Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1911-03-23
A Trip Through the South.

After spending some time in New
Orleans, visiting all the old historical
buildings and the many beautiful parks,
we left there on the 9th going over
the Louisville & Nashville railroad to
Mobile, Alabama. The first fifty miles
the land was level prairie covered
with thick grass two or three feet
high and most of the land was covered
with water. Bay st. Louis was the
first place our train stopped, and here
we crossed the bay on trestle two
miles in length. From here to Mobile
the land was practically level, most of
it covered with small pine-hundreds of
acres of these forests. The sap is gath
cred from these trees and made into
turpentine. The soil was light loan,
part of it sandy, and none of it under
cultivation, except few small fields or
truck gardens near the small towns.
Our second stop was at Gulf Port,
Miss, city of about six thousand, and
the largest city between New Orleans
and Mobile.
Mobile is good seaport for the ship
ping of lumber and cotton. We saw
hundreds of thousands of dollars worth
of cotton on the docks ready for ship
ment. After spending the afternoon
and night in that city, on the morning
of hn tl1a
steamer "Comal," freight and pass
enger boat, 329 feet in length and AZ
feet beam. A vessel of this style has
a capacity of one hundred add fifty car
loads of freight and state rooms for
sixty passengers. We left Mobile at 8
a. M, and steamed down Mobile bay.
At noon we passed Fort Morgan and
entered the Gulf of Mexico. After a
trip of about day and half we
entered Tampa Bay at 6 p. M, and
there the steamer anch ored for the
night. We were then about twenty
five miles from Tampa, and from there
narrow channel is dredged up the bay
WIlCI large VESSELS
1t was 10 o'clock on the morning of
the 30th before the ship started tor
Tampa. There was dense fog on the
bay, but it cleared away and the sun
came out as bright and warm as any
June day in South Dakota. We stood
on the deck watching the vessels and
launches sailing on each side for many
miles away, and after sailing up the
bay about ten miles we were met by a
large tug boat. 1t came along side our
ship and was made fast with heavy
hawser and lowed us up the bay to
Tampa. Tampa is 1884 miles from
Mobile.
We spent the afternoon and night in
that city, which has a population of
several thousand and has several large
cigar factories. We cannot say that
we liked Tampa, though part of the
city has good buildings, palm and orange
trees and rose bushes, and is kept neat
and clean.
We left Tampa at Tbs on the morn
ing Of the 31st, and sailed for Key
West, two hundred and thirty miles to
the south. The Gulf was quite calm,
and after sailing all day and all night
we arrived at Key West at 8 O'Clock
New Years morning. Itwas bright,
warm, beautiful morning-like June
weather in the north. The temperature
during the middle of the day was about
IS. The climate there in winter is ideal
and the temperature during the night
is about the same as it is in the shade
during the day, with the moist air
caused by a breeze from the water,
making it delightful climate. Key
Wsst is a city Of several thousand, and