The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1906-05-04

10 hoI 'pS'IuStSu " IleSS anu buShSS' II
may be needless to say that, in construct
ing what might be called the marine Sec
tions of the line, the rails and ties will be
on framework high enough
above the water to be beyond reach of the
ordinary tides and waves. The frame
work in the shallower places is upheld by
metal posts or piles driven into the rock.
When it is remembered that nearly forty
miles of the sea must be spanned, faint
idea of the vast amount of labor involved
can be gained. The posts required will
range from fifteen to thirty feet in length;
according to the depth of water in which
they are placed. To carry the structure
over the deeper channels, piers of masonry
will be needed, especially for the bridges,
as piles of the requisite size would be too
heavy to place in position. In addition to
setting the thousands of posts, they must
be protected from the action of air and
water. Constant exposure to the salt in
solution would rapidly eat away the metal,
which will probably be sheathed in cylin-
der or box made of wood soaked in creosote,
which withstands these elements.
If one can imagine an elevated railroad
of Manhattan Island transferred to New
York Bay, and placed in position across it,
a faint conception of the hugeness of this
undertaking can be gained, but the prin-
cipal "L' road in New York is only slight
ly longer than the single section of the
ocean viaduct between Bahia Honda and
Knights Key. Measuring from the foun-
dation Of the supports, it will be fully as
high as the elevated lines on the lower part
of Manhattan.
OF the one hundred and sixty miles of
track which must be laid before the whistle
of the locomotive will be heard on Key
West, a part, as already intimated, will be
through the Everglades region into
which so few white men have thus far
ventured In making examinations for
this portion of the route, the engineers ex-
plored a large area of the vast swamp,
padding along its labyrinth of creeks, pol
ing their canoes for miles through its
growth of tropical vegetation, probing the
bottom to determine what solid foundation,
if any, existed The formation of the
eastern section, however, is such that they
succeeded in mapping out course, al
though an artificial base for the track must
be made by draining off the water and
filling in the swamp here and there to
depth of many feet with earth and stone
Trains will pass over the marshes for
twenty miles ON a wooden trestle system,
which in itself will be work of no little
importance.
And this railroad over the sea will bring
into touch with the rest of the world city
of which the American people probably
know less than any other in the country
Were it not for the cigars from its facto-
ries, the name of Key West would seldom
be read or spoken, yet it is one of the most
important seaports in the New World.
Outside of mariners, few know that Its
harbor can be entered by some of the lar
gest vessels crossing the Atlantic, as the
main channel leading into it is no less than
thirty three feet deep at low tide. No other
American city has SO many approaches to
its harbor, for ships can reach Key West
by four channels, and the shallowest is
twenty -one feet deep-sufiieient to float
FIVE thousand ton cargo carrier.
Strange is it that, separated by one hun
dred and ifty miles of swamp and sea from
the other parts of inhabited Florida, this
island city should have steadily increased
in business and industry, as well as in the
number Of its residents, From the little
band Of wreckers and fishermen who found
home on the island in 1929, it is now
community of over twenty thousand people.
One of the world centers Of the sponge
fishery. three hundred craft, manned by
twenty-five hundred men and boys, gather
this growth from the waters in radius Of
a hundred miles and bring it to the wharves
to sell 1t is, likewise, the market for the
fruit and vegetable growers on the islands
in the vicinity, as well as for the turtle and
other fishermen. \ marine railway and
dock furnish facilities for making repairs to
vessels In recent years the government
has created here an important naval sta
ton, which includes a eoahng depot pro-
vided with mechanical conveyors for filling
bunkers of the war ships
Its place upon the seas is the most signi-
ieant fact revealed in a study of this south
ernmost city of the United States. Di
rectly in the course of vessels plying be-
tween the American side of the Atlantic
and the Gulf of Mexico, it is port of call
for craft bound from such cities as Boston,
New York and Philadelphia to Mobile,
New Orleans and Galveston, since by pass
ing Key West they avoid the longer and
more dangerous route around the islands
beyond. One incentive, however, in con-
meeting it with the peninsula by railroad,
is that the traveller is carried within
ninety miles of Havana, for the distance
across the gulf is so short that seagoing
ferryboat of the speed of those in service
on the North river, could cover it in less
than four hours
The completion of the Panama Canal
promises to have most important bearing
upon the future of the island city. In
discussing the benefit which the canal
promises to be to the Southern States in
giving access TO the market for their prod
ucts on the Pacific, the Florida seaport
has been practically ignored owing to its
but as the terminus Of a CONNER
cial way connecting it with the various cen
ters of industry and the agricultural sec
tious, it is given equal opportunities with
the communities on the mainland On its
harbor there is ample space for the cree
ton of the wharves, warehouses, elevators
and other requisites for ocean trade, and
with its advantageous positions, its develop
ment as one of the great marine cities of
The United States is by no means improba-
BILE. In fact, such are the possibilities
that they have doubtless Influenced the
decision to undertake the project which is
here briefly outlined. And the coming of
he railroad may mean the creation Of
new city.
The Printing Office.