The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1905-03-09

Editor Pensacola Journal:
have written considerably of water
showing the people of Pensacola how
they have been, and are now, ieeced
by the water company and l have car
ried every point SO far Although a
iraat many could scarcely believe
what | claimed in my first letters all
are now convinced that / was right.
Now unless some get il into their
minds that the water question is all
that there is of importance to Pensa-
cola i want to say the water question
is only one of the many things that is
Of great Importance to the public.
Today | shall pass the water question
for the present and enter into another
subject.
Another Railroad"
Pensacolians have heard of another
railroad" coming to the city repeated
ly for so many years that a story
scarcely receives passing notice.
Roads have been built on paper and
schemes exploited and subscriptions
made and rights granted until the
average citizen is liable to laugh in
ones face who longer talks seriously
Of the matter. / do not mean by this
to cast doubts on a road coming to
Pensacola at some future time, for
think it will, and it viii be followed
by others. undoubtedly, but the road
that will come first viii likely do so
without the noise of brass bands and
the blowing of steam whistles.
One of the hardest things for great
many people TO understand is why
Pensacola with all her matchless ad-
vantages as a port is struggling in
this day and age of the world as q
zone railroad town" This is especial
ly hard for western people to COM
prehend when they have seen larger
cities than Pensacola built in a few
years, with several railroads to match.
with surrounding advantages far less
than those possessed by this city.
The reason that Pensacola has not
more railroads is very much like the
reason It has not more paved streets.
The people never went about getting
them in the right way.
A Good Scheme.
shall lay before the people a mat
ter that will cost little If anything
more than the Mardi Gras festivities
that have just closed and which viii
be of Incompatible value. It viii
open up large territory that is rapid
ly being settled with Industrious peo-
pie and make it tributary to Pensaeo-
Ia.
An Inland Waterway.
s The matter I1speak of is nothing
more nor less than the digging of a
canal from the head Of the Grand
Lagoon to Perdido bay, distance of
only three-fOurths of a mile. Steam
ers in Perdido bay can now approach
steamers in the Grand Lagoon within
that distance and all that is needed
to bring the two waters together by
inland navigation is a small amount
of dredging through low, sandy level.
Mr. p. X. Yonge told me that the
| Southern States Lumber Company had
gotten figures on the cost of It at one
time with a view to floating their logs
| through there and If he remembered
correctly it could be done for about
$4,000.
Would Open Up the Perdido Country.
The Perdido country is large, fer
| tile section of land lying between here
and Mobile bay. Its fertility has long
been known but the isolation of the
section has prevented many a good
settler from locating there. II is no
/ trouble to raise plenty of fine farm
products and fruits but the absence
] of a market has made them of little
value. In spite of this fact a great
many people have located there and
Il ~ Mnhfln nv
wav of boats on Mobile bay, and there
entered into competition with pro-
ducts grown on the fertile lands OF
] the Mobile country. Had we a canal
/ from the Grand Lagoon TO Perdido
bay nearly all of these products would
| find a market in Pensacola and the
business that now goes to Mobile
would come to us.
There is no doubt about this for
our market is a better market than is
| Mobile: our market is no further from
! the Perdido country than is Mobile, in
| fact il is closer; but a bigger fact IS
way TO that the water way to Pensaco-
la would be better sheltered than
through Mobile bay to Mobile, and
hence much more acceptable.
But be that as il may, for argument
sake one thing is certain and that is
that we could control entirely the
traffic on Perdido bay and its tribu'
taries. That means that over hun
dred miles OF shore line and in the
near future the thousands OF farms
near il would be tributary to Pensaco,
Ia. And all that may be had for all
time TO come for the original invest
msnt of a few thousand dollars.
Something Still Greater.
III could stir up public enterprise
a little more would have about four
and a half miles more of canal dug.
which would connect Perdtde bay
with Mobile bay This would give
Pensacola an inland water way o.
several hundred miles and open up
thousands of miles of country that
has only begun to be developed
Leaving Pensacola on steamer OF
the river type We could pass down
the bay and into the Grand Lagoon
near the light house, traverse the la
COON for eight miles and pass into
Perdido bay through the three-quarter
mile canal, then perhaps hfteen OF
twenty miles through Perdido bay aho
mnm N