The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1918-04-03
MEETING OF FLORIDA
BANKERS IN OCALA

The bankers of Group No. 2 met
Tuesday in Ocala in annual ses-
sion. This group comprises the bank
ers of the northern half of the state.
The organization of the bankers into
groups is a new thing, the meetings
that have been held and are being
held over the state this week just
prior TO the state convention in Tam
pa, Friday and Saturday, being the
first sessions of the groups.
The attendance was not as large as
was hoped for as all of the bankers
of the state are very busy men just
now, but those who did attend were
given a royal good time and enjoyed
every minute of the day.
The local bankers arranged an in
teresting program for their visiting
brethren, as follows:
Leaving Ocala at $3.50 in automo-
biles, the visitors went to Silver
| Springs, where the big pleasure yacht
Wekiwa was chartered from Mr.. Ed
Carmichael and 25-mile run down
| the river was taken, most appetiZ-
ing and bountiful dinner being served
on the upper deck of the boat while
the vessel was tied up at Mr.. Ran
dall's beautiful orange grove on the
river bluff.
| The dinner was greatly enjoyed by
the bankers and their invited guests,
the ride on the river having given
| them the keenest of appetites, and
much praise was given the members
of the committee who planned the
meal and the ladies of the Woman's
Club, who prepared it.
At Conner the visitors were taken
through Mr.. Pat Randall's beautiful
orange grove, where the rapid growth
of the foliage has almost hidden the
scars made by the freeze of fourteen
months ago. The trees are looking
well and are plentifully covered with
little oranges just forming from the
bloom buds.
After dinner the boat continued it's
journey upstream and short bust
ness session was held on the boat, the
bankers holding their session on the
lower deck.
Never were Silver Springs run and
the Oklawaha river seen to better ad-
vantage. The day was an ideal one,
just warm enough and just breeze
enough yet not so much as to ripple
the surface to the extent of marring
the clearness of the water. The Ok
lawaha is very low and discharging
but little water above it's junction
with Silver river, and even below the
mouth of the little river the water
was clearer than many of those
aboard had ever remembered seeing
it, while Silver Springs run proper
was just like mirror and literally
as clear as crystal.
More than score of alligators, lit
tie and big, were seen. Hundreds of
turtles were basking on the logs in
the clean sunlight and would tumble
off and swim lazily away, as the boat
passed, while cranes and herons would
stretch their long wings and sail
away over the cypress tops in languid
timidity.
Thousands of fish, from gars to
mullet, many of which are now in the
river, would dart here and there
through the clear water and seen
from the heights of the upper deck
they seemed about to be crushed be-
tween the keel of the boat and the
sand of the river bottom, which gave
one the impression of almost touch
! ing.
No trip or entertainment could
have given the visitors more pleasure.
Explanations came spontaneously all
through the trip of the visitors de-
light over what was seen and felt.
On the return to the head of the
Springs, Mr.. Carmichael sent the
visitors out in the glass-bottomed
boats to view the matchless beauties
of the Springs proper, as seen thru
the clean glass in the boats bottom
The return to town was made about
o'clock, the guests leaving for their
homes shortly after, some on the
limited and others on the night trains
while one party in an automobile
waited till this morning and made
the trip to Orlando overland.
Those on the trip were Mr.. A. B
: Sims of the Fulton National Bank OF
Atlanta; Mr.. c. H. Lewis of the Cen
trail Bank & Trust Co., Atlanta; Mr.
H. II. johnson of the Lowry National
Bank of Atlanta, sent out by their
respective banks to attend the group
meetings in Florida, as well as the
state convention, and keep in touch
with the financial institutions of their
sister state; Mr.. G. K. Catherwood OF
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