The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1906-03-11
ENORMOUS COST
Of DRAINING
'GLADES
Would Result in Making But Com.
paTatiVeIY Small Portion Avail
ahIs, Says Drainage Expert.

-" NSaa
whether or not the drainage of the
Everglades is practicable, and wheth-
ed or not, if practicable, the carry
ing out of the plan will be any real
benefit to Florida, is still a question
that is being discussed in all parts of
the state, says the Jacksonville Times
Union.
II is recognized that the Injunction
granted by Judge Locke, restraining
the collection Of the special drainage
tax, has completely ended all further
effort toward the carrying out of Gov
ernor BrOward's scheme, at least until
the legislature devises some new plan,
if it ever does. for securing funds.
Despite this fact, however, the suit in
the United States courts has brought
the Everglades drainage question up
afresh, and all manner of theories
and speculations are ahoat.
In his recent speech in Jacksonville
in which he defended the plan for
draining this vast tract Of land, Gov
ernOr Broward dwelt at some length
on the character Of the land that
would be reclaimed if the Everglades
are drained, and maintained that the
cost of drainage would be compare
lively small. Afidavits Of Florida res
idents, however, fled in the office of
Clerk E. o. Locke, of the United States
courts, take just the contrary posi-
ton, maintaining that the cost will be
enormous and the land of compare
lively little value, when compared
with the cost of reclamation.
Plan is ImpracticabIe.
Allen l. Chandler, Of Kissimmee, a
cattle-raiser, Granger grower, trapper,
and hunter, and one who has spent
much time in the section proposed to
be drained, says, among other things,
in an affidavit he has filed in the case:
That the soil of the great saw-grass
ridge and Of the islands in the Ever.
glades is so loose and slushly and of
such a spOngy material that in the
event Of its being drained it would
shrink and pack down not less than
three or four feet
That the annual rainfall over this
region is very heavy, and that with
this rainfall and the enormous vol,
Ume of water discharged into Laks
n1rnnnhnhn, In +Ho
and its tributary creeks and streams,
and with the shrinkage of the soil,
the drainage of the Everglades for
agricultural purposes is absolutely
impracticable.
At Enormous Cost.
The only hope would be to exclude
the waters Of Lake OkeechObee BY
an immense levee; carry off the wa
tiers of that lake by side canals east
and west, and then construct an inner
system of canals within the Ever
glades proper. The cost would be
enormous and it would require many
years to complete the work.
That the drainage Of the pine tim
Der would be of little benefit 10 the
land, and if the water was taken off /
TIC ~ III CSS s " all St llC NlliLDGG WOulU ]
be exposed to fire AMI would GER
tainly be destroyed.
That when muck and marsh lands |
are drained they invariably catch fire
and frequently burn for weeks and
months"
F--'ilts Of Experience.
W. /. Van Duzor. formerly super
intendent of the Atlantic & Gulf Coast
Canal & OkeechObee Land Company,
in an affidavit filed in the case, main
tains that the drainage Of the entire 1
is impracticable and bases
his opinion on his actual experience /
in attempting such a plan. Among
other things in his AFFIDAVIT, Mr.. Van 4
DuzOr, who is. a resident of Kissim- |
NEE, says:
In the solution Of the problem of
the drainage Of Lake OkeechObee and
the Everglades the company made a
careful and exhaustive investigation /
Of the topography of the country, and
came to the conclusion, upon the re-
ports of Offices and employees and
upon the best Information Obtainable,
that
First. the successful drainage of
the Everglades. as a whole, is ut
terly impracticable, and
second, That even if drained. only
a fraction of the Everglades was sUs-
cultivation, the overwhelm-l