The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1934-09-07
Former Key Wester Writes Home
Relative To Rehabilitation Program

readily on their first contact with
a storm. as constructed in other
cities. The character structure was
also built to withstand the storms.
How many depressions has not the
city withstood? People, with their
gaunt faces have fought and
fought so silently in times past
against the effects of low wages
or practically none. Broken spoHg-
ing and fishing trips which meant
no well-stocked larder did not
daunt many of the men and their
wives who pioneered in the estab-
lishment of the city. Not every
family can belong to the more
pleasantly situated financial class;
on the contrary. the masses do not
belong at all. Their courage has
always been the deep-seated source
back of every worthwhile founda-
ton and development.
Has Great Faith
Key West. to me. could never
be anything but a symbol of the
men who built it; the men whose
weather-heaten, sun-tanned faces
reflected the staunchness with
which they put to sea. A faith.
they possessed, in themselves, in
the families they left behind for
months on end, which was so well
exemplified by the man of Cali
lee. That faith is not yet dead,
either. How we'll | saw it in the
looks of so many of the men whom
l contacted. Stay here, you'll
find some way to get along. /
haven't had work in-months. but
somehow, someway, it is still pos
sible to make ends meet. And
then, can always go fishing and
enjoy myself. | can take the boat
and go through the keys"
How wonderful and inspiring
those words sounded. How much
Of a coward they made me feel.
You see | studied mathematirs
the modern way to do things, the
way where the mind instead of the
heart controls. 1t takes so much
for house rent. so much for food,
so much for clothes. etc. If one
earns certain amount and those
items Of budgeted expense can
just be met. and suddenly he
should be confronted with dim
inishcd salary it would seem i'm
possible to live. It's just too bad!
The mathematicians, the finan-
ciAs have really not succeeded SO
we'll when things are taken by and
large, over the past five-year pc
riod.
They say it is hard for athletes
to stage Comeback" after Ger
tain years. |, too, felt as though
| must have lost the things ! once
owned; the legacy of purpose and
will, When the years of 1922 to
1925 unfold, mangrove swamps
and surveys confront me, To re-
place three Of the men on the
survey party daily, in the area
around Cards Sound, was no UNI
usual thing. To brush mosquitoes
off ones face and have it covered
with blood was but part of the
daily task. Wading through mud. ,
waist deep, stumbling over man.
grove roots. torn by "hauI and
PUN back" vines, with mosquitoes
sticking to the whites of ones
eyes when he looked through a
transit was all necesEary to the
starting Of a highway. While the
road is not wonderful piece of
engineering, far better roads and
bridges have been and are CON
stantly being constructed. the
people got as much distance for
their money as was humanity POS
sibIe under the circumstances Of
high wages and high-priced ma
terials.
Regarding Highway
AS to whether the highway has
paid is another matter. Many 9th
er communities with far greater
resources made expenditures for
projects that did not produce the
anticipated revenue. There were
many things which people person
ally lost through it. but there were
some things l gained which will
always be the greatest possessions.
There were men associated with
the highway project in official