Evening star., 1908-01-22
BUILT OVER THE SEA
The Most Remarkable Rail-
road in the World.
RUNS ON FLORIDA KEYS
More Difficult Work in Some Re-
spects Than the Panama Canal.
ADMIRATION OF ENGINEERS
Trains Now in Regular Operation to
Knights Key-Eight Per Cent
of Construction Finished.
El WILLIAM T.. cl ETIS

El WILLIAM Z. CURTIS.
Written for The star ant the Chicago Record
Herald.
The most remarkab bic railroad in the
world which Mr.. Henry NJ Flaglcr is
building on concrete arches through the
shallow waters of the ocean along the
garland OF palm groves that cover the
keys south of Florida. is now in opera
tion for "A distance of eighty-one miles
to knights Key. and trains began regu-
lar running over il on the 18th instant.
Through sleeping cars will be provided
from New York TO Chicago. and they Ill
timately will be carried across on a ferry
from Key West to Havana making the
distance in six hours. The railway is
more than half done. and as the present
terminus al knights Key has all the
facilities for handling the traffic Mr.
Flagler decided to place the completed
portion in operation. and have it earn
ing the expense of maintenance at least,
while the remainder Of the track is fin
ished to Key West. Practically 50 per cent
of all the construction work is done ana
everything will be ready for through
trains to Havana by opening Of the tour
ist season next winter.
the Flag!er system. is 109 miles south
of Miami. 41 miles north of Key west
and 115 miles north of Havana. Inc rAu
between Miami and Knights Key Is oulil
% miles upon the mainland OF FLORIDA
and 81 miles across and between ~ keys
For nearly one-half of the distance the
railway track passes over the water on
concrete arches whose foundations rest
upon the bottom of the sea.
How the Road Was Built.
The first twenty miles of the line runs
through the Everglades and mangrove
swamps where thousands of tons of rock
filling were hauled in from the ocean and
the grade was made by two large steam
dredses that burrowed their own channel
as they moved along. one on either side OF
the risht-of-way. and lifted the earth
| from the excavation upon the roadbed
| to form an embankment that is now as
| solid as the earth itself In this way
two canals have been built. one on either
side of the track. through the Everg ladies'.
| which are Il protection To the track ana
will serve another useful purpose in as
sisting to drain the mangrove sWamps
OF southern Florida and make them
habitable.
At the town of Homestead, twenty eight
miles south of Miami, the track leaves
the continent OF North America and starts
upon its way over the ocean. seventeen
miles south of that point II reach Key
Largo the largest Of the keys. which Is
fifteen miles long. and from there jumps
from key to ley by means OF MASSIVE
masonry and embankments of cement ana
coral rock In crossing the deeper chan-
nels several drawbridgeS have been pro-
vided to permit of the passage OF yes
sells The intervening water between tne
( forty-two KEYS varies in width from
few hundred feet to two miles or more
and in depth from few inches to thirty
feet The embankments are rlp-rapped
with rock 10 prevent washing. and are
defended by piles and every other de
,,ice that the engineers could invent 10
protect the roadway from the attacks OF
the water. which is sometimes stirred up
| into great violence by the force OF the
wind The track is thlrty-one feet above
high water so that the passengers IN the
railway train may sit in the WINDOWS OF
a Pullman car in serenity and nave an
opportunity of seeing how the Atlantic
ocean looks in q gale.
Description of the Keys.
Some of the keys are very small. merely
an acre or 80 of sand that has been
piled M by the action of the water upon
foundations of coral that have been con-
structed through the ages by those Won
derful little insects that set US all a
good example in patience and industry.
on the Atlantic side they have hard
/ beaches Of clean white sand. bordered
/
| which grow wild everywhere in that lati-
tude ON the western side the keys slope
off into mangrove swamps and the m
terror of the larger islands is usually
dense mass of luxuriant tropical Fegeta.
ton These lands are admirably suited
10 fruit culture and Mr.. Elagler intends
| to colonize them in the near future
Except in "A few scattered patches, ihe
soil has never been disturbed by cuitiVa-
tion The few inhabitants have made their
living in the fishing trade and in gather
ing sponges from the bottom of the sea
for the market III Key West Some OF
our best SpnngeS come from thdt 10
cality and are cut from the coral rock
with curved knives ashed to the ends
Of long poles In early days the inhab-
liable keys were haunted by wreckers.
who lureu passing vessels upon the shoals
| bv treacherous false lights. and then
looted them as they lay helpless. Hor
rible stories are told of the cruelty of
the. "conches,'' as these despcradoes were
called But their descendants are now
. engaged III more humane occupations.
Wrecking industry. mas been
! abandoned ever since the line Of six light
houses was built along the shoals between
| Miami and Key West
on some of the keys are mahogany
groves with trees of great value. and
orchid hunters have found rare varieties
OF air plants and parasites among them.
The soil and climate are especially
adapted 10 pneapples, bananas and lines.
! small plantations now that the railroad
will furnish means Of transportation TO
market Hitherto the Inhabitants of the
| KEYS have been entirely dependent upon
their own sailboats. but their wants are
few aud both Key West and Miami are
thriving cItles.
knights Key. the present terminus of
the East Florida railway system. has a
safe and almost landlocked harbor. made
hv the outlying reefs and keys. and a
deep channel from the ocean permits yes
sells OF twenty feet drausht 10 come
alongside dock which Mr. Flagler has
constructed o,.~ feet southwest Of the
kew The railway trains pass over a
trestle and run alongside steamers. which
pick up their passengers and carry them
on TO Havana.
Remarkable Engineering Feat.
/ Experts who have studied the work of
construction consider il one of the most
| remarka BILE pieces of engineering of mod
ern times 1t was begun in 1868. and has
! since been carried Non without contracts
| under the direction bf Mr.. j. c. Meredith
| an Iowa man, who was educated at the
| State Agricultural College at Ames and
| afterward took a course in civil engineer
! ing at stevens Institute. Hoboken. n j.
( He then went into river and harbor work
| under the army engineers. assisted to
| construct the great bridge over the Mis-
| souri, at Kansas City. and was engaged
| for a time ON harbor improvements and
! in building docks at Tampico. Mexico
until Mr. Flagcr sent for him in 1894 and
placed him in charge Of the great work