The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-12-21

were not killed. They sprouted again and
where the sprouts were properly cared for
they came on finely. This year quite I .0o0.-
| 200 boxes Of oranges will be sent out Of
Florida and year by year the crop will
increase, barring a recurrence OF the big
| freeze. which is not al all likely.
MAKING rHIYos.
| But vegetables. pure apples and other
varieties Of fruit were not the only good
results that came from Florida's getting
over the deep-rooted impression that there
was nothing In the State worth thinking
about save oranges. Manufacturing got a
foothold. There are q. 600 600 acres Of forest
land in Florida, composed very largely OF
pitch pine. from which turpentne and the
kindred products. rosin and rosin oil, known
as naval stores. are produced; while next in
importance TO the pitch pine trees comes the
| live oak used largely in shipbuilding.
| The manufactures from these raw ma
terials took on q strong impetus sfter the
crushing blow to the orange-growing In
dustry. They are the most valuable re.
sources OF the State. In 1900 the products
| depending upon the forests amounted TO
nearly so per cent. Of the manufactures OF
all Florida.
1t was not until 1880 that the manufactur-
| ing industries in the State began to stir. and
even in that year the total output was only
$500, 600 worth Of manufactured articles.
Ten years later this had risen to over 1ls. Co.,
900. and from 1850, to i9o0-the dec aie e
the gre at fr szo--Florioa's man, featuring
output was N3. 0O. 900, an increase In the
ten years Of about ITO per cent.
| Thus it has happened that Jacksonvile's
three great dis sters Of the last twenty five
years, the yellow fever epidemic, the great
freeze. and the fire Of year ago last May.
each brought some great and lasting benefit
to the community.
SELLING THiNos.
| Jacksonville occupies a strategical posi-
ton in the merchandising world which il
| equalled by none of the other cities Of the
South. 1t absolutely commands all the
State to the south OF II, and that means
nearly all Of Florida. II Is a gateway through
which all must pass to reach the rapidly
| developing country all the way down the
peninsula. Savannah. Charleston, Columbia,
| Atlanta and Birming ham-each is hemmed
in as to its territory by active neigh
bors who are holly contending every inch
| of the field. Jacksonville has everything
her own way and has been taking advantage
OF the circumstance to the very uttermost
As jobbing centre this city is fast be-
coming one Of the most important in the
! South, and the trade is increasing at a rate
that seems hardly credible to those who
| have not kept track Of Florida's remarka-
| BILE interior development within the past
ten years and particularly during the coun-
try's record.breaking prosperity Of the
last half decade.
With Tampa in the lead in the race the
towns all down the peninsula have been
going right ahead particularly since the
Spanish war. while with the diversified in
dustries that have sprung up within the
past seven years the country itself has been
filing up with thrifty people, who not only
make good livings but have money to
spend besides
Practically all this population il supplied
from Jacksonville. Her wholesale houses
have the field almost entirely TO them
selves and il is not their intention that
south Floridlans shall have to 90 north Of
the st. John River to buy anything II they
can help il. There is hardly line of mer-
ohandise that is not represented here by
some large wholesale house.
The jobbing trade in groceries. for in
stance. is particularly large. There are 10
Jacksonville no less than nineteen wholesale
grocery stores. doing business that runs
away up into the millions every year. Two
Of these big grocery stores have Just been
consolidated into one large concern having
a capital Of $500 900.
Savannah now leads in the naval stores
line, but Jacksonville is reaching out to
pull this feather from Savannah's cap.
having just organized a great naval stores
company with capital Of %, 900 900, and is
now looking confidently ahead TO a day
in the near future when this place will be
the principal naval stores port in the entire
world.
Another Of the great Florida industries
which has grown up within the past twenty
years Ia the mining and exploitation Of
phosphate rock and the manufacture Of
fertilizers, for both OF which Jacksonville
is an important port.
But 1t lie the yellow pine lumber and other
wood products OF the vast forests Of the
State which lead in Jacksonville's export
trade. the total exports Of this form Of mer.
chandise amounting to close to 81 900 900 q
year, while her naval stores exports amount
to over 81 100000 with cotton next, having
exports amounting to over 500 900 annually
as long ago as two years.
THE RAILROADS.
Jacksonville's superb railroad facilities
have been at the bot tom OF most OF her
swift growth within the past few years.
There are in all ten distinct lines Of railroad
coming into the city. although most of
them have now been merged into the four
great trunk lines which are punched here.
They spread all over the map until there IL
hardly place in all Florida that is not
touched by some one Of them.
In addition to all the roads controlled
by the four great trunk lines-the Southern,
the Seaboard Air Line. the Atlantic Coast
Line and the Plant Systs m-there IL one
line. that is still indepe ndent-the Jack
sonvile and Southwestern Railway. owned
by one Of the big lumber companies, and
comprising about ninety miles extending
TO naYiRahle Xafera on the Gulf aida Of Tia