Lawrence democrat. (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) 1884-1925, 1894-10-26
uNrRop By HUMAN FEET.
The Everglades OF Florida Which Extend
Ninety by Hundred Miles.

Ninety by hundred miles,
The southern extremity of the PENN
sula of Florida is one huge marsh,
known as the Everglades. This inn
penetrable wilderness or, rather jun
giles, is made up of about all OF the
large county Of Dade, almost all OF
Monroe, the greatest part OF Dee, much
of De Soto and most of Brevard. AT
the north end of this singular forma-
ton is Lake 0lxeechobee, into which
the Kissimee and other rivers discharge
their waters and which are largely re-
sponsible for the vast swamp. This
great stretch of tangle growth is in
some places ninety miles wide, extend,
ing from the Atlantic across to the
gulf, and from the southern extremity
northward is considerably over one
hundred miles. There are great
stretches Of cypress swamps, wilder
nesses of vines, lakelets of open water,
immense regions of morass with COM
paratively dry spots in the desert OF
untraversable and bewilderirg inter.
ningling of a semi-tropical flora, with
a fauna of alligators, snakes, bears,
wildcats and other carnivora, while
geese, ducks, sea birds and other aqua
tic fowl dot the water and myriads OF
the other feathered tribes make the
somber cypress forests vocal The en-.
tire state of Florida is not much above
the level of the sea and this dismal
waste is scarcely more than few
dozen feet higher than tide water
Throughout this everglade region no
human being has ever fully penetrated,
and there are lagoons that no human
eye has ever seen that are much the
same as those of preglacial time. While
there are large stretches on which sail
or row boats might be operated, there
are hundreds of intervening miry bogs
Of ooze and sill 70 of unknown depth
that bar the way. There is no frost
season here-no season when q frozen
surface may be trayersed-and 50
this dismal area for thousands OF
years hts been given over to such
production as was in keeping with
such an environment. But it is now
contemplated to penetrate this great
marsh with canal-lilze bitches with q
view of so lowering the gen.
eral water line as to bring this swampy
mass into cultivation for the products
!, peculiar to this zone, and for which
: the decaying vegetable matter of the
ages is supposed to be admirably fitted.
;. Little or nothing is known of the geo.
logical substructure of this peninsular
. termination, but that an immense coral
y formation is its base is altoge prob
: able. 1t is safe to predict that excava
:, tons through this material will reveal
: many skeletons of creatures that found
!, death in the treacherously yielding
y surface. In dry time this compost
bears up fairly well, but when con
tinued rains are precipitated on |,
the entire area is inundated, wher
the softened material is incapable Of
lie sustaining any of the larger quadrs
peds.
i These everglades are interesting II
this that they typify in manner thu
II early paleozoic conditions when abou
d all the earth was water and marsh. O
course there are no such creatures nov
20 as wallowed in the lagoons ant
y crunched the roots of the aquatic vege
al tation in the earth's earlier time, anc
yet in small way the present faun'
y Of the great Florida swamps are typi
l. cal If their long ago ancestors Will
e the alligator is nearly extinct in tn
n regions of easy access, the saurians 0
the everglades have never been nue.
ct molested and have there attained
s. size and ferceness unknown to othe
ct parts of the state. Strange cries ar
rs sometimes heard coming from With
S, the borders of this inaccessible domain
DC churning of the water attests en-
counters between large and sayag
a contestants, while the fight and tel
il rife screaming of birds gives evidenc
that the instincts of the everglad
at brute are still as sanguinary as the
n. were before man had so evolved as t
n dominate over them and exterminate
at them from the earth. Pittsburgh Di
3, patch.
III