El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-01-20
UNIQUE
RAIL ROAD
ON EARTH
Brings Cuba and United
States Nearer by Hun
dreds of Miles.
FORMAL OPENING OF
ROAD TO BE MONDAY
Stretches Across Florida
Keys on Trestles Of Con
crete.

Miami, Fla. Jan 20.-Ths compile
ton OF one OF the greatest engineering
feats Of the present age viii be cele-
brated Monday. when the first great
f. railroad over the sea-" the Key West
extension OF the Florida East Coast
railway IS formally opened By using
the Florida Keys as stepping Stones.
this steel highway runs over 156 miles
Of salt water. from a point few miles
south Of Miami to the island city OF
Key West
A special train bearing American
and foreign dlgnitaries viii be sent
over the remarkable construction
Monday as the feature OF the exer-
cises formally commemorative the put
ting into service OF the extension. Many
Of the foreign embassies and legations
have sent repreSentat1v to take part
in the celebration, at the invitation OF
president Taft, among them Italy,
Mexico, Portugal Costa Rica, the
Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guate-
mala. salvador and Uruguay
The United States armOred cruisers
Washington and North Carolina and
the scout cruisers Salem and Birming-
ham representing the United States
navy. and the Portuguese cruiser
Amanda arrives at Key West today
prepared TO participate in the cele-
bration.
Marks Epoch in EnEineeri1E.
The completion OF the work on the
extension marks an epoch IL railroad
engineering as important as will be
the opening Of the Panama canal in
the history OF shipping. It Is the same
tnlng reversed In the one case, ships
are made TO climb mountains In the
other railway trains are made TO run
over the sea
In construction this feat IS considered
tne greatest accomplishments OF its
kind in the world The entire line 20
Key West extends a distance OF 156
miles, nearly half OF which is over
open water rorty-tWo keys or is
lands, are crossed in this stretch.
Flager's Dream Comes True
ConSunmaIlon OF II marks the reali-
zarion OF a dream OF Henry II Fla ger
Standard OIL magnate and one Of the
OF. the nation He has had the idea
constantly in mind ever since the
SpanlSn-AmerlCan war excftarneuf
when he conceived the PROPOSITION ~
making traffic communication be-
tween the United States and Cuba cas-
Ter and more practical. The project win
shorten the time from Florida main
land TO Cuba BY almost % hours.
Ine actual work was begun in 1905
II was then that the blue prints called
Tor BY Mr.. F1agler were cubmftted TO
MN Dy engineers The president OF the
road glanced at them, and turning to J.
X ParrOtt vice president and GENERAL
manager OF his railway, and his right
hand man in all his Florida undertake
ings, said.
GO Ahead and Build IT.
All I want to know is whether the
road can be built
Yes, it can" replied Mr. Parrott.
Then 60 ahead and build ff% NJ
Flager directed
The engineers estimates were that
the 1eat would cost $4,000, 900. It has
cost much more than that and the of-
fictals OF the road several times 80
Obliged to negotiate loans Of millions
In order to ensure its comDIetioD
since work was begun. in 1905. the
art mas been flying ceaselesslv. I'm
mense pile drivers have been sfnJrfne-
IounQauons, huge dredgss have been
sucking up sand from the bottom Of the
SEA 70 construct q rOadbed and an
has been pushing its way stesdiIr
southwark from Miami out over ths
CCOntiausd on Next PaEG1