Smyrna times., 1893-04-26
WIN. B. SHARP & CO..
Fourth and Market Sts.,
Wilmington, Delaware,
UNDER The COCOANUTS.
THE STORY OF LAKE WORTH-ITs
GROWTH AND IMPROVEMENTS.


Away back during the sixties wber
the North and South were trying t.
settle little controversy by ratbeI
extravagant use of gunpowder anC
loud talk, man whom the Southern
Confederacy had rather insisted sbouIf
go out with a gun and help get shot tC
save his country, but who considered
army life unhealthy at any time o.
year, wandered down to this part OF
Florida in search of a secluded spot
where he might be free from the mans.
eating smell of the burning gunpowder
and the evil effects of commissarv
whiskey.
He found the spot he was looking
for right here on Lake Worth and
settled down about the centre of tbe
beautiful hummOck between the lake
and the ocean. There was a settle.
ment down on Bay Biscayne, about
seventy miles to the south of him. but
these neighbOrs didn't call often tbe
walking being rather bad in places so
he had most all of this glorious climate
to himself, and at a much lower nrice
than we are paying for it now. He
was the hrst person who came here to
escape the bad effects of draft, and
the result was to his liking.
Tradition does not say whether this
man was happy or not, but as nobody
IN the county was trying to cultivate a
Voice, except the Seminoles. and thew
went tar into the woods to do it. we
ace led to believe he enjoyed extreme
contentment.
Inc crows who came to feast on the
fruit of the rubber trees, made mnsic
for him during the day, and the voice
OF the Atlantic lulIed him to sleen
during the night. At daybreak the
crows came again and called him mn
Being IN tune with nature her sounds
were sweet to his ears. He had heard
a grand opera once in a strange, for
eIgn, garlic-scented voice, and it had
taken him long time to recover
Inc crows were such a relief 10 him
now. nm
During his leisure, and he had con.
siderable leisure on his hands that ba
could not dispose of at a profit be
ramOled along the ocean beach. coliact-
ing shells and spoDges and odd seeds
Drought on the bosom of the gulf
One day he found several cocoanuts
and with the unselishness of a SAVAGE
without figuring out his future profits
ne TOOK these nuts to his canning
place and planted them. They spronted
grew, and long after the planter's de-
parture, produced fruit. They were
the first cocOanuts planted on the
shores of Lake Worth, and TO-DAY
near the home of Mrs. Mcdonald. thev
wave their graceful plumes perhans
sixty feet above the ground, a fitting
monument of an unselfsh act.
Time passed, as time has a wav Of
doing, the war closed, and the first
man who came to Lake Worth for his
health, disappeared, perhaps in search
OF clothing store, and never returned
to drink the milk from his own cocoa.
nuts. O0N0"
One day sailor bold came SAILING
up the lagoon between the lake and
and the ocean, over ground Derhans
where fruitful gardens now grow and
saying maybe, This is the land 7 lono
nave sought, and mOurned because I
couldn't get there" be went ashore
Liking the prospect and not caring
particularly about a daily mail. he
made himself house, and in due time
when the thing seemed worth the
trouble, took out government title to
100 acres of land, which today might
De considered good buy at $3.50 OOO.
he put his house near the cOcOanuts
inscribed the latitude and longitude
over the front door, which was ever n
hOspitable door, and lived long to epiov
the climate. This sailor man sleens
now under the cOooanuts, but his
vile still owns gOodly and valuable
slice of of the original homestead.
A little later few others came here
IN search of climate and land. and en-.
tered hOmesteads or bought lands from
the state at about a dollar an acre
This seemed high in those days but the |
climate was good, and early settlers |
felt they had to have it,
Then the fame of the climate went |
abroad and more came and saw and |
were caught by the indescribable
charms of this wOndrous Lake. which
the SeminOles believed to be enchanted
These pioneers were about seventy
miles from pOstOffice and more than a
hundred from a doctor, and thew had
to get there, if they got there at all. bv
means OF sailbOat. Sometimes thew
were so long gone after a barrel Of
Hour that they ate most of it before
tney got back, and there wasn't much
else TO eat but fish. But they were
always long on fish-fsh and climate.
When they tired of fish thev had
a0d when climate seemed to
grow monotonOus they went back to
fish. w
Things went on slowly at Lake
Worth for time, but the pioneers
were not at all idle. They gathered
seeds of tropical fruits from Kew West
and other quarters and did all thew
could to show the future visitor what
this soil and climate would produces
lot OF cOcOanuts hOated ashore from a
wrecked ship, and were gathered up
and planted, others were brought from
the Keys and very soon the Thousands
Of beautiful palms that now add so
much to the charm of Lake Worth
were growing with their tropical vigor
or several miles along the lake hum.
mock.
oranges, lemons, lines, guaVas, tam.
arlnds, avocado pears, mangoes, sapo.
illloes, sugar appleB, mRumes apples
ma other tropical fruit trees also
'prung up from the seeds planted by !
he pioneers, and the results of their
abors are here to-day to prove to ali
he country to the north of us. that
lere about Lake Worth Is a place I
where the freezes" come not and frost !
leither blights nor kills.
During January of 1886 there oc-
urred in Florida the most disastrous y
reeze in the history of the state.
Thousands of orange trees were killed !
0 the ground and far down inland in
'outh Florida, and on the west coast.
ropical growth of many years stand. :
ng was swept away in a single night.
Former frost lines were obliterated.
nd many declared that there was no
ropical spot In Florida. u
A few weeks after that great freeze n
party of Northern men were fishing
n the Indian river, among the number
Or. Il. X. Mccormick, when q sailboat ]
rom Jupiter, laden with banana, egg b
'lants, tomatoes, lettuce aud beans, put b
y at the dock. On making inquiry a
Or. Mccormick learned that these b
ender things had been grown on Lake
Worth, and at once decided that he o
panted to see region that could pro- &
uce such tender fruits and vegetables Il
uring the freezing weather that had
revailed in other parts of the state. n
1r. Mccormick, like all successful a
nan Qofa nnfoHlxr ord aLowkn.n | ~