Evening star., 1935-01-27
O[DFORT CALLED
MILITARY ERROR"
Located on Tiny Isle OFF
Florida, 1t Has a Futile
History.

Fort jefferson, an abandoned fort
ress On one of The tiny Dry Tortugas
Isles off Florida, recently turned over
by the United States Navy to the
National Park Service, has a history
that is at once glamorous, tragic
and futile" says bulletin from the
headquarters of the National Geo.
graphic Society.
THE Dry Tortugas lie some 60
miles to the west of Key West, like
an afterthought to the main Florida
Keys" continues the bNlletin. These
isolated isles are nothing more than
seven low bars of wind-sWept shell
and coral sand, sparsely covered with
small bay cedars and palms, encircled
by dangerous reefs, and uninhabited-
except for few faithful light house
keepers, and thousands upon thou
sands of nesting sooty and noddy
terms.
The fully Fashioned brick and
stone walls of Fort jefferson, on Gar
den Key, once earned for it the nick
name Gibraltar of America" Long
obsolete as a means of defense, the
hoary stronghold now has become a
national monument by presidential
order.
Futile Role in History.
Despite its resounding nickname,
however, the diSmantled and decaying
Fort Jefferson has played futile part
in military history Built in l846, it
was supposed to guard the ship lanes
between Cuba and Florida, but even
before it was completed the vast
citadel was agreed to be a military
mistake. 1t was garrisoned, however,
early during the Civil War and held
by Federal forces throughout the con-
f1ict. serving as a prison after 1868.
mo enemy gun ever poured shot
and shell into its barracks. A Con-
federate gunboat sailed cautiously
within range in 1861, but it was
frightened away when the commander
Of the fort trained upon the warship
his full complement of gunS-Scarcely
dozen of which were loaded!
Although it never figured in a
military action, the grim old strong
hold is no stranger to horror and
death. Within its moated walls yellow
fever suddenly appeared in August,
1867. Both ways it spread from the
bed of the first patient. The whole
side of the fort in which it broke
out was evacuated by the terrified
garrison and closed off from the re-
Inainder by partitions.
All Officers Died.
But right and left of the aban-
doned gallery the men nearest the
partitions next fell i'll. and the plague
renewed its march. Hospital facilities
were overtaXed deaths occurred daily
and immediate burials followed with
out ceremony.
"All officers, including the surgeon,
died. and for a time direction Of medi-
cal affairs rested with prisoner This
was the unfortunate DR.. Samuel A.
Mudd. who had been imprisoned at
the island fort because, when awak-
ened in the dead of night at his
Maryland home below Washington, he
had set the broken leg of a stranger,
who turned out to be John Wilkes
Booth. assassin of President Lincoln.
DR.. Mudd courageously tended the
sick and dying until he. too, was
taken i'll. He recovered, and because
Of his heroic efforts was granted a
full pardon.
Fort Jefferson was finally aban-
doned in 1873, although it was tempo
rarily reoccupied by American troops
during the Spanish American War.
Since 1900 it has been a ward of
the Navy Department. AS national
monument it will be open to visitors
Already a force of relief workers has
cleaned up part of the courtyard and
Is installing quarters for those who
come by boat or plane and wish to
remain over night. Fort jefferson is
one Of the least known bits of Ameri-
can domain. because under Navy rule
1t was closed to all visitors. and not
even airplanes were permitted to fly
over it.
Fish Abound Off Reef.
"The Dry Tortugas possess a great
many attractions for fishermen and
naturalists. More than 600 varieties
of fish abound in the clear waters
off its enveloping reefs. and Bird Key
1ldo IOAlS pCClI IIoGiOllol Dhu dIlu
turtle refuge.
Science remembers the Dry Tor
tugas as the first place that natural
color photographs of fish were ever
made beneath the surface of the sea.
A National Geographic Society expe-
dition, led by DR.. w. H. Longley of
Goucher College and Charles Martin,
chief of the Photographic laboratories
of the National Geographic Society,
succeeded in obtaining many realistic
pictures Of parrot fish, porgies, hog
fish, French grunts, gray snappers,
etc, in their natural feeding grounds
among the reefs.
The Dry Tortugas owe the last
part Of their name to Ponce de Leon,
who discovered the islands in June,
1913. Tortuga is Spanish for turtle.
The famous explorer captured ITO of
the reptiles there to replenish the
larder Of his ship In 1865 that
sturdy Elizabethan, Capt. John Haw-
kins, homeward bound from profit
able voyage in forbidden Spanish
waters visited the islands. He loaded
his pinnace with birds Of species that
still breed there by thousands. took
the flesh and eggs of great sea turtles
and set down in his log notes that
read like a page from Robinson
Crusoe.'"