The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-05-03
A NEW ENGLAND PICNIC.
The New England Society Of Florida
at DeLeOn Springs.

- NNNNVh OPAlhSJ'
The Remarkable Dry Spell of Weather.
Fruits and Vegetables Suffering.
The Winter Visitors About All
Gone - The Plant SYSTEMS New
Lines.
De Leon Springs, Fla, May This
noted and popular picnic resort has
sWarmed with the sons and daughters of
New England and their invited guests
to-day to enjoy regular old fashioned
New England May day picnic under the
halmier sun of our more genial spring
climate. This society usually INDUCES
IN an annual dinner at some popular first
class Florida hotel-last winter at the
San Juan, in Orlando, and the winter be-
fore at the Seminole, in Winter Park,
but this year it changed the programme
to a rural picnic or basket dinner at this
favorite retreat.
President Dudley w. Adams, of Tan
gerlne, WHO'S also the honored president
OF the Florida State Horticultural Society,
and one Of theleading fruit growersrof the
south, is Just the man to make a picnic Of
this kind success, and with his hand
some and efficient director, Capt. George
H. ternald, of Sanford, be has given the
society day of rare enjoyment in the
woods. Director E. r. Sperry and Al
derman William Smith, of Orlando, have
also rendered good services, while Mrs.
te"nald, Mrs. Sperry aud other ladies
had their share of work in arranging a
sumptuous basket dinner Ii has been a
n m inf ia oo1r md
rare social pleasure, and everybody, in
Guiding De lands fine delegation, leaves
perfectly satisfied.
A SEVERE DROUGHT.
President Adams, who is a close OBJ
server and well posted man, says the
present long and severe drought has put
the rivers and lakes in South Florida to
the lowest Paint he-h2s ever known them
TO reach, not excepting the terrible
drought ofolST6 Farmers from points
| down in Polk county report corn on the
uplands as dying from heat and orange
trees dropping their fruit. The same is
true in Orange county, where the MORN
ING NEWS correspondent has never before
in seventeen years seen the lakes so low
1t IS becoming a serious matter with fruit
| and vegetable growers in Florida how
much longer they can go without some
permanent and well arranged system of
II
big esta adjustment for putting in irrigat-
ing plants, says there is a steady increase
of various kinds, but only rich men can
| afford the expense of the best systems of
irrigation.
THE HOMEwARD BOUND.
This is the last week for the closing of
the winter hotels, and it has caused a big
| squirt in north bound travel. The Jack
sonville, Tampa and Key West railway
| put on an extra car at Sanford to-day for
a large crowd off the Florida Southern
railroad at Palatka from South Florida
| points. While some of the big hotels in
! South Florida did not do a paying bust
ness, the ordinary hotels and boarding
| houses close the season feeling well salts
! fed with their profits. Owners of fur
! nished houses have had an unusually fine
season, and the demand for rooms and
| houses for next winter indicate a better
season still ahead People are finding
out that home life in Florida is rather
better than hotel life, and furnished
houses will be in greater demand here
after.
OUR DEPARTING STEAMERS.
With the closing of the hotels gener-
ally comes the departure of the elegant
river steamers, City of Jacksonville and
the Fred DeBary, the John Sylvester,
the Eliza HaneOx and the Gov. Stafford
The jacksonville and DeBary go again to
Boston to run between that city and Ma
hant and Bass point. Capt. Lund takes
the jacksonville, which leaves about the
Goth, and Capt. Tom Creason takes the
DeBary off on the 10th. Capt. VIM. A.
Shaw. of the Jacksonville, remains here
and will command the steamer Eyerglade
on the run between Jacksonville and San
ford. Billy is a Savannah boy, whose
father, before him, navigated the St.
Johns, and he has risen from one little
craft to another until he superintendent
the building and has since commanded
the largest and finest steamer-the Jack
sonville-ever on the river
ENHANCED HOSPITAL FACILITIES.
AS is well known to many of the MORN
ING NEWS readers the Plant system has
steadily multiplied its lines of railway in
South Florida, having built the Pember-
ton Ferry branch, the High Springs cut
off, and gobbled the Ocala, Silver Springs
and Gulf railroad This has largely in
creased the number of its employees en-
titled to medical attention in its South
Florida hospital at Sanford, and has ne
cessitated the putting up of additions to
the main buildings. These improvements
are we'll under way, and their completion
will give the Plant system one of the best
arranged and humanely conducted rall-
road hospitals in the south. Chief Sur
geon Frank H. Caldwell is a son of the
late distinguished Rev. DIR. Caldwell, of
Rome. Ca, and married a daughter of
DR.. jeff Ward, of Columbus. He is an
eminent surgeon and has justretired from
the presidency of the Florida State Med
ical Association An able corps of as
sistants are under his personal charge,
Il = .in.,t,