The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1938-03-25
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
You know. just about the time
l am ready to form the crazy idea
that I know all about Florida, ]
usually stumble on some amazing
new feature or attraction that I'd
never even dreamed of before
and that's just what happened to
me when 1 visited Mariana
few days ago.
If anyone had tried to tell me
a month ago that there are caves
and caverns IN this state that can
hold their own with anything that
Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia or
Colorado have to offer. I would
have listened attentively while ]
was figurin' out in my mind
whether to call a cop or an alien
=. -J
But after my experience at
Marianne last week, brother. I'm
about ready TO believe anything
anyone might tell me as to the
wonders, charms, beauties or ad-
vantages Of Florida
Honest, if some guy stepped UP
to me right now and tried to con-
vince me that there was noun
tain peak somewhere in Florida
with a glacier runnin' down one
side and a flock of polar bears
playin' leap-frog on the other, I
might be a bit skeptical, but I'd
hesitate before l call him liar.
If these archaeological WPA
workers were to uncover a mass
Of Egyptian pyramids or a lean
in tower Of Pisa somewhere be-
tween the Alabama line and the
Florida Straits, il wouldn't sur
prise me i'm the least
But gettin' back TO my story:
Over in Mariana / ran into a
chap named Yancey. who is secre-
tary of, the Chamber Of Com
merce. and right away he insists
that I let him take me. out TO see
the CavernS- - -
l'ListenY, ] says. you're a nice
guy and ! like you. and all that,
but I amt got no time 10 be run
MIN round the woods lookin' at
-ro-L-- L1I1-fs
Gopher holes, he snorts, wait
till you see 'em," And since he
was a lot bigger than / am and
had a kind of determined CLINT in
his eve, figured maybe I'd better
90 along and avoid trouble.
Now / have visited the Mann
moth Cave in Kentucky, the Cave
of the Winds in Colorado, and
lot of lesser caves in other parts
of the country, but folks I'm tell
in you this mess of caverns up
in Jackson county can hold their
own with any Of 'em.
Now it seems that guy Yancey
IS a kind Of a Cave Man, not the
type you see in the movies wear
in leopard-skin sports suit and
carryin' a slab of pine tree for
cane, but a sort of 1893 model, in
a business. suit and caTyin' a
flashlgiht-
Well, he took me about three
miles from town for a nloter
trip through a portion Of the rev
Caverns State Park. a 1400-acre
reservation being developed Is IA
national playground by the Flor
ida Board of Forestry and State
Park Serviee. Among the features
planned are a golf course. natural
bridge, athletic area. aquarium
and fish hatchery and museum
Bride paths throughout the area
will invite the visitor while ex-
cellent swimming and boating
will be available
But the big feature viii be the
underground cavernS where the
amazed visitor viii be carried
through maze of paSSsgeways
into fourteen separate rooms or
compartments. each Of them a
veritable fairy palace, with fan
tastic ver-changing scenes al
every turn. provided by clustered
stalactites and stalagmites- woven
IN gigantic masterpieces BY Moth
er Nature. and no one knows how
long she has been az the task
While similar in character to the