Palatka daily news. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1919-1994, 1922-08-11
FORUM
WE SIT CORRECTED

Editor Daily News:
Your news story anent work on
State Road No. 8, from Sisco to Cres-
cent City, published in your edition
of the It'll inst, was substantially
correct except in some three or four
particulars. First, this road is II,
rather than IS, feet wide; ~ the
road has been finished (the rock
foundation) into Sisco, and as mat
ter of fact runs directly through the
business center of the town and pass
es the old post office on Alvers ave-
nue.. The road was not constructed
with any hope of converting" any
other section from the use of brick,
and 81 the work SO far done is not
the FINISHED" work So far only the
rock foundation has been laid. This
rock is crushed, rolled and packed
to depth of eight inches. The rock
is white, and does give evidence of
"pocking" in some places, but all
this will be gone over and remedied
before the top layer of three inches
of bituminous macadam is placed, as
called for in the contract The road
of today is not the finished road; it
is only the rock foundation, and the
contractors are encouraging its use
by the public in order to develop any
weaknesses in the rock layer. This
rock is quite white in color, and nat
urally is hard on the eyes. Bitumen
is a mineral pitch, perhaps better
known as asphalt, and is black. When
mixed with the macadam it will be a
dark gray in color, and will wholly
relieve this terrible strain on the
eyes"
| note that in your every reference
to Sisco you spell it with a &C" In
doing this you do violence to the
memory of the aristocratic family
from whom the town takes it's name
Sisco was named from Prince Felix
Johann SiscOvitch, a nephew of King
John Soboeski of Poland, whose
stormy reign constituted an epoch in
European politics of the eighteenth
century. Prince Felix, from all ac-
counts, was one of the rapid" young
men of his day and generation. He
loved wine, women and song, but af-
ter coming to this country and on ad-
vice of some of the more enlightened
natives among whom he mixed freely
and in the interests of harmony and
higher standard of morality, the
Prince was induced to "cut out" sing
ing.
While lettering at St. Augustine, it
is said that Prince Felix met and fell
madIy in love with Mercedes d'Sib-
ylla y Alvereos. the beautiful and
highly accomplished daughter of a
Spanish grandee then resident of the
town. A year or two after the mar
riage of Felix and Mercedes, the King
Of Spain made grant of land to
Prince Felix. This land is described
as being some thirty miles TO the
southwest of st. Augustine and on a
peninsular Felix erected a home
thereon and on its completion the
happy couple, together with their re-
tinue of attendants and slaves, re-
moved. 1t is said that the home of
the prince and princess was on the
edge of a beautiful small lake a lit
/ tie to the southeast of the present
Sisco railway station. Prince Sisco-
witch lived there several years, but it
/ is not of record that much was ac-
complished in the way of cultivation.
Much of his time was given to rails
ing stock and hunting and fishing
with his guests. 1t is said that the
= Princess died at the plantation home.
After her death, without issue. it is
said the Prince neglected his estate,
and led wild and dissipated life,
leaving the country late in the centu-