The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1911-09-30
And Now Ham Poised over
Northern Shores of Gulf
of Mexico.

prospects the South Is the fastest
igrowiny section Of the United states,
Fin All respects Florida Il the fastest
8growIng state In that section. These
1.-TWO statements DO not have to be
lltayen ON faith. ,Theg are backed up
tby the Department OF Commerce and
8Labor and the painstakfnB complfca-
tons OF the. Census Bureau and the
Bureau Of Statistics.
h The star Of Empire has halted IN
its Westward course, and It now
hangs. poised over the Northern
i shores OF the Gulf OF Mexico, with its
|. brightest rays Illuminating the re-
sources and beauties Of the Forward
state.
4 A boom is on in the South. Not
the kind Of boom whose picturesque
and oftimes Objectionable features
associate the term with the rapid
growth of the West, but boom, none
the less, that is attracting population
and new enterprises, stimulating the
development of natural resources and
encouraging the investment Of mill
lions by far-sighted corporations as
we'll as by shrewd individual invest
ors. The visions revealed generation
ago to Flagler and Plant are now be-
ing realided. The ignorance Of that
day that looked upon those pioneer
builders as wild enthusiasts has given
way to a general knowledge Of the
natural beauty, the fertile soil, the
countless resources and the tremen-
dous commercial advantages which
in the last ten years have made Flor
ida the fastest growing state in the
fastest growing section of the couI.-
try.
The approaching completion of the
Panama Canal has awakened the
country to a realization of the fact
that the old commercial order isl
about to change. Eastern and Vest
ern channels of commerce must at
least share their tolls with new lines
North and South.
This hemisphere's great inland sea,
The Gulf of Mexico, comparable in so
many ways with the Mediterranean
IN whose shores have grown and
srumbled, and grown again, the
wealth and grandeur Of zTnaIy peri
ods, is soon to be the Objective OF q
worlds commerce. The argosies OF
multiplied modern trade viii plow
he waters that once bore the fleets
Of the bullion-laden igaIleons of
Spain, and with freights for all guar
ters Of the globe a thousand-fold
more valuable.
These considerations but emphasize
the Importance of the few available
good harbors and ports ION the Cuff
of Mexico Galveston, New Orleans
Mobile, Pensacola, ST. Andrews Bay.
Tampa and Key West They are but
few, and in all but in Florida
Tampa and Key West are, and will
be, important shipping points, but the
hsrbors are Indifferent and dangerous
in heavy winds or storms. Pensa-
sofa is more protected than the two
named, but its harbor lacks depth of
water and is open to the occasional
tempests that sweep up northwest
erIy from the Caribbean. The best
natural harbor on the Gulf is st. An
|drews Bay, situated on the broad pro.
lection into the Gulf fro mthe West
ern arm of Florida. This bay has
deep water, an area Of over over 100
square miles, is land-locked and fully
protected, and is the nearest harbor
of It's class in the United States to the
Panama Canal. In anticipation o;
the commercial changes that win be
/ reated by the opening OF the Panama
Canal, the United States government
is now spending hundreds of sthous-
sands OF dollars in preparing the
mouth Of the bay for deep-craft car
riers and in dredging canal connec-
I lions with the large tributary com
merce of the navigable river system
of the Apalachicola. while already
two new railroads have been COM
menced to give the FURNISHINGS OF
commerce an outlet on st. Andrews
Bay
The influence of these facts and
conditions on the people Of the United
states is shown by Florida's growth
lin population during the last ten
: years Of nearly az per cent, or double
the ratio OF growth of any other
southern state.
1 Florida has longer coast line and
more navigable rivers than any othel