Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1898-08-03
A LETTER FROM FLORIDA

TAMPA, FLORIDA, July p, 1898.
DEAR SIR Il will take my time to
try and tell the people of Juniata Il
little about the South. 1t is very warm
here, and is raining nearly every day.
1t ia healthy climate, and when they
called it the Sunny South, they gave it
good name for it is as warm as
Jupiter when the sun is not shining.
1t is the rainy season Of the year that
is now at hand, and | am told that it
rains every day for two months, and
| think that is about the way it will be
for some time. ! was at Fort Tampa
on Sunday, the 10th, and saw some
fine sights, one of the most amusing
things was the Spanish merchant YES
sci that was captured by the Americans
last February, the name of the vessel
WAS Pedro Bilbao, ii is an iron clad
vessel, that it what they call it down
here. II is not a stylish vessel, but it
is very large one, its length is l25 feet
and il "a feet high, and is a very wide
vessel. i was on the vessel from top
to bottom and it is built very strong.
| also saw the American vessel Gussie,
it is transport vessel and was being
loaded with mules 10 send 10 Santiago
De Cuba, | was there when it started
off, it went of very nicely and at a
good speed. l saw some big fish, such
rs sharks, catfish and what is called
the jew fish, and several kinds of small
er fish. It is 4 sight for one who sell
dom sees the waters OF the deep to go
there. / went there with tie inten-
tions of seeing what was to be seen.
There were number of othei vessels
in the bay and they were going and
coming all the time, there is not as
large soldier camp at Fort Tampa as
there is here at Tampa, this is a large
soldier camp. | do rot like the cities
i'm the south, they are not as nice as
the northern cities. The streets in
Tampa are in q terrible condition, the
sand is about inches deep, and the
buildings are not very nice, they are
the common old frame houses, plainly
built. The store windows are finely
decorated with shells of all kinds that
are found along the sea shore, they are
very pretty. l suppose you have all
heard of Tampa Bay Hotel, | must say
that it is the finest building here, and
is as nicely furnished as any hotel l
ever saw. there is no bar room in this
hotel. it is a summer resort, and no
rum is allowed. 1t is the oni; build
ing of any account about here. |
would not live here, | like the climate
talk, they are mostly all Cubans and
of course that is why the boys do not
like it. We cannot understand their
language. Some of them are white but
the most are dark Completed, and
very rough looking, but some of them
are very nice people. There are 4 few
of them that we can understand and
they are always ready to treat us kind
ly, and will do anything they can for
the Boys in Blue. There is Il small
town here called CubantoNn, and they
are all Cubans in it, and the city Of
Tampa is mostly all Cuban people.
American people are scarce, but i'll The
evening when the Boys in Blue get in
to the town, then the Americans are
all that can be found. We have drill
twice day. 1t is 50 hot here that we
have to drill in the morning and even
ing. We have three hours drill in the
morning and two hours in the evening
making five hours a day, the extra
time we have we make use of by clean
ing our guns, revolvers and sabres, we
always have to have them clean for in
spectiOn, which is every Saturday.
Troop b., of the end Cavalry left to day
for Porto Rico, and we expect to be
moved some time in the near future.
l noticed that the papers stated that l
had joined the Rough Riders and gone
to Cuba, but that is mistake, l was
asked to join the Rough Riders but
have not joined them yet, l can join
them any time but l think l will stay
where am for the present time, have
| nice officers in this troop. If join the
Rough Riders | will write to you and
let you know that l have done so, but
| | kindly ask you to state that l am
still a member of Troop F., Second Cav
airy, and will remain in it for the pres
ent time. | will make brief mention
OF the railroad down here The en-
gines are all run by firing with wood,
they do not use coal, they burn moth
! ing but pine, and they are the old style
engines they are small and look very
! funny, they have small trains and cam
not run fast and they make more dirt
than they are worth. When all engine
passes the depot it almost makes per-
son sick with the smell of the pine. l
will close this letter by thanking all
my friends in Nliffiin for the many
favOrs they did for boys of Juniata the
day we left that place and hope that
we may return safely to our homes to
do the same for them in some way. l
hope this letter will find the people of
Juniata in good health and enjoying
| the victories of the American Army.
Yours very Truly,
JOSpph NJ Pannehakar