The Miami News from Miami, Florida • 29

PAGE YIVZ MIAMI DAILY NEWS SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 1928 an opportunity to indicate what action, if any, would be taken with reference to your request. Being optimistic, you welted, knowing that the chances were eren that EARLY TRAVEL ON TRAIL TOLD Fi Ji HOLMES Vie P'ofirmt With Prride COLLIER FAIR TO BE STAGED FOR FIRST YEAR First Annual Exhibition Hooked Up With Trail Opening Fort Myers Banker Recalls Journey Alade in 1924 To OUR PART IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE 6. It Iss; 4 54; ..,1 i. q. .0 TRAhd)b MLAM TA 'barges towed by motor boats, thence I down the canal to the point where 'the dredge was operating.

Cars frequently ran off the track, blocking the railroad; barges bad a habit of -sinking In the canals, and motor boats went aground or developed tempermental engines. Everything happened that eould happen. but somehow, someway, Otto Neale and his men succeeded in keeping tLe dredge working steadily on one shift with only a moderate tunount of time out for repairs. Many a time I have traveled up and down the canals with him in his launch inspecting the work. "lours and hours of time were consumed on those trips, with Otto's old dog.

"Brownie," curled up on the ehoiee seat in the stem or following along on the canal bank with tongue banging out and an injured look In his eyes---t shameful way to treat a good and constant mother. The trail organization was the least of any of our organizations by the hysteria that sent the whole Istate clean crazy during the "boom." on other jobs quit by the wholesale, lured by the prospect of easy money in real estate or by unheard-1 of wages in the new "profession" of clearing and staking out subdivisions' wages away beyond the limits of our enterprise or any other legitimate one. The morale at Everglades and in Collier county, so carefully and painstakingly built up. was "shot to pieces" in short order. The labor turnover was enormous.

There were. of course, men in every department who remained steadfast and who made it poseible for ne to "keep on carrying on" after a fashion. These men have my profonnd spert and admiration, as have also many others who were obliged to leave for one reason or another. The trail organization was, of course, affeeted, but it was not disrupted. It has since been enlarged from time to time by necessary additions until now it consists entirely of picked men of proven worth.

many of whom gained their experience in the early days of the first "Bay City." i I 1 i By F. IRVING HOLMES 'It f-VI 06 i (Presdeal Les County-Bank a Trust Co.) 4.1'-', i FORT MYERS, April 4 or five miles west of Carnestown, on soloov 4 the north side of the Trail, is an old 11 derelict of a dredgethe Moneghan. Once it represented practically the N. i ..1., 4'I'l entire equipment engaged in building i -14 the Tamiami trail in Collierthen Leecounty. 1,4 With creaking joints and clanking, 010.34,'' 1, screeching machinery it struggled on- A ward through the tropical landscape, 4 until, like the deacon's "one-hoss shay." it went to pieces all over all at once and was abandoned to rot F' and rust in its present resting place.

It was there when 1 came to Collier F. IRVING county in the spring of 1924. The trail it had been instrumental ultimately a flirver equipped with in creating was not comparable to the railroad car wheels would come dank-broad, high, smooth highway that now ing over the uneven rails. You and traverses this section. It was liter- ally what the name impliesa trail the driver would then manipulate the two ruts on a slight elevation.

but vehicle onto a home-made wooden at that as good as the rest of the turntable, rotating on an iron peg road from Fort Myers. driven in the ground between the Then the motor trip from Fort; F. IRVING ultimately a flirver equipped with railroad car wheels would come clanking over the rails. You and 4 'i 7 ir. 311,...

-4 1,4. l'! f. s-, 1- 1r il, d'si st 9 1., i' 3 7 .4 iliporial to Menet lionra) EVERGLADE'S, April with the Tamiami trail opening celebration will be the first annual Collier county fair and Tamiami exposition, to be staged in Everglades Tuesday, NVednesday and Thursday. Participation of 100 Seminoles bat been gained through cooperation of V. G.

Stovall, who is assistiog D. Graham Copeland, chief engineer for Abe Collier interests, in arranging the Ifair. In eight palmetto sbneks, or chickee talblakee," the Seminoles wild demonstrate their mode of life. Admission will be charged to the Seminole exhibition, according to Mr.1 Copeland. and revenue will be turned' over to the Indians for their benefit.

All other xections of the fair will be, free. Under plans of Barron G. Col-Her. bead of the Collier interests and developer of Eserglades, establishment of a permanent Seminole village at Everglades to net as a trading post Is expected. Fish, agricnitural.

mineral and manufactured products of Lee. Charlotte and Hendry countieo will be displayed at the exposition. Entertainment will be provided by tbe James Dutton Society circus with troupes of acrobats and equestians. lrotorcade etlebrating the Tamiami trail opening is scheduled to atop at Everglades for a barbecue luncheon. Thursday noon and it is believed the fair and expoisition will inform many, in the party for the first time of the vast cypress and pins resources of Coiller county.

69 Miles of the Trail in Collier County 4 Miles of the Trail in Dade County 50 Miles of Connecting Road 38 Miles of Railroad for Atlantic Coast Line R. R. Co. and Deep Lake R. R.

