The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1895-07-08
FLORIDA In SUMNER.
ARP rs TRYING TO MAKE 1T an ALL
THE YEAR ROUND RESORT
He Tells n Good Date Palm YarD-A Tree
Grieves Itself to Death for Its Mate.
HIid-Summer Life In the Tropics.

and the wheel is up there yet just the
same and the rope that is wound around
the hub and runs down mysteriously to
the ruuder and guides the great big boat.
The captain invited me up there and let
me turn the wheel a little to see how
easily | could change the course. n girl
could manage it on an open sea like there
was from Tampa to Egmont lighthouse. Ii
was a lovely day and the scenery charm
ing. What a relief TO get off the dusty
train after a 600-mile journey and walk the
deck of pretty steamer and stretch your
self or climb the iron ladder to the pilot
house and gaze upon the green shores ana
the Islands and passes and the white sails
of passing vessels. There is but little com
fort in travelling on the cars, SO far as
sightseeing is concerned, but it Is spleh-
| did on a river boat in Florida. You can
take i'll miles and miles at glance and IL
man only had another eye in the back
| of his head his organism would be COM
plete. But then he would have TO have
! another spectacle when he got old and that
would be a bother, and if he in church
ne couldn't listen to the sermon, for ne
| would be looking at the pretty girls behind
! nm. 1t is hard to do now when the choir
| is full and sits in front of you. And then
| the breeze, the balmy breeze that is ever
| breathing on YOU you sit upon the deck
| makes you feel calm and serene
| feeling of ''inuocous desuetude," or words
! to that effect. Folks don't talk much on
enjoy in a sweet aud restful silence the
! ever changing scenery. Even the quiver-
| ing thro0s of the steamer make ii seem
/ like n thing OF life and remind you of
| your own heart beats that the poet says
still like mufIled drums are beating
! Funeral marches to the grave"
We touched at Petersburg and from there
| steamed away to the quarantine island,
/ near Egmont. What do We stop here
/ for said | to a sociable drummer. ION.
to be fumigated, of course said he.
| pondered that IN my mind for minute
until convinced that he lied and then L
| joined in the laugh that followed. These
drummers are always lying or joking and
they select me for victim when 1 am
| about. The old quarantine doctor was a
pOrtiy Cuban, a dark brunette, dressed in
| navy regulation suit with gilt braid on
| his cap. He had good manners and was
| well fed and looked like an educated
| gentleman. The great barn of house was
| full of boilers and tanks and tubes and
| chemicals for dis.nfectinS the mails or
! the clothing of the passengers i'm times Of
pestilence. OF course Ne only stopped this
| time to take and put off Uncle sam $
| little pouches of mail matter ana some
| freight. The lighthouse just below doomed
up like a thing Of beauty. Graceful as
| bird in form and as white as the clouds 1t
| stands solid upon its swelling base and
/ every night lights the mariner safe through
waters. These are the things that add
majesty and strength to the nation. The
! quarantine, the lighthouses. the forts, the
lfe-saVlns service, the men-of-war, all
impress you and deepen your patriotism
ana cause YOU to submit more willingly
to the burdens of taxation.
our next stop only minutes pause
in the channel and 4 girl came swiftly
from the land in her tiny boat and when
alongside she tossed the little mail bag
up to the captain and he tossed one down
! 10y her side. She said good-morung and
/ then good-by and was off as quickly as she
came.
DOCS she Get paid for that?'' said l.
"Cl. svs,' as,.u tic ,aR,-. l.
well" said l. "ahe is the first female
mail boy L ever saw. What is it these
modern, self-made girls cannot do? 1 see
b. the papers that they have been prac-
ticiug as conductors Of the street ears in
Rome and the men are doing lots OF
riding"
BY and by We entered the broad expand
ing mouth of the Manatee river, a river
named for the curious aquatic animal of
that name that used TO be found in its
waters. The natives called II a sea COW,
for il gives birth to its young and breatheS
air like q Whale-a sort OF halt-horse and
half-alEgator creature and has a tail like
a beaver. 1t is link between the cetacea
ana the pachydermata or words TO that
effect. Many museums have fossil remains
of this animal and the old settlers still
tell about seeing them III the river. Mana
tee county was named for this river and
Bradentown is the county seat. In going
up the river lone ana lofty tree was
pointed out that stood on the north shore.
1t was a date pam and is still mourning
Tor It's mate that was destroyed few
years ago by storm or some casualty
and since then this tree has never borne
bloom or gwen u single fruit. They bear
fruit in pairs, said the captain. They
1ertillZe each other ana when one dies the
other ceases to fruit and in a few years
gr4evcs Itself to death" i have great re-
specL Tor the date PALM 1t is more loyal
10 It's mate than some people l know.
Al BratCntoNn the river is about a mile
and half Woe aud the pretty village Of
Palmetto is right opposite. y little daisy
OF u naptha launch crosses every ten or
fifteen minutes and carries passengers. The
b.I boat-the Kiss. mee-that we We're
aboard crosses twice every day and carries
freight aud passt n6eFs. 80 these towns
and Ellcutop and Manatee, which are only
three miles further up on opposite sides,
are practically the suburbs OF BTadentoWn.
The RIVER is not in the way, but is rather
pleasure and d sport. Everybody is
proud OF their river and if the old set
tiers do not clam TO have made it they
do claim to have found II. All along the
coast on either SIDE are TO be seen pretty
tropical trees or surrounded by orange
groves. Not many OF these are merely
| winter homes of northern people, but most
OF them are occupied an me year round
by permanent settlers. They have long
since found out thar the summers are as
tolcrable here as n New York or Georgia,
but they say they can't make our up
country people believe it until they try il.
Well 1 have spent three weeks of the
month of June in that portion of Florida
that lies below the belt-below Tampa
and can truthfully say | did not anywhere
suffer from Oppressive heat. While at
BradeutOWn l rode out with Judge Corn
well several miles in the afternoon and
spent the morning in riding to the groves
and The hammock truck farms and TO
EIentOu and did not set at all wearied
from the summer heat. l found a gentle
breeze blowing every where and the shade
was pleasant. Those truck farms We're a
l. revelation to me-their extent and pro-
ducttveuess. The season for shipping ia
over. Of course, but there are thousands OF
bushels Of tomatoes still in the fields
going to decay. There were shipped the
| last season about 100000 crates of Vege-
IA bles and there will be shipped this winter
probably 10000 boxes Of oranges. The
trees are beautifully green and loaded with
half grown fruit. They say they sympa-
thize with the growers in northern Florida
and / reckon they do but they certainly
rejoice in the prospect of getting from
81 to 81 a box for their oranges. That they
have been greatly blessed and have a
beautiful and attractive country every one
admits who visits them.
Some Englishman SAID he did not like
this country because L had no ruins. Pro-
fessor Cope, of the Pennsylvania universe