The National tribune., 1910-12-01
ST. CLOUD A GREAT SUCCESS.
A Frank, Impartial and Very Interest
ing Account of Comrades Visit of
JnSpectiOn and Investigation.

| NdIIOEdl lTlDuHt. I1dNJHe
some small holdings in st. Cloud and
the Seminole Land & Investment Com
pany, and having read many articles
and heard numerous stories regarding
| the colony and the comrades and people
gathered there. some of which Were
good and some bad and others very
conflicting. finally determined to make
a flying trip 10 that much-talked-of and
written-about colony and city, and on
| the evening of Nov. l left Chicago via
| the Queen & Crescent route on the
9:05 p. m. thru sleeper for Jacksonville
and ST. Cloud, Fla, arriving at Gin
| cinnati. o., Nov. 2, at $3.50 d. M, and
| on that date crossed the Ohio River
into Kentucky and on thru Tennessee,
with the beautiful scenery of the Cum
| bcrland Mountains, with its 2G tunnels,
| reaching Chattanooga, Tenn, at S:55,
| one hour and 80 minutes late, losing
another here. leaving for the South at
| 1855 p. m. thru the historic cities of
Dalton Rome, Atlanta and Macon. We
arrived at Jacksonville, Fla, at 1880 p.
m, five hours late. Leaving Jackson
| vile via the Atlantic Coast Line at 2:30
p. m, arrived at kissimmee, Fla, that
| evening at $50. The morning of Nov.
4 ] took train for st. Cloud, arriving
there at a. m, and i must say that my
| first Impressions of the colony city as
| stepped from the cars into verita BILE
sea OF white sand We're anything but
favorable. But as ] had made the long
journey for facts as far as they could
be gained in the limited time i had, L
did not allow first impressions to bias
my judgment, and as / was tired I
looked for the famous new St Cloud
Hotel, which loomed up before my eyes.
On entering there was no one in the
Office, but l soon found one of the pro-
prietoTs, Mr.. ]. NJ. II. Perkins, to whom
stated my wants, and he kindly in
formed me that the hotel would not be
opened until the next day, Nov. ), but
if L wished to stay there he would make
me comfortable as to room and bed, al
tho the electric lights and water were
not yet turned on. Well, / stayed as
did COmrade Aldrich, wife and niece
and Comrade Wilson, and thus New
Hampshire, Ohio and Illinois represen-
tatives practically opened the new ST.
Cloud Hotel. and / wish to bear testi-
mOny right here to the efforts of the
proprietors, Messrs. Perkins and Fris-
bic. and their good wives, who not only
made us feel at home, but housed, fed
and warmed us in a splendid manner,
and that under circumstances very dis
couraging and, which speaks well for
their future and the hotel, as well as
the numerous guests their untiring ef-
forts to please will certainly bring them
and the said impression was balanced
right there. Having letter from Com
rade Charles A. Partridge. Assistant Ad-
jutant-General. Department of Illinois
G. A. r.. to COmrade II. D. CoIvin I
found him in his office attending to his
notary business, and he gave us the
glad hand and greatly assisted me in
gaining information. He took me to
the First National Bank of St Cloud,
and introduced me to Mr.. Squires, the
cashier, who was very courteous and
reported the bank to be in a fiourisbine
condition Then I vi fal he
which seems to be a busy pla ce, and
where / found many comrades waiting
for mail. and they certainly were a
merry. frolicking. fun-loving lot of kids.
not sour or disappointed face among
them. From there l went to the office
of the Seminole Land & Investment
Company, where I met Mr.. Anderson,
who was very courteous and did all in
his power to aSd me, and made arrange
ments to give me an opportunity to In
spect the town lots and five-acre plots
of nv own as well as those of other
comrades of Chicago. who owned prop
erty there that had promised to look
up. Then ! went back to the hotel and
from that time until dinner l talked
with many different comrades about St
Cloud. the Seminole Land & Investment
Company, how they liked the situation,
and how they had been treated by the
company and it's agents Telling them
all the bad as well as good things l had
heard about the company and Comrade |
John McElroy, and asking many per-
sonal and somewhat inquistive ques- |
tions, and ! wish to state right here |
that, with one exception, there was
nothing but praise and ommendation
for the Seminole Band e. Investment
Company in general and for Comrade
John McE;lroV in particular. After din
ner, in company with Comrade Miller. I |
visited the 9I2-foot artesian well, with
its abundant supply of pure and health
full water; the ice plant, with its ca
pacity to supply all wants for years; the
electric light plant, which can furnish
light for all who desire it. All this is
furnished by the company, something
unusual and almost unknown by any
other land company. From there we
went down TO the beautiful Lake East
which lies about one
mile north from the original plat of the
city and which is bound in the near fu-
tnre to be occupied by beautiful resi-
dences and become the Winter home of
many Northern people.
Looking south from the lake one be-
holds beautiful panoramic view of st.
Cloud. Almost every one of its 500 and
over buildings can be seen, and it is
certainly marvellous scene to behold
when one remembers that 1S months
ago there was nothing there but some
grass. razorback hogs, turpentine trees,
Stumps tand some more). 1t reminded