Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1902-01-22
EVERGLADES OF FLORIDA
A LETTER FROM Mr.. ]. NJ. AKERS
In which he describes Florida, its
Climate, its Soil and its
Beautiful Scenery.
SPRING PARK, Fla, Jan. II, '02.

SPRING PARK, Fla, Jan. II, '02.
Ed PUBI &c OPINION:
| thought I would write few lines
to you to let you know that we are
still alive. The weather is fine, and
since we have been here the ther-
mometer has been below the freezing
point only once, and then only two
degrees below. 1t registers from go to
so degrees in the middle of the day.
The climate is delightful, as we can
sit in our room with doors open with
out any fire and be perfectly comfort
able. That is the case while l an.
writing. On New Years day we went
to Silver Springs and must say that
it is beautiful sight, one of the won.
ders of nature. A person can stand
on the bank or on the platform of the
depot of the Sea Board Air Line rail-
road and look down eighty-five feet to
the bottom of the spring and see a
large river gush out from the rock be-
low, the water clear as crystal
and the reflection of the sun on the
bottom on the shells and some old tin
cans. Silver never shown as bright.
You can see all the colors of the rain
bow, and it forms a stream from thirty
to forty rods wide with sufficient
depth of water for steam boats to
come up from the ocean. We took our
dinners under the shade of a large
cypress tree that stood by the wharf.
Then we took skiff and went down
the stream, that we might better see
the beauties of nature. We could see
places every little ways where the
water boiled up in torrents from the
bottom. There is bay some half a
mile down the stream that is called
the Ladies' Parlor" where we could
look down and see two chairs some
twenty-five or thirty feet below, and
we are told that some time ago a
couple was married in boat over this
spot and they threw the chairs over
board, and that is how the chairs came
to be there. In consequence it was
called the Ladies' Parlor" The
stream formed by this great outflow of
water enters into Ocklawaka river
spring, and the Ocklawaka river
empties into the st. Johns river so
that good sized steam boats run up to
Silver Springs for freight and pas
sengs, only distance of two and one
half miles from where we are stopping.
I have been around some since | wrote
you, and find the high land is very
sandy and what l call poor land
covered with pine timber of very
fine quality. You could easily get
from six to eight twelve foot logs from
tree without limb. There is an
other kind of land here which the peo-
pie call hammock land, but would
call 1t swamp land. This swamp or
hammock land is rich and covered
with cypress and other hard timber
and is very swampy and also very
sickly. The hammock land is fertile
land where it can be drained and will
produce good crops of anything that
can be produced in this country.
There are some oranges grown here in
this place, but not many and some
bananas, some lemons and in fact al
most any kind of fruit can be grown
here except apples. We enjoy this
climate very much, as well as the
good sweet potatoes produced by this
sandy soil. When have seen more of
the country will write you again.
j. M. AKERs.