Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-01-30
OPEN LETTER..
FITzGERALD, Georgia, Jan. y, 1896.

FITZGERALD, Georgia, Jan. p, 1896.
FRIEND ALBERT:-In company with
seven of PittsyIlle's Soldier Colony
Jan. 9th, | arrived here Thursday, the
9th. Pitched our tent for temporary
quarters in this prospective city which
has been christened "Fitzgerald' and
is admirably planned with spacious
avenues and wide streets, intersecting
at regular intervals, and forming resi-
dence and business lots of desirable
SIZE and shape. The reserve portion OF
the town site for temporary quarters
is called "Midway'' where one can see
all kinds of residence and business
| buildings, made up of shanties, tents,
etc. wagon came IN yesterday COW
cred with oil-cloth marked to sem
blance of grained wood and was fitted
up with slide windows, stove-pipe, etc,
while behind was slung a coop of high
bred fowls.
About 5000 people, I think, is a fail
estimate of the immigration here dur
| ing the past six months, which will. nc
doubt, be increased to not less than
| Is 900 by Jan 1st 1897 The city is sur
rounded by farm t!acts of from five tC
| forty acres and each shareholder (thlE
colony movement is OH the cooperative
| plan) may choose the class he desires
residence, business or farm lot. These
are allotted by chance, while every other
! lot of each class is reserved for sale, the
profit to 90 to shareholders. Allot.
ments are being rapidly made and
members are taking possession. The
reserve lots in the city are selling rapid
| ly, and resident anC business buildings
are looming up at a surprising rate, and
| there is several instances of trees being
| felled at daybreak and transformed into
| shantIes on farm tracts the same night
which is characteristic of the enterprise
and push Of the class of people that are
| locating here, mostly northern and
western people of good class, peace.
able, and a fraternal friendship seems
| to exist among ALL This is 'no IL
cense" county ard the Sunday law
must be respected.
| The timber is what is known as the
long-leaf yellow pine straight and clear
which branches out at or near the TOP
and makes fine lumber and dimension
stuff; there is no under-brush and 3
team can be driven through the wooCs
almost anywhere. The colony grounds
cover about 0U00 acres with about
! fifteen small saw mills that are running
and more coming. The pine which Is
not boxed for turpentine is called
''round timber" The time of day is
| designated as ''standard,' or railroad
time, and ''sun time" which is one hOul
faster. We catch the ocean breeze unit
8 a. IN. standard, and the gulf breeze al
p. IN. The climate has been delight
| fu this winter and is considered very
| healthful. Men work III shirt sleeves
at this time of the year and it is no un'
common thing to see native children
going ban lefoOt
! The soil and climate is particularly
adapted to vegetable and fruit raising
and cotton, cane, corn, tobacco, rice
sweet potatoes, called yams, etc. One
day last week we visited Tifton, thirty
miles south of here and looked over
one of the celebrated fruit farms owned
by the Tiff Bros, formerly of Maine
consisting of about 700 acres of peach
pear, plum, apple, cherry, pecan anC
fig trees and grape vineyard, they dis
pose of what fruit they can during the
season and own a cannery to prepare
the balance for market. What grapes
are not sold during the season are made
into wine. We looked at one thirty
four acre vineyard from which they
made 1000 gallons Of wine, and sole
! 100,0 ,0OO pounds of grapes last season
The natives, who are called "crack
ers," are about thirty years behind the
times and are satisfied in raising JUS
enough to live on and don't know wha
Mason fruit jar is, and although they
are sociable class, a great many have
never seen railroad train or been out.
side of their own county, and this
northern enterprise is a revelation tc
them. AS one native lady expressed 1t
81 reckon them Yanks is sort Of raisin
thunder in buildin' them high houses
with glass windies in" The native
cattle are small and inferior, and hogs
called razor-backs, run wild, in fact
every thing shows neglect. Owing tc
the rush of immigration the chances
are that business will be Overdone here
and there will be more laborers than
work, which is furnished only to colony
members, and as there is no more stock
for sale the chances for outsiders are
not very encouraging for the present.
Yours truly,
{. T. COMPTON.
! P s. Before l left Grand Rapids
quite number wanted me to write
them. and YOU are at liberty to publish
/ IL. ! -5-,i