The National tribune., 1910-11-17

ST. ANDREWS BAY,
"The Naples of the South" Where Gulf
Brcczes Make the Sumiccr One Long
Dream of Delight and Danish the
RigOrs of Winter.

"The Naples of the South" Where Gull
Brcczes Make the Sumner One Long
Dream OF Delight and Danish the
RisOrs of Winter.
Editor National Tribune: Only re-
icently 1 have noticed in The National
Tribune gour enterprise at st. An
drew's Bay, Florida. l have wondered
for some time why some one did not
become interested in that beautiful and
interesting place long before this. /
am so glad that I hardly can help writ
ing you a few lines regarding the place,
for have known of st. Andrews Pay
for several years This beautiful Bay.
nesting by the rims of the Gulf of
Mexico. lies about 1000 miles south
southeast of Washington.
Just how long it has been since the
mighty Gulf extended this arm TOW ard
the heat-scorched and. ,frost-bittan re-
sfons farther north no one knows for
certain. Neither does it matter to Us.
| When the first "pale-face' set foot
on the American Continent it waa there
/ as it is to-day; yea, thousands Of years
! before it was the rendezvous and tryst-
/ ing place of the mound builders. wilo
! eft behind them the mounds, the she'll
! banks and great catacomhs of their
bones to hint OF the story of Il great
catastrophe which the world has never
heard, and the sequel of which will
ne"er he written.
This is all there is to tell of ante
Caucasian occupation, and it is little
enough.
Let the antiquarian dclve among the
ruins and tombs which mark the an
cient habitat Of this people rho left
the world no story OF the DEVELOPMENT
and decline of their race--no token
from which we IGay make 4 Ej:rs5 as
to the motives that iinpGlcd ~ the
hopes tat inspired them. II would
d0abtlosS be a quaint, iIitcrcEjin;; and
curious history, il mother carts, would
but tell us the tale or II the silent past
would divulge the secret whir.l II fholds
locked against all of our cunning and
curiosity. am interested in 7tGiS quaint
and curious corner of our land because
of what it is to-day, ard the abundant
promise of the future in store for it.
Far more Americans have seen the
Ray of Naples than have seen this SUI
perb bod Of water, which has been
termed The Naples OF the South" But
those to whom Il has been given to be-
hold its virgin beauty ana im;Iibe of
that sense Of nearness to Nature 3Rd
to Natures God which fills the soul as
the grand panorama unfolds itseif TO
the eye will never forget the scene nor
S-udee the time and sacrifice. Icr the
worshipers at the shrine of sport here
Is i veritable Mecca worth the crossing
of oceans and continents. OGr west
ern sorcerland is receding and fading
away, but here IS thousands OF square
miles of dense forest, which is me nat
ural habitation of the wild turkey, the
deer and the great black bear. The
hunting parties from the North that
have been there. and to many who
read this the mere mention of the
beautiful st. Andrews by the sea" will
conjure up passed recollecttUTs and
"reminiscences of the days that are
gone The devotces of rod, reel and
net will remember the siIvery- fash of
the mullet, glistening for the merest
fraction of a second in the hazy sun
shine. and then plunging back into the
sparkling water from which he came,
the game speckled trout, as he makes
the desperate plunge which sets every
nerve a-tingle, and the deadly dash Of
the tarpon, grand chief of the entire
game fish tribe, as he plunges and leaps
in vain attempts to free himself from
the cruel-bearded hook, to say nothing
of the thousands of other food fishes
which are taken by every conceivable
means, ranging from the sharpened
stick with which the small boy impaies
the wary founder to his sandy bed, to
the 2O0-fathom purse-seine with which
as much as $4,000 pounds of blaze fish,
mackerel and pompano are sometimes
brought up from the blue waters of
the Gulf at single haul. The lovers
of the beautiful and grand will love the
slistening bay. its coves and bayous
hard pressed by the dense growth of
oaks and magnolias and overhung by
draperies and festoons of Spanish moss
pendant from the trees on the high
bluffs above, and constantly blown and
rustled by the Mexican breeze which
makes the Summer one long dream of
pleasure and sternly commands the
rigor of Winter, "Thus-far shalt thou
come and no further."-L. NJ. Miller.