Page 233 - some-stuff-i-wrote-and-some-stuff-i-didn't-(2011)-h-morris-williams

Some Stuff I Wrote and Some Stuff I Didn't (2011) H. Morris Williams

fortune had reached its peak and the Paul’s represented perhaps one of
the few families in northeast Florida able to accommodate a lifestyle

unrestricted by economic drawbacks.

In the 1920’s, the East Coast Lumber Company donated land lying to the
east of Lake City for construction of the first Lake City Country Club.

The club was owned by the Paul’s for many years, and was eventually

given to the City of Lake City.

The elaborate estate that the family owned in Watertown covered 13
acres. The three-story mansion in which they lived had seven bedrooms,

eight baths, a kitchen, and living and dining areas, Sandy Paul recalled.
And, he continued, each room had its own fireplace for warmth in the

days before electric heaters were used.

A swimming pool and tennis courts were located behind the mansion.

On the grounds of the estate were animals, some native to Florida and
some not. Imported swans made their home in a lake nearby; to the rear

of the mansion was a zoo where deer, wildcats, raccoons, possums, and
imported pheasants roamed.

“You don’t find pheasants like those living in Florida,” Paul said.
“Those pheasants were imported from China and other places overseas.

They need a special kind of gravel that isn’t found here.”

With time and money to spare, the men of the Paul family spend hours

following the ways of the idle rich as only the idle rich can do.

For sport, Paul explained, a favorite pastime was to put a rattlesnake and
a king snake on a tennis court to see which would defeat the other. Large

bets were made between teams on which one would be the victor.

To the wealthy Pauls, the game of betting on what one another could do

knew no bounds, and it was a common form of enjoyment indeed.

During this time when the automobile was new, a certain fascination that
developed on warm afternoons was to line up a group of “hot cars”,

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