Mexico weekly ledger., 1915-02-11
EAST COAST OF FLORIDA
SHOW PLACE OF WORLD
Colonel Writes Concerning St Aug
Justine, Palm Beach, Miami
and Key West
EVERYONE ON BOOSTING COM.

ENE ON RCOoA
Senior Editor Glad to Hear Of Inter
est Shown In Monthly Stock
Sales Day.
Sarasota, Florida, Jan. 80, l9l5.-
The east coast Of Florida in the win
ter is the show place of the world.
st. Augustine is the Oldest city in
the United States, having been set
tied by the Spanish in 1866. Old Fort
Marion, the ancient city gateway, the
slave market, the Cathedral, said to
be the coolest church in the United
States, the museum. the old Plaza de
la Construction, and many other his
toric landmarks attest the reality Of
Spaniih regime, while in striking
contrast are the well-built and we'll
kept city of today and its truly mag
nifcent hotels, chief among which
are the famous Ponce de Leon and
the Alcazar. No finer hotels are 70
be found anywhere than these palatial
hostelries of st. Augustine and Of
the other leading Florida resorts. ST.
| Augustine is located on a narrow
peninsula between the Matanzas
River on one side and the San Sebas-
tian on the other; it has a perman-
ent population of only 5000, but dur
ing the season, due TO the great num-
bers Of its visitors from all parts of
the world, it seems a city many times
that size and presents a picture of
life and gayiety not easily surpassed.
Palm Beach
Palm Beach is one of the most not
able social resort centers in the
world. Nature gave Palm Beach a
charming situation between Lake
Worth on n side and the rolling
Atlantic on the other. set it down
among magnificent groves Of cocoa
nut palms and tropical fruit trees
and endowed it with an almost I'M
equaled climate, while man with a
most lavish expenditure of money
and the use of his every art has COM
bined with Nature in making Palm
Beach a veritable earthly paradise.
Golf, tennis, walking, swimming in
surf or pool, fishing and sailing are
the principal amusements. The Royal
Poinciana Hotel, the Breakers and
the Palm Beach hotels are all, mag
nifcent h~ostelries, the first named
being said to be the largest hotels in
the world.
Miami
Miami is sixty eight miles south d
Palm Beach, and between the two
cities is an ideal auto roadway
Miami is the point of departure fol
steamships To Nassau. This city has
sprung too a population Of nearly
5000 in the short twelve years since
the railroad came. Miami is a very
popular and up-to-date winter resort
and has numerous hotels, among
them the Hotel Royal Palm, with is
tropical gardens, fine swimming poo.
and every convenience. Golf, tennis
boating and fishing.
Key West.
Key West, on an island and the
most southerly city Of the United
States, with a population of about
$4,000 of various races, is famous for
its cigars, sponges, turtles and fish.
1t is the terminus Of the Florida
East Coast Railway-the famous
"Sea-gcing" railway-and here one
takes the steamer for Havana OIL
Tampa. Its naval station and marine
hospital and its foreign air all lent
an added interest. There are severa'
good hotels. Yachting among the
keys is a delightful and healthfu
pastime, while the tropical water.
fairly TEEN with many varieties Of
fish.
One may 10 experience the sen.
sation Of riding in a Pullman car oui
Of sight Of land, literally a "trip t.
sea by rail" The extension of the
Florida East Coast Railway for 49,
miles over the Florida Keys, fron
Miami to Key West, is PRACTICAL,
completed, and the trains from Jack.
sonville to Key West will very short.
ly be running thus bringing to a sue.
cessful conclusion one of the worlds
greatest engineering feats.
Nearly thirty islands or keys arc
used for short stretches Of construc.
ton, the longest being Key Largo.
1
sixteen miles. More than fifty miles
OF rock and earth embankment have
been built where the intervening
water is shallow, but where the water
is deeper, arch viaducts have been
constructed of concrete, reinforced
with steel rods. There are four Of
these vaducts, aggregating 5.7s
miles in length. The longest is be-
tween Long Key and Grassy Key, 81
miles, and is called Lony Key Via
duct.
The material of the islands is cor.
alline limestone, and in many PLACES
the roadbed is ballasted with this
material.
Everybody in Florida is on both
the reception and boosting committee.
There is no knocking, and everybody
whether he lives in the city or county
boosts every enterprise and is willing
to work and pay for progress. There
are on j%ealouies or little spite work
or b%ack-biting among the citizens.
am glad 10 nnA a.