The sun., 1895-03-03
FOR RICH ENGLISH BOYS.
ORANGE CULTURE nv rLoRIDA.

md Harrow for n Consideration- SIS
land IL soid Them for $500 nm Acre ss
- special Favor Hat They Must Avoid
the Americana, who Are rrejudIced.
Two young Englishnen. who appeared one
day in the solitary hotel OF n email town in
south Fldrida, made almost as much commo-
tlon among the pcorle as the news Of n "wrack"
r,akes among the Florida keys or the bahamas.
yhcy were smart young fellows. well educated,
we'll dressed. evidently supplied plentlfuly
with money. This was not yesterdny, nor
Inst year. but away back In those
ralmy days when the Englishman was
legitimate game in rural Florida, coming
generally with plenty Of money and no knOwl-
edge OF the country, eager TO buy land and to
atud 1t with the orange trees that were to fill his
pockets with gold. 1t was in midsummer, when
no Englishman visits Florida for pleasure. and
tie reasona able conclusion was that these rosy
checked young fellows had come TO buy land
and go into orange growing. As every man
within radius of ten miles had land to sell,
particularly to young Engishmcn. the strangers
we're soon In demand. Every prctcxt was used
TO make their acquaintance. hut they kept to
themselves, were cosc-nouthcd. aud fought shy
Smith and Jones will answer as well as any
for the names that the two Englishmen wrote
IN the hotel register. Smith was beefy. six
foOter, n haw-haw sort OF fellow, fond Of his
bawth and his constitutional perhaps 20 years
old and perhaps only 23. rosy-cheeked, with
hands and feet like hams. Jones smaller
and darker, anywhere under 80. and more re-
served than his partner. They were out to-
gether frequently. walking all over the neigh
boring country, and in the evenings they
smoked pipes and sometimes played billiards,
but only with one another They were too shy
aLa ai,,tup tHn,Na ffn
much afraid Of being swindled. The landlord
could not draw them out, and the natives who
made advances met with success at the start.
After a week or two however. Smith allowed
anativo to break through the outer shell OF Ice.
and in burst Of confidence he admitted that he
and his partner intended to buy land and 10
cate" That was much as he actually said;
but from the hints he dropped the native in
ferred that the pair of them had been just
tribe too lively In their own country; 50 lively
that their wealthy parents had gladly supplied
them with money to set them up in the orange
business in Florida. 1t was clear, too that they
were in great fear of being taken in. So many
of their countrymen had been swindled with
poor land that they were afraid to turn without
good advice.
The Engltshmen were timid n pair of
bashful school girls, except when anybody tried
g. become too familiar: then they shut him Off
with great frigidity. They let the Floridians
drive them out to see land that was for sale. but
after the drive was over they had no more than
nod for the driver. Within a month pretty
much all the land in tho market had been
shown them. and the natives. who at first had
thought them very shy. began to believe that. in
t'ead Of shyEess, 1t was shrewdness This opinion
was strengthened when the strangers did nt
length make purchase. and it was found
tnht thev had dealt with man who was hard
pushed for money. and had bought 30-acre
orange grove and nearly 900 acres OF unini-
proved land for $1,000. The Grange trees were
young. but they would be in bearing in a year or
two; and the wild land was worth more than
the whole purchase price. Instead OF being
taken in. as evcryb body expected. the young
Englishman had picked up the biggest bargain
In the ne Ehborhood.
As the land they bought was between five and
six miles out Of town. the two EnGlishmen soon
disappeared from view. When they did drive
into the village for supplies and fertilizers they
had apparently forgotten all the people they had
previously met; IL they noticed them at all,
It to give them the mcrest nod.
But this worried nobody. MS the Englishmen
were NJ longer possible customers for land. Peo-
pie who resided within mile two of their
place reported that the newcomers were repair
ing their house with their own hands and put
ting fresh coats Of paint on it: and that they
kept no servants, but were living bach =" and
doing all their own work This was thouuht odd
n, thew had nlentv of money. hrt thew we're a
oueer lot. anyhow apd there was no accounting
for the whims OF an Englishman. When the
rumor tlrifted into town that high fence of the
most savage bnrbe, wire hnd been mt ALI around
the place with a single gate which was kent
locked yillar, talk revived n lit,,c but n .onn
died ont. Bnrbed wire ia too common in tn,
orange country TO excite much comment.
After about n yenr had passsd ueople who
drove by said TIM. the rnolisbmen,s Mace Ind
sp-uced up wonderfully. The house looked like
an English country scat there were sh.II drives
sbou. IN. front fower beds frll ot b,oomipg
flowers, hammocks under the trees n windmill
to supply winter and po,d harms for the bors.s
The trees were bearing already under the
enormous ouantitiss NJ fe-tiIizer that b,d been
given thorn, The whole place had n wonderful
appearance Of Thrift. Instead Of a venture that
was eating nm capitol Mt every ,prn 1, Looked
like n prosperou, grove that WINS retnrninr its