Co. Myers was a 70mile 'succession of i arld fter eeveral attempts alyers was a tv-mue succession ot This construction successfully completed in less than four years is, we believe, a record without parallel in the field. bumps, holes and washoutsa hazardous adventurean uncomfortable experience of from five to seien hours' duration. Carnestown was then "trails end." There was no highway from thia point to Port DuPont, nor from Port DuPont to Everglades. You simply abandoned your automobile at the side of the road, uttered a prayer that enoughof it might still be there to navigate with when you "went out" again(of course, tools and everything else of a portable nature would be miesing)and considered ways and means of getting to Everglades.

You could, of course, walk the ties Of the Deep Lake railroad for three miles to DuPont. where you could get a boat to take you to Everglades, but the ties 'were not evenly spaced, some were sure to be missing and others under water. It was bard walking, and if you were burdened with grips and packagesas you usually wereyour hands would not be free to slap mosquitoes. You decided to consider walking only as a last resort, and turned expectantly to a telephone that was housed in a box attached to a pole. You "cranked her up," lifted the receiver from the book and, if you were lucky, ultimately beard a faint You then gave your name and present address and requested that a Deep Lake railroad car tie sent to remove you from there as soon as posbible--the mosquitoes were bad, it was rainiag, and you were hungry.

You talked fast so as to get your message through before the line went out, as it usually did before the party on the other end had in getting its nose pointed for DuPont again with all four wheels on tbe track. At DuPont you rounded up a boat for the last mile of the journey to Everglades. If it was in the middle of the nightas it frequently was you first went to the, men's bunk house and tried to pick out a boatman in the dark. Usually you awakened a carpenter, or plumberor all tnreebefore -you located your gondolier. Eventually, of course, you came to know the boatman's peculiar snore and coull get him Out to ithout disturbing anybody else.

i But to get back to the Monegban dredge. It was, as has been stated, right where it is now. The travel-able road bad completed as far as CAtrnestown. A few miles of grade had been thrown upbut not levelled offeast of Carnestown towards Miami. Most of this work had been done with the "old Marion" (affectionate name for the floating Marion dredge still doing service on various jobs in the country), but when I arrived a "new-fangled" Bay City dredge mounted on caterpillars had Just been acquired and set up.

I am told that it had been purchased only after great deliberation. It was rePgardedekeptically by manyas an experiment and local opinion was about evenly divided as to its merits. Men had to be trained to operate it, camps had to be established and worst job of allgag, oil, food and all other material and eupplies bad to be transported to it. Transportation was at irregular intervals via the Deep Lake railroad to at which point men and materials were transferred to motor boats or to I A The road from Carnestown to Port DuPont warn finished, and later, from DuPont to Everglades; bridges were built across Barron's river at DuPont and across Palm ereek and across the canal at Carnestown, where a barge with plank approaches had served for many months. Automobiles and trucks supplanted motor boats And barges and provided a much quicker and more economical means of serving the dredges.

even though they were daily increasing the distance from the base of supplies. The roads scraped and rolled; bridges were built to replace the two planks that afforded hazardous crossings at most of the creeks and livens. As the work speeded up. additional equipment was purchased until the original units had been multiplied several times. History of the Tamiami trail in Collier county, as I know it is written in rock, and earth, and water, and wood.

and iron. Even the story of the new county's struggle, to provide financea for the work is clearly written so that "he who runs may story that would have had a sad ending long since had it not been for tbe resourceful and practical; aabistance of Barron Collier. The point at which the state re-i lieved tbe county of the burden Is easily discernible as it marks a defi-1 nite improvement in the quality of the work. Dr. Pons A.

chairman of the state road depart-I ment. is proud of the road Ramsay Kerr built under their' 'state contract; Collier county is1 proud of it. and soon the whole state will be bosating of it. The "Bay Cities" will not be abandoned, like the Monegban. at the farthest point they reachthey will return and bring up that part of the road built under county contract to conform to the portion built underl state contract.

and when this work is finished the Tamiami trail will! take its place in highway history as an ontstanding accomplishment I have enjoyed writing this little story of Tamiami trail history. It ealle to mind some of the earlier days that were dedicated to that ccumulation of experience so vital to finial triumphant achievement, I hope I haven't bored youlet', m1 go over to Miami and see a ovie INCORPORATED D. GRAHAM COPELAND Chief Engineer -EVERGLADES, FLORIDA 11 .4. -I' SONS, inc. I C.

End Road Bufildelloo Genorall omrair ea 11'0 441 ad "4 4' A -FEW PROJECTS RECENTLY COMPLETED BY C. A. Steed Sons, Inc. Okeechobee county and city, $1,000,000 paving, watermains, sewers, Florida Limerock surface treatment. onages Waterworks Storm Sewers Sanitary Sewers Project 691-69IA in Martin and St.

Lucie counties, WA miles of grading and drainage structure. Project 668, Brevard county, 13 miles Florida Limerock surface treatment. Rutland Bridge highway from Inverness to Wathachoochee River. 6 miles Florida Limerock, 8inch base surface treatment and all drainage structures, etc. 1 )rainage Structures tc.

Etc. Etc. Several projects in Seminole county totaling approximately 227,000 yards. Grading, drainage structures and paving. Florida Limerock and surface treatment.

1 36 miles in Osceola county. Grading, clearing, grubbing, drainage structures and paving. Just completed 17 miles In Sarasota county in approximately eight weeks, or two miles a week. Florida Limerock surface treatment. BANK REFERENCES First American Bank and Trust Company, of West Palm Beach Seminole Bank of Stuart, Florida Countless Other Projects for Cities, Counties, Etc.

West Palm Beach, Fla. I 1 Phone 4971 916 Harvey Building.