The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-02-14
AMONG THE CONCHS.
A COMMENTED AND CARE-FRER
PEOPLE.
What Feathsrly Did, Saw and Heard ON
Trip Through the Everglade Country
Tolls of the Beauties OF Biscayue Bav
-He Emuiates Geo. Washington

ietLerS II was our purpose to write to
some extent Of all that section Of the
Of the south which we might visit.
However, we have found this not prac-
ticable. St Augustine is more or less
known to all, having been frequently
written up. To write up 1t In an in
telligent manner would require several
columns Of space. Therefore we have
decided to leave 1t without much fur
Their mention than was made in the
second letter Of this series. 1t Is a
quaint Spanish city Of the last three
centuries shaking hands with the mod
ern city OF to-day. The hand of the
vandal Is at work tearing away these
landmarks Of our early colonial and
national life to make room for the
modern structures Of to-day. Upon old
Spanish streets from to 18 feet wide
we see fine modern buildings arising
on every hand st. Augustine is the
most beautiful spot, so rendered by
the architect, the builder, the florist
and the gardener, at the same time the
most quaint city on the continent
We took trip to Tampa, on the
west coast. This section Of the coun-
try is well-known, generally speaking.
All the way from Jacksonville to Tam
pa, 261 miles, year ago, was pros
porous orange section. To-day it is n
desolate waste of dead orange groves,
killed by last winters freezes. Land,
in its wild state, worth last year $500
per acre, is not salable to-day at any
price. We passed through one orange
grove of 1900 acres, worth last year
$1,000 per acre-now not worth $15.
The tide of emigration in Florida is
entirely to the east coast, along the
line Of the canal and East Coast rail-
way, south of Fast Pierce, an Indian
river, and east of the Everglades,
where the frosts did no considerable
damage. To this section Of Florida,
heretofore but little known and gener-
ally supposed, as indicated by the
maps of Florida, to be one vast i'm
penitrable Everglade swamp, we have
therefore confined, to a large extent,
our letters descriptive of the south.
Even the people of Tennessee and
Georgia know but little Of this section
Of Uncle Sans domain, and this is as
well applicable to the newspapers as
to the public generally. The informa-
ton furnished the press of Atlanta,
Chattanooga and Nashville upon this
country by the writer has been eagerly
grasped and dished up as something
new. Especially was this so Of in
formation as to Dade county, and most
especially as to Biscayne Bay, which
is yet so miles south of railway COM
munication-a section of country so
far different from any other portion Of
the United States as to cause one to
feel he is in some other country, ruled
over by some foreign power We shall
never be sorry we visited Biscayne
Bay. We learned much that we never
knew before and thoroughly posted
ourselves in regard to the people and
the country.
There Is class of people living in
the Biscayne Bay section peculiar to
themselves. They are called "Conchs,"
and were Originally from the Bahama
Islands, here only 40 miles distant.
They settled here over one hundred
years ago, but have made no advance
ment. They live In bamboo and palm
houses, are shiftless and lazy
and provide nothing for a rainy day.
They have lived from of the land
largely. What II has been absolutely
necessary for them to purchase they
have purchased with starch manufac-
tured from the "compte" root, a plant
growing wild In the woods, and ex-
for goods either at Havana,
Key West or Nassau. From the wild
casava root they obtained a highly
nutritious article Of food. From the
bread fruit they get -four for bread,
from the cOmpte root their starch,
from the wild sugar cane their sugar.
from the cabbage palm, their cabbage,
from the wild coffee their coffee, while
oranges, lemons, lines, bananas, CO.
coanuts and a hundred tropical fruits
grow everywhere. The palms furnish
ed hats, while very little clothing was
necessary.
1t Is not to be much wondered at
that where the lines Of life are so easy
that a people separated from civiliza-
ton should see fit to be content to live
IN so careless, and to us Of the north,
80 shiftless a manner. They certainly
had nothing to bother them. One OF
he daughters Of one Of these families
Ndlltu upoh Jul pol aI thC hNtCA a.
Jocoanut Grove and told me that she
had never seen any other place, and
hat neither Of her parents had ever
been away from Biscayne Bay, al
hough so years old. The proprietor Of
he hotel pointed out to me young
'Conch" who was about 80 years old.
This man had never seen ice until last
winter. He left pail Of water out
loors one night In February, the night
If the freeze. In the morning there
vas a thin scale over IL; thick enough
o keep the water from running out as
t was turned sideways. The young
elbow called in the neighbors to see
ne "bewitched" water bucket. But
he witch departed the moment the sun
truck the pail, much to the consterna-
ion Of the fellow, who has been the
,utt Of the jokes all this summer.
Knowing naught Of the cares and
wants OF a people Of the colder climes,
Tor the annoyances Of a settled COM
nunity near to civilization, these ORR
.inal "Conchs" must have been hap
" people. What will become Of them
s they become surrounded by q popu-
Gus community which will rob them Of |
ature's supply Of the wants of life by |
Tearing up the narrow belt Of rich, |
ocky soil east Of the Everglades, Ia q
uestion Thew can navsv h,ld THAR