Willmar tribune., 1907-12-04

HearO OF Sucn thing! Great heavy en-
gines pulling long trains of heavy Pull
man coaches along the surface of the
water with the limitless expanse of
blue ocean stretching out on either
hand. Incredible as it may seem this
very thing will be possible by the first
of next year; for the road being built
along the coral reefs of southern
Florida is nearing completion, and
when finished will enable one to get
within lis miles of Havana by train,
and the rest of the distance to the
Cuban capital can be covered by fast
steamer in six hours time. From
comfortable seat in a parlor car the
traveller will be able to look out on
one side across the rolling pillows of
the Atlantic and on the other side
over the bluer waters of the Gulf of
Florida, the two commingling directly
beneath the tracks which support his
train. The tracks themselves will be
Invisible, of course, so he can enjoy
the novel sensation of going to sea
by train.
Here and there the voyager by
ocean railway will cross diminutive
coral keys and at intervals he will
traverse larger islets through groves
of tangled palms. He will be set down
at length on Knights Key, the south
ernmost point in the United States,
reached by rail, and the temporary
terminus of the only seafaring rail-
road ever built. There he may step
aboard fast steamer and in six hours
land in Havana, having travelled all
but 115 miles of the distance from
his starting point by train.
The effect, so far as the traveller is
concerned, will be the same as if a
woodworking genii should pick up
the Pearl of the Antilles and move it
United States. The journey to Cuba
from New York or Chicago, or any
point in the eastern half of the coun-
try, will be shortened in point of time
nearly one-third. Leaving New York
on any wintry evening, the traveller
will be able on the second afternoon
to step ashore in the Cuban capital
having made the entire trip in less
than 48 hours.
This will be made possible by the
opening to traffic of section of the
railroad at sea" that has been push
ing out over land and water along the
thickly dotted line of coral islands
that curves from the Florida mainland
southwest to Key West. When work
was begun, about two years ago, it
was announced that trains would be
running in three years, but 50 rapidly
has construction gone forward that
already more than two-thirds of the
distance has been covered, and the
line is almost ready to be opened for
more than 100 of the 154 miles of it's
projected length.
The building of this remarkable
ocean highway is regarded by Mr.
Flagler as the crowning achievement
of the great development that he has
been carrying on in Florida. Though
he has been engaged in other indus
trial enterprises, Mr.. Flagler's real
work-or, at least, that in which he
takes the keenest interest-has been
Transforming the eastern half of Flor
ida from barren waste of sand into
a thriving industrial section and the
winter playground of the country.
Though sometimes spoken of as a
hobby, his development of Ponce de
Icons land Of perpetual youth has
been conducted as a business enter
prise pure and simple. The building
of the ocean railway was undertaken
with an eye to the growth in import
ance Of Key West that is certain to
follow the completion of the Panama
canal, and to the steadily increasing
traffic between the United States and
Cuba. At the same time the man who
is responsible for these great enter
prises has devoted to them all the en-.
thusiasm that some men give to golf
or yachting or raising thoroughbreds.
According to Mr.. Flagler himself,
the scheme of carrying his railroad
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