The Coolidge examiner., 1936-01-24

makers themselves, to choose their
benchmates. The finishing touch
on every cigar is putting on the
wrapper and pasting the closed end
shut with a dash of gum.
From the workbench cigars go on
to bigger tables, where they are
sorted for color and perfection of
form. Fancy colored bands are put
on by machines, at the rate of 50,-
600 an hour, the whole process run
by two girls. After being packed,
each box is labeled and one of Un-
Gle Sans green revenue stamps af-
fixed. That, briefly, from leaf to
box, is how Florida makes 600,OOO,-
600 cigars year.
Pine and Its Products.
Thick pine woods covered all of
north Florida when white men first
came. Today, at dawn, in these
pine woods, the earth smells as
fresh as if it had just been Gre
ated. The pine was and still is
the chief natural resource of the
state. Lumber and its allies, tur-
pentine and rosin, are the states
chief manufactured products.
Throughout much of all middle
and north Florida you ride through
forests of pine and see trees
"cupped" or scarified for turpen-
tine. Pungent fumes from wayside
stills weight the air. To tap a tree
and draw off it's resinous gum, bark
is Clipped off in strips a few inches
above ground; then cups of metal
or clay are placed under these cuts
to catch the gum. 1t takes many
thousands of trees to keep one fair
sized turpentine mill running,
which works just as does an alco-
hol still.
Turpentine and it's associated
product, resin, are known as naval
stores" because originally their
chief use was in shipbuilding. To-
day turpentine goes mostly into
paints and varnishes and rosin goes
into paper, hard soap, and many
other commodities. A few big mills
in the state now grind up pine
stumps and other waste lumber
and steam these chips in great boil
ers, extracting not only turpentine
and rosin, but pine oil and other
ingredients useful in industry and
medicine.
Besides various pines, Florida
also yields much cypress lumber,
from d tree which grows with it's
feet in water. Some of the worlds
largest cypress mills are here
There is red gum, too, and black
gum, though not in quantities, and
time was when Florida live oak
timberS were in much demand
among northern shipbuilders. This
live oak and its cousin, the water
oak, are beautiful trees, especially
when feStooned with long, graceful
filaments of Spanish moss, as one
sees them along certain stretches
of the SuWannee river.
Great Place for Anglers.
When one considers the number
of golf players the ancient game
has developed in the United States,
then multiplies the total by perhaps
ten, some idea of the army which
swearS by fishing as a hobby may
be imagined and the lure of Flor
ida's teeming waters for the fol
lowers of Izaak Walton pictured.
Our government experts may sci
entifically estimate the hidden sup
ply of coal, ore, oil, and relative
natural resources, but no one has
the temerity to try to gauge the
crop of the fish life of the Gulf
stream, except to prove that there
are more than 600 known varieties
and others being steadily added to
the list. The warm waters off the
east coast and corresponding con-
ditions in the Gulf of Mexico, on
the western side. are perhaps une-
qualed the world around as ma
lures own incubator of marine life
Just offshore On either coast the
piscatorial enthusiast finds his
happy hunting ground. The sea
is alive with such fighting tribes
men as tarpon, SailtiSh, marlin, al,
bacore, tuna, barracuda, wahOo, am
Der jack, dolphin, g:ouper, and
many others familiar to saltwater
fishermen. On the coral barrier
reefs, but five miles off the east
coast, extending from Miami Beach
to Key West, endless varieties OF
smaller fishes abound, finding their
food as we'll as d fair protection
from natural enemies in the holes
and crannies of the submerged
coral rampartS. Great schools OF
Spanish mackerel, kingtiSh, and the
lowly mullet migrate u. and down
serving their never-satistied appe
tites, but always on the lookout fol