The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1895-10-26

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had experience" in it, an estimate
of it becomes Of more worth. If an
account of the charms of the city
and the warm reception accorded us
written with frequent superlatives
had early been sent To these columns
it would have seemed that we had
soon forgotten old friends, and "tht
tender grace OF day that is dead
which will never come back TO me
except in memory.
The name of this city, which is
now our home, has several times been
changed, according to the people oc
cupying it. The Indians called il
Seloy, from numerous poryoises, fire.
quently to be seen frolicking in the
Bay. In 1865 it was named Cindad
de San Augustine. From the time
of English possession it became st.
Augustine During three months OF
every year, many insist that it is the
Aleyone OF American Social life.
Whats in a name?" The pure
life and nigh ideal of our patron
saint, makes his name an inspiration.
Saint Augustine! well hast thou
said that of our vices we can frame
a ladder, if we will but tread beneath
our feet each deed of shame.
Romance and enterprise are illus
trated in the diseoverer of this sec
tion, Ponce de Leon. There is a ira
dition that returning to Spain from
one of his voyages of discovery he
became enamored with beautiful
young lady of noble family. The on
| ly obstacle to their marriage was
his surplus of years. Can we won
der, that he quickly remembered ru-
mors of certain "spring of running
water, of such marvellous virtue, that
the water thereof being drank, per.
haps with some diet, maketh the old
young again. This wonderful foun-
tain, however, failed to bring back
the summer of life to the Lion Prince;
but the people of the city, to day,
the native people, they say, do not
die; they gradually and impercepti-
bly,, like the aloe on the parsonage
lawn, effloresce and vanish into other
forms and spheres. The Ponce de
Leon spring map be found by pleas
ant drive from the city. Although
it did not renew the life of the Span
ish Knight, it is full of life to day.
Travellers still come and go, finding
health and not life from the mineral
waters, but from the wonderful air.
One can scarcely tell which is the
more attractive, the old or the new
st. Augustine. The City Gateway
is all that remains of the old City
Wall, and was built so far back in
the misty past that no one can tell
when.
A Sea Wall was begun by the
Spanish in 1890 1t was completed
by the U. S. Government in 1912,
and was the fashionable promenade
"befo' de wah.
st. Francis Barracks, formerly a
Franciscan Convent, is probably one
of the most ancient buildings in the
country, as it is believed that some
of Its walls are more than three hun
dred years old.
The Spanish Fort, which was com
menced in 1865, always holds the
fancy in thrall, whether by light of
sun or moon.
In the old quarters, the narrow
streets, with overhanging balconies,
remain, and in Treasury St, neigh
bors can clasp hands across the way,
from the broad balconies. In that
vicinity great rayages have been
made by fire.
The contrast between these streets,
made so narrow for the sake of safety,
in the centuries agone, when it was
a fortified city-and the modern
asphalt drives, is very marked.
These are only a few of the land
marks which speak eloquently of the
past.
In the new st. Augustine, the
sight is satisfied whichever way one
turns The Ponce de Leon, the
most beautiful hotel in the world, is
not interior in size, as it is just one
mile around, following its walks.
When boy, the greatest ambition
of Mr.. Henry M. Flagler, the oil
king, was to be q tavern keeper.
When he could command his mil
lions, he also commanded talents and
genius of architects and artists, and
this magnificent tavern" was the
result The lesser hotels (for mis-
is city of hotels churches, resi-
dences and plazas, carry out the idea
of beauty. There is among Ameri-
cans decided awakening to the
necessity of the ministry of the
beautiful" such buildings as the
Ponce" being in evidence.
McClure's for September, has the
words of viii II. Low: "Quick in
the steps of the development of arch
itecture has come a general apprecia-
ton of the necessity of decorative
sculpture, to adorn these fine build
ings, like the Boston Public Library,
the Washington Public Library and
our more important hotels, like the
Ponce de Leon at st. Augustine, and
the Waldorf in New York. And the
demand that they should be decora-
ted by American artists of repute, is
indeed hopeful sign"
The poetic and picturesque abound
in st. Augustine. We have been
fortunate in having frequent drives,
so have had opportunity for enjoy
ing the special charms of nature and
of art, in their varying moods and
lights. One especially pleasant jaunt
to an old garden, / wish l could ad-
equately describe. We gathered
from among the tall grasses, all the
roses and honeysuckle, and branches
of bay and orange, we could carry
From the branches of the tree above
us, swung grey fringes of Spanish
moss, lightly tossed by brisk sea
breezes.
GLOW it sways my souls emotion
Like wizards magic wand
This is old Spanish moss so weird
like"
wrote Prof. Henry Noel Felkel,
a member of our church, in collec-
tion Of Florida Poems. The roses
were carried in the afternoon by DIR.
Day to the Barracks Hospital to a
sick soldier, who because of his ill
ness had become regular attendant
at Cracp (,burob IIa fret attended
the new church because he had heard