THE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: JULY 15, 1906.
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Lands Beyond he
(Copyright. 19o, by Frank O. Carpenter.!
ALT UKE CITT. July 11-rPne-wsj
I clnl Correspondence of The Bp.)
V.J I T ttnve Tint hopn n Halt Tjtka
City for about a dozen year nn
I now find it new city. It has
80, (TOO people end la faat becoming a manufacturing-
center. It alrendy haa aome of
the largest ameltera of the world and It
will quadruple them In the future. Those
hrre now are reducing about 5,000 tona of
ore dally and , othera are to be added,
which will Increase the output to 23.000
tona. Thla makes the city lively, but It la
to aome extent destroying lta beauty. The
amoke and aulphur fumes affect the vege
tation, and If the new ameltera are not
put at a considerable distance from the
town It may eventually be aa bare of
green aa the Iaert of Sahara. Thla la
the condition about Copper Cliff, Can.,
where the' great nickel mines are. and It
la so In other smelting centcra where aul
phur la mixed with the orea.
Utah la ateadlly growing aa a mining;
proportion. Ita output In lead, copper,
allver and gold baa run between f300.no0.001)
and $400,000,000. The copper mined Inst year
waa worth $10,0no,000, the gold $0,000,000 or
$7,000,000, and allver about the same. Bo
far the mlnea of all klnda have paid out
In dlvldenda aomethlng like W,000.000. and
It la claimed that only a small part of the
state haa been prospected. Senator Clark'
new railroad, which goes from here to Lo
Angeles, haa Just Issued a folder labeled,
"The World' Treasure House," in which
It estimates the gold, .allver, copper and
lead blocked out and exposed In the coun
try "reached by it at 11,000,000,000, and the
amount already mined and marketed at
1336,000,000. Estlmatea like this are prob
ably overdrawn, but there Is no doubt but
that the product will run high up Into the
millions.
i Tonrlata and One-I,nna;era.
I Senator Clnrk'a road la adding to BMt
' Lake Clty'a popularity aa a tourist center
1 and the cltlxens here are advertising It for
all It la worth through their association,
' whoee motto is, "See America First." Thl
Is now the short cut to southern California
and travelers to that region can save about
two days on the rallror.d by going this
way. Aa a result most of them stop off and
many atay. The altitude here is about
eight times that of the top of the Vanh
lngton monument, and the ozone from the
Rocklea is auch that the people breathe
champagne. I know of a number of eastern
business men who ara now living here he
cause they cannot stand our moist, cold
winters. Thla air la dry and bracing and
la excellent for one-lungera and other con
sumptives. The most of the cltlxens are
decidedly healthy looking. Their cheeks -are
rosy, their movements brisk and no one
would believe that many of them came
here to die and that not a few have but
a single lung in their bodies. This Is true
of Colorado, and It la especially true of
southern California. Indeed, the far west
has about the only out-of-door climate that
one can uae the year around.
Loa Angelea, for Inatance, ttiiives upon
climate. It haa increaaed about 2,000 per
cent In population since 1880, and It dou
bled between the yeara 1900 and 1905. The
cltlxens are now claiming 200,000, and
they expect to have a half million by 1910.
, The enormoua fortunes which have been
1 produced within the past few years are
driving the rich and well-to-do to the moat
' comfortable apots, and Salt Lake Ciry,
Loa Angeles, Portland and other such
citlea are all getting their share.
Loa Angelea haa a large number of mil-
1 llonalrea and It bank clearings range be-
tween $900,000,000 and $400,000,000 a year.
J It population i made up almost entirely
I of eastern men, and a recent census
! showed that only 10 per. cent of the peo
ple were native. There are almost aa
I many people In Loa Angela from Ohio
' and Illlnola as from California. The city
haa 1,000 voter who came from Pennsyl
vania, 2,000 who originated from Iowa and
more than 2,000 made up of emigrant
from Missouri. A aomewhat almllar pro
portion prevail aa to the resident of Sa.lt
Lake City.
f - nnah for Vacant Laadi.
1 I am aurprlaed at the appetite which
has aprung up over the United Statea for
. cheap farma. Our people are beginning
to realize that the vacant landa are al
, moat all taken up and that from now on
', farm landa will everywhere rlae in value,
j Aa a result of thla every new Indian rea
I ervatlon that la opened la having 100 ap
1 pllcanta for every homestead. The peo
ple are crowding their way Into sections
which were once considered desert, and
1 modern science is redeeming the arid re
l glona. All over thla Rocky mountain
plateau men are now proapectlng for land
aa they uaed to proapect for gold, allver,
copper and lead. They are gauging rivera,
creeks and brooks and etudylng how tan
, water' may be saved for Irrigation. . In
tenalve farming ia gaining ground and Ir
rigated landa are bringing big prices. Tho
old story of 160 acrea enough haa beoome
one of ten acrea enougti, and in southern
California and Utah there are many men
who can make a living on five acrna.
