Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-04-20
DRAINING OKECHOBEF.
What a New JerseYman Has TO Say
About IL.
Corresponaence N. z. Sun.


have Just returned from Florida. l
saw something of the attempt to drain
Lake OkechOtee and the Everglades.
bought s'oop in Key West about the
LIST of January, and cruised along the
Keys to the main lard. | found de-
lightful climate, rot subject to the mary
extreme changes of the northern part of
the State 1t is little too dry, perhaps,
for the profitable raising of early vegeta
bles for market, without irrigation The
soil, however, is excellent. The inhab
itants are mainly Bahamians, engaged
in fishing, wrecking, sponging and rails
ing tropical fruits. We have had splendid
sport fishing and hunting. The chan
nels are shoal and crooked, and the
water is clear. AS we rounded each
point waite: fowl would mount the air
by thousands Armies of them would
frequently parade on the sand banks,
allowing us to get near enough for
shot. In the deeper channels the water
was so clear that we could see the war
like sawfish and man-eating shark lurk-
ing at the bottom and looking for prey.
Sometimes our anchor caught under the
limestone rock on the bottom, and our
COnk had to dive down to loosen it. The
fear of getting too close to the man
eaters would cause him to be very lively
while under water Every time he came
up to breathe he would look around to
see how near they were, and say, "Gen-
tlemen, please keep a good lookout
With gun and harpoon in hand we stood
guard.
On reaching the main land at Cape
II \
the several rivers. They were from one
quarter to One-half mile wide, with
sluggish currents full of everglade and
OkechObee water The banks are not more
than foot high. From the masthead,
looking over the mango trees along the
banks, l had an uninterrupted view of
flat, swsmpy country, with an occasional
small clump of bushes, and an immense
quantity of water carried off by the sew
eral streams. We proceeded up the
CaloOsahatchee to its source, the immense
Okechobee swamp and lake. We found
along the banks of the river high water
signs in the shape of driftwood caught
among the branches of the trees ten feet
above the banks, the overflow continu-
ing from six TO eight weeks. At Fort
Thompson, 140 miles from its mouth, we
found the river very narrow and shallow,
ending in the OkechObee swamp and
lake. The timber line opened on both
sides, abruptly exposing swamp and
jungle, which indicates very slight fall
and general flat country.
The Drainage Company claims twenty
five feet fall. This is absurd. The tide
water backs up to Fort Thompson, and
the great falls at that place can be easily
surmounted by an ordinary rowboat.
The river in the dry season at the latter
place is bank full. not more than five
feet deep and about sixty feet wide.
Into this river they propose running the
great canal, which is at present in a
very primitive condition. The dredge
is an insignificant affair 1t puffs away
among the rushes, and the sound reaches
the ears of a gullible public There are
millions of acres of good land undrained
and uncultivated in Florida. After this
is settled it will be time to talk Of plan
tations in Okechobee
G. VAN HORNE.