The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1909-07-23
A Needed Precaution 'Gainst
The Cuffs Invasion.

city Of Galveston, Texas, since the de-
vastating storm Of September, 1900,
saved the city from a similar tragedy
on Wednesday. And, no doubt, the
walls recently erected to protect the
forts at the entrance to Pensacola
Bay would be found a safeguard
against damage should the expert
ence of this coast in 1906 ever be re-
peated- The government acted
promtly in building this protection;
for it realized that it is well to be
prepared for any emergency no mat
ter how small may be the likelihood
Of its occurrence.
But it is a little odd that no steps
have been taken to aid nature in re-
placing a sand barrier in the cuts
made through Santa Rosa island by
the waves of the gulf during the 1906
storm. 1t is true that these cuts
have refilled with drift sand to
a certain extent and that that
fact combined with the rarity of
any severe storm disturbances
here may relieve the govern
ment from feeling the weight of its
responsibility in the matter. Yet one
would reasonably think that the same
extreme caution which dictated the
construction of the sea wall at the
forts would likewise have induced
the doing Of work required to com
pletely close up the cuts referred to,
bringing the area they occupy to the
general level OF the island
This is all the more noticeable from
the fact that the cost of the work
would be very slight. Light obstruc-
lions, such as brushwOOd, logs or
other such things, placed in the cuts
would so assist nature by holding the
sand deposited in them by wind and
tide that they would be completely
filled in a short while.
Would 1t not be we'll for Pensaco-
las commercial body to take this
matter up and request the federal
authorities TO give it attention? It is
the proper thing always to be on the
safe side and the cuts through Santa
Rosa although partially filled would
give an opportunity for the gulf wa
tiers to do damage in the bay and on
the shore should a great storm arise.
Claude L'Engle, candidate for Unit
ed States senator in the primaries of
1910, has issued his platform under
the title: "A Message to the Demo-
cratic People of the State of Florida"
It is a very good platform, but it's ex-
IRENE length will prevent many peo-
pie from reading it.
Harry Thaw'S mother has written a
book entitled Secrets Unveiled" and
it certainly must be of a sensational
nature if it does any more unwilling"
than has already been done in the
tenderloin case. Even Stanford White
were he in the land of flesh and
bIoOd-wOuld suffer a blush of shame
to crimson his braZen cheek
Does anyone imagine that with
Theodore Roosevelt in the White
mouse, congress would have frittered
away all this time to no other effect
than to betray and defeat the real
wishes of the people? Hardly. 1t
would have shaped up a tariff bill
long before now, with the revision
downward, or the president and the
country would have known the reason
why.
DeFuniak Springs has just held its
annual wool sale when 10000 pounds
of the 'fieecy staple" were sold at
3O.SO1-2 a pound, which brought joy
to the hearts of the producers 1t
goes to show that those who raise
sheep in West Florida are by no
means wool gatherers" in the in
vidious sense of the term, but level
headed, practical men with the dollar
mark in their optics.