The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1915-04-09
LETTER FROM FLORIDA
BY MRS. ]. B. CURRIER
MILLS OF ST. CLOUD, A CITY ONLY
" SIX YEARS OLD
Says Flowers Have Been in Bloom All
Winter. Orange Groves Beautiful.
Fishing Good
st. Cloud, Fla, March 20, 1915.


Clio, Mich.
Dear Sir:-My letter about st. Cloud
and Florida is long overdue, procrasti-
= nation has been the thief of time, but
here goes:
St. Cloud is about one hundred and
seventy miles south of Jacksonville,
and on the banks of beautiful lake East
Tohopikalega. which is nine miles long
and FIVE or six miles wide.
st. Cloud will be six years old in
August. but boasts of population OF
four thousandshas nine churches and a
fine, two-story white brick school build
ing, with principal, eight teachers
and two hundred and forty scholars.
The new Memorial Building, Or G. A.
R. Hall, just completed at cost of
about $6, 900. is one of the finest build
Iings of it's kind | ever saw, the only
National bank in Osceola is found here,
also. The homes are pretty and mod
ern, with their front door-yard flower
gardens and orange trees. Roses espec-
tally abound, and house plants, such as
Boston ferns, geraniums, cactus, foliage
plants and others have been out in the
open and doing we'll all winter. Added
to these are to be seen-plants and vines
Neculiar to the south, and many foreign
,Jnes that have been brought here and
adapt themselves readily to climate and
soil. The trees are draped in gray
Spanish moss, or, as some one told me,
witches switches, which add to their
beauty, and air plants are found every
where, But perhaps the best feature
of st. Cloud is its socialbility and kind
illness. Nowhere have l ever met a
more kindly lot of people, or people
more willing to pass on the good things
of life that brighten THEIR ways.
Florida has a climate impossible to beat
in the United States. We have met
people from all over the States and
many from California, and all agree
that the climate here excels everything.
This winter. though, has been unus-
ally cold, but as Mr.. c. and myself have
been in summer underclothing all win
ter with the exception of two weeks or
less, you can readily see we have had
nothing TO complain of. Our most en-
ioyable time, though, was at Braden-
I town. in February. Bradentown is
about sixty miles south of Tampa, on
the shores of Manatee River, which is
a mile wide there and most beautiful
stream. Our two weeks there were
spent with a cousin of mine, who has
one of the finest orange groves in the
state, large packing house, beauti-
full home and one of the best automo-
biles on the road And what a lot of
sightseeing we did l cannot tell you
of the many delightful places they took
us 70 see. The drives were twenty
FIVE and thirty miles long, and as the
country there is thoroughly tropical,
those drives were especially delightful.
as ! have already suggested. Their
orange grove and packing house were
very enjoyable and interesting, too.
On our return trip we visited st.
Petersburg, one of the most beautiful
cities on the west cost of Florida, and
:. Pass-a-grille, an island or key in the
Iulf of Mexico. How l wish l could
make you feel the charm of that place.
It's six miles long by three quarters of
a mile wide in its widest place, / was
IL TLa sborao or ora eide ara oppod
by Boca Ceiga Bay on the other washed
by Gulf of Mexico. The three blocks
from bay to gulf are paved with a rich,
red brick, in striking contrast to the
green foliage and snow-white beach of
the gulf, and how the waters of the
\ gulf comes rolling in, and rolling in, and
rolling in. AND THAT BEACH, as white
as snow, of the finest sand and covered
I with sea shells, sponges and salt water
= crab shells. 1t thrills me still as l re-
call it's beauty.
Another delightful trip we took while
so far south was fishing trip out in the
Gulf of Mexico. Nine miles down Man.
atee River and five miles out in the
gulf, found us at the fishing banks.
MY letter is so long I'll only mention
!, the beh buoy away out there, almost
out of sight of land, that stands high
above the water, the frame work
chained to the rocks beneath and the
large bell in the top that is kept for
ever ringing by the motion of the waves,
and the three sea porpoises that follow
ed our boat, playing and plunging in the
water, as though they were glad to see
us and so near the boat that the captain
threw sinking lead, on the end of a
string, and hit one on the head and drove