The Ocala evening star., 1915-05-01


Timespaper has its office right at the
railroad station and the police sta
tion, where it can watch people and
things. We did not see Straub. 1t
was Saturday night, and every Satur-
day afternoon, after writing half a
page or so, telling how st. Peters
burg and the balance of the universe
should be run, Straub turns the work
over to his bunch of intelligent young
men and goes to Pass-a-Grille, where
he eats fish, and for all we know,
catches them till Monday. Happy
Straub.
We didn't see Straub, but we saw
the biggest bunch of best pleased
people we have seen since Wilson was
elected. Walking up on Central ave-
nue.; we must have met half the peo
pie in town-the census says there are
ten thousand people in st. Peters
burg, and we counted 25O0 before
we ran out of figures. The sidewalks
were full and the stores were full and
the benches along the sidewalks were
full and the streetcars were full, and
if we had been in such a crowd any
where else we would probably have
found some of the people were full.
The st. Petersburgers seem to have a
custom Of turning out in full force, in
their best looks and their best clothes,
to meet each other on the street ev-
cry pleasant evening; they have
benches along the sidewalks and mus.
ic on every block. 1t is certainly
pretty custom and a wise one. We
see as nice folks and as happy in
Ocala as anywhere, but they are not
so we'll fixed nor so many to enjoy
themselves in the open air.
| We have seen people turn out on
the same principle and on the same
scale in Spanish-American cities, but
they didn't look as nice as the Pet
rogradites; also, it was best to stay
to the leeward of them when the
wind was blowing.
Watching that crowd was better
than a picture show, and watch it we
did till it and the other picture shows
shut up.
Early next morning, we climbed
aboard cars on the various trolley
lines, and inspected the city and
never seen a town better laid out, or
one so clean, or growing so fast and
so prettily.
The Pinellas peninsula is, in short,
the little Italy of Florida, and st. Pc
tersburg is its Naples Naples
without dirt and vendetta; and while
some historic parsonage has said,
"Let me see Naples and die," per-
son who sees st. Petersburg would
naturally want to live long enough to
go back.
With the right sort of enterprise,
they have built trolley lines far out
in the woods, laid out lots and are
waiting, or rather going after peo-
pie to come and build on them. They
are coming, too. Anybody can tell
that by the houses new and the
houses building.
If Ocala had lot of that st. Pc
tersburg spirit, we would have had a
trolley line to Silver Springs, and
that place improved, and drawing
tourists and settlers by the hundreds
years ago.
! Ocala has spirit of her own-a
good spirit, that stays all the time,
and that we wouldn't swap for any
other; but little Pinellas snap and
sparkle would help nightly.
We soon began to run across ex-
Ocalans. First was. J. w. Sylvester
of theater and drugstore fame. Mr..
Sylvester is manager of the LaPlaza
theater, the interior of which he
proudly showed us, and said if it
wasn't Sunday he would put play on
/ for US. The Plaza is some theater-
seats 1900 people and is handsomely
and uptodately appointed. 1t had a
good run last season, and is an orna-
ment to the town as we'll as a conven-
ience.
Going on down the street, we ran
into A. D. Adcock, who is in charge of
| thriving drugstore. Mr.. A. took US
in his handsome new car and whirled
US out on the dock This dock is the
most famous thing in or about st. Pc
tersburg, and it used to be a religious
observance for everybody in town to
go out on it at least once day. Most
of them are orthodox yet. 1t sticks
out into the bay half a mile, and is
one of the greatest fishing places on
the North Ameican continent. People
come all the way from Alberta and
Saskatchewan to catch fish off this
dock. 1t was Sunday morning, but at
least hundred fishermen were lined
along the rails, and more coming ev,
cry minute. The fish were biting like
they never heard of Sunday. Mr.. Ad-
cock ran his car to the end of the
pier, turned and came back, and in
the less than three minutes it took to
do this the writer saw a score of fine
fish jerked out. Mr.. "a. has a dandy
little car. He said that after dinner
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