The Nevada County picayune., 1918-08-01

once heard Dr. Hesteriy say that mosquitoes carried typhoid fever germs and I am now convinced that he is correct, for Uncle Jimmie Greer our cook, told me that at little saw mill town near Ft. Myers, where he cooked last year, out of a population of three hundred that there were sey- enty-six cases of typhoid fever at one and the same time. He also said that the mosquitoes were worse there than at any place he had ever lived. One woman put her little three months old babe on a cot in the hall, shut the screen doors and went to nearby spring to do the weeks washing There was hole in the upper part of one of the screens that she did not know of. When she returned her babes face, mouth, nose and ears covered with mosquitoes, and it al most dead. The doctor was phoned for immediately, but the child died before his arrival.
 MT. John Mack told ne that while he was living near Miami the galli- nippers, (the largest specie of mos quito) killed a mare and colt of his Sometimes they are as numerous as to almost exclude the suns rays. How can man beat off so many? Were it not for extract of Pennyroyal and bother like prepa ra tions I could not stand them. have not drunk draught of good water since I have been in Florida nor do l believe there is one such to be found any where in the Southern part of this pta ie, oil ,hnt tn or salt that I have got hold of. Some of the lime water, however. is fairly pure and does very well. Florida is Q land of varied soil of varied indus tries, and of fluctuating population. When you read that town or city has a population of so many thous- ands remember that this usually means the winter population. l asked the mayor of St. Petersburg what the population of his city was and he To piled "The winter population forty thousand, the summer population 12 thousand" This is true in greater or less degree with all of the towns of Florida, therefore, when you read of some contemplating young seaboard city of so many thousand population remember this fact.
 Florida is land of many and va ried industries. Almost every enter prise that you could imagine is to tx found here and from the best infOr- nation that l can obtain they are all thriving Two of these are phosphate mining and castor bean growing There are numerous phosphate mines here that run day and night taking the phosphate rock Supposed to be the petritied remains of antideluvian animals) from he earth and convert ing it into fertilizer. The other is the growing of castor beans for the gov ernment. Uncle Sam, realizing that this war was to be won in the air, en- gagged with the planters of Florida for the production of thousands Of acres of these beans for their oil. He wants it to run his air ships with. It is the only substance known to science that retains it's consistency in high and low attitudes alike. All other oils become chilled when suddenly car riedinto very high attitudes and get too thin when suddenly taken into low attitudes hence, if we are 10 win this war (and we must win it in spite Of-) and if it is to he with our air fleet, what an important part Mr. Castor Oil will play in the battle !! l doff my hat to the gentleman in an- ticipa tiOn of the part he is to play in the great struggle for constitutional self government and the overthrow of Prussian autOOcracy, and l most siI- emnly swear that I will never again make a wry face at having to swal- low him.
 Florida is called The Land of flow ers," and in the fall winter. end early spring this is true but from the first of June until now, tand l am told that this condition will cOntinue un- til OctOter), 1t is the most barren country in that respect that l have ever seen. Ponce De Leon must cer- tainly have discovered it in the win ter or early springtime. There is a post card sold at almost every news stand in the larger towns here with q picture of "A Florida back yard in mid winter" photographed upon it, but they tell you never word about a Florida landscape in mid summer. They should photograph that same back yard now, and, like theLady Of the Lake and Marmion the two should always be sold together, for the mid winter scene alone is misleading. MT. Henry Downs told me that the farther south you went the more conspicuous the absence of flowers became, and at pointa Rosa there was not q rose to be seen. Florida contains every grade of soil from the most sterile to the most productive. Some Of the most fertile land in the world is 10 be found here. but by far the greater part of il is of an inferior grade to that of Nevada County The Mohayen coun- try and around Lake OcOchoby, how ever. is to be found tens of thousands of acres of the most fertile land on the globe. l reckOn,much of which is subject to homestead, but it is inhab- ited by gnats, mosquitoes, stingama- rees snakes, bear, panther and count less numbers of huge aligators. Much of the land around Lakeland is real productive It is a mistake to imag. inc that this is no corn or cotton country, for it is. One of the Pick An. Tnr fnx lxs