Newark post., 1910-04-06
Mr.. Rose Talks Of Florida
Newark, Del, April 4th, 1910.

| AS per your request, | VIII give you
some OF the interesting points OF my
trip South. We left Newark Febru-
AIRY Goth, and arrived in Jacksonville,
Florida, on the 2Ist. We only expect
ed to remain there for a day or two,
but noting the rapid growth of that
city since my last visit, OF one year
ago, we decided to stay longer and
remained there two weeks.
Now, | think Jacksonville is the me-
tropolis of the South, the gateway for
all persons going to any point in the
State OF FLArida, all railroads branch
ing out to both east and west coast
from that point. | found the city one
OF business hustle-everything on the
move. They have a Board of Trade
of seven hundred members, who pay
$50 each dues per >year, giving them
$4,000 TO advertise the city from that
body. Each member thinks the life
OF the city rests on his shoulders. So
peach s@ns is, ~ worker tor ~the. growth
| OF the city. They own their own
building on Main street, valued at
about $4,000. In this building they
show manufactured goods made in the
| city. Free admission.
Land values have increased rapidly.
Taking a drive with a business man
up Riverside, one of the beautiful resi-
dental sections, he showed me build
ing lots for about one mile mostly all
built up with fine homes. The lots
sold in 1902 for SIS each. They now
sell for $4,000 A corner property at
| Main and Forsythe streets, sold in
1902 for $4,000. This property sold
during my stay for $4,000
| The city has good electric car SER
vice. You can ride for ten miles for
one fare OF five cents. The principal
streets are paved. They have good
paid fire department. At the alarm
OF fire the chief leads in his automo-
bile at rate OF fifty miles an hour,
sounding alarm and clearing the
streets for the engines who follow in
dead run in his wake. | saw one run
| while here
| Now, | wish to say word for the
| benefit OF the colored race in our
town. You have often heard of the
poor colored man of the South. Now
| lwish you could just go to Jackson
| vile and see. There you will find the
most prosperous and Industrious col
ored population in this country. Most
| all mechanics, carpenters, painters.
masons, plasterers are colored men,
dong good mechanical work, content
ed and prosperous. Many of them
owning their own homes. and several
fine churches. One churcl,-colored
Baptist-is a beauty costing at least
| 100000, and several others. They
have fine department stores-much
better than our city of Wilmington
with her 10000 population against
| Jacksonvllie's 5000. One firm has
Just purchased a full square for a store
III the best part of the city, and is
gong to build store as fine and large
as the " anamaker store in Philadel-
pha.
| Jacksonville is not dry city. hay
ing over 100 saloons, each paying ST. 500
license, the city getting onc-third or
$4,000, the county one third anu
State one-thrd.
About one-third of the white pop,,-
lstion are northern persons.
From Jacksonville we took river
trip up the St. Johns river to Patalka.
ms IS not very live city (They are
dry A large hotel covering an en-
tire square, is closed, No good place
for the tourist to stop. From this
point we took the trip up the Ockla-
waha river for 100 miles to the great
Silver, Springs on the steamer Hia-
watha. This is one of the most ro-
mantle rivers in the world. Through
the cypress swamp for hundred
miles, many places SO narrow that the
trees strike each side OF the boat. You
see alligators in their wild state from
SIX inches to fourteen feet long Sill
yer Springs, the terminus of the boat
line, is a clear spring OF water from
twenty to one hundred feet deep. At
slxty-ilve ieet you can see to read the
inscription OF a com. From here we
went to Ocaa, the county seat of
Merton County. This is quite city.
IN this locality, | think they have the
best quality OF farming land in the
State, growing grain about 30 bushels
OF corn per acre. They have State
farm worked by convict labor locat-
ed near the city, also large lumber
mill run by convict labor, sending the
convicts out for miles in the woods
to work, Sometimes they escape
Two left while was there. one of them
| hiN Pi PiisoHSl,
We now moved on to Tampa. This
IS city OF about $4,000 Inhabitants
he main industry-cigar factories.
there being $50 of them The en-
ployes are mostly Spanish and Gu.
bans
We took trip up the Manatee
River, one Of the orange and grape
fruit districts, One grove OF $50 acres
OF grape fruit, owned by one company.
Also quite lot of celery is grown on
this river. We stopped on our return
trip at Sanford, the great celery dis
trict. This is an interesting sight to-
see-these large plantations of celery.
Land sells for $1,000 per acre. 1t
seems high. but one grower told me
he had sold from one acre 1900 cases
at the station. for ST. so per crate. max