The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-01-26
Hesry N. FIasIer's sea-seins Railway Opened te rrafne--sixty Miles sy Trsin Among the Florida Keys Over Raiis Carried Above the ocean Itself te a Termi.u. withia six hsurs sf Havana.

Itself ts . rerminus within Six
 hsurs of Havana.
 : when. . few days ago. train with q little party of passengers on board. nuIIed slowly southward out of the station of Miami. on the extreme south eastern part of Florida. it's unostenta- tious departure marked dramatic mo- ment in the history of a man ana railroad, and an event the bearing or which upon the future relations of the United States and her neighbors Of the West Indies can only be fully told py time.
 The train was the first over the famous .aea going railroad" which Henry N Flagler has been pushing with all the resources of the Florida East Coast system which he rules. literally out over the sea toward Key West and Havana, and foremost Of the party of passengers was Mr. Flagier himself, vigorous and alert in spite of the weight of nearly four score years, who had come to see the realization of the ambition of years Around him, as the train rumb1ed over the 100 miles of track from Miami to the temporary ter minus of the extension at Knights Key, were the men who have stood by him in this remarkable undertaking and upon whom havc rested the burden of its successful accomplishment--J. R. Parrott, vice-president and general manager of the East Coast Railway, the man who manages the Flagler tn- terests in Florida and whose energies are responsible for putting the work through a year ahead of the allotted time; Chief Constructing Engineer ]. fanz t. sn x<~rs4 4<.t~ has set precedent in railroad con struction; General Superintendent R. T. Golf J. F. Bcckwith. traffic man ager; Third vice-President ]. E. In- graham, and other faithful assistants and subordinates.
 Map-chanHlng Work.
 It is q map-changing work, as well as q unique piece of railroad building which these men have done. When the trains began rushing to Knights Key Cube was brought half day nearer the United States and Havana was for che first time placed fin direct raii connection with New York and Chicago. The traveller can now board q Pullman train in either of these cities. whiTl across a dozen degrees of latitude direct to Knights Key and there step from the train aboard a boat which will land him in the Cuban capital, 1l5 miles distant. within six hours. In another year, when the rec naiuing forty-seven miles to Key West have been opened. the distance between Uncle Sam and his island ward will be still further reduced. Key West is but ninety miles from Havana, and it is planned to join the two by a ferry service which shall take the trains themselves straight through, making the Journey an all-rafl one. The ef- 1eCt upon the Gulf ports of Mexico. the other West Indies, Central America. northern South America and the PanA- ma canal will be scarcely less far reaching. The soon-to-ba terminus Of land city of Key West Is already dreamdng dreams of a splendid future eh great commercial port, to which shall come ships and traders from all these countries. while it's hotels are zl11eA with thousands of wandering Asaericans fleeing from Northern win fers to the hiissfu1 climate where frost white beaches bask in perpetual sun shine amid aSure. seas
 It mary have been a vision something like thiss touched with the gliding of fortune for the man who had the cour- age to make it reality, which inspired Mr. F7agier to undertake the apparent ly Impossible task of building a rail-
 
 nrariy half its length must be the bed of khe sea itself The East Coast Of Florida has been called MT. Flagler's hobby, but he himself has never made any secret of the fact that his interest in it and the tremendous outlays made in constructing the railway and hotels which have made it e favorite American winter resort were dictated by strict ly practical considerations.
 TfrRm FiawRerem Idea
 If any of his various Florida enter prizes could be considered the indulg- ing of a hobby, the East Coast Exten- sion might have seemed to deserve the term, so out of the realm of practical things did the idea look at first sIght to all but it's protector. To Mfr. Flag Ter in whose mind. according to his own statement. the plan had been ger minating since the result of the Span ish war made it certain that the United States was henceforth to maintain closer relations with the island lands south of her. it seemed steadily more desirable, until he determined that the road should be built # 1t could be done. Then came the preliminary work Of surveying. exploring and drawing plans. upon which engineers spent months WbeH the1r work was tone. Vice President Parrott went with the resuit to Mir. Flagler.
 tion.
 "It can." was the answer.
 'aThen do it," directed Mir. FiagIer.
 Since then, for three years filled with hard work and with triumphs over all sorts of obstacles and discouraKement they have been doing :t to the reality fhht now stands accomplished, the be- ginning of the end of the gigantic task.
 The condition that confronted the builders was this. From the southern mainland of Florida in long curvinE line to the southwestward the coral isiets called the Florida Keys stretch away to Key West, the last of the chain. Eastward lies the Atlantic; i; westward the Bay of Florida. Begin- ming at Homestead. twenty eight miles south of Miami where the road ended, they must build along the line of these keys and across the scores of channels ana passages which separate them one from another, a road which should be so s0lidly based as to withstand the dreaded autumn hurricanes which have their breeding place among the West Indian islands. Some of the channels are a few feet wide, some thousands of feet and some miles. The widest of