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GREAT INLAND SINK.
FIERCE RAMPAGE OF COLORADO
RIVER DESPOILS THOUSANDS
OF FERTILE ACRES.
Huge Engineering Difficulties Must
be Overcomes or Otherwise Eight
Thousand Families WiilBe Render*
ed Homeless and Destitute
C. J. BLANCHARD at Los Angeles.
The groat, Colorado river of the
southwest the Nile of America, is on
its bad behavior. Like old travellers
who forsake the beaten highways, its the
Colorado, grown tired of channel,
is for seeking change a naturally new route. Is the Its desire of
cause
Gulf and created a huge inland sea
which covered all of what Is now
known as Imperial Valley. The shore
line of this great sea can be distinct¬
ly traced by the old beaches which
are found there.
Enormous Sait Beds.
Under An almost tropical sun the
sea evaporated, uncovering a groat
level plain over large portions of winch
was laid a deep deposit of rich river
sediment produce abundant wauling ogiy “arrests. irregation At the to
lowest depression in the valley, wh re
evaporation lias not yet carried off
all the water, the salts were deposited
thickly and large works have long
been established iliere mineral. marketing
thousands of tons of tills
For centuries the Colorado has been
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from (muff/0114 af (Inform/a Rigel; o; 3
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, rem/wing hmrwless 8.001“) flzmilies. ' £3 '3 3 1,3133 ' Mf",
2‘ , $3., 3, . 3 ,5 333.33
= ‘55 , ;:r: a; .3 j;
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buildlng up Its delta, higher and
higher until today valley 1lie bed cither ot the river side.
is above tho on
Once let It cut Its banks and the
stream spreads out all over tho coun¬
try. About four years ago a large
eorportion, imbued with the laudable
purpose in of making homes for settlers
the Ha 11 on Desert, completed a big
canal ma and heading almost ii^fbe ou the river International below Yu¬
boundary. The canal was a large
one, 00 feet on the bottom, and carried
a great amount of water through
Mexico Into California ou to the area
now willed Impenul Valley. The
canal heading, banks owing the to tho character
of the of stream, was inse¬
cure, it has always been a source of
trouble and annoyance. The river
resented it ns an obstruction In its
course and deposited great loads of
silt In front of It and then proceeded
to out n channel around if. Dredge's
were used constantly to keep the canal
heading open.
The last great flood in the stream
simply wiped away the head gates
ami opened a way for a largo part of
the siren® to flow into the valley.
Just below this point tho stream
spilled over the banks again and fol¬
lowing down an old stream channel
it finally began to pour its whole vol¬
ume in to Salton Sink. Only the high
banks of the Imperial canal prevented from
larger areas of Irrigated lauds dol¬
being inundated and millions of
lars in crops from being destroyed.
Great difficulties arc presented to
the engineers who are trying to iaduee
the stream to go back to its old chan¬
nel. A new heading is projected.
Thousands of feet of lumber have,
been ordered and steamboats are
awaiting its arrival. If these means
prove ineffective there is danger that
s.ueo families now residing In the Im¬
perial Valley, may he rendered home¬
less. Competent engineers are in¬
clined to believe that the task is be¬
yond the strength of the present com¬
pany to perfom and that measures
now being undertaken will not prop¬
erly nor permanently safeguard the
property of the people in the valley.
This is a question for the engineers
much consternation on the part of the
railroad which happens 1o lie located
near by, and of some little disquietude
among several thousand settlers
Whose farms are nppnronUy three;
piled unless the erratic stream can be
induced to return to its oid pathway
to the sea. A glance at the map will
make clear the unusual conditions
which at present prevail In the Coi
onuia Delta.
Ilelow the town of Yuma, Arizona,
the stream has cut Its banks at three
places and passing through old, dry
channels, la now pouring westward
and northward into Ha!tuu Sink. Aug¬
mented hy the volume of this great
stream the Sink has already become
a vast Inland sea, spreading out for
60 miles In one direction and 110 miles
In unother, and growing duly.
The Giant Force of Nature*
rassengers on the train now ex¬
claim with wonder as they look out
upon tlic broad sea reaching to the
western horizon, where but a short
$
SIXTY FIVE MILES OF LAKE,
time ago the desert reigned supreme
in its awful desolation.
