The St. Lucie County tribune. (Fort Pierce, St. Lucie County, Fla.) 1905-1920, 1910-08-26
DRAIVAGE OF
EVERGLADES
faust.Claf. Company Will Al;
Four Dredges to Work
ENTHUSIASTS OPINION
n Tstun, Of Miami, Believes Compile.
lion of Week viii Make Florida The
Garden Spot of the World

That within two years the drainag
u the Everglades will have progresse,
~ far that wealth producing fields an,
gardens will have taken the place o
ihe present wastes Of water and saw
Grass is the confident expectation O
H. J. H. Tatum, a we'll known either
# Miami, who has been quite in toucl
With the 'Glades since the first Disstor
nroiects were inaugurated. Mr.. Tatun
4 4 member of the firm of Tatun
Rrothers Real Estate and Investment
Company of Miami. While in st. Au.
fine he IS guest of the Monson House,
saws the St. Augustine Record.
Mr. Tatum is probably as cOnversant
with conditions existing in the 'Glades
and with the possibilities latent in the
treat tract as any other man in Florida
He is a decided enthusiast and most
optilnistic regarding the entire project.
Besides developing the tract into one
Of the richest garden spots in the world,
he is Of the firm belief that there are
other results to be gained by the drain
ace work that will bring an ever.n-
creasing stream of wealth into the Sun
shine State.
1.-THE Furst- Clark Company, the con-
tractors. are going at the project like
they mean business" said Mr.. Tatum
this morning. "They are working the
four state dredges which they have pur-
chased from the trustees of the internal
Improvement fund, and very soon they
win have four more great dredges there
and added to the fleet. One of the new
machines which they have coming is a
powerful suction dredge' which has a
capacity of three of four times that of
an ordinary d. edge.
Telephone lines have been installed
from Miami out to the dredges. Ma
chimes shops are being erected on the
Miami river and arrangements have
been made with Texas concern to
erect crude oil tanks there and the
crude oil will be used as fuel on all eight
dIedges. Ten-hour shifts have been
working on the four state dredges, but
soon shifts for the entire twenty-fOur
hours will be placed on duty and every
hour Of the day and night the powerful
machines will 60 on with their work.
Progress should be rapid as the
dredge at Miami has already gone
through the rocky rim surrounding the
Gades and forming the basin. In the
1856 miles yet to be dug, doubt if more
than ten miles will be through rock
Rapid progress will be made through
the muck
THE drelge on the west side has
completed It's work on the Caloosahat- .
chez and alter going into Lake Okee-
shobee, 1t was placed on the old Disst0n
canal leading south from the lake. It
mas been working for az month there
and is probably at the end of the cana
BY now, a comparatively little worI,
vas require to clear the canal. Two
dredges are working near Lauderdae.
lne lake will be lowered about five fee
and car tul computation based upor
lne heaviest months rainfall ever re
corded in florida will prove that the
axe cannot be raised enough by the
rams to o' orflow the reclaimed sections
~ will be easy to irrigate in dry
weather. Locks will have to be pIac-
9 10 the canals, as the twenty-tw1
loot fall from the lake to Miami is to,'
gleat, and with lock constructed ttt
water can be held deep enough lot
1tansportat on and also for use in lrri-
Iatlon work during dry weather.
Mr, Tatum doesn't believe that Their
.lI' pc many who have bought lands IN
IS BLADES subject to drainage dlsap-
kfed. He states that the land com
rs have as q rule been careful not
pw agents In north to misrepresent
lions. He has come in contact
kally with the majority of the
eekers. and among them all ne
m but one man who claimed that j
pms had been inisrepresented
he believes that as the work
SEES all will be fully satisfied.
eful analysis shows the land to
finest In the World, The said t
ere are only two things lack ing;
of potash and phosphOric acid t
ed and that is all. Those. two 8
pnts are lacking in land almost
Re-. And this mick continues q
tract. It will be / the garden
he earth. Two years time VIII !
h of the eastern side reclaimed. a
splendid crops have been grown a
lined lands.
little has been said about the q
Mr.. Tatum thinks that. from
'nts made to him by government r
who have been investigating ,
liter, the Glade lands are OF !
value to Flori. than are coal
A careful investigation has y
ping on for long time, and asa :
bne Of the experts recently stat
letter to Mr.. 1'atum regarding n
Is that had been made that one P
he muck is worth more as fuei J,
ton Of the best coal produced y