The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1921-09-17
The News From
Florida
Palm Beach Post

. L MS paper mas commented before
on the unfortunate fact that western
states are able to get into the metro
politan newspapers and the bigger pc
riodicals a great deal more material
than Florida. We have also pointed
out that this is not due in any way to
a conspiracy" on the part of those
publications to keep out southern
news, but that it is due to the failure
of Florida to present its material.
Last week weekly periodical pub
lished an article by Walter Pritchard
Eaton entitled "Tenting on the New
Camp Ground Mr. Eaton is writer
If national reputation, devoting him
self especially to dramatic themes and
more recently to fiction He writes.
The most conspicuous thing in the
West now is the sign, Free Munich
al Camp Ground Almost every city,
own. and hamlet. from the DakotaS
o the Pacific, maintains such a camp
ground, and it is in constant use
Moreover, the national parks are full
If campers who have come by motor
md who do not go to the hotels at all.
Before the first of August there had
been 100000 visitors at Yellowstone
Noefully complained, were sage
icks. He meant that the were sage
rush farmers or ranchment who had
'ome into the park with their families,
an outing, and who were camping
fhe Pacific Highway in Oregon. which
Xtends south from Portland all the
way to the California line. is full of
curing automobiles, and on every
econd car (even more frequently,
erhaps) you see camping equipment
lulging from the rear seats and strap
cd to both running-boards The mo-
or accessory stores in all western
tiles display various ingenious de-
ices which faSten to the car and
which can be let down and converted
nto beds and tents. Certainly thous-
'nds of people have been brought into
he country in their motor cars, many
whom, perhaps, would be forced to
'emain at home if they had to depend
n railroads and hotels.
The West. of course, is Il roomy |
md a democratic land. If you aren |
lutte democratic enough to put up at
t municipal camp ground-and it is
t test. | admit!-there is always 4
nance TO find, some wild and secluded |
spot; or, for that matter, you can
lrive in at any ranch and find a well
:Cme under tree. Since | got home
o Massachusetts, however, | have |
}een wondering what would happen if |
my considerable number of cur East
rn people who possess small cars |
md small incomes were to decide that |
he inability to pay railroad fares and |
lotel charges wasn't going to keep |
hem from having real vacation,
bought tents and coffee pots, and |
tarted out to camp it from New York |
0 Breton Woods | live on the motor
DAD between those two points. Would |
invite families in to camp on my
place? In a word, no. Would my
leighbors to the south, to the north
Again, no. All along our road we
struggle to keep our places gardened; |
We cherish every smallest tree; we
Tread fire; we hate the litter of cans
md rubbish nine ont of every ten
campers always leave in a region !
where camping is not an instinct;
finally, ] fear it must be confessed, we
are far from Hospitality democratic at
heart and would resent any invasion
If our privacy. Some wild spots to
camp in might be found if one knew
.he country and where to turn of the
main highway, but it would require an
accurate knowledge to avoid trespasS
and to be sure of the purity of the |
water supply. At present. in short,
The low-priced motor holiday possible
to thousands in the West is in the
East practically an impossibility.'
Practically every comment Mr. Ea-
ton makes could have been found on
the camp grounds of Florida. 1t is |
absurd to begrudge the western states |
the publicity it obtains from such
articles, but something is radically
wrong when one recalls that the only
thing ever written about our motor |
tourists has been in the nature of
panning" the 'tin-canners'
Nor would this favorable publicity
Tor the West give as much ground for
reflection were it not that in the
same periodical there appears sue
cessiOn of references to Florida
These references appear in an article
on mob violence. 1t cites Jacksonville |
back in 1920, quoting a northern pa
per as carrying the story
Later it says 'at Miami, Florida, on
July II, the British rector of church
in the negro quarter was tarred and
feathered by masked men, The name
of Florida is repeatedly associated |
in the article with the activities of the
Ku Klux Khan.
Meanwhile none of the many favor
able things about Florida are finding
their way into print.
Florida must undertake a campaign |
to offset this. There should not be |
a negative campaign of writing to the |
papers and denying the things that |
are said, but a positive campaign to
disseminate the truth about Florida.
If there is no agency through which |
this can he done one should be |