The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1920-04-20
SILVER SPRINGS AND
THE OKLAWAHA
One of the Best Descriptions Ever
Written of Florida's Greatest
Scenic Wonder and Beauty

Scenic Wonder and Beauty
Herbert Felkel writes in the ST. Au-
gustine Record as follows:
Taking advantage of a specially ar
ranged tour personally conducted by
J. 0. Miller, proprietor of the REQ
Transportation Company, thirty-six
winter and year-round residents of
ST. Augustine and Palatka, together
wit hthe crew of the cabin launch Sill
yer Springs. made the trip to the
beauty spot of Florida after which
the boat is named and return by way
of the picturesque Oklawaha river.
Brim-full of humanity, two big buses
and a touring car left st. Augustine
at 7:10 Saturday morning, arriving iii
Palatka at $40, and before 9 passen-
gers were enjoying a well-prepared
and splendidly served breakfast on
the boat which already was moving up
the St. Johns towards Welaka, where
the dark waters of the narrow but
not straight Oklawaha empty into
the good old ST. Johns. the one big
stream of the world that never over
| flows it's banks or otherwise ram
pages and one of the less than half
dozen great rivers Of this or any other
continent that flows north.
Silver Springs was reached after
dark; the night was spent at the Har-
rington Hall in 0cala. six miles from
the springs by bus; the wonders of
the deep, boiling, thousand-colored
lake were enjoyed Sunday morning,
and the party returned by the same
route it had gone. traversing three
rivers-the Silver Springs, the Okla
waha and the st. Johns, reaching st.
| Augustine by bus from Palatka at
9:10 Sunday evening.
| For one in search of a restful boat
trip with a thing as it's goal that is
known to naturalists even better than
Florida itself, this excursion which
thousands of tourists enjoy each win
ter, cannot be excelled. Silver Springs
where Marguerite Clark spends many
winters, and has made some of her
best pictures, a spot that Floridians
when travelling abroad are often crit
icized for never having seen, is in
Idiscribably wonderful and wonderful
ly indiscribable, and we say that ad-
lvisedly. After William Jennings Bry.
an, whose tongue bears the same
name as the springs, had visited this
dreamland, he said he would not at
tempt to describe it, but advised every
one TO see it for himself. We saw il
from glass-bottomed boats. Every
feature and CONFORMATION of this gi
gantic basin was as distinctly visible
as if the pure water that gushes from
its mystic caves at dizzy depths haC
been removed and atmosphere sub
Istituted in it's place. The extraOrd
mary transparency of the water sur
passes anything that can be imagin
ed, and the various views attainabl'
at the head spring are well calculated
to produce a powerful impression
upon the bewildered mind of one VIII,
sees it for the first time. The deptl
of the water varies from twelve t,
more than eighty feet, with frequen
sudden drops that add to the majesti
scene. 1t is as if one had lifted tn
top off Natures treasure box an
peeped intoSits secrets. Silver Spring
is one of those mysteries that tn
how mere is man. 1t is Fascinating
because of the enormous quantity o
! waters discharged and their varie
. beauties, putting on as they do Flor
ida's most unique collection of colorS
We saw the Mammoth Spring. Jacob
!, Well, Reception Hall, Bridal Chamber
. Ladies' Parlor, DEVILS Kichen, She
= Room, Real Geysers hundreds Q
= them in action) Florida Snow Storm
Paint Pots. Blue Grotto, and a pc
alligator that eats bread and peanut
and smokes cigarettes.
There is wonderful spot that Cal
. fornia boasts of which people from a
over the world come to view fro1
:. glass bottomed boats, but there tn
bottom is man-made, shells bein
= placed and caverns carved by skille
= divers. Silver Springs, like the seer
- cry of the wild Oklawaha, is just a
Nature left it. The wilderness tia
crowds to the banks and even into tn
=, edge of the water itself. has been III
= disturbed by heartless human hands
= The trip was all that was promise,
' and then some. The tortuous. appal
emily perilous, Oklawaha winds fo
more than a hundred miles throug
jungles and forests primeval. Ia
palms, bent by the winds of the trop
, cal winter, lean over the crooke
- stream; parasitic Spanish moss COY
ers continuous battery of waite
! oaks, cedars and cypress. and wave
a welcome to each passing part.
n IL h. l@r
at the boats approach, while til
|, Drawer alligators, almost as numerou
= defy the exploring pale-face. On
monster kept his >four-foot tail eret
till we were out of sight, while al
other took up position almost in til
: path of the craft and opened it's tel
rible two-foot jaws as if 10 swallow L
:, whole. Ed. Carmichael. who is sal
=, to own 1900 acres around and incluC
ing Silver Springs, and who claim