The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1905-09-01
GIGANTIC EKTERPRlsE /.
- KEY WEST r
EXTENSION. |
Civil Enxineer Writes Entertain.
ingly Of q "trip Over the Rosie.
From the New York Herald


From the New York Herald.
Several engineers and contractors,
q few days ago accepted the invitation
of the Florida East Coast Railway to
run over the site of their proposed
new railroad in steamboat. Strange
as it may seem to say that steamboat
could run over the proposed site of
railroad to be nearly 200 miles in
length, this statement is, neverthe-
less true, and may be che foundation
of the conception of the stupendous
undertaking.
The plan of the railroad is to go
south from the present terminus,
for q distance of about % miles on the
mainland and then curve toward the
east, directly out to sea, to the line
on the small keys to the south and
west, from key to key, until Key
West is reached. More than one-half
of this line will be over water and
the engineering problems of span
ming these depths are being gradually
worked out. The distance from key
to key varies from one mile, to nine
miles, and the depth of water from IL
feet to 30 feet.
1t was originally intended to keep
to the mainland of Florida to Cape
Sable and then make one grand via
duct, similar to that across Lake Pont-
chartrain, over to key West, but the
tremendous depth of the water over
this IS miles stretch made this scheme
practically impossible. Attention was
then turned to the route now deter
mined upon.
The party taking the trip for the
purpose of getting sufficient data and
information to assist in estimating
the cost of the work, left Miami on
the morning of July % on the steam
boat Biscayne. This boat is built
similar to the shallow draught Missis-
sippi river craft, and although she
has three decks and ample sleeping
accommodations, she draws only ~
inches of water. The long stretches
on posts in zig-zags showed the mar
row and shallow channels, and at no
place in this region is it safe to leave
this lane, making sailing at night out
of the question.
Under all these southern waters the
wonderful little coral has built solid
rock floor until it has almost driven
the water OF entirely and added many
square miles OF dry land to the state
Of Florida. In thousands of places it
has come up above the surface and
formed reefs and keys, to which the
wind and wave carried seeds of trop-
ical growth, and now they are dense
~ wooded with mangrove, palmetto
and cocoanut trees, making an al
most impossible jungle.
Going over the shosls and through
suc6 narrow channels HIT the boat
touches both sides at once, the bot
tom of the sea was always visible,
with its jelly-hke sponges and beau
tiful branching coral. A huge man.
atee, or ''sea-cow." passed, about
eight feet in length and with a nose
similar to q ground hogs, and myr-
lads of beautiful strange fish, vary
ing in size from the little sharp nosed
gar to the hugh rorpoise, which con-
tinually played about the bow of the
boat and swan for miles without an
apparent moving of a hair. ''Skip-
jacks" continually ju~.ped out of the
water and rode on the surface for
hundreds of yards, just touching the
surface with the tips of their tails.
Flying fish left the water and few for
quarter of mile before returning
Arriving at the scene of the first
active ODerafiop a oomforta hlo hCuco
boat came into view and TO this the
Biscayne was tied. Taking a small
boat, the party went ashore to Key
LARGO. where there is a camn of nj ont