The Penn's Grove record., 1909-03-26
Florida Letter

Miami, Fla, March 18th, lSOI
A fair has been held her this week, in
a building out over the bay. 1t is a fine
building, has plenty of windows and is
always cool. It was built by Mr.. Flagler
who was the founder of Miami. lie is
a nulti-millionaire and built the 2cnble
track for the railroad from Jacksonville
here; built the Royal Palm Hotel which
is the finest and has the most handsome
grounds of amy here. / think it has as
many as five hundred c~ocoanut trees on
the grounds and royal palms and all the
other tropical plants. He built a hand
SOM Presbyterian Church and parsonage
with ample grounds and pays the pastor.
He is a member of the Presbyterian
Church. He has also built a hospital for
those that get wounded Oh the extension
he is building. 1t is right along the bay
so nice and cool with lovely grounds.
The railroad terminates at Knights
Keys, but heis extending it Oh over the
] ocean to Key West. He is building it of
| concrete and when it is done you can go
from Boston to Cuba and Havana by
| rail. They say it is the only concrete
| viaduct for the railroad and is the first Of
| the kind to be built in the world. They
take tourists on it as far as it goes.
Not only has Mr.. Flagler helped build
/ Miami, but he built the Royal Poinciana
Hotel and fixed the grounds at Palm
Beach and has a palatial home there
where he resides, and built the Ormond
Hotel at Ormandy. He is in his eighties
and has his third wife who is in her
twenties. He says he hopes to live to
see the extension completed. A gentle
man took US out to see his farm yester-
day. Mr.. Pedrick gave him some OF the
white potatoes we brought with us, Ped
rick's Eureka. He planted them and he
wanted us to see how nice they were
growing. He had nice tomatoes in bios
som and sweet potatoes. His land is
muck and the dry weather does not affect
it. He gave us a sweet potato that
weighed three pounds. There is one in a
real estate window That weighed when
dug ninteen pounds. The one he gave
us was only set out last fall. They leave
them in the ground and dig them just AZ
they want them as it never freezes.
Well, | will return to the fair. 1t ex-
ceeded my expectation. The vegetables
were very good and the fancy work in
the ladies department. was as fine as any
| ever saw at our fairs. Mr.. Flaglel
offered $40 for the best chrystalize and
preserves and jellies made of the orange.
pineapple and guavaand there were fine
DISPLAYS, and also of furniture made of tho
woods that grow here.
When we were first here we took 8
ride out to a farm where they had a patel
of pumpkins. MIR. Pedrick wrote hi
name on the pumpkin and the date O
the month and we were surprised to So,
it at the fair. 1t had grown out perfec
and fair. He wrote it Jan. 90 TIL,
vines live here to be eight and ten wear
old and they say preserving citron vine
{ grow a mile long, but we haven't seel
y any quite that long. Cocanut tree
: grows forty feet right straight Nm am
. branch out beautifully at the ton an,
shades the cocanuts which are in ali STAG
: es OF development. The peppers groS
8 here, those little hot peppers, to be fou
e and five feet high. They never die
9 When they get too high they chop ther
1 down and let them sprout up. Thew ar
= loaded with fruit. They plant them wit
their hedges for ornaments. / nriced
cucumber To-day at the store and it WIS
Is cents, l didn't take any. They 90
they are hard to raise because 81 :
many insects. MRs.G. R. PEDRIcK.