Glance at the map again and note
the faint line near the international
boundary, and encircling the large
area marked Imperial Valley. All the
land included within this line is below
sea level, the lowest portion situated
in Salton Sink where it is 2S7 feet be¬
low. To those who visit this remark
aide region it is appliwuit that in anci¬
ent geological times the Gulf of Cull-
Steamboat
Crew
preparing build Os to
>&m.
A
v grW ’Wtf asU/"
imperial Canal
gg$g£sK*’ JI
si
i
iJBBiIiI-l -v 'V'if 1
ferula extended far northward. The to settle. Meanwhile, the citizens of
Colorado River, carrying as it does a ihe valley are somewhat philosophi¬
vast load of silt and detritus from a cal and are continuing to reap, under
drainage basin covering 225,000 square almost tropical skies, the heaviest
miles, built a bar entirely across the crops grown in the world
THE JOT OF AGE.
Misinterpretation of Dr. Osier’s
Statement.
Dr. William Osier, late professor in
John Ilopkins University, Baltimore,
met with a great deal of undeserved
notoriety because be was misunder¬
stood when he said the creative faculty
disappeared usually at the age of forty
years. lie did not mean to convey the
impression that man’s usefulness
ceased at that time, but that the imag¬
inative faculty was not as active then
as it was In earlier years, when men
are green and raw in judgment and put
forth many things that they wish to
have suppressed later on. llis little
jest about chloroforming those who
“lag superfluous on the stage” was
meant to apply only to teachers who
failed to move with the advanced
thought and lmd a special humorous
reference to himself, but the miscom¬
prehension and exaggeration of the
press has magnified his utterance and
given it a sweep he never intended.
Must Seek New Fields.
When the acquisition of knowledge
is used merely as a means through
which to earn bread, that is the end
of a man’s career, whether he be thirty
or forty or a thousand years old. Men
who seek no new fields of exploration
nor carry forward to fulfillment any
work they attem t in eurly days are
mere drones in the hives of life.
Dr. Osier, who is close to the sixty
year line, lias gone to Knglund to take
a professorship of medicine in Oxford
University, which will without doubt
lead to an Increase of his professional
fame, which did not come to him until
after he had passed the half century
post in Ida journey of life, Ilia part¬
ing Injunction to his medical asso¬
ciates in America, at the Washington
meeting In May, was to follow the
Golden Bute iu all their actions, and to
cultivate that moderation which is said
to be the golden thread running
through all the virtues. This advice
Is not new, but It cannot he repeated
too often in an age when many men
are striving to shove their neighbors
to the wall in their desire to occupy
tile middle of the read themselves.
Man Is naturally a selfish animal and
needs to he often reminded that lie
must do unto others as lie would have
them do unto him, even if he desires
to attain more worldly success, The
man who has no consideration for his
laboring fellows is likely to find no con¬
sideration extended to him when the
hour of misfortune comes.
Best Work Late In Life.
Dr. Osier never depreciated age,
knowing that man's best work is done
after age has mellowed his under¬
standing and strengthened his judg¬
ment. There are numerous examples
of what virility in age can do ail along
tlie track of history. It was seen in
Benjamin Franklin. William E. Glad¬
stone, is seen in Edward Everett Hale,
Lord Kelvin, Charles if. JIaswell, en¬
gineer and author, still at the age of
07 at liis desk in New York, and other
names will- occur by scores to general
readers.
It is nil inflexible law of nature that
ihe being who does not progress must
retrograde. There is no place on this
fearful intellectually, ascent of life where, spiritually
and we are not forced
to go forward lest we slip back. But
it is a happy provision in nature that
even in the longest life there Is no
arbitrarily fixed point of time where
expansion must cease ns if by a flat,
where there are no more heights be¬
fore the soul to climb, no more views
to bo obtained, no broadening and ex¬
panding of the vision possible. Al¬
ways and forever a new hud may he
formed on the topmost bough of the
old tree, even though the trunk be
partly hollow, and the nourishing gap
mount slowly through the bark.
CHINESE CRAVE YARD CUSTOMS.
Peculiar Custom of Placing Cooked
Food on the Graves of the
Departed.