Down '.about Loa Angela they will pre
tend to ahow you how a man can net
$500 a year from one acre, and In o;ua
of the, valley of Oregon and Washington
five acres. It ia claimed, will yield a com
fortable living to the ordinary family.
Such people also aay that irrigated crops
are sure cropa; they can hare the water
at Juat the right time, and thua make
their blggeat proflta when other region
ara suffering.
Blsf Irrigation Krhemea.
I am aurprlsed at the Irrigation achemes
which are projected and being carried on
here and there throughout our western
states.' A very Important one la In Oregon,
In the Deachutea river valley. There are
now three companies there redeeming lands
to the amount .of about 900.000 acres. They
are working under the government reclama
tion project, the government giving th
lands to the settlers, who are to py fixed
rate for the water rights. The companies
will charge about $10 per acre for auch
rights, and after that a maintenance fee
of $1 per acre per year. In thoae reglona It
ia estimated that eighty acrea la a good
sized farm and at that rate tha valley will
furnish about 4,000 farma, giving It a popu
lation of 20,000 aoula. Another project la to
reclaim the great Bllver lake desert by the
aurplu watera of the Pesehutea river,
which now run to waate In the winter time.
One of the largeat effy Irrigation scheme
ia that of the Owena river. Thla ia to be
brought over the mountain to Los Angeles
from about $00 mile away. It will give
water to 100,000 acrea, and at th aarae time
furnish th city with all It can uae and
give It an enormoua water power. The coat
of the undertaking will bo aomethlng like
$3.000,0U0. Th river la now flowing along'
ia a valley higher than the topa of tha
Alleghcnlea in Pennaylvanla. The valley
la about ten mllea wide and over 100 mile
long, and between It and Loa Angelea ara
more titan 300 mile of desert and moun
tain. In order to bring It to the city It
, will have to be taken for a great part of
the distance through a mighty canal. It
will have- to paas through mountain tunnels
for twenty mllea, and tha tunnela will each
be aa wide aa a country road and a high
'a a Pullman car. Thay will, however, be
used only for the water.
For a part of the way tha canal will go
along the sldea of tha hill where retaining
walla wlU have ty be built a4 U0 mile of
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CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, PORTLAND.-
It will pass through land which can be ex
cavated with steam shovels. All told it
wtll take at least 5,000 men laboring ateadlly
for four yeara to build the works needed.
Oneni Illver Power.
The water englneera estimate that the
fall of the water will produce 90,000 horse
power and that there will be 1,000,000 tons
of water ' dropping down dally out of a
channel fourteen feet wide In a vertical
fall of more than a quarter of a mile. This
power will. It is estimated, sell for more
than enough to pay the interest on the In
vestment. It will be furnished within
Short and Entertaining Stories for Little People
A Narrow Escape.
ESSIE bade Prudence good bye
with a loving aquceze.
"Now be good," she aald, "and
atay at home all the afternoon I
Don't go out of the yard or those
B
naughy Cogi may chase you."
Prudence didn't aay anything; but she
looked rather sorrowful when Be3le went
away, for she didn't like to stay alone.
She had a nap on the piazza, and then
she thought she would Juat take a walk
acrosa the next lot, and see that.blrd'a
neat In the grass the one that Bessie had
not let her touch. Maybe there were little
blrda there now I
She had gone only a few yards beyond
the gate when ahe heard a yelp, and she
had Juat time to dash frantically up a tree
before there were three dogs almost upon
her.
How they did bark and caper! She
climbed higher and higher, frightened and
trembling.
After a while they went away, but Pru
dence did not dare to come down for fear
they would return. Oh, how she wished
he had minded Bessie. She crouched
among the branchea until she saw the
family drive into the yard. Then ahe
called and called. For a while nobody
heard her, and-It was growing dusky. And,
oh, how hungry she waa.
Finally she called In auch trouble that
the crlea reached Bessie's ears, and In a
few mlnutea ahe was cuddling cluse in the
little girl's arnie.
"Poor Prudence!" aald Bessie. "Did the
doga c-.n.' y.rj aifain? Ah, you should
have stayed at home, aa I told you
nnufthly Trudenoe," and ahe gave her
some Kentle pats that didn't hurt a mite.
Prudence wanted to say that ahe was
aorry for what ahe had done; giie wanted
to tell Bessie all about her narrow escape,
but she couldn't for Prudence was a gray
and white kitten-Carolyn Wheaton In Min
neapolis Tribune.
Wonders of the Sea.
The aea occupies three-flftha of the aur
face of the earth, asserts a marine publi
cation. At the depth of about 3,&u0 feet
waves are not felt. The temperature 13
the same, varying only a trifle from the
loe of the pole to the aun of the equator.
