The Kinsley graphic. [volume] (Kinsley, Kan.) 1890-1940, 1894-09-07
A Florida Letter.
Special Correspondence.

|
The soil of Florida is light and
sandy, except the hammock land,
which is exceptionally fertile but un-
healthy. The climate may be justly
considered the finest OIL this continent.
No where else do you find the same
conditions--a long peninsula, on one
side the Gulf stream and on the other
the Gulf itself. In this locality the
conditions for sustaining life are very
comfortable, as one of my neighbors
justly observes: ''You can live Oh
turtle and turtle eggs three months of
the year, and on fish, CLAIMS, oysters,
quail and venison the other nine.
Capt. Goff, many years resident,
says: "You can't starve man on
Lemon Bay" He knows for he has
tried it several times.
This is new country, the newest of
the new, but We now grow lemons of
good quality and have growing lines,
guavas, sugar apples, mangoes, pine
apples and other semitropical fruits.
Sweet potatoes are easily grown, and
with a little care grown all the year
around. In fact I have had them all
of this year without any care ut all
from Geo. Cross planting we used all
winter. This summer l was away
from home for a while and when l
returned Tom White informed me that
we had plenty of sweet potatoes, and
it turned out that the small potatoes
recovered in the digging kept right on
growing and made fair potatoes for all
summers use. This is good bee
country and we use the finest honey on
our tables mainly instead of syrup.
| We have here a nice little hotel,
opened last winter, and are looking
for a railrOad-in fact have been
looking for some time but it will come
after while, as ''all things come to
him who waits.''
Vegetables are easily grown. Our
winter gardens are the best. l saw
one tomatoe vine last winter from
which the owner took $50 fair tOma-
toes. This is the home of the "Tar-
pom" or ''Silver King" fish very
game and sought for by anglers from
all of the ucrthern states, ua .ally
taken with pole andline; line needs
to be about 900 feet in length. But
the other day one of my neighbors
tried to catch one in a new way, and
as he told it to me I'll tell the story.
He was going up the other day on a
trip to small settlement up the coast
called Venice in boat about eighteen
feet long, with quite deep seat in the
stern on which fishermen pile gilling
net when fishing. The wind was light
and as he. pushed his boat along, a
gleam of shining silver and a huge
Tarpon between five and six feet long
landed in his boat. This gentleman's
name is Pope, large muscular athletic
man. When the Tarpon struck in the
boat Pope seized hanGy club and hit
the Tarpon on the head, and seeing
that the fish was likely to go over the
stern of the boat threw himself bodily
upon it. The fish struggled so did
Pope, and after a minute lie got the
fish into the bottom of the boat with
its head pointed forward, Pope laying
on its body exerting himself to get
the 6sh's head under the thwart or
next seat forward. The fish was
determined that its head should not
go under the seat, and In spite of all
Pope's efforts kept it OH top and worked
itself along until it got on top of the
seat with its head over the side of the
boat. when, by supreme effort and
with exultant culver, it slid from
under POpe's grasp and Swent over
the side of the boat, and plunged into
its native element. Pope took account
of stock, his clothes and after part of
the boat were covered with blood,
scales and slime. He tried to wash
his clothes and says he couldn't, so
took his jack knife and scraped them
as clean as lie could and went on his
mission. He says if any man thinks
he can hold $50 pound Tarpon let
him try it. He climbed creased pole
once at a fair and took in So. 1t was
nothing to trying to hold that Tarpon.
Tom White went out last evening
fishing in front of my house with spear
and torclIlight. He came in with
seventeen fish, of which lie says seven
, of them jumped into the boat. He was
out about an hour. A hundred fish
attracted By the light both in front
| and astern of the boat LITERALLY es-
corted him home.
Please say to my Edwards county
friends that next summer expect to
see them all again
Yours very truly,
| j. NJ. LEWIS,