The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1906-09-11

~ VIC" Cuc oCdtS WIFI impartial eyes
And note how the land of Florida lies.
Governor Broward not long ago
spoke at a place in East, or South,
Florida called Fort Mccoy; and the
chances are that not one man in a
hundred on this side of the State had
the remotest notion where the place
was or Is. For their benefit let it be
said that Fort Mccoy is a pleasant liz.
tie hamlet on the banks of the raging
Ocklawaha, between Orange Springs
and Ocala-and that brings on more
talk, by-the-way.
Orange Springs is not only a pic
turesque little hamlet. but was in it's
day famous one. It is one of the
| Oldest settlements in the State, and
was up and doing before Palatka was
so much as heard Of 1t is about a mile
from the Ocklawaha, and one has only
to walk down to Orange Creek and
| cross the bridge to find himself in
Putnam county, about % miles from
Gainesville, and the same distance
| from Ocala and Palatka. The place
derives its name from the beautiful
sulphur spring that bubbles up near
the banks of Orange Greek, beneath
the sheltering shade of a grove of an
| cient live oaks. In the old days, one
Colonel Pearson ran bank, saw and
grist mill, and cotton gin here; and
for miles around the primitive farmers
came on their allotted errands. But
today the glory of 'the springs" has
departed; the place wears a Desert
ed Village" air, and has only the
summer visitors from Gainesville and
the country roundabout to keep it in
mind of its old-time glories.
Talking of Governor Broward, John
Beard did not have the pleasure of
meeting him at Fort Mccoy, where
the Governor recently spoke on his
favorite and inevitable topic-drainage.
Mr.. Beard, who is now in Sewannee
Tenn, is said to be willing to meet
the chief executive of the State at any
time and place, then and there to give
battle on the famous Everglades prop
osition; but it Is not definitely known
whether or not the necessary arrange
ments will be made.
1t is proverbially necessary to go
away from home to learn the news
and the following extraordinary para
graph certainly supplies a case in
point: "A Florida correspondent of
the New York Sun says fieas may be
banished from any house, by dragging
a live alligator through the rooms
Persons whose dwellings are infected
with f1eas will have no right to COM
plain after this. Fleas and alligators.
Toss the coin to see which it shall be
Dollars to doughnuts on the flea"
The Tampa Tribune says that '"TheI
Starke Telegraph has, easily, the pref
test front page among Florida week
lies. And it has other good features,
too" And it might have been added
that its brilliant and conscientious
young editor, Eugune Matthews,
stands a good chance OF being chosen
Speaker of the next House of Repre-
sentatives. "Gene"-as his friends all
call him-was member Of the House
in 1905, where he proved so useful to
his constituents and the public at
large that Bradford county wisely de-,
term4ned to send him back again.
Eugene Matthews is certainly an ex-
cellent example of what Florida
newspaper man ought to be.
A travelling man who was here the
other day, in speaking of the climate
in various sections of the State. said:
'T notice that people here seem to i'm,
agine that it is a great deal cooler in
Pensacola than on the nih"r side Of
the State. Now, I don't know what
the thermometer says, but I do know
that / feel the heat as much here as
do in Tampa, Ocala, or Jacksonville
One thing / must say, however. 1t is
much cooler nights here than over
there; and then, you have no mosqui-
toes. Your success in getting rid OF
these nocturnal nuisances simply
shows what can be done by united and
determined effort; and hope to heav-'
en- that some other towns in the State
where the nights are made almost I'M
endurable by the pests, will lost no
time in following suit"
Few people west of the Chatta-
hoochee," continued this observant
drummer. "have any idea of the
amount of money that is piled up, in
one shape or another, in the PENN
sular section of the, State. Take Or
lando, for instance, the county seat,
of Orange county. 1t Is town you'll