The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1913-12-19
ocALA WILL GET THERE SOME
TIME

good, thrifty men and women come to
Florida, and after stay of year or
so, leave us and move on?
Is it because of something inner
emily wrong with soil, climate, or nat
ural conditions? Or is it because of
conditions that men cuold remedy?
Suppose a thrifty German buys
himself farm of eighty acres. He
raises Is barrels of Irish potatoes, Is
crates of tomatoes, Is crates of cab
bages, acres of velvet beans and 100
bushels of sweet potatoes. What will
he do with his stuff? The problem is
easy for the big fellow who talks in
carload lots The railroads want his
trade, and they will sit up and take
notice when he wants a car, and they
whirl his melons on to market with a
flourish. But the railroads OF Flor
ida, with a shortsightedness unusual
in railroads, are not losing any sleep
over the small farmer-and the small
farmer is the very man we want.
Knowing the proneness of the aver
age divvle-wagon to develop heaves.
blind staggers and catalepsy, l asked
the freight agent at Hastings, Mich,
the cost of shipping car to Jackson
vile -S47.
Very good, I'll drive her through,
say to Lexington, or possibly Atlanta,
and then if lose off a lot of wheels,
or she gets hiccoughs, I'll ship her.
Well, when ! arrived in Atlanta, l
thought maybe it would seem good to
get on a Pullman and loll back and
see the trees go by without any fear
of hitting them, SO I hunted up the
freight depot and began to count my
money.
There is just one way to prevent
going broke on a long automobile trip.
Take a strong gin barrel, take out
the head carefully and pack full OF
bank notes, replace the head, hoop
strongly and drive a gudgeon in each
end, to each of them attach a cord
and tie to the rear axle, so the barrel
follows the machine wherever it goes.
II steadies the car in turning corners,
packs down the soft sand for any who
may follow, and becomes a friend in
deed, after landlords have done their
worst
So / say, I found the agent at AZ
lanta, and though l can't remember
figures very we'll, yet | have vague
recollection that the freight was lit
tie more. from Atlanta than from Has
tings, Mich, and, 10! from Jackson
vile TO Ocala would cost nearly as
much as all the rest.
OF course the average citizen
knows this, but the average citizens
never do anything but groan and pay
taxees.
The remedy is here, and only needs
parading to become popular
Florida, perhaps more than any 9TH
er state, needs a central, state-con-
trolled electric railroad Michigan,
with all her difficulties of grades, is
being covered with trolley lines car
rying both passengers and freight for
one-half the railroad fare. 1t is not
such big undertaking as most people
imagine. There are no grades in
Florida that electric motors will not
q
the right af way, and enough power
goes to waste on the Withlacoochee
river to run such cars and light our
city beside.
Let us send men to our legislature
who will get us out of the clutches OF
the octopus, and give Florida chance
to market her products in 3-barrel
lots as we'll as carload
Another thing: 1t costs too much to
live in Ocala-sometimes it's hardly
worth while.
Years ago | narrowly escaped being
hung as a hereto because said that
everybody could have a telephone in
their house. Long before We heard of
electric telephones, which reproduce
the vibrations regardless of distance,
by series of electric impulses, my
brother and l connected our houses
with slender copper wire, one-half
mile, by drawing the wire tight and
fixing little drum at each end, and
could talk perfectly. Now We have a
better way, but it hadn't ought to cost
much.
People think of it as an elaborate,
expensive and fnnicky equipment
but it is not The phones don't cost
much, and hardly ever get out of or
der, unless burned out by lightning.
My house in Michigan is now equip
ped with a phone that is owned by
the subscribers. We can talk without