Assorted foods, literally by the
wagon load, arc annually taken out to
Cypress Hills Chinese Cemetery by
member* of New York’s Chinese col¬
ony. says the New York Times, and
these offerings, which are to us such
strange evidences of affection and re¬
membrance, are placed with pic¬
turesque rites, on the graves where the
departed Celestial brothers of the
colonists are awaiting the convenient—
or is it the suspicions?—season for
transshipment to the land which these
most stolid of sentimentalists insist on
believing to be the only one where the
dead can rest com fort ably. These an¬
nual illustrations of the fact that the
Chinaman has feelings like the rest of
us. even if he does choose different
ways of showing them, attracts the
usual amount of attention, some of it
respectfully curious and some openly
derisive, but neither variety affects the
performance of the ceremonies or
enables us to get a bit nearer the mys
terious Mongol mind. It is hard to
believe that our far-traveled Chinese
really think that anything is accom¬
plished for the dead by putting roast
pig and boiled rice on a grave, and yet
they do it year after year.
n a urmnt Retort. .
Tlie ancient story of the Chinaman
who. when asked at what hour the
spirits consumed the food thus offered
to them, replied that it was at the same
hour chosen l>y our dead for smelling
flowers we similarly place. Is always
pertinent to discussion of this mystery, tlie
and reflection on the story has
admirable effect of giving a new
standpoint from which to study the
“outlandish” custom of our useful but
unloved guests. In all these things it
is the thinking so that constitutes
right, propriety and eongruity." The
Chinese ceremonies do show affec¬
tionate or pious remembrance, and
whether the dead are indifferent or not.
the reflex action on the living is
tively brought to bear.
Black Friday.
“Now. children.” said the
school teacher, addressing the
class, “can any of you tell me
thing about Good Friday?”
“Yes, ma’am, I can.” replied a boy.
"He was the colored man what
the housework for Robinson
A Good Buggy For Sale.
Leesville (Mo.) Light: Luke
mont's new buggy is for sale. He
married last week, you know.
TOBACCO FOR THE NAVY.
Government Selects Supply for
Officers and Men.
The American naval officer and the
jaeky smoke and chew. This is a fact
of which the Government takes official
cognizance and recognizes in a way
that makes such habits inexpensive
Incidents to life on board ship. Iic
eently the Navy Department had un¬
der consideration the award of a con¬
tract for lot;,000 pounds of cut plug
tobacco, and in November next bids
will be called for another supply of
like amount. The contract under
which the supply Is now being fur¬
nished was secured on a basis of a
bid of 40 cents a pound. Twenty
nine bids are now under consideration,
the prices ranging from »>>& cents a
pound to 48 cents. The contract will
not necessarily be let to the lowest
bidder, but to the one supplying at the
lowest price the grade best suited for
the purpose.
Practical Chewing Tests.
Each bidder is required to submit
a sample of the tobacco to be fur¬
nished, and these, after the factory la¬
bels are removed and secret identifi¬
cation marks substituted, are divided
into small lots, part being sent to a
chemist for analysis, and a goodly
supply going to the various navy yards
for distribution among officers and |
men for practical test, the opinion of
the officers and “Jackies” being taken
before the award is made. Final re¬
sults are readied hy the process of
elimination, until the selection of the
diewera dwindles down to two or
three samples which are bound to be
favorites. These favorites are then
taken up with regard to the chemical
test, and the contract is awarded, so
that perhaps the lowest bidder has no
consideration whatever when tue final
result is obtained.
While heretofore the navy supplied
the men with tho tobacco (a very in¬
ferior article) free of cost, the Gov¬
ernment now insists upon the best
grade, which it sells to the sailor at
the contract price, plus a very small
percentage to cover the cost of han¬
dling. Only such tobaccos are consid¬
ered which are manufactured from
pure leaf tobacco of the growth of the
current or preceding year In which
the contract is made, and which shall
have undergone a natural sweat.
IIow to Toll Counterfeits.
