The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1911-02-22
PEOPLES FORUM.
Orange City, Florida,
LnlNr,, 10 10
To THE CITIZEN:

To THE CITIZEN:
We are thinking of our many
Wayne county friends and wish to
share with them the delights of
Florida life.
We are pleasantly located here in
Orange City, which is situated on
the high rolling pine lands in the
southern part of Volusia county,
113 miles south of Jacksonville, 25
miles from the Atlantic coast and
miles from De Land the county
seat, beautiful and aristocratic lit
tie town, which is the proud posses
sor of Stetson University.
Orange City was laid out about
twenty-eight years ago-a three
mile square-with broad avenues
dividing the city in squares of five
acres each. 1t was rightly named
Orange City because there were more
oranges grown here than in any
other part of the State, having at one
time 1900 acres of orange groves,
in and around the city. Many peo-
pie invested fortunes in these groves
which yielded a rich income until
the freeze" about sixteen years ago
which caused such disaster. One
man lost 100000 in a night. Many
w nO were uOI DIdNG W lClCC
poverty ended their lives; others
abandoned their properties and re-
turned to the North, while those who
had the courage to remain are now
rewarded with prosperous orange
groves and fine homes. Many north
erners are buying up property and
replanting the groves. 1t is said that
Heebner's, at Landsdale, Pa, owns
"a Hna Iuhara in
this section.
The population of Orange City is
composed mostly of people from the
North,-many of whom own resi-
dences here, choosing this locality
on account of it's salubrious climate
and pure water. At the st. Louis
Exposition, out of 1913 samples of
water from the different parts of the
United States, the Orange City min
eral spring water was awarded the
highest prize for purity. This water
supplies the whole town. The foun-
tain was discovered after penetrating
to the depth of 100 feet when the
drill dropped II feet, showing an in
exhaustible supply of absolutely pure
water. This water is now being
bottled and sent to the different
parts of the country. Our hotel at
Ornund, not far from this place, used
S275 worth of this water in single
season. We had the pleasure of
pasting a few labels on the bottles a
few days ago when we visited the
water works and learned this his
tory. So while we do not quaff from
the fountain of perpetual youth, we
do quaff pure mineral water and have
climate that is almost perfect. The
atmosphere is dry and free from the
miasma that fingers along the coasts
and banks of the rivers, and while
the thermometer registers so degs.
much of the time the cooling ocean
breeze so tempers the heat that it
never seems oppressive.
The trees are, to me, source of
perpetual delight. The live oak,
which is always green, provides
shade for all the avenues. | have in
mind a broad avenue, that is es-
pecially beautiful, which has a line
of these oaks right through the CEN
ter, stretching away in a perfectly
straight line, for over a mile. This
oak is magnificent tree, and with
its sturdy branches draped with
Florida moss, it forms a very char
acteristic feature of Florida land
scape. The long-leaf pine, with
needles, from Is to 20 inches long,
is the great timber and turpentine
tree of Florida. These trees stand
like sentinels, so tall and straight
with no branches for a great height
and on ground perfectly free from
underbrush. Often way up in the
tops will be seen clumps of mistletoe
growing, the seeds having been watt
ed by the winds, or carried by the
birds, and becoming imbedded in the
bark have taken root and grown
there, feeding on the life of the tree.
A description of Florida landscape
would not be true without the palm
ettos, the cabbage palmetto, especial
ly, which grows everywhere, and
which, we are sorry to say, is often
sacrificed for the bunch of cabbage on
it's growing tip.
We find the wax myrtle which
yields candle wax, and the crepe
myrtle, which is said to be the most
beautiful tree in Florida. This is
just beginning to leaf, and we are
watching, interestedly, to see its de-
velopment.
The evergreen Magnolias are just
| beginning to bloom and soon the
breezes will be laden with their per-
| fume. The holly tree is plentiful
On February 13, we had the pleas
ure of attending Arbor Day eXer-
cises given by the school here when
the children planted holly trees in
the cemetery which is called Holly
cemetery. The camphor tree, which
is largely cultivated here, presents 6
beautiful appearance, the foliage be-
ing all on the outside. 1t is a rapid
grower. l saw Que the other day
that was only five years old and
measured about nine feet across the
base, just where it branches out