Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1895-07-23
BROOKHAvEN MISSISSIPPI, TUESDAY, JULY %. 1895.
The river is not In the way, but 10
rather a pleasure and sport Every.
body IL proud Of their river and il the

rather pleasure ana sport Every
body Is proud Of their river and il the
old settlers do not claim to have made
it they do claim to have found it. All
along the coast on either side are to be
seen pretty residences embowered in
the shade Of tropical trees or surrounded
by orange groves. Not many Of these
are merely winter homes of Northern
people, but most Of them are occupied
all the year round by permanent set
tiers. They have long since found out
that the summers are as tolerable hero
as in New York or Geoagia, but they
say they can't make our up-country peo-
pie believe it until they try 1t.
Well, l have spent three weeks Of the
month Of June in that portion of Florida
tn at lies below the belt-below Tampa
and can truthfully say did not any
where suffer from oppressive heat.
While at Bradentown l rodo with
Judge Cornwell several miles In the
afternoon and next day crossed over to
to Palmetto and spent the morning in
riding to the groves and the hammock
truck farms and to Ellenton and did not
get at all wearied from the summer
heat. found a gentle breeze blowing
everywhere and the shade very pleas
ant. These truck farms were a revela-
tion to me-their extent and productive
ness. The season for shipping is 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
vegetables, and there will be shipped
this winter probably $4,000 boxes Of
oranges. The trees are beautifully
green and loaded with half grown fruit.
They say they sympathize with the
reckon they do, but they certainly re-
| joice in the prospect of getting from So
to s. a box for their oranges. That they
| have been greatly blessed and have .
| beautiful and attractive country every
one admits who visits them.
Some Englishman said he did not like
this country because it had no ruins.
Professor Cope, Of the Pennsylvania
| University, said in q recent letter to
the New York Herald that there were
but two well-preserved specimens of the
| prehistoric man in the world. One was
found in Neauderthal and the other
| near Sarasota, in Manatee county,
| Florida, and that each of these fossils
were at least 10 600 years old. That
| ought to be old enough for Johnny Bull
or any other bull. The Herald says
that Professor Cope is regarded as the
most learned and reliable scientist now
living, but couldn't find but one man
down in that region who had ever heard
of this Sarasota man. Professor Row.
| ley told me that he heard of fossil
man being dug up there many years ago,
| but had not learned its supposed age or
| what was done with the bones. Poor
| neglected ancestor. II Mark Twain
| wept over the tomb of Adam what
would he have done over you?
At Ellenton visited the grand old
mansion of DIR. Gamble. 1t looks bar
| onial with its large round two-story
columns and everything built of con-
crete brick-white brick made of lime
and she'll nodded in cement. In room
in this old mansion Judah Benjamin,
the attorney-general and afterward
secretary of state of the Confederate
States, was concealed for many days
| while he was making his escape to Cuba.
The Federals blew up the immense
stone sugar houses and destroyed the
machinery, but did not find Mr.. Benja-
min. The very ruins of all these con-
crete walls and the broken wheels and
boilers show on what a grand scale this
great sugar farm Of 5000 acres was con-
Quoted. There were in ante bellum days
hundreds of slaves at work here and
old Grandmother Patton, who still lives
at over four score years, still loves to
tell of those halcyon days and of Mr..
enjamin's escape to the Bahamas on
the French sloop of Captain Tresky.
There are some grand old ruins at Ellen.
ton, and some hallowed memories
around them. BILL ARR.