Any visitor to the Bureau of Engrav¬
ing and Printing where Undo Sam is
printing the much sought-after green
hacks, comes away Impressed with the
intricacies of the manufacturing of a
paper note. Few. Indeed, understand
the rule of four adopted by the Govern¬
ment as an aid in thwarting the plans
of counterfeiters. Acquaintance with
the rule of four, might help many peo¬
ple of the outside world in defecting
counterfeit money. Every note printed
by the Government—national currency
and not bank notes—contains a number
and a letter, no two bills having the
sumo number. These are printed, a :
ihe visitor can soo, in the blocks of
four as they leave the plate printer'
table. For instance, a number will !
found on a note, 58,383 with the letter
G In the upper left hand and lower
right hand corners: another bill boar
title number 79.988 D ; another 42,560 B.
These numbers and letters have a r -
latlon for each other and are easily do
tormined. The last two numbers on
the note determine, when divided by
four, the letter to be found In the two
corners. Should the last two numbers
he divisible by four, with a remainder
of one, the letter appearing should be
A; if two remain, B ; If three remain,
C| and if the last two numbers are
exactly divisible by four, with no re¬
mainder, the letter appearing should
he D.
Rest the Bones of Poenhontas.
The proposition to bring back to the of
ancient city of Jamestown the body
Pocahontas, in connection with the ex¬
position at that place, has aroused con¬
siderable indignation, both in England
and In America, hy people who believe
that such a step is nothing more than
a move Intended as a side-show feature
■ f the exposition. While It is true,
there have been instances of a disturb¬
ance of a grave made hundreds of years
before, as in the recent case of Ad¬
miral John Paul Jones, still the cases
cannot be compared. One is a man who
had much to do with the preservation
of the American nation aud navy; the
other was the central figure in a bit o,
fiction surrounding tlie settlement of
this country hy English settlers. Po¬
cahontas, it is true, was a native Amer¬
ican, which John Paul Jones was nor,
hut Pocahontas married an English¬
man, lived and died in England, and
the traditions of lu>r later life were sur¬
rounded hy all that is English.
The London Standard, in comment¬
ing on the movement to bring her body
to America, cites pages from a book by
an American writer tending to show
that the life of Pocahontas was a tra¬
dition aud poetical version and add
“If the original myth is real:;,
believed by the people of Jamestown,
we only hope they will do something to
answer the audacious skeptic that has
1 impugned it.”
Toothache or Appendicitis ?
A movement looking to the bettor
care of children is spreading- It 1 -
proposed now that the tooth brush
drill be a part of the curriculum of
our schools, and that dentists should
visit regularly the children attending
them. Doctors have spoken very
strongly on the usefulness of taking
tonics and similar medicines in order
to promote better digestion, or to
purify the blood, when a constant
system of poisoning is going on In the
mouth. It is claimed that much poor
blood and weakness in children comes
from dental decay. A noted physician !
declares that appendicitis is caused by
bad teeth.' Take yonr choice—either ap-1
have your teeth extracted or your
pendix cut out. The doctors get you'
either way, going or coming.
To Be Reunited.
“Have you seen my poor, dear little
duekling?” asked the distressed but be¬
witching young mother duck.
“Ah! nn.dame." replied the polite but
still hungry fox, “I have inside Infor¬
mation on that point; you will soon
meet your one.”
SIOP L AND-GR ABBING. !
DUTY OF CONGRESS IS T0\ !
AMEND FAULTY AND ANTI*
QUATED LAND LAWS.
Hill,of the Great Northern !
Railroad, Calls Attention to Enor¬
mous Disposals of Government
Land Without Settlement Into
Homes.
the Philadelphia Bulletin.
There will he people ill-natured
to charge that President Hill,
the Great Northern Railway, did,
come into court with entirely clean
in the vigorous denunciation of
land-grabbers contained in Ida re¬
speech before the National Irriga¬
Congress at Portland. This, how¬
docs not necessarily detract from
truth of his charges. Perhaps few
in the country are better qualified
speak upon, the blighting effects of
dishonest policy which has appro¬
millions of acres of valuable
only to exclude from them the
settlers who would have devel¬
them.
President Hill la a railroad manager,
railroads depend for profit upoa a
afforded hy a populous and well
country. A railroad ( tend¬
through territory without farms or
towns or industrial eommuni
must suffer serious disadvantages.
great tracts of land fire owned |
controlled hy mere speculators, de- j
is impossible. It is very
that President Hill spoke by the
when he charged that those time! who
upon Government land at this
the purpose of making homes are
a handful.
