The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1902-01-09
DOWN JN FLORIDA,

|
The old year went out cold and for
two mornings the mercury was down to
thirty-eight degrees but New Years
day was warmer, and now the mercury
is up in the seventies again. The roses
are blooming and the bushes are loaded
With buds. To the northern visitor who
is in any way observing there is plenty
Of scope for the studying of the differ
ent ways and manners of the native
Floridans, which seem peculiar to the
| visitors who are used to the energetic
and busting of the people of all classes
in New England. The natives here are,
with very few exceptions, rather an
easy-going class. not given to hurry or
worry, and seem happy and contented
in their sphere of life, and have no de-
sire to oVerWork or ever tire them
selves, and even when they are at work,
and sometimes when the job ought to
be completed at once, they do not hesi-
tate to drop everything where ii is and
start off on a hunting or fishing eXcur-
sion, sometimes back in the country, to
| be gone several days. They are con-
genial and hospitable collection of peo-
pie, and always have pleasant greet
! ing for everybody, even IL strangers,
| when they meet on the street. Flori-
da as an agricultural country, judging
| by the views of the same from jack
| sonville south is a dismal failure, and
| any thrifty New England farmer who
was visiting this side of the state with
| the idea of purchasing land for farm
ing purposes would be sadly disappoint-
ed and would want to take the first
train for home. The country is level
with hardly a knoll, to say nothing of
| hills or mountains to be seen, and has
no grassy meadows or even pastures
where a goat could subsist. The soil is
white sand. and it is sand, too moth
ing but sand on all sides, with acca-
sional patches of palmettos and acre af-
ter acre of scrub palms; now and then
a swamp also covered with the low
PALM, some pieces of woods with the
Florida pine and some scrub oaks
which becomes tiresome to look at as
one passes through on the cars. AT the
many beautiful pleasure resorts there is
a decided change for the better, as
there are beautiful grounds with fine
trees, palms and other plants to beau
tify, all Of which has been brought
about by the lavish expenditure of
money and display of enterprise by the
capitalists in building up the business
at the resorts for the thousands of Wis
itors from the north, who come here
every winter to escape the cold weather
and enjoy themselves. The season
promises to be the most prosperous at
the different Florida hotels of any on
record and eXen now, early in the sea-
son, the hotels which have only opened
since January l. are fast filling up with
guests. Fort Pierce, which is well
down the line. is having quite boom,
and has doubled its population within
the past two or three years. The fish
ing in this vicinity is the best of any on
the line, as the Indian river, which
fronts the hotel, is literally alive with
all kinds and can be seen jumping out
of the water by the hundreds at most
any time of day, Among the many
kinds of fish that abound in the Indian
river and its inlets are tarpon, the Sill
Yer Klnk,' which weigh as many as |
two hundred pounds, and are consid- |
cred quite catch. Landlord Tyler has
one on a board over the mantel in the |
hotel six feet long and weighed one |
hundred and two pounds, caught by |
Mr. Tyler in the inlet. Other fish are |
sheepshead, which run from two to ten |
pounds; are quite gamey and resemble |
football players sweater with its |
wide stripes; Spanish mackerel Jew
fish kingfish. bluefish, sharks, sawfsh. |
river trout, sailors choice. mangrove, |
snapper, mutton-fsh, mullett. mutton
fish groupers. grunts, &c. Guests at the /
hotel last season from January Is to
March, caught with hook and line, H.
O7O pounds of game fish, besides several
tarpon and Jewish, the weight of
which We're not taken. All kinds of
birds are abundant; wild ducks, snipe,
quail, plover and all kinds of water
fowl back in the country, wild turyey, ,
deer. bears and wildcat On the river
from the hotel can be seen hocks of
ducks, curlew, pelican. cormorants or
water turkey, gulls, turkey buzzards,
blue heron, white heron and all kinds
of heron except smoked herring
Owing to local statute no shooting is
allowed inside of a certain limit about
town, which does not afford shooting
out on the river a reasonable distance |
from shore The various kinds of birds
evidently are aware of the law and have
no fear of the shooters and are plenty
along the hotel front and along the
shore. Yesterday three fine wild pi
geon We're feeding within four rods of
the hotel veranda. But all these pleas
ures win have to be left behind in a
couple of weeks more and a trip to Con-
necticut started. w. r, l..