The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1897-07-23
rLoGl5A Foss7 7sAas 400.


--.-z-~s.-..
asrty year, -. says tse TssEsr Sews EssAs /
fese Ia Florida there waT rot nssIe II raslroaa
except the Que frczs TaiiahAssee to - MARKS. /
and the engaeS gsed On that were yeilcsE mules
The freight q bai- u cotton from here 10
jacksonville was -. Jacksonville itseif only |
had soo inhabitants. There was not daily pa
per in the state and plenty Of trails ia the state
could be Travelled for hundred ui.es and u0s a
trace Of a human being be seea. he eussed
railroads aye responsible Tor the cha nged son6
ton q things. No woalsF the people eass en-
Metropolis.
And yet even the Pensacola News,
which readily gives credit 10 railroads
where and when credit j. due, says
that as far back a. l76s -129 years ago
Florida was an important province.
official statistics showing her exports
that year to be valued at 80 GA Ten
years later the exports amounted to
81 90.
The same paper GOES Oh further to
say:
NOT can the millionaire Dss7saa s n.fs-ase Sc
credited yiih being TIE FIRST t. establish i.a
ruense sugar works il this state In sssa Me
Robert Gamble began operations IA Maaafee
county a sugar Pr s1uceT on . extensive scaie
IN 1859 his crop annnated 10 so.ooo gail--s o.
/ raoizsses. All o. Tire h0gsheads for shtppng she
prodac, we're maAr on the plantation Ia .su4e
| for the crop Of gssa he rad built immense aad
massive bricEssssgar @orks from brick made z
the plantation, aat that year produced st-ax
pounds of sugar anil s5.ssD gallons of 's.ols--es
\ the weld thai scar aeing 81 $50 pannss IS W
/ gar and 1850 sslious Of nolasses. In ssse
/ MAJOR Gamble soia his plsniati5n 4na mtll- to
Coheld & Dat Il louisiana, for SO acc
Early 10 the civi war that portion II FLOR "a se
into the haaas u Federal troops. the a!Hs ard
massive machinery vas destroyed, and The neV
oeeners we're financially ruined
| Long years before apy railroad had
reached this section Of the state large
quantities of sugar, mola=ses, cotton
and tobacco were annually exported
the sugar plantation Of Colonel j. Fos-
ter Marshall, near Ocala, being nearly
a. large as that q Major Candles in
Manatee county.
Indeed, Mr.. Yuiee. himself. owned
a large sugar plantation al HomOsas=a
of several hundred acres.
Il IS altogether mistaken idea 70
believe that thu people Of Florida
forty years ago sat with folded hands
because there wasn't any railroads 10
GUS.
/ FORTY years az the tobaceo industry
in Gadsden conHty v as carried an on
almost a. big & scale a. it IS today. and
long years before a railroad had
crossed the Alachua line orange grow
ing il South Florida had passed the
experimental stage aud had become a
permanent industry
As it was ia Marion county seven
teen years ago, her magnificent
orange groves. large cotton plantations
and thriving towns, were inducements
for the building Of railroads 80 it i
in Lee county today her rapidly de-
velopiug groves, pineapple farms, So
: gar and tobacco plantations. and other
industries, are practical Inducements
for the building of railroad and
when one is built. a. il soon will be, II
will have followed the way bla<ed ont
By the industries Of the people, a
was the case with the others. unless
it be Mr. Flagler's on the East
Coast, which was built more a. q play
thing than for practical business pur-
poses.
Railroads are bu5inesa concern. and
are built by practical men for pTacti-
cal purposes. There is nothing -enti-
mental about them. They claim to be
only the promoters and never the pio-
neers of civilization.
There IS no opposition or hostility to
railroads by any newspaper or indi-
viduai in Florida Possessed of ordi-
nary Intelligence and ali the talk in
this direction is the sheeFest nonsense.
All that those who favored the crea-
ton Of railroad commission ask is
that the railroads take only fair pro-
portion Of the earnings Of the people
in the way Of freight rates, and the
demand for fairness is Do indication Of
hostility.