Pleasantville weekly press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1890-1911, 1898-02-02
ELETTER FROM FLORIDA.
A PIeasantville Party Travelling
In the sunny south.

- - - 80
A PIeasantville Party TraveIIin,
In the sunny south.
PALM BEACH, Fla, Jan. 26, '98.
To the Editor of The Pleasantville Press
We left Philadelphia Tuesday after
noon, at 2.52, on the New York an,
Florida special. The train was com
posed of Pullman's finest sleeping
dining and observation cars. Ou
first stop was at Baltimore and tn
second at Washington, where w,
changed engines. We only stopped
at Washington eight minutes, whicl
was rather short for me-. &0ur mex
stop was at Richmond and from her,
until morning / don't know whert
we stopped. yssn -----:x1l1e -ssssSs ssissG,-
When we arose in the morning WI
were speeding along through the
South Carolina pines. ALI along Oul
line through South Carolina and
Georgia the land was very low and
swampy. The people were mostly
colored and seemed to- be of a very
lOW class. All they had for shelter
was small, dilapidated huts and not
halt SO good as some of our hen
houses in Jersey. We arrived at
Savannah about 10 o'clock. 1t
seemed like a very lively town to all
appearances, and on our return will
have chance to find out. We ar
rived at Jacksonville at 2.30, over
one hour behind the scheduled time.
We Immediately got a carriage and
"tOOk in" the town. Didn't like it
there much and 40 Thursday after
noon packed our belongings and
went to ST. Augustine.
ST. Augustine is thirty-eight miles
below Jacksonville, on the Matanzas
river. Going from the depot to our
boarding house we infatuated
with the place. The streets are con-
crete paved, lined with Oleanders,
hoary larches and cedars, mingled
with hedges Of roses. You may ex-
tend your strolls and find yourself in
the narrow streets and peculiar
structures of a foreign seaport town.
One has scarcely ceased to wonder
at the queer jOstling of the centuries.
when he comes suddenly to the old
city gates and the remains of the
wall which once encompassed the
original city. Sharply outlined
against the sky, on the east, rises
Fort Marion, the oldest fertilization
in the United States, built at an
expense by the King OF
Spain, for the protection of the city.
1t took 19l years to build it.
From the Fort runs the Sea Wall,
passing the Old Slave Market and
the cool, delightful Plaza. Here one
may find rest beneath the shade, in
the center OF an old town,
Instead of walking on the side
walks lin some of the streets) you
walk in the street where horses and
go. Treasury street, the
narrOwest street in st. Augustine, is
only seven feet wide in places. The
first floors are even with ground and
the second stories have over-hanging
balconies. 1T seems very strange to
me to be in such places, but never
theless | enjoyed it immensely.
There are not many oranges in st.
on account OF the frost,
but sometimes you can see q few In
some private lawns.
Monday morning we came down
to Palm Beach, 300 miles south Of
Jacksonville. This is a land of Eden
in our minds. On the west side
about one hundred feet from our
boarding house, is Lake WOrths and
On the east is the old Atlantic Ocean,
about three-quarters of q mile from
Dur house,. The shores OF the lake
are clothed with palms, and here is
the home of the cOcoanut, for on
these shores one has the first sight of
! 0f Toll sir u
green crowns in full bearing. Great
punches OF green husked nuts hang
rom the crown, and the gray PEN
lants of the great dried blossoms
,asseled among the fruit rustic and
whisper In the sea breeze.
On all the walks you can see the
'Ocoanut growing and falling to the
ground.
Ocean bathing is not confined to
my particular season. One can COM
nence surf-bathing on the first day
d January of any year, and con-
.inue from day to day until the 31st
lay OF December. We were all in
and enjoyed it immensely.
1t will be quite a while before the
Olks home can go in the surf, won't
ii? 1t is much nicer bathing here
than at Atlantic City. The water is
and the air so warm you do
not feel chilly when you come out, as
you do in Atlantic City.
It is extremely hot here. Sunday
It was 80, yesterday 81 on the porch
in the shade, and to-day "a. We have
the windows up day and night and
then we can't Keep cool,
This morning we took an eight
mile sail up the lake and had a most
delightful sail. This is not all, for we
caught some fine blue fish, that
would weigh from two to three
pounds. Mother caught big one,
and caught two, and some others
in the party got a few. The lake is
twenty-five miles long and about
one mile wide. Tomorrow / am
going in bathing, if nothing hap
pens.
There are enQt many oranges herefOr
we are too far South, but there are lots
of pineapples. Yesterday father and
went out to pineapple plantation
of seven acres. Tits d beautiful sight
to see them growing but this time of
the year there are not many. we
UOuSHl OHc tttlQ tdOc IL tbuu IL w DIS tIic
finest | ever ate. They are twenty
five cents a piece here. Oranges are
five cents a piece. We have an
orange tree along side of the house
and it is Just loaded, but we don It dare
to touch them. We have all kinds of
vegetables.
There are no horses and wagons
here. The wheeLchairs iinrick ksha
and bicycle are the only means of
at Palm Beach. Friday
morning we are going to Rockledge,
the orange district,
ARTHUR p. RYoN.
Atlantic City's winter Charms.
The breezes waited from the great
Atlantic at thi& season Of the year
are more healthful than all the drug
stores in Christed0m, and Atlantic
City is greatly appreciated by peo-
pie who have escaped from business
cares long enough to enjoy the
balmy air and watch natures mag
nificent and ever changing spectacle.
The Philadelphia and Reading Route
is the favorite line between Philadel
phia and Atlantic City, being the