The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1914-09-16
Lakeland One of
The Most Favored
Cities in Florida

Editor Telegram: In both Satur.
days and yesterdays issue you fired
dum-dum bullets into the ranks O,
some few Fostering pessimists OF
this city, and while both discharges
were pot Shots" you soon dragged
their feathers on the ground.
If there is any town on this earth
in which every man, woman and
child ought to be glad to live in, or
near to, it is pre-eminently Lake.
land. In nearly all of the best in
land cities in Florida the citizens
must so to the distant lake shores
or seasides for change in summer.
! Here We have twelve large lakes
, in the very city's limits, and in
sight Of almost all of them. Space
forbids all descriptions wlite-up
of these deep, fresh, clear water
lakes, all full of fish. and, because
of the costless bathing facilities. to
say nothing of the delights of the
children and of many of the grown
ups of Lakeland, are the cleanest in
their persons on this earth.
AS to healthfulness, we came to
Polk county ten years ago and have
lived continuously in Lakeland eight
years Of that time. Except for one
surgical operation performed on
myself-no doctor has had occasion
to treat any member of the four
sons and my good wife and self in
all of that time. In truth we are
as all of our neighbors, and the
doctors and drug stores of Lakeland
will testify a physicless. drugless
family, and have reason to believe
that very many other families IN
Lakeland are in the same physical
glad condition.
If any pessimist-at home, or Wis
iting-will go at the noon hour to
the campus of the Lakeland high
school and study the splendid faces
and physiques of the children there.
they will realize the healthfulness
Of this climate. We have two sons.
9 and II years, who have neither Of
them tasted any physic or drugs In
eight years, and the younger of the
two, born and reared in Polk cOun-
ty, has not been doctored in his
life time.
AS for the future of Lakeland cit
is now an archipelago, it is certain
within the lifetime of our children
to be an aggregation of islands Six
years ago DR.. Snowden, J. c. Swim
del and I began prospecting for
phosphates near the city limits, on
the Bates lands one and half
miles southwest of Lakeland, and
We found a good deposit. That prop
erty Is now The Lakeland Phosphate
Co. with just-finished mining
plant and accessories costing $780,
900. On the Miller and the Der
ieux-Brown properties, two miles
northwest of Lakeland, we found at
the grass roots ~ per cent and up
of phosphate deposits that will aver
age better than 1000 long tons of
phosphate per acre, and this tract
Is half mile of the railroad on
Lake Gibson, four and one-half
miles north of Lakeland, I'VE found
a practically inexhaustible deposit
of 70 to Is per cent of phosphate
that will average better than 1900
tons per acre. Two and one-half
miles from railroad in section 10
and 80, township 81, range 25, we
found a deposit of phosphate pros
pected by Mr.. r. X. Clarke and
Dan Raulersen, two of the most
capable phosphate men in the field
work in America, and they have
shown conclusively to me that there
are 100000 tons of ~ to rs per
cont nhOsnhata IN less than 500