W.D. Bryant Says Florida Has Mosquitoes by the Gallon, Oct. 8, 1925

Mosquitoes by the Gallon in Inland Florida. . . Moore County Man Says He Wouldn’t Live There Under Hardly Any Consideration. . . Sees Man Make Big Deal

To hear W.D. Bryant talk, Florida is not a land of eternal sunshine, but a low, swampy and mosquito-infested country. He is back from a long trip to many places of interest in the Everglades State and says there is no comparison between that country and the Sandhills. “I wouldn’t hardly live in Florida under any consideration,” he declared.

From this sweeping indictment he excepts two sections, along the coast and the central part of Florida where the people do mighty well with their orange and lemon groves. “The coast,” he assisted, “is the rich man’s playground, but away from the seaboard one finds mosquitoes galore. They are so bad in some sections that the man unprepared to meet their attack finds himself in danger of his life.”

Saw Neat Little Deal

“At one town, some 20 miles from the coast, I stopped at a café where the complaint about mosquitoes was being voiced by several patrons. I chimed in. seeing my interest, and learning I was a stranger, the proprietor asked: ‘Do you want to see some mosquitoes?’ Without waiting for an answer, he directed me to the rear of his establishment. There he had a lantern hung from the window with millions of the pests buzzing around. He lit a pine torch, and began annihilating them by the hundreds with each swoop of his hand, the flames singing the wings of the mosquitoes. In about 20 minutes, he had fully two gallons of mosquitoes to show for his toil.”

There is so much money, however, being made in Florida real estate, Mr. Bryant says, and cites an incident that came under his observation. It was in Lake Worth, and the transaction was made by a citizen from an Illinois town where the Moore county man once lived. “One day this man told me about wiring his brother for $800 to make the first payment on the lot; a few days later while he had me out showing his purchase, two men came up, and after learning he was the owner of the property we were inspecting, offered him a profit of $2,800 on the deal. He accepted on the spot. Later he exhibited a check calling for that sum to me.”

From the front page of The Moore County News, Carthage, N.C., Thursday, Oct. 8, 1925

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