The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1914-08-01
KNOCKING OTHER SECTIONS
DETR|MENT TO THE STATE


plores the habit of some real es-
tate men who knock one section OF
the State while boosting the section
in which they live. Everyone who
has the interest of his home COM
munity at heart may some time get
so enthusiastic as to do another part
of the State an injustice and we be-
lieve that the article, which we pub
lish below, is as applicable to any
class of citizens as real estate agents,
and to show the harm that knocking
another community accomplishes, we
publish the article, which follows:
Tampa, Fla, July, 1914.
Dear Billy-When go into a
store and ask for some special ar
ticle it always gets my nanny to
have the clerk ease out line OF
gush in favor of something "just as
good" or "far better" and at the
same time hammer the hide off the
particular brand | called for, You
can take it from me | always put
the fellow down az q poor salesman
likewise a knocker and a fathead.
know what | want, Billy, or | would
not ask for it. | hate a knocker,
anyhow. Some fellows don't seem
to be happy unless they are swinging
a hammer and they'll knock any
thing and everything that don't give
them a direct benefit Why, | know
one guy that knocked so much he
into a regular crab and
had to walk sideways.
Speaking of knockers, there are
some real estate men here in Flor
ida that are doing more to knock
their own State than all the car
window tourists and land-sharks
combined and the pity of it is that
the poor yaps don't realize what
they are doing. Why, if you were
to call any one of them a knocker
to his face he'd get sore like a pune
tured eye-tOoth and want to muss
you up with his fists. Just the same,
its the straight truth, Billy, and if
it were not for the fact that Florida
has to suffer because of it, should
say that it was actually funny
What mean is the way these
real estate agents handle a prospect.
Some of them have just about as
good an idea of craftsmanship as
New York policeman has of hon
esty.
When a homeseeker comes to Flor
ida to give the country the double
o. what he's after is information.
He's not fool Billy, and naturally
wants to gaze and stare around a
little before he unlashes his little
store of the needful. Well, we'll say
he goes to Polk county, for instance
When he arrives the real estate men
grab him by the nit, coo to him,
gush over him, sit in his lap and
cry, and go through the usual meth
DDS employed in capturing a pros
poet. All the time they're telling
him of the wonders and advantages
of their particular locality That's
right and proper, and I'm for it I
like to see a good booster. Some
day, when | get wished on to a lot
of money I'm going to build statue
to the fellow that invented horn.
Now, | am going to tell you where
the rough stuff comes in. The home
seeker admits Polk county to be at
tractive, but explains that there are
one or two other places he wants to
look at before he makes a decision
and perhaps he mentions Manatee
county as one of them. Good night
The Polk county man goes W in the
air like the cost of living. He be-
gins to knock Manatee like an auto
matte trip hammer, He lights into
his prospect and tells him the black
soil of Manatee is absolutely worth
ess; he goes on to say that you
couldn't even raise an umbrella
there. Why an orange crop couldn't
exist, the trees would haze die-back
wither-top, foot-rot, and every other
disease known to citrus culture and
terminates his little recital with the
statement that the only place in the
state that's worth the nitro-sap to
blow it to war is Polk county. and
you know what a northern general
said war was.
Well, when the homeseekcr gets TO