Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1906-08-31
From the Boston Transcript.

ScAii'OAiN NV saw Va >NNNA N'~@
le thought in continents" Truly, like
I'll that fellowship of empire builders OF
which he is mead and chief, his were long,
ong ~thoughts-as long as from the Cape
20 Cairo America does not produce quite
hat sort of eXpansionist (tor which most
people will calculate a fervent thank
aeayen'). but II has at least one example
IF a man whose main interest in life les
n laying his hand on the waste places ana
making them glad-also profitable TO all
concerned. Henry NJ. Flagler made a
sarge part of the state of Florida. The
east coast Is practically his idea and now
lie has had another long thought. This
one stretches from New York and Chicago
% Cuba and Panama.
Changing cars is an ~nnoyance accord
ing to general and well-founded convic-
ion. Says Mr.. Flagler, why, merely be-
cause you want TO go to Cuba, should you
De subject TO the unpleasantness OF leaV-
ing the seat you took in your Pullman at
Boston, Philadelphia or Washington? Pre-
oosterous. / shall carry you to Cuba by
rail-" And so to Cuba by rail o will
20, if you choose. probably next year.
The proposition sounds a trifle strange
n view Of the fact that nearly 200 miles
Of ocean separate the mainland Of Florida
from the pearl OF the Antilles; but 1t Is
u ~ III SIhlC VI io 40 Gil N'N
IDEAS of men of this stamp are, in the long
:un. Is il not a notable fact that the
only practical things in the world are the
work of dreamerS, or people who first de-
2ided that L must be done and then u
4 way? Mr.. Flagler found a way to
carry out his idea by means Of that chain
Of keys which run along the Florida coast
and terminated. some se~venty-ftye miles
below Cape Sable, in Key West. His rail-
way, after leaving the mainland, passes
from key to key by a series of wonder
FULLY constructed bridges to Key West.
Then a tra.nferry takes the cars in charge
for some five or six hours, and finally the
same Pullman from which you waved
sarewell to your home town draws up with
Sou in the station at Cienfuegos or San
tiago or any other town IN which your
fancy may decide. This is modern enter
prise tinged with a suggestion Of that
magic carpet upon which the Arabian hero
seated himself when he wished to fly from
Bagdad 10 Damascus.
Now a key is a small island Occidental
ty, it may be mentioned that the word
should be spelled cay but mapmakers have
made concessions TO those who know not
foreign ~tongues), and IL does not require a
very vivid imagination TO picture the effect
Of passing over these tiny specks in a rail-
way train. The Islands are all right as
supports for the bridges, but at features
n the landscape, or seaSCape, they are not
always important factors. A few, indeed,
are Of considerable s~ize-several miles.
even-but the majority are mere dots, and
one can have, looking from the car win
dow, the very curious impression Of being
at sea in a train that rusheS along at q
rafting good pace. The distances from key
to key are really much smaller than they
appear, for the tiny speck which seems
to lie far off on the horizon is probably
very much less than a mile distant. This
is a happy state of affairs, for ii enables
the traveller to have his poetic illusion
without thereby sacrificing anything to
mere commonplace safety.
AS a matter of fact, the road is safe
enough IN spite of the fantastic flavor
about the whole undertaking.. Engineers,
many of them, said it could not be lone,
but the best of them said the plan was
perfectly feasible, though tremendously
difficult. To quote our learned friend Ma
cauley, Every schoolboy knows that the
density of salt water increases as the equa-
tor IS approached, and here the railway
meets its first great difficulty. Steel would
corrode rapidly in those Florida waters.
Difficulty number two was furnished by
the lively little insect that bores holes in
the wood In those parts. Wood was ruled
out in many of the places ii fills salts
factorily in the north. These troubles
by the liberal use Of cement, it
remained only for the railroad TO feel its
way through n practically uneXplored
country, and TO lay its roadbed in the
swamp and forest tangles. This it IS doing
now, with armies Of men in different spots
along the line that leads from Miami to
Key West.
Follow the road below Miami (Which un-
til recently was the ''jump,ng-of place"
of civilization in Florida) and you will
find, miles in among the everglades. a
little village OF white tents, the dwelling
place of workers on section one. Every
thing Is neat, orderly, well-disciplined. 1t
must be so, If men value their lives work
ing under the scorching sun In among the
municipalities. A big cement cistern
looms up among the tents, for there is no
water fit to drink in the everglades, and
every drop of the rainfall is precious. Fail
ing that, tanks are brought down from
Miami. The hospital tent is supervised by
ar alert physician. There is no chaplain
attached TO these armies, but Sunday SER
vices are regularly held and there Is no
dearth Of exhorters.
Farther down, among the keys, other
regiments are camped and these are better
off. for cool sea breezes blow and swamps
are fewer. Nearby is anchored a house
DpaN ~ tht dbcaN VI pICdoui t-StthlIlS
wealth, but the simple house OF a super
intendent, who travels snail-like, carrying
his house with him from key to key.
Great dredgers scoop up the soft rock and
pound 1t into bits while enormou rollers
press IL into a smooth road, the hardest
kind Of a road in the void. Scores OF boats
ply up and down-it would hardly be in
accurate TO say hundreds. for there must
be nearly two hundred in all. There are
the big dredgers and pile-drivers laying
the foundations Of the piers, there are
big steamers carrying laborers and mater
ials, there are busy little despatch beats
rushing madly about on important err
rands, there are rowboats innumerable
doing everything that rowboats can do.
The Wild birds nave left the keys for more
secluded spots.
Perhaps as soon as next spring the SER
vice will be put on. Complete but for one
break for several miles where a steamer
must do duty until the long bridge Is
completed. The railway over the ocean Ia