The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1946-06-24
Florida's Better Cline
Than California, Opinion
OF Citizen Correspondent

James B. Pond, lecturer on the
Florida Keys and Florida Flow
ers, sends The Citizen the fol-
lowing account of a recent visit
to California. where he lectured
about the keys:
The firstof the lectures on
the Florida Keys was given in
Death Valley, at the truly attrac-
tive Furnace Creke Inn. Incl
dentally, Death Valley is unique
place, but had it been named
Kosciusko's Depression it might
never have attracted so much
public attention as it has with
its gruesome name Death Val
ley" incidentally, there were
no deaths in the party that many
years ago gave it its seductive
name.
The day when the lecture on
the Keys was given was a warm
day. Driving in the car with all
windows open and the therrno-
meter rose Tin the shade, of
course) to a mere III degrees.
Mouths were soon filled with
something that tasted like cot
ton wool Dehydration comes
fast under such conditions.
The lecture was given in a
room filled with hotel guests.
Very tightly filled, in fact, with
warm, but not perspiring hui
mans. At the close of the movies
a lady came up and said she
had just arrived that day, that
she was finding the heat and dry
ness beyond her endurance, that
she was about to leave, but the
pictures Of Florida beaches, of
lovely ocean, of more and more
lovely ocean, saved her sanity
and now that she was again
mentally all wet she was content
to stay awhile.
So Florida came to the rescue
of California.
at the showing at the dinner
meeting of the famous Los An
geles Breakfast Club there was
rather amusing incident at the
close of the program. Incidentally
that was a tough assignment for
me, because in the audience were
many distinguished fellow lee
turers. Burton Holmes, Dean of
all travel lecturers, was not only
there with Mrs. Holmes, but he
presented me to the audience.
Frederic Christian, one of the
finest of our travel photograph
ers, was there with his wife,
Sylvia. The Holmans, Steele and
Kathleen, who have such reveal
ing movies of Mexico and Kath-
leen, were there. Also Gene
Lamb and his wife, Elizabeth.
He was one of the first to film
Tibet. 1t was a critical audience.
Incidentally, at the University
Club in Los Angeles, the au-
dience was again filled with lee
ture conferees: Singapore Joe"
Fisher, Earl Robinson, Francis r.
Line and Mrs. Line. Mrs. Bran
son de Cou and her husband,
Reginald Boswell. Arthur Pons-
ford and Mrs. Ponsford. Veteran
Impresario L. E. Behymer did the
introducing this time.
The incident; After the show
a gentleman said to Joan, Where
is that wonderful brown tan you
had in the movles?" That was
the wrong question. why, you
native so and So" she said with
maidenly restraint, 1--WE been in
California for five weeks, haven't
seen any of your advertised sun
and l am all bleached out"
There was great crowding
around the lecturer; people ask
ing how TO get to the Keys,
where to stay, was Florida pleas
ant in the summer. These were
all people who go places. Many
of them will turn up in Key
West and points en- route.
l got a great laugh out of the
fact that a lot of these people
thought 1 was a paid propaganda
ist for Florida. Ha, and again Ha.
So far as 1 can recall Florida has
never done anything worthy of
the mentioning for any lecturer.
No help, no cooperation, no as
sistance. Personally / have paid
for everything l have ever got
ten. Walter Buckingham, one of
the owners of the Mckee Jungle
Gardens at Vero Beach, has been
a good friend, and during the
war opened the Gardens to me.
And didn't charge any admis-
sion Al Mills, owner of the Casa