The Lakeland evening telegram., 1914-05-21

ers grow in flower pots and call
palms. You can scarcely imagine the
scene, as the trees along the bank
stand guard over the waters that
wind in and out for miles.
Through the courtesy of our cap
tain, an opportunity was given us
to sit in the pilot house, where We
could better view the magnifcence
of this beautiful river. In fact, each
day as the evening shadows length
ened, members of the party were re-
! luctant to allow nightfall to shut
off our view of this beautiful nature
scene
On both sides of this river, back
little way from the shore, are many
/ splendid groves of oranges and other
citrus fruits. In fact, some of the
choicest groves in the country are
along this river, manN of them
owned by northern capitalists. One
Of these deserves especial mention,
as it was a grand sight, covering
$50 acres, and stretching along the
river for six miles, the trees laden
with the potential gold. We were
told that in 1903 the fruit from this
grove sold for $50 900 on the trees.
But | must not stay longer on this
picturesque spot for fear l tire my
readers. After following this river
for about forty-five miles, this beau
tiful inland trip was brought to
close, for on it's banks lies the pret-
ty little city of Fort Myers, and here
on Sunday morning, about 10 a. m.,
our steamer was docked, and thus
ended four and a half days of whole
some and almost unmitigated en-
joyment.
| wish I might 60 more into de-
tail of this interesting trip, as there
were many little Incidents worthy
of mention, and many spots along
the way rich in historic interest.
We passed in sight of many forts
occupied by our troops during the
Seminole Indian war. Each post so
occupied was called fort, and
named after the officer in command.
These places of interest were pointed
out to us by the captain of our lit
tie steamer who acted as our guide,
and who even landed a time or two
and allowed us to set foot on his
torical ground.
Well, as | mentioned before, we
! reached Fort Myers on a Sunday
morning, and here we spent the day
and night, but still eating and sleep
ling on board the Lille.
AS climax to the delightful time
enjoyed by us all on this trip, our
captain rendered the ladies of the
party delightful auto ride over the
! city. During this time we had an op-
portunity of viewing the beautiful
winter home of Thomas A Edison,
situated on the banks of the river,
and truly a picturesque place it is,
with the beautiful home and
tgrounds, the latter thick with royal
palms, and all kinds of tropical
trees and flowers, driveways, foun-
tains, and all else that it takes to
make an ideal home in Florida.
This was only one of the many beau
tiful winter homes to be found in
Fort Myers and built on the banks
of the Caloosahatchee river.
On Monday morning Mr.. Cole and
myself bid reluctant farewell to
our genial party, they returning to
Kissimmee by the same route.
1t being our desire to visit other
points along the west coast, we re-
turned by rail, going from Fort
Myers to Tampa. Here we boarded
a steamer and crossed Tampa Bay
and down through the Manatee river
to Bradentown. Here the scene
changed. The art of man modified
and reinforced the majesty of ma
ture, and the union has resulted in
the perfect loveliness of ideal homes,
of flower beds of roses, such as are
grown in our northern hothouses,
| bushes of pink and white oleanders,
great bushes of red poinsettia and
other towering shrubs covered with
bloom, besides streets hedged with
rows of beautiful palm trees.
Continued Tomorrow
| WANTED-Furnished house for the