Morning journal and courier., 1891-07-23
DRAINING THE EVERGLADES
Progress OF n Great Work I'm Florida
From the Engineering Record

osiess VI u oreut ~ ork In Florida.
lFrom the Engineering Recordl
The lower Everglades, running down TO
the point of the peninsula, are also a saw
grass jungle, but cut up by countless water
avenues into thousands of islands. Toward
the southern end there is a perceptible
tide, and the Gulf aud Atlantic shores are
lined with rock rim that impounds the
water. This large territory, hitherto con-
sidered useless, is now being made avail
able for agricultural purposes by gigantic
drainage system, of which a correspondent
of the New York Tribune gives some inter
esting particulars.
According to these Hamilton Disston.
the Philadelphia saw manufacturer, is the
moving spirit in the enterprise. Mr.. Diss-
ton, as the story goes, after careful exam.
ination and consultation with Colonel
James c. Kreamer, his engineer decided
that it was also necessary TO diminish the
water supply from the northern lakes that
serve as feeders. These lakes moreover
he knew were bordered by marshes worth
draining for their own sake So he went
to the legislature and in 1881 secured per-
mission to reclaim all lands below a line
drawn across peninsula few miles north
of Kissimmee and east of Peace creek, which
debouchee in Charlotte harbor. The tract
embraced 5000, 900 acres. Four million
of these, however, Mr.. Disston was com
peiied to form a separate company to buy
to lift state mortgage.
Then the work began. AS the map
shows, the lakes, as they occur southwark
on the sloping peninsula, are Tohopekaliga,
Cypress, Hatcbeenchsw, Kissimrnee and
Okeechobee. The water level follows the
Landscape. Tohopekaliga is sixiy-four feet
above the sea, Hatcheenehaw, sixty; Kis-
simmee, fifty-nine; and Okeechobee only
twenty. Canals cut southwark TO Lake
Kissimmee and the Strengthening of the
very crooked river that links lakes Kis-
simmee and Okeschobee have, therefore.
relieved the upper lakes by steady flew,
while cuts from Okeechobee southwark in
to the everglades and eastward to the Cal
oosahatchie, that empties into the gulf near
Panta Rassa, have lowered four feet the
surface of that great lake. The piercing
of the rock rims on the coast is expected
now to release the water accumulated in
the everglades. Meanwhile, in the north
end of the chain lake east of Tohopekal-
iga has been connected with the northern
Atlantic coast by way of the ST. Johns
rver, to relieve the pressure there. So far
about eighty-ive miles of canal are cut.
The trenches vary from twenty five to 105
feet in width, and hold from six to ten feet
of water
Kissimmee owes its existence to the
drainage company. A few years ago the
shore of Tohopekaliga at this point was a
cypress swamp. But Captain R. E. Rose
came there to build a dredge, the water
level was lowered seven feet, a wide beach
was uncovered, docks and shipyards were
built, and now the town has a big hotel.
a brick courthouse and 800 inhabitants.
The company has made this its field head
quarters. AT Southport, at the opposite
end of the lake, you can ramble through 6
large banana plantation and see tobacco
and sugar-cane growing where the land
was once all under three feet of water
The canal mouths are protected by wood
en- jetties. Sand-bars form across them,
but are easily removed. The current is
about three miles an hour and in the wet
season there is water enough for light
draught navigation. A Mississippi steam
boat in 1884 assembled to Kissimmee from
the gulf, a distance of $50 miles. Only
white men have been employed on the
dredges. Their uniform good health is
remarkable.
One curious result of the engineering
Mofh Is its eHects on plant life. About
Lake Okeechobee, for instance, the margin
is covered with great areas of morning
glory vines, which have all sprung up
since the tapping began to destroy aquatic
vegetation. From the lookout of dredge
the contrast is striking. Before her stretch
green tangles of saw grass and aquatic
plants, with the brown water pouring in a
spumy torrent over the head of the canal
In the rear, where the dredge has cleared a
watery path, the canal banksea are firm,
rushes and water-lilies lie Drowned and
dead in the sunshine, green edible grass
sprouts spontaneously, and herds of cattle
Craze in placid contentment. On one side
Is delolation, on the other endless promise.
DIAMOND SHOAL LIGHT.
Progress I'm the Work of Setting a
Beacon or Stormy Hatreras.
from the Baltimore SUM-
One of the greatest and most difficult