Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-05-12
THE KEY TO THE GULF
The Great Bridge Proposed in the Mex
can Gulf.

can OulT.
Presently we saw a great fort at each
end of it, and large white buildings, says
a correspondent of the New York Times.
A cOlored man, a steerage passenger,
stood near me on the deck, and pointed
out the different places. He was the edi-
tor Of freedmen's newspaper in Key
West, and very Intelligent man.
"There is our destination" said he.
''Have you ever been in Key WestY1
told him no.
'Then you will find it," said he, ''the
strangest and most interesting place YOU
ever saw. 1t is a Spanish town set down
in America, with lot of American GUS
toms and styles mixed in. People gen.
orally know very little about it. They
will know more of it when the railroad is
built"
"The railroadw said l. Glow do you
expect to built railroad to an island
thirty or forty miles from the cOast|'
''That can easily be DONE" said the in
telligent cOlOred man. "a road can be
| built from one of these keys to another,
the whole connected by an iron trestle.
A company has been formed, and in less
| than five years, if you come to Key West
! again, you will come by rail. The dis
lance to be traversed from the Cape TO
| Key West is about sixty miles, and it
| will be like riding over a great pier, in
open cars constructed for the purpose.
The novelty and beauty of the trip will
bring many invalids and others to Key
West who never thought OF coming before,
and the convenience of it will make the
place the Queen City of the South"
l should have thought this darkey was
quiZzing me, to speak of such a thing as
a railroad to Key West, but that l had
| heard of the remarkable project from
! other people and knew that such a crazy
scheme was actually on foot. It's enter
prising projectors, who would build so
miles of track across part of the ocean,
will not need to 90 further than Coney
Island or Long Branch to see what a
lively storm will do to even a sixteenth of
mile of ocean pier.
'Key West" the editor continued, sis
an anomaly. L suppose you know its
history. 1t amounted to nothing before
the war, but it was the key"
''Therer' said l, ''stop right there.
Don't tell me it's the key to the Gulf.
The purser told me that this morning; the
steward told me so last night; 1 read it in
the newspapers 20 years ago. The Gulf
is not lock, and it requires no key; just
skip that, please"
SIT assumed Importance" he continued,
sat the time of the war. 1t was great
naval station. Troubles in Cuba drove
thousands of West Indians to America,
and most of them came TO Key West. The
cigar business helped it along-perhaps l
ought to say built it up. Why, sir, we
have in Key West no fewer than
really had to interrupt him, though it
was very impolite. 1t was nearly noon,
and the heat had become intense. l
wanted tn see Key West, not listen to a
chapter out of her directory He would
have told me the exports and imports, the
population, the productions, and the price
of condensed milk. When l asked him to
write these things down and mail the pa
per to me at the Russell House, did he
flare up and get mad, and leave me in
disgust? No; he looked rather pleased,
and said he would do il,