Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-09-20
TALLAHASSEE TOPICS.
A Sketch of Drainage eSchemes-CoIo1reI
COryell's Great WOrk-Damage from
the Storm The New HoteI-The Jack
sOnviIIe and Mobile Road.

sonV1lle and Mobile Road.
TALLAHASSEE, September 1S.-EdStor Morn
ing NetcS: The celebrated internal improve
ment act cf 1855 not only contemplated a sys.
TEN OF railroads traversing the State from east
to west and from north to south, but also
looked to the construction OF a canal connect
ing the waters Of the st. Johns with Indian
river. Soon after the passage of the act the
construction Of the several lines of railroad
were commenced, and but for the late
war they would all have been completed
A company was also char cred for the
construction of the canal, the work was com
meDcad, bonds i sued, bu5 nothing much was
accomplished on account of the war. Subse-
quent to 1868 various organic atoms were ef-
fected with view to completing this great
work. Dredges would be brought out and the
preparations made would be heralded through
the press, but still this great work was not
completed. Capital was needed, and however
energetic may have been the corporators of
IrCm Tune TO time, yet, with all their
pluck, they were unable to enlist capi-
talists IN what was then regarded as a hazard
GUS undertaking. Much Of the q .untrv living
some distance inland, and west of the Indian
river was terra fHcOgnitG The unfrequented
OSeschobee and the dreaded Everglades were
IN That section, covering millions of acres of
unreclalmabIe ~ land. This, no doubt, deter
red capitalists from investing in any work of
public utility In that section canal TO be
prontab.e, they reasoned. must be sustained
by rich country. and the narrow slip of good
land on Indian river was insufficient
That section Of country lying west of
Indian river had never been thoroughly eX-
plored, but from the imperfect data of each
hNFsa NI,E.
would the Everglades, but Lake Okeech0-
bee itself would be drained One company
had been formed with this view, but failed to
do anything for lack Of capital. At last, in the
winter of 1SS0S. Colonel l. Coryell went before
the trustees Of the Internal Improvement
fund and contracted in the name of the COM
pany he represented to drain the leveeS in the
region of the great Lake Okeechobee. A SINH
lar contract had been previously entered into
with another company, but the latter had
failed to comply with their agreement AS an
earnest that the company that Col COryell
represented meant business l am told that
So,UU were deposited. to be forfeited il the
WORK was not commenced within time linn
tied In the agreement Soon after and during
that session OF the Legislature this party of capt.
tallsCS were Incorporated as a company under
the name OF the Atlantic and Calf Coast Canal
ana Okeechobee Land Company, with capital
stock of ten millions. Among the corporators
were Hamilton Disston and Colonel ]. Cor
yell Operations for the dredging of the Caloo-
sahatchie, the natural outlet of Okeechobee,
were at once commenced under the direction
or colonel Coryel The favorable report of
the engineers, and the promptnesS with which
the new company commenced their work TO-
gether with the capital which it was known to
comm4nd, excited general interest-in other
words, it was big advertisement for Florida
The scheme was favorably commented on by
the leading newspapers throughout the United
States, and pubic attention more than ever
was turned TO Florida. But Col. Coryell did
not stop here. 1t was through his influence
that MIR. Disston was induced TO make the now
celebrated purchase of four million acres from
the trustees of the internal i'm mprovement fund,
thus saving the fund from bankruptcy and
sub1ectlng 10 taxation over a million dollars
worth of property
While in South Florida in the interest OF the
company Col. COryell discovered to his sur
prise that wild jute grew in profusion, and
sending prepared specimens to Dundee, where
it is prepared for market. he was gratifed by
a favorable report The reclamation OF valU-
able lands in the Okeechobee region and the
purchase OF the five millions acer by Diss-
ton having thus drawn public attention to
Florida and the lands in that vicinity mention
ed, there was no longer any difficulty in finding
capitalists for the long talked of
the st. Johns with those of Indian
river, and accordingly Colonel COryell sue
ceeded in forming the Florida Coast Line
Canal and TraLS oortation Company, which
have contracted with the trustees Of the internal
improvement fund to give interior water COM
munication fcom the upper st. Johns river to
dred and seventy miles This will open up one
of the most favored sections of Florida, and
those who have heretofore been COM
PEELED to send their produce to
market by a tedious and roundabout route
csn now ship direct. More than this, as the
rich alluvial soils of that section are thus
placed in juxta position to the highways of
commerce and travel settlers will pour in, and
this great work OF internal improvement must
prove a success. The work is being rapidly
pushed forward under the superintendence Of
Colonel Coryell, and now, as l WRITE steam
dredges are possibly IN operation. If not now
they soon will be-
Too much praise cannot be awarded to
Colonel Coryen for his pluck and vim in all
these matters. But for him South Florida, in
the region OF Okeechobee would still be an un-
explored and unknown section. The favora-
be publicity given to these schemes has at
tracted large immigration to this State. and
though we of Middle Florida are not imme-
diately interested, we have been to some ex-
tent benefited by the increased notoriety given
our State
Since the storm, and especially within the
last four or five days, the weather has been
intensely warm, more than usual at this
time Of year. find different opinions amo
the planters as to the extent of damage to the
cotton crop. One man, who had not kept up''
in picking, and had much open cotton in
his fields, will tell you he is ruined
loss at least 70 per cent-while another
who had picked closely, will say his loss was
trifiing. From personal observation and from
conversation with a number OF intelligent
pl 4nters, would say that the damage by the
late storm 70 the cotton in this county was
about IS per cent. At st. Teresa, on James
Island, the damage was not as great as was
feared. One or two dwellings were
slightly injured, the wharf washed away and
all the pleasure boats but one carried off from
their moorings. This, together with pretty
bad scare on the part of some of the ladies,
was the extent of the damage. Though many
forest and shade trees were uprooted and gin
houses and other outbuildings leveled, yet in
this county have not heard of single death
from the late cyclone though there were a
number or narrow escapes. The damage done
to property is being rapidly repaired, and in
some instances the owners concluding, as they
are compelled to repair, they might as well
make some alterations, have accordingly de-
termined to act on this idea, and thus some of
our buildings will present handsomer ap-
pearance than ever.
The new hotel company have contracted with
our townsman, j +. Weller ESQ formerly of
Savannah, to cover the hotel with a new tin
roof at once, and that gentleman is now in
your city making the necessary arrangements
for material, etc. By the first OF December it
is hoped that this new hostelry will be open
for the reception of guests lt is a large,
r0omy structure, with all the modern ap-
pliances for comfort and convenience and will
doubtless be literally patronized.
Much complaint exists at the action OF the
purchasers of the late Jacksonville, Pensacola
and Mobile Railroad. Inasmuch as the Legis-
lature had made a large grant to aid in the
construction of the Pensacola and Atlantic
Railroad. 1t was hoped and believed that the
proprietorS Of this end would put their road in
order, so that when the former was completed
to the Chattahoochce the tide OF travel would
traverse our State. 1t appears, however, that
whatever is expended by the road syndicate
will be on their system of roads in another
section Of the State, and travel will diverge at
Chattahoochee to the Georgia line We can
only wish that we had a Plant and Halnes
here in Middle Florida. We cannot expect
with our snail going rains, a. fifteen miles per
hour, to compete with Mr.. Hajnes, at thirty
miles per hour. LEON.
New York Stock Market.
NEW YORK, September 19.-Share specu-
lation opened weak with the general list "a