The weekly true Democrat. (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1905-1912, 1905-05-12
Retaining the Everglades.
From the starke Telegraph.


Much has been said of late about re-
.laimlng the Everglades and the feast
1ility and utility thereof have not been
questioned. The Everglades is terra
.ncognitO in the true sense of the word,
and the expeditions which have sue
:eeded in crossing this immense saw
grass covered inland sea can be counted
IN the fingers They took notes of what
,hey saw the first few days out; after
hat they had TO hustle to get to terra
irma before they died of starvation or
exhaustion All that is known of this
'eRion comes from these expeditions,
I'd is, as far as concern soil and water
conditions, as follows:
The Everglades is a shallow basin of
cOraline limestone, having water from
couple of inches to several feet in depth
The water is clear and contains lime; it
comes partly from the overflow of Lake
Okeechobee, partly from direct rainfall,
but TO a great extent from springs that
are frequent in the rough bottom. 1t
has slight southerly current and has
broken through the rim in several places,
forming water courses, of which Miami
river is the largest. The rocky bottom
is often bare, but generally covered with
muck from few inches to several feet
in depth. This muck has been formed
from decayed saw-gras, and would prob
ably have been deeper were it not inn
pregnated with lime, which rots it even
while under water A little island of
low elevation, on which grow trees and
bushes, is met with occasionally; other
wise saw-grass, often ten feet high, is
everywhere, and would bar all progress
were it not for tortuOus passages through
it.
While it has been ascertained that
there is fall sufficient to drain off the
surface water from the Glades, it is
very doubtful if the interior and north
ern parts could ever be drained enough
for agricultural purposes. AS soon as
the water left the muck and the saw
grass roots rooted the soil would settle
considerably. The inevitable fires
would burn up the upper stratum of
muck, lowering the elevation still more.
This would ne state cutting every
ditch through the bed rock The springs
would give endless trouble in places and
where the muck was shallow it would
dry up and rot away. Soil composed of
pure humus is not permanent in char
acter; when exposed to the air it soon
decays.
Before settlement could be effected
in the drined Glades roads would have
to be built. Where these crossed bare
rock, it would have to be smoothed
off and over muck plank roads would
be necessary-a very expensive under
takin. The place would be disagreeable
to dwell in on account of the mosqui-
tOs that would breed in the pools, and
decaying vegetation on every hand
would engender malaria. The only one
who would flourish there would be the
Seminole Indian, for thickets to which
Little He'll Bay" south of Lake But
Ter would be as a parlor floor, would
soon spring up and harbor the animals
he likes to hunt.
The State should let the Everglades
severely alone, at least until private en-
terprise has experimental and found
feasible. The effect of draining this
region would be felt a hundred miles
north Of II, and, perhaps, not to the
welfare of the dwellers there.