The weekly true Democrat. (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1905-1912, 1908-12-11
Florida VIII Be
Made Most Famous
he 6iCow, a New Animal, VIII
Make Florida a Great Dairy
State.

There - man HVn8 uVWu III EosVieB
Florida, who says he has a plan where
Florida can be weaned away from the
tin COW, and made a milk, cream and
butter center Of prime importance,
oays Sidney G. Haly, in the Times
Union. The name Of this man is MikO-
lanski. He is a Pole, who, after much
wandering over the face Of the earth,
settled in Eustis, because Of the health
fulness of the climate there in the high
interior. and the beauty Of the scenery
on the Eustis lake system. Mr. Mike
lanski is an educated man, and speaks
English like q native. Some people re
gard him as crank others declare he
isa genius. At any rate, he is original
enough: and his latest scheme to Origi-
nate q new beast that will solve the
problem Of cheap milk production in
Florida Is, TO say the least Of 1t, start
ling.
III am a great lover Of milk and
cream" says Mr.. MikOlanski. II haYe
been threatened with certain wasting
diseases, and for years have made my
diet TO. consist largely Of these. My
only objection 10 this Eustis lake region
Is that, like all Florida, IL does not pro-
duce milk cheaply; nor is that produced
very good. And so, after thought,
have hit upon a solution 1t requires
some explanation.
Fifteen years ago spent a couple
Of years In BuluWayo, in South Africa,
and in that vic nifty, in those days ]
was q hunter OF big game. / have
killed my share Of elephants, rhinOce-
Eases, hfppOpotami, and / have the skin
Of an Okapi I bagRed before that rare
animal was made known 70 the world
by Sir Harry tombstone. Well, during
my soiOurn IA Africa, / had the good
fortune 10 meet that greatest OF all
modern empire builders, Cecil Rhodes.
~ other things Sc told me Of q
ah ID Rhodesa las II Is now called
who had q queer hybrid beast that was
cross between 3 COW and q giraffe
he had seen ( himself, he said, and
RaFe ne q minute description Of it
d scarcely believe 30 remark
able story, even from Cecil Rhodes.
So, 10 satisfy my curiosity, made a three
weeks journey TO find the owner OF
this anomalous lapsus naturae. After
one Of the most difficult journeys ever
undertook, reached the place, away
on the frontier. Sure enough the man,
an EngIishman named Ferry, had the
animal penned up in his cattle kraal.
It was certainly an odd looking freak,
with body like that Of COW, except
the stripes, and a neck resembling 8
Riraffe's and fully ten feet long. Ferry
said Il gave a very fine quality Of milk
It usually grazed on the tops Of trees,
and did not care much for grass.
offered the man $50 guineas for it, but
he refused. He was gong 70 ship IL Il
England and put 1t into q circus. I'm.
fortunately, as learned subsequently,
the animal was killed by marauding
lion, while in transit. -
''But what has that to do with Flor
ida z" asked your correspondent
"a good deal, replied Mr.. Mikolan.
ski. 81 have settled here near Eustii
because l find this the most attractive
part Of Florida. Il is billy and rolling
with q great system Of intercounectinl
lakes, constituting the finest water
area for pleasure boating and fishing x
be found inland south Of Michigan.
Ike the locality. EustIs ia the highest
resort Of Importance In the State, theI
tell me, being over 200 feet from BeS
level, and fifty above the surrounding
lakes. IL Is the most heaithful spot Of
earth ! ever saw and one Of the mosi
beautiful. am going 10 do my par
toward developing 1t by sending to AZ
riea for a few male eiraffes and shall
originate this new breed of animals. Il
Is TO be called the 'gi-eOw.' II viii rev
Olutionize things hereabouts. You seq
the trouble is this; the grass in Flor.
y ida is of poor quality, but there 4
plenty of grazing in the trees. have
Investigated the question and / fnC
that the gray moss so abundant In this
4 State, makes q fine quality Of milk, anC
that the cows like Il much better thar
anything they can be fed. If success.
ful with the cross breeding propose
shall give the gi-cow, which,. with IL
immensely long neck can reach the moss
IN the bOughs Of the water and live
oaks, and thus obtain a plentifui supply
Of nutrition at all times Of the year.
Do you see p
Your correspondent saw the point,
but was still doubtful. The thing
seemed preposterous He said 80.
ssNot at all, retorted the learned
Pole. "Did you ever see the Austria
ian Dlatypus, or ornithornycus, a. II i
called IN the books Well it Is q small
animal. the size Of large cat. Is has
fur. IKE most Of four footed animals.
snd yet It has Also q duck 3 bin. Webbcd
feet lays eggs and euclles iie young.
Nov D. my gtcoW moro remarkable
thtn that The zchra is crossed With
TIE horse. as Is the donkey. resulting n