The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-04-09
eAS@@@S@*$s<'<ssss
lAKElAND'S ADVANTAGES
AND ATTRACTIONS

( AND ATTRACTIONS J
-=%<<%%+%*s%s*$~>=+~@s
While in Lakeland Robert Dun
don. sporting editor of the Louis
VILE Times sent the following inter-
esting story relative TO Lakeland to
his paper:
Something About Lakeland
Lakeland, the metropolis OF POLK
county, is the junction center Of the
Atlantic Coast Line, which has a
network OF trunk and spur lines
throughout the West Coast, extend
ing as far south as Fort Myers, on
the Caloosahatchee river, and with
a branch in construction south from
Townsville. Ca, which will make
a more direct route to this section,
obyiaring the roundabout trip to
jacksonville and then over, at pres
ent a necessary part of every trip
to this part of the State.
Lakeland has advantages which
no other small city in Florida pos
sesses. For instance, shows which
make" Jacksonville and Tampa stop
al no other point except Lakeland,
and tonight The Red Widow will
appear at the Auditorium here. The
Auditorium is on the same circuit
as the Jacksonville and Tampa prin-
cipal theaters, and, while it gets the
shows for only one night. ii is a
tribute to Lakeland that this city
is so favored.
The Auditorium is a pretty thea
ter with no less than 100 seats and
has had capacity crowds Of 1000
persons. II is built on the edge of
Mirror Lake. az the end OF Main
street. and across the street from
the fremont Hotel where the Col
onels are stopping. It is one of the
big surprises OF the first visitor to
Lakeland TO discover so large thea
ter IN THIS size city.
Boulevard System Planned
Many pretentious residences are
in process OF construction here or
have been completed on the fringes
of the numerous lakes which beau
tify the landscape. II is now de-
signed to build a boulevard system
which will circle all the lakes of the
city and will make an unsurpassed
driveway for motoring. More auto
mobiles per capita are owned here
than anywhere in the State.
Five divisions of the Atlantic
Coast Line railroad center in Lake.
land, where the shops Of that road
are located. The employees of these
divisions largely make their homes
here, and it is estimated that the
monthly payroll is $4,000. Lake
land is also center for the ship
ment for phosphate, though that in
dustry has been somewhat set back
by the war in Europe. Fruit grow
ing and truck gardening are big in
terests in the surrounding territory.
Lakeland possesses what the Flor
ida Citrus Exchange has referred to
in its official publication as the mod
ell packing house of the State.
Enough has been said to show
that the Louisville club picked a
live city to do its spring training in
and the main thing now is to make
such a good showing that the citi-
zens will be glad TO have the team
come back next year and become a
permanent feature of city life.
Fisherman Are Active
After doing some scouting, Man.
aeer HARDEN become convinced that
Lake Parker affords the best facili-
ties for fishing in this locality. and
his Judgment was justified by an ex-
cursion Friday morning in which a
small party Of the tourists had some
excellent sport, The anglers here
use principally minnows. as artifc-
ial bait does not seem TO jibe we'll
with the fancy of the bass, trout and
perch. Several large black bass
have been brought in by local fisher
men in the last few days.
Other diversions are confined TO
boating, motoring and going to the
theatres. Some of the fine fruit
plantations of Polk county have
been visited, Most of the boating
has been in rowboats on the various
lakes. Lake Hollingsworth IS tie
largest of the group, but Mirror
Lake is probably the most beautiful.
1t is impossible to do justice 10 Mir
ror Lake by moonlight. 1t must be
seen to be annrec;a-a5