The Penn's Grove record., 1920-02-13
IN BALMY FLORIDA
Interesting Letter From st. Peters
burg Telling Many Interesting
Things AbOlt That Sunny Land

PefhapS you nave a letters for
your paper from tourists in st. Peters
burg, tla., before. Perhaps you have
not. l am sending this on the "have
not perhaps"
Tney tell US here, that if one ever
sojourns here or "bide-a-wee," they
get "the sand in their feet and al
ways come back. | belong to that
class already. W. are called "snow-
birds by the natives. The tourists
call the natives "corncrackers' and
label them as soon as they hear them
utter their first syllable. We are
quite on to that.
The town is full already-with Feb
ruary the banner month. The tourists
out-number last years total already.
Real Estate is selling like hot cakes
off the griddle at the high notch. l
have been introduced to people from
Woodstown, n. j., and shall call on
two ladies from that place this after
noon whom l formerly knew. DR..
Fitch is formerly of Daretown, n. j.,
and has a home at Davista, a nearby
suburb. He is on the ticket for
Mayor. ! hope he WINS.
The grape fruit and orange groves
/ dIG uOM dI IiISll lldI NCSLs 1AG ICoUlL
of February's bloom, as they speak OF
it, taking a year to mature.
The streets are beautifully paved
with brick ard quickly and cheaply
repaired. When hollows appear they
simply take up the brick and put more
sand underneath. Presto, the deed is
done. The sidewalks are made of ce-
ment blocks, octogon shape, of dark
gray and light, which makes an arts
tic walk. There are no edges stick
ing up TO catch ones toes - though
with that north travelling INSTINCT
am always walking with my eyes cast
down looking for them. We have
them. You know the result of frost
in the ground.
st. Petersburg was first started and
laid out by a Russian, hence the orr
gin of the name. The fronts, from
porch to curb, are about 80 feet.
Orange trees and large palms are the
shade trees. | am told that he pat
termed the streets after Germantown,
Pa.
The town has become famous as a
resort only for the past 80 years, and
of very late years leaped in bounds to
anne.
A High School has just been finish
ed at the cost of S200,000 Because
the children of the travelling tourists
have to have schooling when here.
Enough rooming for the children can
scarcely be had. Builders quickly
erected school shacks, reminding me of
Carneys Point in the boom days.
Tourists are now being charged for
heir children's schooling and South
ern winter resorts have the same dis
ease as the Northern seashore resorts,
get all you can out of them, while
you can" and live on it after they are
gone, till they come again.
Lake Nargove is to be made into
Islands, a home erected on each one
and connected by bridges which will
be very artistic. That one feature
predominates here. HIBISCUS blooms
everywhere. A reddish yellow flow
ering vine overs everything which is
also very beautiful. Palms are lux
uriant. Some of them are kept
trimmed from the bottom, trunks
shaven and are more beautiful be-
cause of it. 1t that way they attain
great heighth.
This is called the sunshine city. AS
an "ad' one newspaper gives away
the days issue to patrons on any
rainy day. If a regular subscriber, a
weeks issue is given. One man even
went to them and asked for a refund
on what was given to him for moth
ing. l wonder if he was a tourist, be-
cause we snow-birds want TO hang to-
gether like crabs. What n does re-
fleets on the whole. The paper has
been given away 55 times only in nine
years.
The City of Philadelphia, n of the
Wilson Line steamers, Wilmington,
Del, plies between St. Petersburg and
Tampa, a distance of 20 miles. Fare
S1.00 a round trip. 1t takes an hour
and a half to make the trip. The
boat cannot go faster because of the
shallow water.
Public grazing for cows, the old
cowboy style, has already resulted in
three being killed, and has made the
trolley company erect new poles along
The tracks in the middle of the roads
instead of the sides, because the own
ers of COWS let their cattle wander
where they will. Lots are fired and
stealthily burn off the low palm
growth. Soon a new crop of grass
grows up and a COW, by native in
stinct will hunt pasture where there
has been a fire. The trolley poles
come into their share of burning and
are nearly burned thru. They might
break off and let the live wires down,
causing loss of life.
The road to Davista leads to Golf
links, fishing boat landing, st. Peters
burg Beach the Jungle and many
beautiful private homes. Owners of
lots are wiring in their grounds. The
outlaw class are cutting the wires, in
sisting for the right of ~pasturing
their cattle on their neighbours land.
There will be a stubborn fight on both
sides before this prairie custom is
settled.
Beautiful Poinsettas are to be seen
everywhere, set against the houses,
rrovvn to large trees, with hundreds
Of blooms thereon. How proud is any
one in the North if they can raise this
plant a few inches high and get n
bloom on top. Rubber plants grow in