Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-02-06
THE EDITOR SOUTH.
Palm Beach, Florida, reached as the
Southern Terminal and he Turns
About to Homeward.

ORMoND, Fla, Jan. 25th.
BROTHER EDMoNDE.-After the delight
ful four days stop in quaint old
st. Augustine we are again in the hands
Of the railroads going south The big
steam distance annihiIator takes US
through many charming little towns,
nesting in orange groves, and alive
with beauty and bloom, but our rate OF
speed allows only glance at each. A
little farther on is revealed to the
traveller the process by which the
peninsula along the east coast liue has
been built up by successive ranges of
sand dunes, behind which are caught,
or shut in, bodies of salt water-mis-
named rivers-connected by inlets with
the ocean, of which they are really
arms. The strips of land between
them are sometimes narrow, sometimes
several miles wide. They are delight
fully situated for winter or summer
habitations, said to offer by their
peculiar positions the very perfection of
climate without isolation or inacessi-
bilty.
Fifty miles below st. Augustine is such
a peninsula, bounded on one side by
the so-called river Halifax-a body of
water broad, shallow and salt-and on
the other by the ocean. On this
peninsula we find a portion of the town
Of Ormond, known generally as
Ormond by-the-Sea. Our train came to
a stop here at 2 o'clock. We cross a
long bridge fully one-half mile in
length, which connects the village with
the hotel settlement on the peninsula.
Along its western shore, washed bv
the waters of the Halifax, are hard
she'll drives, bordered by beautiful
winter villas and finely kept grounds of
wealthy Northerners, and by orange
groves whose fruit is famous throughout
the country. Here, too, are dense
forests of tall pines and stretches Of
rich hommock. And here, set conspicu-
ously and picturesquely in the midst of
all this wealth of nature and art, rises
the Hotel Ormond, one of the many
belonging to Flagler, of New York, the
railroad king and hotel magnate in this
state. We had dinner at the Ormond.
1t Is hardly as fine place as those at
st. Augustine, but is perfectly appointed
with all modern accessories, is large
and rOOmy, capable of accommodating
about 500 guests. In surroundings and
decoration it is much the same as others
we have visited. The weather is cool
and rainy, rather disagreeable.
Ormond's great speciality in attrac-
tiOns is its fire drives and good fishing
places. The Halifax river at this point
and the ocean as we'll, are really famous
fishing grounds and some of the most
noted anglers in the country we are
told come here year after year for the
high-class sport which the place affords.
What a spot Of enchantment this
would be for our noted local enthusiasts
Messrs. A. Muir, Geo. W. Baker, Will
Martin, Amos Hasbrouck and others
Seated on the ''long bridge" midst
scores of men and women likewise
engaged they could drop in the shiney
hook to pull out bass, trout, pompano,
sheepshead, black crouper, blue fish,
snapper and Jewish to their hearts
content. We simply throw this out as
n inf nj, irrl,t lo
planning the next finny expedition
from Grand Rapids.
A half day here and we are off
again with the scenery hunters of the
\. E. A. As we proceed south lower
land, more and more swampy country
Is found; thick underbrush and trees
reveal the nature of the jungle as their
nearest kind. About every variety of
the palm is grown here. All in all it
makes the scenery very interesting and
enchanting. Temperature is cooler,
about 80 degrees above, and we con-
tinue to have a delightful time.
PALM BEACH, Jan. 81.
Well We have reached the finest point
in Florida, here at Palm Beach, which
is 25O miles directly south of St.
Augustine, situated upon peninsula
with the Atlantic Ocean to the east and
Lake Worth on our west. A little
pamphlet setting forth the advantages
of the place is handed to us and we
clip the following, more tersely told
than We could put it:
The most useful and desirable pro-
ducts OF the northern States have here
Il congenial home in daily touch with
those loved of the equator. A New
Englander may find his potatoes, sweet
corn, tomatoes and other garden
favorltes, and can pluck with scarcely a
change III his position products that are
generally claimed as Brazilian. He
finds IN his surroundings, as plentiful
and as free as the water sparkling be-
fore him, such strange neighbOrs as
coffee, the tamarind, mango, pawpaw
guava, banana, sapadillo, almond, Gus
tard apple, maumee apple, grape fruit,
shaddock. Avocado pear and other
equally hew acqualntances. And these
are all nelghbors, actual residents,
natives OF the soil, not imported immi-
grants or eXacting visitors TO be
tenderly treated. Giant relative equally
at home, are the rubber tree, mahogany
eucalyptus, cork tree and mimOsa. The
great variety. uncommon beauty and
prolific growth of the cacti alone are Il
marvel. The fruits are not collection
of trees, but collection of groves,
from the gigantic cocoanut twenty years
old to the dwarf guava bushes of two