Mexico weekly ledger., 1921-01-27
DR. WALLACE
WRITES ABOUT
FLORIDA TRIP
Miami Beach, Florida,

Jan. IL, 1871.
Editor Mexico Evening LEDGER
You have kindly asked me to write
something about my trip for the Led
ger; and as / am one Of those indi-
viduals who takes such requests at
face value ! am infiicting upon your
readers this dissertation which most
likely will aim at nothing in particular
and hit it As it is often easier to fol-
low a rambler than one who pursues
a straight course, / may be forgiven
for not following a distinct and defin-
tie theme.
/ see now why the Colonel was so
anxious to have me come; he wanted
company even if it had to be his pas
tor The long trip by rail from Mex
leo to Florida gets to be somewhat
tiresome if you don't have somebody
to growl at beside the porter and the
railroad schedule. But neither Of us
did much fussing at each other or at
anybody. The seminole Limited, which
left st. Louis Monday night, landed
us in Jacksonville on time, and in
great humor Wednesday morning,
After looking about that town, which
is rightly called the gateway to Flor
ida, we took an auto to Augustine.
"A two hours drive over a well made
road through a swamp filled with
pines and palmetto palms and pick
aninnies, brought us to one of Amer
ica's most historic spots. We took
lunch at the Alkazar, where, as Bob
Taylor says, you pay ope dollar an
sap and five dollars for the "Kazar."
Only he was talking not of the AL
kazar but Of the Royal Ponce de Leon.
The first was stiff enough in price,
but the second takes a mans breath.
We didn't do more than look at it from
a distance, when we heard that it's
rates were fifteen a day and up,
mostly UP.
I visited the old Indian Fort, built
by the S~paniards in 1865 and saw
there some quaint old relics. We
went down to St. Georges street and
saw the oldest house in the United
States 1t was built in 1865 and after
many changes in ownership was
bought in 1918 by the st. Augustine
Historical Society andis now in its
possession.
There is no question about the anti
guilty of this old building, as. the His
torical Society fully investigated its
claims to being the oldest House in the
United States before considering its
purchase. As to whether it is act.
ually the oldest house in the United
States is a question that has been dis
puted by the owners Of one or two
other aged buildings in this city, but
its claim has never been satisfactorily
~disproved, sQits title to the distinction
has not suffered. 1t is really a won
derful old structure, filled with a mos
interesting collection Of antiquities
and relics. Many thousands Of tour
lists have passed through its quain
rooms every year for nearly half
century and they have found in thu
same a fund Of interest to keep then
talking for many months afterwards
Much time and money has been ex
pended in attempts to secure reliable
data about the date that the old hous
was erected. The British museum II
London has been consulted and tn
Federal archives at Washington an
elsewhere have been probed, the resul
satisfying the Historical Society tina
there is no building in the Unite
States than antedates this time-wor
structure.
This old building was at n tim
owned by the franciscan monks, WIN
came here under the Spanish regime
It passed out Of their hands to privat
individuals and finally became tn
property Of the late DR.. Carver, VIII
sold it to Judge Henderson, the latte
disposing Of it some years ago t
George Reddington. Each of the owr
ers added to the collection of histories
contents until now it a wonderfully II
teresting place.
AS interesting and famous as tt
old house has been under its sewers
owners of the past, It promises to b
come far more so in the hands Of til
Historical Society. It's contents wi
be added to from the great accum'
lation Of historical implements the 81
ciety has assembled since its organic
tion two score years ago.
With the house ID conveyed Il
beautiful and spacious grounds, all