The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1908-05-22
PEOPLE LIVE COR
RECTLY

Tampa, as the Queen City of the
Gulf and of the south generally, were
the two topics of conversation among
a large party of travelling men and
visitors to the city last night at the
DeSoto. AS usual, after partaking of
the fine supper set by the popular hos
telry. the guests repaired to the spa
cious porch OF the hotel, there to en-
JOY the beauties of the summer nights
in this section.
There has been wonderful civic
revolution throughout the south the
past decade" said Arthur T. Aber-
nethy, Ph D., the well known author
DR.. Abernethy, who is the author of
Did Washington Aspire to be King?'
King Leopold in the Congo" and a
number of other works, is spending q
few days in Tampa, which, he says,
is his fayOrite retreat in Florida. Dr.
AbeTnethy is one Of the recognized
authorities on Central Africa, and
personal friend of King Leopold. He
declined the consulship to Sierra Le-
one. Africa, in 1898, under President
Mckinley. He was formerly connect,
ed editorially with the Philadelphia
Record.
81 have been astonished," he con-
tinued, lat the general and steady but
uniform uplifting of the whole south.
Ideals are higher, the demands upon
our citizenship more searching AMI
requires a more exact private, as well
as public. life, altogether.
This is magnificent indication of
the moral tone of the land. Why, a
gentleman who formerly edited one Of
ChicagO's foremost newspapers, re-
Gently said to me: The people of the
south are the most correct living
people of the world
Nowhere is this moral self-respecr
more noticeable than in the state of
Florida. | made a tour of Florida
about fifteen or eighteen years ago
must say, in candor, that some of
the forms of social designations l wit
messed then and which passed under
the masquerade of innocent and harm
less allurements would no more be toll
Grated nor countenanced in Florida
society today than would the most
gross breaches of decOrum. When I
travelled Florida in my earlier days If
was quite the smart thing in tourists
and travelling men to gather in clus-
ters around hotel Hobbies, and openly
engage in gambling, or what is infin-
itely more reprehensible, retail risque
and degenerating stories. Then along
come the government folks and tell
us that the gulf stream is changing,
and that Florida and her neighboring
SeabOard states will be far cooler il
summer and warmer in winter. And
what is most pleasing-the place Of
the Kismet-cursed fatalist, who crept
along the shore lines and declared
Florida could never be developed
has been filed by dauntless, enterpris-
ing business hustlers who have
brought the grand old state into her
own again. If there was a time when
south Florida could not have lived
except for the bronchial wheeZers
| from the frozen NORTH who made
their homes temporarily among you,
! it is so no longer The section can
now boast of enterprises that are
commensurate with those of other
great commonwealth, and with you:
increasing business progress and the
/ seal of disapprOval so firmly set
against sensatiOnalism and chicanery
! in business, you are far, very far, bet
ter off industrially and financially than
many Of you believe down here. 1
would rather invest money in Tampa
banks and financial institutions than
anywhere else l know. After a trip
lecturing through all the southern
states and all the principal cities, |
candidly believe that the city of Tam
pa has developed more substantially
and perceptibly than any city, in pro
portion to DODulatiOn in the entire