The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-10-07

Miami. Fla. Oct. s.-Annexation Of
the now disturbed Cuban Republic by
rail; conversion of the already thriv-
ing city of Key West into the Hobo
ken OF Havana" with lis docks throng-
ed with huge double-decked ferry
boats; construction Of a great railway
line that goes to sea, leaping from
Island to island with long viaducts
and bridges on which the passenger
bound from New York to Cuba will
see from the car windows nothing but
the blue waters Of the Atlantic on the
one side and the blue waters OF the
Gulf Of Mexico on the other: an en-
cheering feat involving problems now
solved for the first time-all that and
much more Is involved in the extern
sion now in progress of the Florida
East Coast Railroad south from Miami,
Its present Southern terminusfi to the
tip Of the long sickle shaped series Of
coral islets which the peninsula Of
Florida has thrown out into the tropic
sea- Within three years, unless some
unexpected interruption occurs, the
tourist may take an ocean voyage in
a Pullman. conveyed in highest COM
fort along the line of the Florida keys.
and thence in a huge car ferry nearly
100 miles across the straits, and out Of
sight Of land. to Havana.
A thousand picturesque undertakings
have marked the building Of American
railroads. Untraversable mountain
ranges have been bored, suspension
bridges assembled amidst the swirling
spray OF cataracts. bottomless swamps
filled in with the debris Of demolished
mountains. Yet none more picturesque
has been evolved than this work due
to the constructive Imagination Of
Henry NJ. F1agler, who has projected
an American railroad that will go fur
thher to sea than any other yet con-
structed.
From Miami to Key West along the
route which has been selected for the
gigantic enterprise 1t is 154 miles as the
engine will go. In the mainland Sec
tion the line has already followed, as
Tar as possible, the spaces not cross
Matched in the map with the shadings
which show swamp to Homestead, a
distance Of twenty-four miles. Thence
across the vast, nearly inundated prairie
that borders the shallow sounds pro.
tected by the long reef Of islands, over
Jewish Creek, to Key Largo, the big
fifteen miles Of railroad will be laid
After that. now with short, now with
long jumps, the whole series will be
traversed through Lower Metacomb
Grassy. Gravel. Vaccas, and then
with an immense spring across a chan
mel $4,000 feet wide to Bahia Honda
where a little harbor will be created
enabling direct train communication
with Havana even before the line is COM
pleted to Key West. Deep draught YES
sells can secure admittance at this
point. and the distance to Havana Is
only twenty miles greater than from the
city at the end Of the crescent of keys
where ultimately a great seaport will
be constructed with terminals. wharves
and docks. From the harbor of Key
West the car floats, each capable of
conveying a train of thirty cars, will
ply to the Cuban capital.
Nature has assisted in the project.
The little coral insects whose secre-
lions have been petrified SO plentiful
ly all along the Florida peninsula have
prepared a broad fiat surface to meet
the needs Of the engineers. some por-
lions Of It appearing just abov9 the wa
ter in the form of keys-low fit Islands
covered with sedge and jungle In the
uncultivated portions; with pineapples.
lemons and cocoanut groves where man
has fixed his habitation-some of it
submerged a few feet beneath the
waves that tumble in from the deeper
parts Of the sea. The coral rock provides
a natural ballast-one that may be dug
out in chunks large and small and used
for filling where the line crosses one OF
the swampy tracts Of the region.
The work Is we'll under Way. Each
practical problem Is being solved as II
arises. For a railroad thus to so to
sea Is something new in the history of
cneineering. but inventive genius is
proving itself equal to the task. The
greater expense Is to be explained not
only in the large mileage OF bridges and
yiaducts. but in the exposed character
of the line, for the cost exceeds that OF