The Dickinson press., 1899-02-18
A Letter From the South.
Tallahassee, Fla, Feb. IL, 1899.

Dakota and in fact we had snow until
we reached Birmingham. We have had
only n pleasant day since leaving st.
Paul, that was Thursday in St. August
inc. 1t would be impossible for me to
describe all we have seen, but St.
Augustine, l think, was the most beauti-
full. 1t is a very ancient place. We
were provided with carriages and shown
the principal points of interest, among
which was the oldest house in the U. S,
which was formerly owned by the monks
and contains a number of pieces of an
cient furniture, there being two bed
steads over three hundred years old, n
of which at one time belonged to a
queen of Spain. We were each given a
piece of the old house with a cord and
requested to attach the wood to the cord
with either a yellow or red ribbon. We
also had permission to go through the
old Spanish fort (Mantanga) which we
found very interesting and especially the
dungeons; there we were shown the
prints of the crosses where the prisoners
were nailed to the wall in such a position
that they we're not able to move hand or
foot and some were kept for E hours and
some for 60 hours according to their SEN
tence. When the dungeons were dis
covered the skeletons of a mar and wo-
man were found still hanging to the wall
in one room, and recently in that same
room was found a trap door and on in
vestigation it proved to be a pit of quick
sand where by attaching a weight to a
body it could be disposed of without fear
of being discovered. We bought a book
giving the history of the fort which ex-
plains everything better than l can.
After seeing all we could at the fort we
crossed Mantanga bay and drove about
a mile and a half to the light house
where we climbed up 23s steps to the
top and had a fine view of the Atlantic
ocean. was feeling nearly exhausted
when l reached the top but felt we'll re-
paid for my labor. At Tampa there was
not much of interest except the large
hotel (The Tampa Bay Hotel) which is
owned by a Mr.. Plant and is magnificent
We were shown through Mrs. Plant:
private parlor which was indeed grand
The furniture cost a million and hal
dollars, one pair of vases alone costing
three thousand and SO many other beau
tiful things that my pen cannot describe
At St. Petersburg, which is a small
place it being a new town, the editor o
the paper acted as our guide and con
Quoted us to the "Pineries" where w
saw oranges and pine-apples growing
the crowd purchased an orange tree 70
$3.50 and we plucked oranges to GU
hearts content. W. we're given GU
choice, either to stop at St. Petersburg
or stay on the boat and 60 down the ba,
and back on the Manatee river, but tn
majority preferred stopping at st Peter.
burg; those who took the trip down tn
bay say we missed a grand sight, but W
! couldn't see everything in mi day. We.
terday we spent in Jacksonville an
put in our time as we liked. We visite
the ostrich farm and a number of u
: were given permission to 60 or boar
! the dispatch boat WASP" which did sci
) vice in the late war at Santiago. Their
we saw many interesting things, and tn
v famous yellow cat bob Evans" whic
was on the Iowa. The bo'sun told i
he could whip any cat in the city an
would sometimes be gone for sever;
days but always found his way back
the boat. The only unpleasant featul
Of our trip, $ o far, wa the fact of our b.
n ing attached to a freight last night, col
sequently we had a very rough nigh
We found it raining very hard here tn
morning, but most of our party ha,
gone to see the sights. 1t has been vel
cold all along our trip and it is vel
penetrating too. l think l never felt tt
cold in North Dakota as l did in TamI
and the peole who live here say it is a
;" most impossible to stand it. We lea,
- at three p. m, on our way to New q
leans where the Press Club has arrange
to have reserved seats for our party
n, view the parade and has also chartere
s. a boat for us to go down the river
l. meet king REX" so if the weather pc
a, mits we will have a very enjoyable tin
. there. We have about ninety in o.
8 party and l think we have all enjoyt
\ every moment of our time. We a
;, travelling in the Pullman cars "Nation
- Park" and Livingston" of the N.
road; we are somewhat crowded but '
all make the best of everything and tai
things as we find them. We are {
:. loaded down with "curios" of every d
!, scription; some eve purchased live al
- gators but, of course had them express
through; we pay a good price for ever
:. thing we get. One of our party ask
- the colored driver what they lived
~ here in the south. His reply was, "W'
~ sir, in the summer we have hog and hol
my and in the winter we live off t
=. Yankees" and from all appearances
think it's true. One characteristic fe
ture of the southern people is, they
not seem to have that same energy
northerners have. they move very slo
ly. Well, l have written all of inter'
that presents itself to my mind at pr
ent and will say in conclusion, give I
North Dakota every time.
-. Yours Trulv.N