The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-03-03

But the men. who planted that morass-
locked ranch believe that the rail-
rendy to he marketed. IT Is too good
~ chance to BIO missed.
What the lone cowboy thought out
Tor this particular. Florida nummbck is
blt OF CYAN snWamp land in the state--ncnvly
ls,000,000 acres all told over 70Db.0 900
acres ae lying below the frost linc.-that
can can ne drainad, made arabic and habit
sble In a little while and offer homes
Tor million or more tomesteaders
who care to 80 In for fruit growing,
t,r ,l. 81 poultry raising aud the rails
ing OF Southern staple products. Al
ready the plea has gone out from
the state that many hotels are order
,nh as Their poultry and eggs from Cana
the hotels Immediate reighbor6ooh
i2r establishing poultry culture and
s stSeip,ns the good silver within tho
ed s'1 ise r ,niIEss railroad has thread
ne, and bridged It's way over
the ne !. keys for seventy-dve miles Out to-
Seieve ou tha+ there Is every reason TO
everglades and swampa viii be fol.
lowed by system OF RAILWAYS that
a aqar n no foes hn. in , the shape OF water
ahead Of them ep1 t w1ih vi, steam shovel
aquatic life, will penetrate the inner
most recesses Of the mysterious PEE
T., rra.,,i IN 1880 the total trackage
hardly COG miles. Now there are "a.
proXlmately $500 miles. Vast areXs
OF ., the state lands nave been granted
s siaiaa comp'aniesD who have thus as
state. This big. half-unknown lanI nd
as large as all New, England. was laid
out out IN ,town adn In 1916, and one
set aside for school purposes. So far
Is the, State from being we'll settled
mat there are said to be at least 100
surveyed.
When people note the amount of
school land Florida possesses and dis
cover the size of her school fund, and
then see how high is the State per-
TO be critical. They overlook the fact
that Florda's school population is only
tntee to every square mile. making the
es Ia ts men, Of schools a problem
70 average ninety-four days IL year.
The negro, Minorcan and Indian popu-
,lation lower the percentage nearly
half the school population being negro
and indian. Within the past two wears
the consolidation OF several of tho
higher institutions OF learning into
State universities for men and women
has materially raised the standard
of higher education.
The history of the State has been q
checkered and romantic one. The prop
erty of Spain. II was settled at st. Au-
sustine in 1865. after Medenlez had
massacrcd the French Huguenot settle
ment of Laudonniere made at Fort Caro-
line in 1864. Other nations had an
eye. on the flowery land. and in 1886
that sea rover. Sir Francis Drake, push
ed his English pinnaces up the river
and sent terror for awhile into the
Spanish souls. In 1902 Governor Moore.
olina made an unsuccessful attempt to
disIodge the Spanish from Florida. and
in 17i0 Governor Oglethorpe. of Gcor-
ga. made similarly unsuccessful at
! only pawn on the big chessboard of
the nations. In 1863, at the close OF
the, French and Indian War. when
spain was IS. an ally Iof France It was
Havana, which had been captured by
Albemarle. Florida became intensely
! loyal, burned Hancock and Adams I'm
efffgy when the news OF the Declara-
| tion OF Independence reached St Au-
gustine. and became refuge for roy
alists when tile war was over.
In 17So England returned Florida
and West Florida to Spain In exchange
ulation OF $4,000 was Invited to leave
within eighteen months. In 1913 part
of West Florida was. taken by the
a rokSAse ground for England in the
WaE.,.jrn wasins, but In 1919 this
tt.fsS.Ty was against given hack &c
s-pui'i' SPAN touiu uol keep Inc M
dians in order so the United Statca
began negotiations, and In 1919 spai1
reluctantly signed treaty cetisng
Florida to the United States for 5000
900. and possession was formally giver
| in 1921.
1t was the Western part Of the
presen. state of Florida that first look.
States THAI. part lying west of the
Perdido was In dispute between France
and Spain In 1903, and wishing some
definite master. the Baton Rouge Dis
| trict declared Its Independence in 1910.
called itself the Republic of West Flor.
ida. and asked admission, to the Union.
| However It was annexed to Louisiana
| in a months time. and settled down
| to contentment and prosperity. IN fst5
| President Tyler signed the bill adj
hitting all Florida as State, and
with The INTERRUPTION OF the Civil War:
| Florida has gone about the task of
developing her resources and qualify
| ing herself for high rank among the
| States
Tomorrow - Changing Inaugural
Date.