The Punta Gorda herald., 1922-12-15
ALONG THE TAMIANII TRAIL
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(ConCluded from lSt page)
Miami has to travel back several
hundred miles over the same route
before he can see something new He
must return to Melbourne before
finding a road which will take MIN
to the west coast. An the motorist
who travels down the west coast is
similarly barred from going farther.
When he comes to the place where
the road ends he must 90 back again
ana going over the same route twice
takes lot of JOY out OF motoring.
When the Tamami trail is COM
pleted, the motorist will be able to
circle the state without traversing
the same road more than once. Com
ing into the state by way of Jack
sonville, he can follow the Dixie
highway along the east coast to Mi
ami. From there he can cut across
on the trail, visiting all the import
ant towns on the west coast. And
then from Tampa or st. Petersburg
ne can take any one of a number
of routes back north again. 1t is
inevitable that this journey will
prove to be one of the most popular
motor jaunts in the entire country.
At the present time it is possible
to go about forty milet west of Mi
ami along the trail. The road strikes
directly into the Everglades-the
land of mystery To the motOrist
who makes the trip for the first time
the scenery is rather disappointing.
He expects dense jungle growth, with
all manner of semi-tropical plants
unattractive land, covered with saw
grass and scraggly pines and palmet-
toes. Along one side of the trail
he will see a canal, formed by dredg-
ing out the soil and rock for the
road grade. On the other side, he
will see-not much of anything.
AT places, the surface of this sec
tion of the trail is smooth. In other
places it is terribly bumpy. But that
is because the trail is not yet COM
pleted. Little has been done except
to establish the grade. When that
is done the road builders will 90 back
and finish up with a hard surface.
When the trail is officially opened
it will be as smooth as any boulevard
in the state.
Up to the present time, Dade coun-
ty has spent approximately $780,
600 on its section of the trail The
work was started in 1915 but work
was stopped shortly after on ac-
count of the war. During the past
two years, the progress has been
rapid and the contractors are now
within a few miles of the boundary
line between Dade and Lee counties
Many difficulties have been en-
countered by he road builders which
increased the cost of the trail and
caused delays. DuTin" the rainy sea
son, the land becomes inundated.
hIclhibS lOuNluS ul'OStS HtttSSdl '.
And in the dry season there is so
little water that caterpillar dredges
have to be used. Moreover, the
muck of the 'glades, about three feet
deep in this section. is underlaid
with oOlitic limestone, To break
up this limestone and scoop it out
onto the road bed cannot be termed
child's play. Still another obstacle
arises from the fact that the road
builders are working far out in the
wilderness. Supplies are hard to
obtain, and consequently are expen-
sive. 1t is said that the contractors
have to pay five times as much fuel
for the dredges as when the work
was being carried on close to civil
ization.
The contractor who is building the
trail for Dade county recently inform
ed the county commissioners that he
would lose more than 100000 on
the job, due to unexpected difficulties
which had arisen. Nevertheless, he