HIGHWAY TO THE HORIZON 



of the differences in the bacteria present and the high 

 temperature, the technique is not only quite different 

 but it is also unexpectedly more simple and less costly. 



"As a laboratory for the study of tropical problems- 

 sanitation, medicine, air conditioning, agriculture, even 

 industry Florida can help the whole United States be 

 a practical good neighbor to the republics south of us. 

 If we can take them workable solutions of their own 

 problems, solved by our skill and knowledge under 

 comparable tropical conditions, we give them something 

 infinitely more acceptable and more valuable than trade 

 treaties or subsidies. Besides we are rendering services 

 that none of our European rivals can offer." 



Forecasting the course of hurricanes, draining the 

 Everglades, a score of such specialized problems are 

 under scrutiny, but the purposeful effort to raise the 

 standards of technical education in Florida is probably 

 the most fruitful experiment of this exceptional Engi- 

 neering Department. A poorly prepared engineer or 

 chemist or geologist cannot hide his deficiencies from 

 his confreres, and professional standards admit no alibi. 

 Accordingly, the weaknesses of Southern education 

 show up most glaringly in these exact branches where 

 the training is definite and the results can be readily 

 judged. A few bright exceptions law at the University 

 of Virginia, medicine at Duke and Tulane, chemistry 

 at Rice and North Carolina only throw into deeper 

 shade the general average of mediocrity. Until recently 



289 



