SEBRING, Jan. 8 - (Tribune News 
Service.) -  The Lake Placid club, of 
Lake Placid, N.Y., will have a Flor-
ida branch, probably at some point 
along the ridge, it was definitely an-
nounced here by Dr. Melvil Dewey, 
nationally known figure who 33 years 
ago founded the organization and who 
has stood actively at the head of it 
since.
  Tentative plans already have been 
made for the expenditure of $1,250,000 
for the first unit of buildings, in ad-
dition to a $250,000 expense fund.  
  Dr. Dewey is spending the winter 
in Sebring and this week delivered an 
address before residents of Lake 
Stearns, at the southern end of the 
ridge.  He said his club will come to 
Florida for six-month seasons each 
year, from Nov. 1 to May 1.

St andards Peculiar
"Members of the Lake Placid club 
do not like the ordinary tourist hotel 
atmosphere," Dr. Dewey declared.  
"Our club is unique because of its 
peculiar standards, tending toward 
simplicity, safety, health and general 
comfort.  They do not like to eat 
canned vegetables when the soil 
around them is productive.  They like 
a longer Florida season than the aver-
age tourist hotel keeps.  Therefore, we 
have decided to build a colony some-
where on the ridge."
  The Lake Placid club was organ-
ized in 1895 with 30 members and $500 
capital.  The club purchased a board-
ing house after borrowing $5,000 by 
mortgage.  In its thirty-third year, 
the club entertained 1,510 guests dur-
ing August and employed a staff of 
1,112 persons.  For the last 23 years it 
has operated year around.
  The club owns 10,000 acres in one of 
the most beautiful sections of the 
country.  The Lake Placid club lies 
at the foot of a beautiful range of 
mountains, among crystal lakes of 
shimmering splendor.  There are 394 
buildings belonging to the organization,
including four structures at the sea-
side branch at Saybrook, Conn.

Maintains Own Farms
  The club maintains 43 huge farms.  
There are 14 camps within a radius 
of 15 miles.  There are 180 boats, 47 
horses, three 18-hole golf courses and 
seven nine-hole courses in addition to 
40 tennis and other sporting courts.  
There are 1,800 bedrooms on the place 
with 252 open fires.  Last year the club 

entertained guests from every state in 
the union and from 31 different coun-
tries.  
  The total business of the club in 
its first year was $4,800 but during 
1926, it did a total business of $3,600-
,000 through its shops, farms, etc. 
  The Lake Placid people do not be-
lieve in display of fashion.  Any wom-
an caught smoking at the club is sent 
home.  There is no toleration of liquor 
or gambling.  
  "Children First" is the principal 
motto of the organization.  Special in-
structors tutor children of the mem-
bers.  Thousands of dollars have been 
spent in playground equipment, chil-
dren's libraries, etc.  The club main-
tains a fitting school for college, said 
to be one of the best in the country.
  All in all, the Lake Placid club is a 
little world by itself.  It has its own 
$175,000 theater with a $30,000 organ.  
There is a $50,000 memorial chapel.  
They maintain a symphony orchestra 
and another orchestra, and one of the 
big things at the club is a library of 
10,000 volumes.  The club subscribes 
to more than a hundred leading 
periodicals.

Florid a Farms Proposed  
  When the Lake Placid club comes to 
Florida, it will institute its own Jersey 
herds and creamery, its farms for the 
production of vegetables, and its poul-
try farms for chickens and eggs.
  Dr. Dewey is an ardent booster of 
Florida.  He has supervised the erec-
tion of a 75-foot observation tower 
overlooking beautiful Lake Stearns.  
One can see for 40 miles in all direc-
tions from the tower.  It has been 
erected on a high hill, one of the high-
est in that section.