THE CHICAGO RECORD-HERALD.


 Chicago, May 3rd, 1912.



Mr. W. L. Larkin,
 Miami, Fla.
Dear Friend:
 After a three days' tour of the Everglades of Florida,
under conditions which gave me an opportunity to study
every phase and detail of the drainage project at.first hand,
and to draw conclusions of an unbiased nature, I desire to
congratulate the people of Florida upon the work that has
been done. I found a vast prairie of incredible richness
which apparently has suffered from annual floods in years
gone by. Black muck soil of great depth covered
practically every foot of the large territory I inspected.
 The wonderful canal system now nearing completion
will, according to all evidence obtained, not only drain
the entire Everglades but will provide six great water-
ways to tidewater and throw open for settlement and
cultivation approximately four million acres of the richest
soil. The fact that the opening of the first of these great
canals already has reclaimed thousands of acres indicated
that when the other canals are opened the entire Everglades
country will become a vast farming region, fertile to an
extraordinary degree, where thousands of people will find
pleasant homes and abundant riches through tilling the soil.
 Very truly yours,
 ROBERT D. STRONG,
 Editorial Staff,
 Chicago Record-Herald.


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