The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1901-01-10
LETTER FROM FLORIDA.
Interesting Information Sent by Mrs. RomiG
from the Orange Fields.

EDITOR MIDDLEBURG Posi-:
As many of my friends asked me
to write to them, | will comply indi-
rectly By Spcnning YOU Il brief sketch OF
my experience since leaving kantz in
October. We stopped about a week in
Washington, ID. c., with my brother
in-law, Il. \. kant2, and Mr.. Burch.
After gratifying my curiositics and he
ing so pleasantly entertained, we pro-
cccdcd to another brothcr-in-law, Mr..
Birkhcad, in Virginia where we passed
II week very pleasantly. We then start
ed for Tampa, Florida. where we spent
ten days in that llourishing and grow
ing city, being royalty entertained by
| Col. Peter q. Knight, who was born in
Frccburg in old Snyder county, Pa.
| He is one of the most successful law
ycrs in that city. He siust completing
one of the most magnificent residences
of Tampa, which means his probable
permanent location there. After ten
DAYS there, we started for Barlow, the
county seat of Polk county, distant
about 10 miles where we visited rcla
tiVrS of my aunt, Mrs. G.. w. llcudry,
who was accompanying me. After n
short stop there, we went To Fort Meade,
T. miles south, and visited Mrs. f. Il.
Hairless, who spent several months
with me in Pennsylvania last year.
After brief stop there, we left for this
place, Fort Myers in Lee county, arriv-
ing hcrc on the 9th of Nov, where
we rrc pleasantly located inthc ccntrco
the town having about $50 population.
| II j. convenient To church and sunday
school and amid the orange trees ladcIt
with ripe fruit. Besides there are grape
| fruit, guunas, bananas and other uop7
ical fruits. This il Christmas Day;
the foliage of both trees and vcgctation
is as green as midsummer, with no
signs of cold, having had neither ice
nor frost up to the present Tomatoes,
cucumbcrs together with other vcgc-
tables are growing luXuriantIy. The
Thermometer stood GG' yesterday, but
"A little cooler to-day, but has not been
below 4Oo this season. We had about
three inches of rainfall night before last
on the order of what we call "A Gland
min.r The Ca.oo-ahatchCt RiYcr Is
about Il miles wide here, where fishing
| is good most of the time. However,
here like everywhere else, fish do not
! bitcat all times Just for accommodation,
| but in most of the small tributaries
they bite any time. Here we get sheep
heads, snapper- and iacktish : salt
water which bite at bait, but the
principal fish is the salt water mullct
which 90 in shoals 10y the thousands.
| They are caught with seine or net as
they live 10y suction and are fine fish
and shipped by the hundred, of bar
r,lS from Punta Gorda an d other
points. We had our usual Christina,
turkey, not wild one, but wild ones
can be had plentitulIy by going out
away from the settlements We aim
to visit my uncle, u. G. Kant, to-mor-
row. lie lives : miles above here. NV
other uncle, Ed. j. kantz, lives here
in Fort Myers. Both are teaching
school now in this county and both are
! from Snyder county. BY the way |
omitted to say that here did my iirst
fishing and one can imagine my SUI
prise at hanging sand shark, - feet
long, among my first hauls. The sharks
together with the catfish are very an
noying rs they steal the bait and are
not eaten here except channel cat are
rciishcd 10y SOME | caught my first
red snapper nearly II inches long.
Once get my hand in, YOU may eN-
pect some yarns that will sound tishy.
My experience 50 far has been interest
ing to me, but quite tax ON my patti
ence at times.
We have IL good new boat at our
command and anticipate some pleasure
in boat rowing. We have daily steam
ers from Punta Gorda where they con-
meet with the r, II. Two steamers ply
the river as far up as Fort Thompson,
thirty miles by land, that brings the
oranges from above where they are
loaded on steamers to Punta Gorda.
The most of the fruit is yet on the trees
in this county, those sold brought about
81 per box or crate. There are many
thousands more to ship. The grape
fruit sells for about S. per box. AS
much as $50 has been realized from
one tree. The owner received SlSSl
from 40 bearing orange trees, ,-about
$l7 per tree. Another owner sold the
fruit from one acre for $l264 on the trees
and those figures are about an average
yield for full grown Seeding trees.
The business promises to be one ofgreat
magnitude. Some growers are putting