and freight will be sent from points in Cuba to New York and
Chicago without reloading.

The building of the Florida East Coast Railway is one of the great
engineering feats of the world. In its construction from key to key
thousands of tons of rock and cement were dumped into the water on which
massive viaducts in fifty-foot spans have been built to carry the
road-bed. These solid archways, rising from twenty to thirty feet above
the water, defy tides and storm waves. This railway has become one of
the chief factors in developing the resources of southern Florida and
hastening the reclamation of the Everglades.

CHAPTER XVII

STRANGE ROCK FORMATIONS--NATURAL BRIDGES

Almost any unusual form in nature is apt to attract the eye and interest
the beholder; and when such natural objects resemble artificial ones or
bear a fanciful resemblance to animals the similarity intensifies the
interest and almost always leads one to apply fanciful names to them. In
wandering along a rocky shore one instinctively searches for the curious
formations carved out by the unceasing action of the waves; and in
journeying through rugged sections of mountain country each unusual rock
formation rivets the attention at once.

Caves especially have a peculiar attraction of awe and curiosity
combined. Such natural objects as Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, Luray Cave
in Virginia, Calaveras Cave in California, the Garden of the Gods in
Colorado, the Giant's Causeway on the north coast of Ireland, and
Fingal's Cave on the island of Staffa are visited annually by many
thousands of people. And no wonder that all mankind, from the savage to
the most civilized, is charmed with natural arches spanning great
chasms. No cyclopaedia of natural wonders fails to give at least a brief
description of the Natural Bridge of Virginia which spans a small stream
that flows into the James River. So great a wonder was the structure
regarded to be even in colonial times that it then claimed marked
attention. Thomas Jefferson became so much interested in this natural
wonder that he applied to George III for a reservation of land that
should include the bridge, and in 1774 his request was granted. To
accommodate distinguished strangers who might visit the bridge,
Jefferson built near by a log cabin of two rooms. Concerning it he said:
"The bridge will draw the attention of the world."

[Illustration: The Devil's Slide, Weber Canyon, Utah]

Chief-Justice Marshal