The National tribune., 1910-01-13
ST. CLOUD.
A Breezy Letter From the G. A. r
Metropolis

Editor National Tribune: I wrote you
a few days ago about my free cure for
rheumatism. ] wish to say that / have
nothing to take back; it is absolutely
true. There is one thing l wish to have
| corrected in my letter two weeks ago.
l either made a mistake or you did in
regard to the paving of the streets. L
meant to say the grading of the streets,
and that is not yet commenced. / un-
| derstood il had begun. l do not wish
to say anything that is not true, abso-
lutely true. i am not writing this let
ter for publication, but you may If you
so desire to take from it what you see
fit and publish it, as l think it will be
of much good. 1 am Deputy Sheriff
and Health officer for St Cloud only,
and 1 want to say that l have brought
| peace. These Crackers have always
done as they pleased. They almost all
| drink and get most beautifully drunk
and fight among themselves They
send to Tampa and Jacksonville and
the liquor comes by express. 1 have
watched them very closely. and cannot
| find anyone selling or bootlegging. The
health of the colony is good. We have
had two deaths of comrades. One came
| here with an incurable disease, the
other of pneumonia. He came from
the fever-infested district of Alabama.
| Everything is moving along finely. New
and substantial buildings, both bust
ness and dwellings, are going up, and
! the sound of the hammar can be heard
| in every direction. The new bank
! building is up to the square and will
soon be completed. We have been
! greatly handicapped frem the great
scarcity of lumber. This is, however,
about relieved. We greatly need cc-
ment block factory, as all that kind of
material must come from Kissimmee or
some other place. Our water works.
| promised so long, has not yet shown
any signs of coming. We need it very
much. We have men come here who
| expected to see {; town with all modern
| improvements. They mostly go away
dissatisfied. Some who went have re-
turned. The most complaint now is in
regard to our post office being one of
| only fourth class, but few boxes and
great crowds at the window all day,
pushing and crowding, cussing the
| Postmaster, the Government, etc. Mr..
King. our Postmaster, is the hardest
worked man in st. Cloud, and gets less
| thanks for what he is doing. Some
thing ought to be done. if possible, to
relieve this trouble. Our public school
will commence tomorrow. The school
| seats and desks were ordered some
time ago, but have not arrived yet.
The railroad is simply general nuis-
ance. They have no depot; neither
| nave tDty even al DldllpIHl W get oII VI
off. They do not do anything to ac-
commodate the people. have no ticket
office, no express Office here. Hundreds
of packages came to comrades from
friends East and North They brought
out packages or express twice week;
had no freight agent here until this
week. Have got man now. He fas
no Office. 1t just beats -- now mean
and despicable the railroad makes
things.
Messrs King and White are working
hard every day locating people on their
land and lots. l met Mr.. Stewart, SUI
perintendent Of the Shaker Colony, to-
day. He told me that on last week we
had the hardest frost and coldest days
that were known here since five years
ago Frost did no particular damage.
To-day has been a lovely one, 76 de-
grees in our tent; the most perfect
climate.
We need a hotel here with not less
than 100 rooms; they would all be full.
The company now has completed
large one-story building for the dining
room to accommodate the general pub
lie. Mr. Golden is engineer, ably as
sisted by Miss Mosier, and all are fed,
and well fed, at small cost. Every
body is satisfied. We have organized a
G.. A. r. Post with IS charter mem |
bers. The Department Commander
Comrade Skinner, will be here to-mor-
row to install the officers, We also have
n Relief Corps organized, with AZ char
ter members. l will later give You Tie
names.
In conclusion, I wish to say that our
Executive Committee are doing great
work in getting things in shape. Our
Secretary, Col. Kinney. is deVotlng an
his time to looking after the colonlsts
who are daily coming in.
We have an information headquar-
ters in a large tent near the depot. we
have men at every train to meet the
newcomers and take them to head
quarters and direct them. We all only
hone the company will hurry up the
hotel, water works, ice and electric |
light plants Water can be secured at
from six to eight feet.
[ have received at least so letters or |
inquiry from all parts since my sure
cure appeared. If you should want to |
know anything about this place. COM
mand me; l will do the best l can.
l am in favor of The National Trib-
une pension bill, altho L get a pension
by sDecial act of $50. Pension Depart
ment turned me down after waiting 10 |
years; was not disabled. When 40 /
got SIS. That did not suit me, so l
went to Congress.-W. w. Angel, 18th |
Ind. and 5th Ind. Cav, St Cloud, Fla.
Postscrpt-We were all awakened
this morning by a special train at $3.50
a. m. Superintendent Ridley. of the
Coast Line Railroad, in Il private car,
etc l expect the Railroad Commis-
have stirred him up. and we
will soon have depot, station, etc
Angel.