The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1909-06-03
SHOULD KEEP
DREDGES GOING
NIGHT AND DAY
DR.. JOHN CLIFFORD, AN AUTHOR
ITY ON RECLAMATION OF
LANDS, VISITS THE EVER
oLA0Es, AND GIVES HIS oPIN-
ION UPON RETURNING.

glades as being no less stupendous
| than the work of retaining the
| Landes of France, DR.. John Clifford
/ has returned from trip to the Ever
| glades, spending Sunday afternoon
and Monday at the dredges, says the
| Miami Metropolis.
DIR. and Mrs. Clifford. as guests of
| Mr. and Mrs A. J. Bendle, of Colo
| RADIO Springs, went to FIT. Bauderdale,
making the journey in Mr. Bendle's
auto, Sunday afternoon and Monday
| they spent at the dredges.
| DR.. Clifford has an intimate knowl-
| edge of the history Of the Landes,
| having been commissioned at one
/ time to make an investigation and
| report on the work by the geological
| department of the state of New JeT-
sey. Aside from this he has been
| profound student of such matters for
| a number of years, and that he should
| find the work of drainage in the Ever
| glades one to be characterized as free
of engineering difficulties and an en-
| teTpTise which will develop that sec
| ton as the most fertile and prosperous
| of the state is a fact in which the
! advocates of drainage may take pleas
ure and feel the assurance of support
| from an expert.
DR.. Clifford says that the work is
we'll under way and every unpreju-
diced person becomes a convert after
visiting the operations. Just as the
French engineers added a new pro-
vince to France so has Sroward been
instrumental in promoting a work
which will convert a vast useless
waste into what promises to be the
most productive part of Florida He
even predicts that the area when re-
claimed will be the richest and most
productive area of similar size in the
United States.
The cost of the drainage DR.. Gift
| ford regards as insignificant and says
he wonders why it was not under
taken long ago. He thinks that all
measures should be taken, by per-
sons interested in the great undertake
| ing, to have the Trustees of the In
ternaI Improvement Fund keep the
dredges running highland day until
! the work is completed, for he sees
in the completion of the canals
greater development than Florida has
yet known and one that many of its
most hopeful citizens have not even
INDUCED dreams Of.
Matters of Digging.
at is not a matter of a complex
engineering problem" said DIR. Gift
ford yesterday. 1T is merely a mat
ter Of digging. The dredges are liter
ally eating their way through the rock
and mud and sand and are going at
the rate of mile a month when they
run night and day"
An attendant advantage that DIR.
Clifford sees in the drainage is the
opening of navigable canals which
may be used for traffic and which he
points out will be an enduring de-
light to owners Of pleasure crafts.
When the work is done, he says, these
canals will not be comparable to any
watercourse except those of Holland,
affording miles of placid straits for
house boats and small vessels for
commercial uses.
That such a similarity should exist
between the reclamation Of the Landes
in France and the Everglades in Flor
ida impressed DIR. Clifford as remark
amle. Not only are the physical con-
ditions similar" he said, but there
was the same opposition at the be-
ginning and the work was pushed in
each case by the insistent initiative of
one or two men, who had boundless
faith in their project.
The Landes, he explained, were a
fat triangular plain bounded by the
Bay of Piscay, the River Adour and
the Rivers GarOnne and MedOc. 1t
was marshy, unhealthy and very
sparsely inhabited. 1t was so covered
with water that the few shepherds
who managed to live there were com
PEELED to the use of stills to get
around and IL was so that they watch
ed their iocks- The overlooked con-
dition of the LandeS was due to the
sand dunes which arrayed themselves
on the shores of the bay and moved
inland under pressure of the winds.
There were several pioneers in the
work of fixing the dunes and then re-
claiming the area. but to NJ. Cambre-
lent finally became due the credit for
persistent labor in retaining the area
by draining He made investigations
for the government but his conclu-
sions were not accepted Having faith
he bought land in the district and
put into effect on his own territory
the ideas which he held would be sue
cessful in bringing about results. The
story of the difficulties he encountered
and the eventual success is lengthy (
but the result was that this section
came to be a health resort with ESQ
600 visitors a year and is the only
part of France which shows a steadily
increasing percentage in population.
The Limestone Rim.
The limestone rim which bounds
the Everglades was formed by lime
sand blowing in many years ago, and
solidifying. establishing the physical
likeness TO the Landes to which DR.
Clifford made frequent references in
speaking of his visit He was sur
prised TO find no mosquitoes in the
Everglades, and the CROPS growing
on the land already drained showed
conciusively TO his mind, he said.
what might be done on the land when