Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1909-02-10
DIR. GREEN WRITES OF IT'S PEO-
PIE AND ITS INDUSTRIES.
Interesting Description of One of the
Oldest Towns i'm America and
the ColOred People of
the South
Palatka, Florida, Feb. 6, 1909.

dldJhd, rlOTlud, req. D, lJUJ.
Editor Public Opinion
The town of Palatka, which is call
ed the Gem City," is located on the
west bank of the st. Johns river,
So miles south of Jacksonville, by
rail and rs by water. 1t has a popu-
lation of about 5000, a large per-
centage of which is colored. 1t is
one of the oldest towns in the state,
possessing many attractions and was
formerly one of the chief places of
resort for the Northern tourist. 1t
contains several fine hotels; the
largest, The Putnam House, covers
an entire block of ground, a site
which can boast of many interesting
historical events. During the Semin-
ole war, General Scott had his head
quarters where this hotel now stands,
and later General lack Taylor, had
his headquarters on the same ground.
The house is elegantly furnished to
accommodate 600 guests; tourists
and winter boarders. Thus far it
has not been opened to the public
this winter, owing to the want of
patronage. Comparatively few tour
lists remain here now for any length
of time, for since the opening of TIE
East Coast railway the towns along
the coast attract northern visitors;
ST. Augustine, Palm Beach, Daytona
and Ormond-On-the-Sea. Were 1t
not for the Oclawaha river trip which
most of the tourists plan to take,
Palatka would have no greater in
terest for strangers than any other
inland town in the state. Forum
FOL.
pendent on tourist patronage. It's
chief industry is the numbering in
terests. 1t possesses five saw mills
which are turning out vast quanti-
ties of lumber and shingles, all of
which is shipped north on schooners
to points along the Atlantic coast.
This lumber, mostly cypress, is quite
abundant in Florida and furnishes
a large revenue to land owners and
mill men. 1t will not be long, how
ever, if the present rate of consump-
ton is continued, before the land
will all be denuded of it's cypress
trees and the mills will be compell-
ed to close down. 1t is the same
problem which is before the rest of
the country-the steady destruction
of our timber growth. In addition
to the lumber interests of the state
and next in Importance, to many of
the interior towns, is the turpentine
industry. AS the Vermont farmer
taps his sugar maple trees for their
sweet juices, So in like manner the
Florida turpentine producer taps his
pine trees and as you ride through
the state you behold in all directions
among the pine forests, these tall,
straight, stately pines yielding their
life blood TO the demand of man
Most of the labor is, of course, done
by colored men, who in the country
far outnumber the whites, while III
the larger towns the races are more
equally divided | have not the
statistics at hand but l think Florida
Las a greater proportion of colored
people than any other state in the
Union, unless it be South Carolina.
AS far as | have been able to observe,
the Florida negro is polite, well-be-
haved. and industrious. My cppor-
tunities, however, | must admit, have
not been sufficiently extended to en-
able me to speak with absolute con-
fidence. | am told that 1.-The town
niger, Sab; is a heap better man
than the country Niger" a state
ment l am quite unable either to
affirm or deny. OF course the town
niger" has far greater opportun-
tiles than his unbleached brother in
the country and should be estimated
accordingly. There are five churches
for the colored people in this place,
which, in itself is evidence sufficient
to show that they are religiously in
clined to say the least; but they are
also enthusiastic and aggressive
One afternoon, recently, as my wife
and myself were passing through the
colored section, an old Aunty lean
ing on the fence stopped us and said
to Mrs. Green: "Evenin' Missus,
could you-all give me half a dollah
to help pay for a awgan fob owah
chu'ch?"
The other side of the negro charac-
ter also appears, as factor in the
action of the citizens on the temper
ance question. Two years ago the
town went dry, the chief reason being
that the "nigger" who is easily con-
trolled when he is sober, is a danger
Gus character when he is drunk and
if there Is any whiskey within reach,
he will have it at any cost.
II. II. GREEN.