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Show America's RBTScoTLand d Gjpl' pp?lk E O KG IfL 0p By EDWARD EMERINE C?s3 M V:lr' WNU Features. , 1 'VXV S XVs" PARADOXICALLY, the oldest part of the . . mPf Vf" United States, in point of settlement, was - ? 'J C4 only recently re-discovered' by the people of f bSPf l America. - It is the state of Florida, where - JrJl. mw- M f!) only a half century ago the first train rumbled O -J 'sMIm J5 j-, -'d?vl into the station at Miami, and the highway to ( Al o'Vr- the Keys was not opened until 1934. Only in ; $v rvSH recent years have Florida agriculture, live- slmtRmU 'SA W' stock and industry, as well as substantial V -J'ZM) 4 '? year-around living, been brought to the at- , Tj jT$J5& tention of the United States. The "empire of lZ the sun"-old in history and tradition-is new rSi S to millions of people. Y VW faimm) VejiYw Florida is more than sweeping coastlines, broad V PALm() beaches, beautiful hotels and resorts. It is more than A t'2?WfyhWBEACHiV a playground. It is a commonwealth of stability, offer- Vytfe ft' lnT?'' I ing the last eastern frontier and tremendous areas for jVSfe? ' V Yr J development. eiL Mi)t.hl Florida has known a procession of discoverers and p 2flr xk conquerors Spanish cavaliers and grandees, tonsured rf friars and soldiers of fortune, villains and heroes, men f Rvn JkMUiMifl of incredible daring and men of fiendish cruelty, dream- NMjh MlAMI y ers who sought Utopia and the Fountain of Youth, men who murdered in their lust for gold. y&jh ) Back of the Florida of today, with its bathing beaches, 4 fcafyf aS? ff golf courses, race tracks, social events, fishing, agricul- "7? v5-ww ture, livestock and industry, is the romance of centuries zL ff when men of many nations battled and fell, where mail- vxC""" r " clad Spaniards struggled through morasses, where In- . y-S' dians resisted bitterly their white aggressors, where V thousands were murdered because of their religion, and By EDWARD EMERINE WNU Features. PARADOXICALLY, the oldest part of the United States, in point of settlement, was only recently re-discovered' by the people of America. It is the state of Florida, where only a half century ago the first train rumbled into the station at Miami, and the highway to the Keys was not opened until 1934. Only in recent years have Florida agriculture, livestock live-stock and industry, as well as substantial year-around living, been brought to the attention at-tention of the United States. The "empire of the sun" old in history and tradition is new to millions of people. Florida is more than sweeping coastlines, broad beaches, beautiful hotels and resorts. It is more than a playground. It is a commonwealth of stability, offering offer-ing the last eastern frontier and tremendous areas for development. Florida has known a procession of discoverers and conquerors Spanish cavaliers and grandees, tonsured friars and soldiers of fortune, villains and heroes, men of incredible daring and men of fiendish cruelty, dreamers dream-ers who sought Utopia and the Fountain of Youth, men who murdered in their lust for gold. Back of the Florida of today, with its bathing beaches, golf courses, race tracks, social events, fishing, agriculture, agricul-ture, livestock and industry, is the romance of centuries when men of many nations battled and fell, where mail-clad mail-clad Spaniards struggled through morasses, where Indians In-dians resisted bitterly their white aggressors, where thousands were murdered because of their religion, and town throughout all the district between be-tween Jupiter and Biscayne Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Yet St. Augustine Is the oldest town in Americal . Those who see only beaches, beautiful hotels and resorts, palm trees and moss-draped oaks may say: "This Is Florida!" And quickly quick-ly another may retort: "And so is this!" And he will be pointing to agriculture, livestock, industry and substantial homes. Railroads, harbors, har-bors, waterways, airports and broad highways bring both Flori- where swash-buckling pirates, mer- ciless warriors and fantastic adventurers adven-turers held sway. When the Spaniards first arrived on the mainland in 1513, they saw Florida Indians wearing gold and silver ornaments. Drawing largely on their Latin Imaginations, the Dons sent word back to Spain that Florida was a land of golden treasure. treas-ure. Fact and fancy were so closely close-ly interwoven in the history of early Florida that much of it must be passed over