The mirror., 1919-12-04
town from tropical storms. To
jump to Jacksonvllle-it was only

Jump TO JacKSOnVlll0-lG was only
Yesterday that the city was a
dreary swamp. Block houses were
erected during the Seminole war
and a large garrison remained
there putting the postof6ce on the
map. In reality this was wooden
building, 10 by 10 feet, and there
were two mails a week-one to
Charleston and one to Savannah.
In view of this fact, it is not
strange that the postmaster used
half of the Office for his jewelry
business. In time a stage ran
twice a week to Tallahassee-and
its arrival and departure was al
ways a real social event.
The city was named for Hon.
Andrew jackson, Governor of
Florida. 1t was protected from 8
D. m. to 6 a. m., by two guards
who had orders to arrest every
colored person found without a
permit from his employer to be
out after dark. Those caught
were brought before the mayor
and fined before being released.
In 1855 the population was un-
lder 1000. The streets were of
>and that was both soft and deep,
and every spear of grass was re-
moved from the yards of houses
to reduce the overwhelming mum.
Der of sociable snakes and insects.
lSt. Patrick was needed badly in
Florida then; in fact, he is needed
now. for Florida snakes never die
and never stop raising big families!
Banishing snakes from Ireland
would be nothing, compared to re-
moving them from Florida.
The completion of Jacksonville's
first railroad was a gala event,
helped along by every man, woman
and child for miles around. The
railroad was so miles long and ran
Ito Alligator-now known as A.siisv
City. When the civil war began
numbering was an important in
dustry and Jacksonville was also
shipping produce in large amounts.
The city was occupied by Confed-
crates and Federals in turn, on
several occasions. and the popula-
ton dwindled to about 100. When
peace came, the city was in Union
hands. Since that time it has
grown rapidly, being the natural
gateway to the state. aud is now
only 30 hours from New York.
1t received a severe setback in
1901 when fire wiped out Csc
acres, destroying over 5000 build
ings with a property loss of $15.-
000,000 A better city sprang
from the ruins, however, and the
| population increased until it now
numbers about 100000.
Jacksonville now claims to be
the largest orange market in the
world. The city is almost as
modern as any northern one of the
same size. If the real southern
atmosphere was ever there it has
departed. The only hint of il
noticed last winter was during the
Christmas holidays when richly
dressed ladies displaying many
diamonds, we're seen selecting tur-
keys in the market place and
bringing them home alive!
| The east coast of Florida is dot
ted with winter resorts that differ
little except in size. Thousands OF
northerners visit them during the
winter and each place has its
friends-and its foes. While some
people rave over the climate,
others find the high temperature
and high humidity a combination
very enervating-it all depends on
the physical condition and the
point of view. Automobiles from
Ievery state in the Union are seen
in Florida during the winter the
drivers cursing the roads OF
! Georgia and upper Florida, which
lare absolutely indescribable so far
as mud is concerned. Below Jack.
sonville the one main road is either
brick or macadam all the way; but
sand is always & mile deep" on