The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-05-21
The Call OF The
Land OF Flowers
Is Irresistible

Florida invites insistently an
appealingly.
There are few grown-up boy
with red blood in their vein
who at times do not hear TIL
call of this land OF romance. II
like most healthy youngsters
they once had dreams of pirate
and their lairs and of carefre
days in a sunny cline, the cal
OF Florida embodies, though J
may be indefinitely, the hop
that they yet may see the tur
baned head OF some polly rove
of the sea as he peeps from am
bush behind pillar that mark
the ancient gateway OF St. Aug
Justine, or perchance meet annie
some riot OF scmi-tropica
growth a follower Of Ponce d,
Leon still searching for the ia
bled Fountain of Eternal Youth
The invitation OF Florida ap
pealS like the murmur Of a lott
ering breeze bearing the per
fume of flowers; like the glin
Of Towering sail off friendly
shore; like the reckoning smile
of dancing sunbeam; like al
airy voyage on heecy, dreamy
cloud throughout a long sum
mer day; like romance when the
youthful heart is thrilled by the
wine of adventure; like a pass
word to peaceful scenes of peln-
ty.
OF all the states Of the Union,
the history Of Florida is most
replete with romance.
Florida has been under five
flags, and within its borders
have occurred numerous armed
conflicts between the English
and French and between the
whites and Indians.
From the Perdido river which
marks the westernmost bound
airy of Florida to Cape Sable, the
southernmost point on the main
land, is a distance of 700 miles,
and Florida has shore lines ag-
gregating more than thousand
miles, with the Gulf of Mexico
on the south and west and the
Atlantic on the east. AT the
southern extremity is one of the
most important naval stations
in the United States, occupying,
as it does,a commanding position
at the entrance to the most fire.
quented passage to the Gulf and
being near ports of the West
Indies owned by foreign powers.
Located between the temper
ate and tropical regions, Florida
enjoys exemption from the Sc
we're cold and sudden changes of
the one and the excessive heat
of the other. An authority Of
worldwide recognition declares
that Statistics show Florida to
be one of the healthiest, if not
the healthiest, state in the Uni
ted States" and that Florida has
zone of the most equable and
agreeable climates of the contin-
emit"
Within Florida's area of 3d.
666 square miles are possibly a
greater number of important in
dustries than is possessed by
any other state in the Union.
1t supplies the finest citrus fruit
grown in the world; it sends
vegetables to sections in which
the earth is rigid with ice of
mid-winter; it furnishes large
percentage of the worlds supply
of phosphate; it is among the
leaders in the lumber and naval
stores industries: its cigar man.
ufacturing industry is one of the
most important in the world; its
livestock sections are extensive
and among the best in the coun-
try; it has soil of wonderful
productivity; palatial trains car
ry hundreds of thousands OF
tourists to its palatial hotels. to
find health and happiness in its
sunshine; almost from its shore
line starts the wonderful Gull
Stream that carries warmth
and life to other chimes and
makes habitable and the loca.
ton of happy homes and pro-
ductive activities countrie:
which otherwise would be grim
and frozen and lifeless.
A new note has come to domi
nate Florida's invita- ii 0 I
Achievement and success beck
on to the development of grea'
opportunities. In the last cen
sus decade, twice the percentage
OF people accepted Florida's in
vitation as went to the Other
states of the Union on an av
erage. And only a beginning
has been made in Florida. De
velopment is but at the thresh
hold Of its wonderful resources
The rapid rate at which the
population of Florida is increas'