lightly. But a Latin imagination is not required re-quired to add luster to Florida today! to-day! A Land of Fruits. The palm trees are real; they are not desert mirages. (Incidentally, there were no palm trees growing when Florida was discovered. The palm trees came when a cargo of coconuts washed ashore from a wrecked ship in 1879 and a grove was started at Palm Beach.) The citrus trees are real, too, and Florida's Flor-ida's grapefruit, oranges, tangerines, tanger-ines, limes, lemons and kumquats are used in millions of American homes. Likewise, Florida watermelons, watermel-ons, strawberries and non-citrus fruit are extremely edible and nourishing. nour-ishing. No figments of the imagination are fields of celery, potatoes, beans, cabbage, 'cucumbers, lettuce, peppers, pep-pers, tomatoes and other truck crops. Florida has no equal in the. production of phosphate, naval stores, Fuller's earth, sponges, ci- Grapetruil grown near Orlando. t, , gars, etc. Likewise, Florida leads all states in the variety of soils, crops, fishes, trees, flowers, herbs and birds. And Florida is big in area. An automobile to reach Key West from Pensacola, by way of Jacksonville, Jackson-ville, must drive 100 miles farther than Jacksonville is from Washington, Washing-ton, D. C. Florida pineapples are real, too. And the fields of cotton, tobacco, peanuts, hay and other crops are substantial. Poultry raising is a large and growing industry. Florida has nearly a million and a half cattle both daw and beef types, and many more ranges and pastures pas-tures are available. Its ranches are measured in thousands of acres, with co-vboys riding herd on Brahman Brah-man and other steers! There are 10 million acres of good land as yet undeveloped in Florida. Industry in Florida is an actuality actual-ity too. The "playground" is being utilized for workshops and factories, shipyards and mills. Its paper mills are producing, and new ones being built. Florida cement plants are always busy. Florida factories make everything from glassware and cotton goods to furniture and ships. Approximately 10 per cent of the fish business of the United States is centered in the Peninsula State. The only commercial sponge fishery fish-ery in the United States is in Florida.. Flor-ida.. Mine and Forest Products. Nature gave Florida phosphate, limestone, sand, kaolin, clay and cement. Its lumber industry is great'1 and growing' greater. The Florida j tidewater red cypress is known as "the wood eternal." Florida's yellow yel-low pine is produced in volume for a variety of uses. Turpentine and rosin, ros-in, "naval stores," are liquid gold from Florida pines. Tung orchards are a new and vigorous industry for the state. Millions of Americans visited Florida for the first time during the war. They were the men and women wom-en of the military and naval forces who were trained at Florida bases Pensacola, Valparaiso. Camp Blanding, Orlando, Tampa, West Palm Beach, Miami, Key West and many others. ' Now that the war is over, many of them are returning re-turning to Florida where they will make their homes, enter business, and help develop industry. Less than 75 years ago Rockledge was' the ;most southerly settlement on the east coast. Fort Pierce, was ! in the heart of the Indian country, and Indian river was a wild, al-'most al-'most unknown area, the haunt" of : wild fowl and flamingoes. St. Petersburg was non-existent. Okee-i Okee-i chobee, the largest body of fresh ; water in all the southeast, was scarcely more than a semi-legendary lake somewhere in the heart i of the Everglades. There was not a i farm, plantation. settlement or das the. playground .and the home ground within 48 hours of any part of the United States. America's re-discovered land of-fers of-fers it's magnificent mansions, Spanish Span-ish architecture, rich historic lore, scores of delightful towns, miles of farms and ranches, dozens of factories fac-tories and mills, airports and smooth highways, to everyone. See Florida's east coast; visit its west coast. And in between the coasts, see the Everglades the strangest, most unique, most mysterious, of natural land formations on the continent. con-tinent. Discover Florida for yourself. Millions Mil-lions of others have! GOVERNOR CALDWELL of Florida ' Millard Fillmore Caldwell resigned re-signed as representative ia iu.i gress to move to his farm in Leon county. He raises pecans, general gen-eral farm crops and beef and dairy cattle. He also practiced law in Tallahassee before he lie-came lie-came governor. |