The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1895-06-23
L. STRANGE COUNTRY.
THE THINGS THEY DO AND THE
THINGS THEY SAY IN FLORIDA.

efan Kills His nro,her-in-Iaw With n Cat.
Advertised LyncainC-why One wom-
an Had O Man In uer House-An ODD
Medley.
we hear of many strange things in
Florida. They do more queer things i'll
Elcridh than in any other state, and vet
1t is q small state asresarCs population.
bnd not especially opulent in anything
but sand. Florida IL the last place to
which we should look for novelties or
great achievements CT the intellect or
imagination. The output of lies about
hlligators is vOluminous, to be- sure, but
that is chioe? the work Of tourists Ev-
cry native knows that nlligators do not
attack and oevour living persons, and
not one OF them ever had tho ingenuity
"a make up 4 story to the contrary until
4he winter sojcurner began to flock there
hnd to while away the ennui CT his stay
IN feats Of fiction. For all that, how
ever, Florida leads easily in queer
thirgs.
Only Il few years ago farmer down
fhorc Killed his mo;her-in law OF
course men hill their mothers in law
everywhere. There is nothing original
IN that But this Florida man killed his
nothor-iu- Law with a tomcut, ard that
Eort2inly Is novel. They had some dis
agreement II, to who should start the
Kitchen fire one morning, and our
"cracker" picked up the tomcat, and,
using it rs bludCeon, struck his wife's
plothor so hard that he killed her There
Eas an ax i'll the corner, and shotgun
hanging on the wall, and several other
hselel and effective agencies of holni-
edo lying about conveniently and in
great profusisn but, no! this Florida
percon refused TO be conventional He
took the toaicat, and the funeral &C.
CURED the following afternoon.
The other day they lynchcd n negro
In that same neghlorhood. That again
Is an old story. They lynch negroes
everywhere and whenever the negroes
Seem to need it. But this lynching was
peculiar. The managers of the affair ad-
SertiSed it. They did not act with pus-
sion and precipitation They met to-
gether and solomnly announced, after
grave dolibcra;ion, that the lynchiug
tvould take place next day exactly at
aoon. They wantcd'a crowd, and they
f'' NfiS' Nv sI.ttl' =. !iNlliIllS lOI liltUl.
They insisted upon ceremony, eclat and
On audience.
And now comes the case Of q Florida
gentleman-a jacksonville gentleman,
TO be cxRlicit-who returned to his home
quite unexpectedly on II recent Saturday
morning about :. and fouud his wife in
8 compromising situation with neigh
Dor. Such things have happened else
where, we know, and the same may be
said of the prompt killing Of the neigh
Dor by the aStonishcd and indignant hus-
band But every one will admit that
tho wife springs Il novelty on us when
Che claims that she had tho neighbor in
her room TO protect her from burglars
and not for any other purpose Natural
ly tho husband NOW regrets his haste,
bat how could he be expected to think
about burglars ut such moment2 Is it
DOT, i'll fact, difficult to get used to the
sdea even now!
Upon the whole, Florida strikes MS as
3 winner i'll certain line of novelties
apart from its alligators its sand, its
hotel charges, its governors and its feas.
Florida Gurns out about us many new
thoughts and odd conceits rs any half
dozen states We can think of ut this mo.
tnent. -Washington Post