, 1905-03-29

hardly business enough for one up-to-
date printer. An ice plant, electric
lights, trolley and a telephone in near
~ every house, are conveniences.
The phone extends to the homes Of
nearly every farmer at a charge of 81. so
per month and unlimited local calls.
Manatee county, of which Braiden-
town is the county seat, contains 7, 754,-
O54 acres of, said to be, tillable soil, of
which only 1914 acres are under cult
walton. The total population of the
county is less than 5000. For a distance
of go miles n side of the county is
bounded by the Gulf of Mexico.
One day this week / accepted an in
vitation from William Richman to go
fishing for sheepshead on the Manitee
river. We went in a launch, accom-
panied by the owner, Mr.. Weezer and
wife, and two of their friends and Mrs.
Richman. The river is about a mile
wide but the water is shoal excepting
III the winding channels. Along the
river piers have been built extending
often an eighth or ever a quarter
OF a mile from the shore to a
point where the water is deep enough
for the river steamers to stop. The pill
ing in these piers are covered with bar
nacles and a young growth of oysters
and around them the sheepshead are
found in great numbers and are caught
from the piers. l presume there is not
a pier along the river where the gamey
sheepshead cannot be found; the water
is clear and when the river is smooth
the fish a be seen feeding.
| tried faithfully for more than four
hours without landing a fish; in the
same time Mrs. Richman had seven
fine ones to her credit-just seven more
than her husband caught, although he
tried hard. He lost bait after bait and
some hooks and had four sheepshead
to the surface but they all got away.
The other two ladies with us caught
seven sheepshead between them, some
of them fine ones. The catch for the
afternoon numbered %. The bait used
is "a small fiddler, found along the river
edgein great numbers; they are smaller
than Jersey fiddlers and are about the
color of a Jersey sand crab. Sleeps
head are very fond of them. They
will get one of the fiddlers from the
hook without the fisherman discover
ing that he has had a bite. Many of
the sheepshead break the hooks or wire
snood. One of our party lost three
hooks in a few minutes, without catch
ing a fish. They are strong in the jaws
and with their sheep teeth they can
make short work of an ordinary hook.
They closely resemble the sheepshead
caught III New Jersey.
Mullet of large size are numerous
here but will not take a bait. They
jump out of the water two to three feet
and can be seen jumping almost any
hour of the day.
| met a man this week formerly
from Mullica Hill neighborhood. His
his name is William Ingles; he has
lived in this county for several years.
There are no cellars in this part OF
the state. Houses are placed on pill.
ings, just as at New Jersey seashore re,
sorts. Most of the people drink cistern
water although a few have artesian
wells. Water from surface wells is moi
fit for white people to drink, although
many negroes drink it without APP
parent detrimental effects.
/ have never been in a place where
the telephone is SO much used as here
There is one in nearly every house il
town and nearby farm houses. Th'
exchange is open night and day, Sun
days and holidays included, and as nt
tolls are charged except the regula
rental of 81 80 per month, the wires arr
kept busy. The stores all have then
and deliver orders promptly. Bicycles
with a basket arrangement attached
are used to deliver all small orders.
S. p. FOSTER
Braidentown, Fla, March 16.