Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 August 1884 — FLORIDA FACTS. [ARTICLE]

FLORIDA FACTS.

For Which Stnuiff«r* Arc Mot Prinni hr Boadiag Florida Literature. [Politic* Cor. New York Son.] At almost any bookstore in this state yon can bay a score of books, pampleta, and periodicals devoted exclusively to Florida topics. Some of them contain a good deal of information. Yet, having read all of them, the northerner in Florida is continually coming upon facts that are new and surprising to him. You may be surprised: To observe that a region which was discovered nearly 400 years ago, and is said to be so inviting to man, has found so few to accept the invitation. To find [notwithstanging all yon have read concerning Florida winters] the January sun so warm at midday. To find |in view of all you have read] so few wild or cultivated blossoms thriving in the son’s rays, and so little fragrance in them. To find so few birds, barring hawks and other birds of prey, warmed into a voicefnl mood by the semi-tropical sun —to find so few birds of any description. That the duration of twilight is so brief. To find how little covering you require on your bed upon retiring, and to find how much covering you wish you had when you wake up toward morning. To see, upon going out doors, that the ground is not covered with frost, and that the flowers [such as they are] are not killed. To note how little soil there is, and how many empty tin cans there are above the sand. To see orange trees, with rich green leaves and loaded with yellow fruit, growing out of the gray sand. To cross gardens in which plants and vegetables are growing in great quantity and luxuriantly in this same sand. To obeserve that so few persons have these flourishing gardens, and to be told that not many can afford to buy the quantity of •fertilizer this luxury calls for. To find the sidewalks shaded by orange trees weighed down by tempting golden fruit. To discover that this golden fruit is wild oranges, and very sour. To be told that strangers should be careful about drinking much of the water at first. To learn how little self-denial the observance of this caution calls for. To see how yellow most of the native and acclimated residents are. To discover, before long, that you are turning yellow yourself. To note how few persons there are who are past 70 years of age. To see so many idle negro men, to observe that nearly all of them wear heavy woolen caps, and to learn that their heads are sti 1 cold. To be told by so many of them that they were “bo’n inde norf.” That the negro laborers on the docks can’t work without makim; such a bedlam. That they can do any other work while making it. To discover that your v; ' .'r-tight top boots leak sand, and to i told that everybody’s boots and shoes contain more or less sand. To be forced to t’re conclusion flint wherever there is sand there are red ants also. To hear the voice of the nocturnal musquito in midwinter. To wait in vain for him to settle down and bite, so that you can get a whack at him, and to be told in the morning that nmsquitoes haven’t enough energyin winter to do much biting. To find yourself wondering whether they, too, are yellow and bilious. To be assured by a plain and candid appearing white man that the musquitoes were so thick here last summer that they not only darkened the air at high noon, but put out the lamps which were lighted in the stores. To find that there are bigger and less harmless liars than he in nearly every neighborhood. . , To have to fight so many flies in the houses in the winter. To be told that flies do not come into the houses in the summer. To reflect that you permitted yourself to be surprised at the information, when it would have been so much more reasonable to assume that youy informant lied. To come face to face in the sandy wilderness with a pack qf gaunt, bony, shaggy beasts of almost everfi| color and resembling nothing you have ever seen before. To be informed afterward that they were Mr. Julius Lemon’s shoats. To be assured that r. Lemon and his family contemplate eating them ultimately.