The evening times., 1898-06-01
SCENES IN FLORIDA.
Life in Key West and Tnmpa Dur
ing War Times.

| Life in key West and Tnmpa Dur
ing War Times.
Key West, June LADY Richmond s
ball is In full blast in the south of Florida
nightly, and the secrets Of heartstrings
are revealed to US onaes4nore after a lapse
of thirty years, says a correspondent
writing from Key West. Fla, to the Sun.
That is what one first thinks OF when,
after a long and tedious journey from
] New York, he is thrust Into the glitter
and excitement Of the Tampa Bay Hotel
at Tampa or the Hotel Key West at this
place.
In Tampa every night the officers not
at sea crowd the hotel. for they can get
to the rendezvous without much trouble.
The band plays. also. sometimes, two
Of them. The girls Of Florida are out
in their best gowns, and the scene is full
Of life and gayety. Some of the ofifcers
have their wives and children in Florida,
but not many Of them are so fortunate.
The crowd begins to gather early In
the evening. The hotel is crowded, and
the girls from the city march in arm In
arm. Every chair and settee is occupied.
and the corridor Is noisy from the con-
fused murmurings. The girls are dressed
in soft, white gowns, some of them rath-
er old. 1t Is true. but all axed up to look
as II they were new: that Is, II you do not
look at them too closely.
Some Of the officers appear In their old
est uniforms. These are the men who
have families at home dependent upon
them, and who have to watch out for the
expense OF q new outfit. These too, are.
the men who do not contribute very much
to the pockets of the townsfolk. The
younger onlcers wear their brayest blue.
and fnolr \ \
more of 1t.
Celebrities OF whom we read In the pa
pers are all round. Lieut. Rowan Is dress ;.
ed In an old gray crash suit, with an out
landish straw hat with a wide brim- He
looks like Mexican, Is quiet and not OBJ
trustve. of medium height with strong
and wiry body. He talks business. and
yet he Is disappointing. for he Is not a
bit afraid Of notoriety, and talks with thes
men who take his picture In every possi-
Bile pose and prophesy. such great, things
for him In the future that he can't possi-
bly, live up to them. .aiI5s. - ~
:. Gen. Wheeler is talking to half dozen
young girls and dozen young chaps from
the State Militia. To look al the group
one would think he was talking about the
late war. Uncle Joe changes his clothes 4
dozen times day. He likes to put on
and on his brand-new uniform. It zits
him to perfection and gives: him. a waist
as slim as girls. He jumps round in
great state OF excitement an day LONG, :,
and late Into the night. He ,isyer rests, 1
and he b as fun Of enthusiasm al a young !.
colt. The natives all swear by him, and
he Is extremely popular. 1t sipoks as II 1
there were stiH q lot Of fight LEFT In him
and he says that he feels that there Is
Gen. Ludlow, Of the Engineers, Is an
other celebrity. He changes his clothes
for every cigar he smokes
Gen. Shafter. who weighs 30 pounds.
has . crowd Of friends round him all the
time He tells more good stories and more
are told about him than any other man
tu camp. ,f5So
Then. another feature Of thS camp Il
the meefing OF old-time hiend4 1gen
who have not met each other m ten
yeaxs ana more, run up a6zinst each 9TH