Rapid Disposals of Public Lands.
Ills figures, allowing the rapid which in¬
in area of public lands
passed into private ownership
1868. possess a significance that
startling. Nearly fMUKJO.UOO uiTes, a
area equal to three times that of
State of Pennsylvania, have been
to private owners in the six
from 1898 to lfiuit, ipelualve, very
of which—according to President
has become the property of home¬
seekers. The hulk of it lias be¬
ihe holdings of the lumber kings,
barons, and speculators there pure ana
It is evident that are
Jaw men which who have deserve lately the been penalties indicted of
Senator Mitchell, of Oregon,
The duty of Congress in this connec¬
is unmistakable, The laws under
this vast domain has been se¬
by private interests with no in¬
of opening it to development
lie repealed or amended to pre¬
uny further looting of the public
The Modern Rush,
the Chicago Times-Heratd,
lie didn’t have time to < hew
The food that he lmd to eat;
But he washed it lino his throat
As If time was a tiling to boat,
At breakfast and lunch and dinner
Twas a bite and a gulp amt go—
Oh, tlie crowd is so terribly so! eager,
And a man has to hurry
A bite and a gulp and away
To the hooks aud the ticker! A bite
And a drink and a smoke and a seat
At a card table balf of the night;
A A pressure, cloth-covered a tT k box and ami a pallor, song;
a
A weary old fellow at forty,
Who is deaf to the noise of the
throng.
Agents Wanted
To Canvass for the
United States
Senator Number
HOW PUBLISHED.
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NINETY MEMBERS
4#
two from each State in the Union, This
collection was made from recent exclusive
sittings for the
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PHOTOGRAPHERS
Throw Your Bottles and Scales Away
O YOU KNOW that dirty bottles and scales cause you troubleP
JLJF I B °. Simply bviate ,his b Y us tubes * n g our into Developers, put up READY TO USE.
empty our the developing tray and add the water—
we don’t charge you for the latter. Large quantities of developer
made up at one time oxydize and spoil. With our developers you only make
up enough f ~: immediate use.
Send 25 cents for half a dozen tubes sufficient for 24 ounces of devel¬
oper for Y eiox, Azo, C\ ko, Rotox, or other papers, or 60 ounces of Plate and
Film Developer—a Developer which will not stain the fingers or nails, and
is non-poisonous. U e have a Sepia Toner for gaslight papers, 6 tubes, 25c.
NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC CHEMICAL COMPANY
Uth St. and Penn Ave., ^ Washington, D. C.
A Tension
Indicator'
IS JUST
V003TS^\ WHAT
THE
WORD
J IMPLIES.
77GKL It'
indicates
the state
of the tension at a glance.
Its use means time saving
and easier sewing*
It’s our own invention
and is found only on the
White
Sewing Machine*
We have other striking
improvements that appeal to
the careful buyer* Send tot
out elegant H. T. catalog.
White Sewing Machine Co.
Cleveland, Ohio.
PE NSIO NS.
Over one Million Dollars
allowed our clients during the last
six years.
Over one Thousand
claims allowed through us dur¬
ing the last six months. Dis
ability* Age pensions and obtained In¬
crease
in the shortest possible time.
Widow#* claims a specialty.
Usually granted witbin 90
day# if placed with us immedi¬
ately oh soldier’s death. Fees
fixed by law and payable out of
allowed pension. A successful
experience of 25 years and benefit
of daily calls at Pension Bureau
are at your service. Highest ref¬
erences furnished. Local Magis
trates benefited pecuniarily
by sending us
claims. *
__
TABER & WHITMAN CO.,
Warder Bld'g, Washington, D. C.
Gleanings in Gee Culture
teaches
Then honey ai WAnt subscribe, Ou
you to
trial 85a. Don n’t delay but do if to^4&y,
A, l. Root Co., Medina, Ohio.
PIANOS AND ORGANS
btandxhd of the would
Foster’s Ideal
Cribs
Accident Proof
EXCAVATION WORK.
With Greatest Economy
use the
Western Elevating Crader
and Ditcher.
ROAD CONSTRUCTION.
Western Wheeled Scraper Ca
AURORA, ILL.
Bend foi Catalog.