56 HOME LIFE IN FLORIDA. 



The cry was, " Go West, young man !" and many a young 

 man obeyed ; and some remained rejoicing, and some de- 

 parted in a different frame of mind. But enough went, 

 and enough continued to follow in their footsteps to enrich 

 the laud speculators. And it was like the falling of a 

 bomb-shell into their midst when Florida, bonnie Florida, 

 with her sunny smile and warmth of welcome, stepped for- 

 ward into the light, offering far more than all the much- 

 vaunted West could bestow, even after years of toil and 

 exposure to the inclement storms of winter and the terrible 

 gales of summer. 



And then straightway arose a host of foes, striking 

 blindly at the formidable rival looming up so suddenly in 

 their pathway. She endangered all their cherished plans, 

 and so she must be struck down by slander, falsehood, mis- 

 representations, malice, by any and every weapon, so that 

 only their end was attained. But it never was, for Florida 

 was too powerful in her charms, and truth, like murder, 

 '' will out," providing that one searches for it. Yet still, 

 as we have seen, a great many are satisfied to accept as 

 truth every chance statement they may happen to see or 

 hear, whether for or against, without reaching down below 

 the surface, much less seeking "at the bottom of the 

 well" for it. 



This is the reason why such charges as we have quoted 

 in these j)ages gain headway. They are carelessly read, 

 and repeated from one to the other, and no one stops to 

 ask, '' How much is true? how much is false?" 



We have proven by facts and figures that Florida is not 

 " low," in the usual acceptation of the term, and that her 

 climate is not "damp," and now let us put to rout that 

 other charge, that she is "generally malarial." 



We have dealt it a heavy blow already, for every one 

 knows that a ' ' moderately dry " climate, and undulating 



