The Clio messenger., 1914-11-20
MRS, G, N. RATHBONE
TELLS Of FLORIDA
DETAILS TRIP FROM MICHIGAN TO
N MIAMI
Summer Weather, Open Doors, Bloom
~ ing Roses But Few Days Travel
From Their Old Home
Cutler, Dade Co., Fla.
Nov. .-12, 1914.

To the Messenger:
According to agreement | will try
and tell you something about our trip
to Florida. We started Oct. 27, at five
o. m. for Flint on street car and started
from Flint at 7:55 p. m, arriving at De-
troit 10 p. m, there we changed for
Cincinnati, arriving there at 8 a. m.
Then we changed again for Knoxville,
Tenn, and l will say right here | can
not tell much about the first "a hours as
| was taken sick before we reached
Detroit and we were obliged to lay over
day at Knoxville. Of course noticed
the black dust coming through every
? crevice and the dirty smell as we
( passed through the tunnels of which
there were plenty. l was told there
were 80 tunnels of which the largest
was three quarters of mile long.
Through Kentucky and Ten 1essee we
saw a number of negro huts built on the
side of the mountains and would judge
by what we could see that the land and
crops were poor and was better adapted
to grazing than to crop raising. We
arrived at Knoxville, Tenn, Oct. %, 5
p. m. Here we stayed one day and
met with very nice people. Oct. % at
o. m. we started from Knoxville for
Atlanta, Ca, and arrived at Atlanta
the same evening. Here we stopped
again, but l can't say we are dead
stuck on Atlanta. Perhaps there are
nicer places, but we stopped near the
depot 80 as to give me a better chance
to recover. The place was kept by
dirty but very kind hearted people.
They had no screens on either doors or
windows and said they kept them open
all winter. l suppose they did that way
to give the flies chance to get their
feet warm and the flies certainly took
advantage of their kindness. We were
obliged to wash two or three times
after breakfast for one could not touch
anything without getting black. They
were not entirely to blame for its being
dirty, though, as the red clay was
blowing around in all directions and no
one could keep clean. We left Atlanta
Oct 80, 1914, at 7:30 a. M, for Jackson
vile. The first curiosity that met my
gaze was a negro driving an OK with
large brass tipped horns and harnessed
up like horse; then team of oxen,
harnessed; tnen mule hitched to cart
and the driver Ia negro) riding the mule
with small bundle of hay in the cart;
then ] saw the first cotton field and in
passing an orphans home we saw a
well in front and the water was drawn
up with an iron bound bucket; then we
saw the natives picking cotton. Around
Atlanta crops seem to be better than in
Tennessee, but | saw no sidewalks,
windows and doors were open without
screens and hogs and cows running the
road and no fences. We arrived at
Jacksonville at 9 p. m. Here we met
with the travellers aid in the depot,
who gave us all the information we
asked for and she directed US to fine
hotel 1t was grand place but the
blue clay was still blowing. Here we
stayed all night and started for Miami
the next morning, Oct. 81, 9:45 a. m.
AS we travelled along we saw some tur-
pentine camps and the cypress trees
growing, but the thing felt the best
over was when heard the college yell.
When the train stopped at st. Angus
tine about Is or 20 young men formed a
complete circle around our car window
and yelled and jumped as they yelled
st. Augustine four times over, their
eyes just sparkling with merriment as
they greeted us. That was the incest
of all. Then we started on and came to
field of hay (crab grass. 1t is cut
and put up around pole in little stacks