnishes half the attraction which
this section possesses. The rail road
which Mr.. II. N. Flagler of New York is
building southwark along the Hills
borough and the Indian river and into
the heart of the Lake Worth country
opens it to the thousands of people who
never visited it before, for transportation
facilities until quite recently had been
entirely lacking or else very Indifferent.
In the near future fortunes win be made
by hundreds of Northerners and Western
ers who will come here to engage in the
pineapple industry, and already the
number of wealthy New Workers and
Others who own land and occupy winter
villas on the east coast is rapidly increas-
ing. Mr.. Washington e. Conner, of New
York owns a beautiful house here. where
he entertains most delightfully."- for three
months of the year.
This fashion for winter homes in
Florida is growing daily. People of
means and quiet tastes find everythi
congenial hereto say nothing OF the
scenery or the superb climate-and in
the course of the next five years the
whole stretch of coast country from
Ormond to Bay Bisayun will not only
possess succession of wonderfully fine
hotels, but hundreds of picturesque
villas and stately residences-and it
will then more than ever merit its
new name of the American Riviera.
FWH