St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-12-15
ROMANCE AND REALITY.
De S0T0 DID DISCOVER WHAT PONCE
De LEON SOUGHT.
DE sore CELEBRATION.

The Famous Fountain of Perpet-
ual Youth Is Said to Be in Ar
kansas-Coid Facts and In
dian Traditions-What a Chat
at the Holland House Recently
Led to.
There was party of gentlemen
seated the other evening in the cafe of
the Holland house, New York, among
whom the conversation turned upon the
recent Columbian celebration in this
city and the extraordinary number of
totally dissimilar pictures of the great
explorer that were put on view during
the festivities.
81 suppose" said one of the gentle
men present. "when we get ready to
honor the discoyerer Of the great Mis-
sissippi by grand celebration in COM
memoration of his achievement, WE'LL
have all the old pictures of Shakespeare
trotted out as likenesses of De 500,
and yet have in my possession copy
OF what believe to be the only orig
iual and authentic portrait of De Soto"
81 should like very much to see it,"
said another member of the party, ''for
l fatter myself that
THE BEST PICTURE
of De Soto in existence today Is the
one from which reproduction was
recently made to illustrate handsome
book on the Hot Springs of Arkansas"
The latter speaker was Mr.. 81. G.
Townsend, general passenger and
ticket agent of the Missouri Pacific
railway, who makes his headquarters
at the Holland when in New York.
The mention of the Hot Springs
seemed to open well of "reminiscences
among all the members of the party.
"Never'll forget" said a gray-bearded
and miiitary-looking member of the
group, 1.-The first time l went to the
Springs. 1t was just after the war, and
the rheumatism had caught me where [
should hate to have been caught before
the war eDded-in the back. 1t seemed
to get into my spine, and fourteen
feather pillows couldn't make me COM
Portable. When / got to Little Rock !
was two-thirds dead man, but man
aged to get into the old coach and then
well, then learned more about hades
than
BOB INGERSoLL
will ever know, at least, in this life.
Of all the rough roads and Of all stiffest
wagon springs commend me to the
memories of that sride over the mount
aims from Little Rock to Hot Springs.
How lived | don't know, but l re-
member when they lifted me out of the
stage and suggested that should take
hot oft Il nclvo
didn't think they could dispense with
the bathing and bury me right off,
This story recalled many others. For
enjoying yarns well told a group of
graduates from the Hot Springs is hard
to equal. To the writer, who had never
visited the spot, the conversation was
particularly entertaining. and as the
party broke up he drew Mr.. Townsend,
who seemed to have been accepted by
the others as an authority upon all
matters pertaining to the Springs of to-
day, aside, and put him through the
process OF an interview.
'There is no doubt about it, said
Mr. Townsend, "that In the old days
the journey
TO HOT SPRINGS,
especially by rheumatic patients, was
only little short of the agony of being
f1ayed alive.
You would scarcely believe what
difference few years have made in the
improvements of facilities for getting
there. of course. this had to come.
When little parties grew into crowds
from all over the country-from all over
the world, in fact, for the Springs are
something of natural curiosity they
had to be accommodated. To get to the
Hot Springs in the early days you had
first to go to Little Rock, and then get
over the mountains, drive of sixty
miles. The roads are bad enough today
something like the bed of dry creek
in many place s-but then they were
worse, and you can imagine the relief
of the jogged-to-death seeker after
health when the old coach descended
the last ridge of the Ozarks and he saw
In the narrow ravine beneath him the
spot he had been SO long making for.
Imagine heavy man, tortured with
| rheumatism, being ratified over those
| rocky mountain roads, the worst, be-
lieve they were, to be found
IN THE COUNTRY.
To-day you get into comfortable
| sleeping car at st. Louis, and next
| morning, by way of short branch road
| from Malvern, on the Iron Mountain
road, you are at Hot Springs. There
AufC, dloO, OCCu
made at the Springs. Where, years
ago, stood log cabins for the accom-
mediation of patients there are now
many fine hotels, among then the Park,
| the Eastman ana the Arlington, which
| are as fine as any in the country. There
| is no comfort or luxury that you cannot
obtain now In a modern Hot Springs
hotel, and there are sufficient num-
Der of them to accommodate ten thou
sand people.
''If you are interested in the subject
OF early explorations, and of the old
| legends which cling around that rugged,
but wonderfully picturesque, country"
said Mr.. Townsend, as he arose to 90,
Il can furnish you with the data for
story that should be especially timely
in these Columbian days. Although
| Ponce de Leon failed to find his Wouder-
| full
FOUNTAIN OF LIFE,
the task was. in a great measure, at
| least in the estimation of thousands
upon thousands of people, successfully
| performed by his successor, De Soto, in
his discovery of the healing waters of
the Hot Springs of Arkansas. PIl send
| you some material and some illustra-
tions tomorrow which should make an
article well worth reading"
| 1t Is from this material that the fol-
lowing history is written.
| Fernandino de Soto. the discoverer of
the Mississippi, came to this country
some twenty-siX years after Juan Ponce
de Leon ended his fateful quest De Leon
is said to have accompanied Columbus
on his second voyage, 1893; but modern
historians are disposed to question this,
and say that his first voyage to the New
| World was with Nicholas de Olando In
| 1902. AS reward for his services he
was made general of Porto Rico. and
while there heard marvellous tales of
land which lay far to the north and
west. where not only gold and precious
stones were found in abundance, but,
hidden away in the deep recesses of
mountain and forest, crystal spring
| burst forth, and whatsoever drank of this
stream would receive the priceless
| oif Of