A mile down the water h&a a pressure of
over a ton to the aquare inch. If a box
alx feet deep waa Bllsd with aeawater and
allowed to evaporate undr the aun, there
would bo two Inches of aalt left on the
boa.wi. TsukSnr the .average depth of the
ocean to bo tfi.eo mllea, there would be a
layer of pure ealt 230 feet thick on the
bed of the Atlantic.
The water U colder at the bottom than
at the surface. In many baya on the coast
of Norway the water often freezes at thu
bottom before It does above.
Waves are very deceptive. To look at
them In a storm one would think the
water traveled. The water staya In the
aame place, but the motion goea on. Home
times, in storms, these waves are forty
feet high and apparently roll at a rate of
fifty miles an hour. The distance from
valley to valley Is generally fifteen time
the height; hence a wave Ave feet high
will extend over eeventy-flve feet of water.
The force of the dashing on Bell rock 1
said to be seventeen tons for each square,
yard .
Evaporation ia a, wonderful power la
drawing tho water from the aea. Every
year a layer of the entire sea fourteen
feet thick la taken up into the clouds.
The winda bear their burden into the lmd,
and the water comes down In ralna upon
the fields, to flow back at laat through tha
rivera.
The depth of the aea presents an Interest
ing problem. If the Atlantic was lowered
C554 feet, the distance from shore to shore
would be half aa great, or 1.500 miles. If
lowered a little more than three miles, say
19.CS9 feet, there would be a road of dry land
from, Newfoundland to Ireland. Thla 1
the plane on which the great Atlar.tlo
cable are laid.
The Medltteranean I comparatively ehsj.
low. The drying up of WO feet would leava
three different seaa, and Africa would be
Joined with Italy. The Brttlab channel ia
more like a pond, which accounta for Its
choppy waves.
It haa been found difficult to get the cor.
reot Bounding of the Atlantic. A midship,
man of the navy overcame tha difficulty,
and a hot weighing thirty pound carried
down the line.
A Jol U bored throuju th lnker.
Rockies
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""K- a ft e 1
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' twenty-five miles of Loa Angelea, and the
receipts therefrom will. It la calculated,
bring In something like 4 per cent on the
total Investment. The undertaking of a
scheme like this gives one some idea of
the Loa Angelea spirit. The people of that
city are among the best boomera of the
west. Everyone Is Interested In the growth
of his town and Is willing to spend time
and money to help It. Los Angeles haa a
chamber, of commerce building which be
longs -to the city, and Its Chamber of Com
merce comprisea 2,300 members, who each
pay tl per month. A magnificent exhibit of
the products and manufacture of south
through which a rod of Iron is passed,
moving easily back and forth. In the end
of the bar a cup is dug, and the Inside
coated with lard. The bar la made faat
to the line, and a allng holda the shot on.
When the bar, which extends below the
ball, touchea the earth, the allng unhooks,
and the shot slides off. The lard In the
end of the bar holds aome of the sand,
or whatever may be at the bottom, and a
drop shuts over the cup to keep the water
from washing the aand out.
When the ground la reached, . shock Is
felt as If an electric current haa passed
through the line.
Little Wild Indian.
It will not be long before there will be
no "little wild Injun boys," aa the old
aong goea. The little fellows have Just as
good school out In the Indian Territory
and Oklahoma wilds a small citizens of
Boston or New York. Uncle Sam has a
school at Fort Reno In Oklahoma, and we
visited It. Tou should have seen those
black-eyed babies go through their drills,
alng "Good Morning, Merry Sunshine," and
do number work on the blackboard. There
were about thirty of them, 4 to 6 yeara
old, all black-haired, beady-eyed, and with
brown-red skin. How funny the blue-eyed,
flaxen-hajred boy of one of the fort'a offi
cers looked! And funnier still a very black
little boy whose father was a negro and
his mother a squaw! This one they called
Booker Waahlngton.
The teacher aald they all had Indian
namea, but these were too hard to learn,
so- Happy-in-the-Mornlng would be plain
Grace at achool. They string beads Into
necklaces and various ornaments; 'the
teacher pay them for the work in pennies
and nickels, so that they early learn the
value of money, which Is something some
of the grown ones rarely do. They learn
to sow and make gardens. The older ones
really do beautiful work with the needle,
run the machine, and make all the gar
ments used In the school, for they have a
unirorm. These big glrla learn to cook
on the stove Inatead of the camp fire, to
Irv the table properly and eat like little
lr!i-. Their bedrooms must be kept neat,
their clothes nicely cared for. In all
thry nr as carefully trained as children
can be; yet the teachera told us that those
Great Battleship Nebraska
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Magnificent new battleship soon to be add-'d to the American navy, as It arpeared after Its first trial run, when everything worked very smoothly. The Nebraska waa built
by Morun Bro. at Seattle, Wash; lta keel waa laid July 4. 1S02. and it waa launched October 7. 1904. Ita length over all la 441 feet, on water line 435 feet, and ita
beam la aevcnty-alx feet two and one-half Inches; ita enginea have 19.000 horse power and Ita contract speed ia nineteen knot, or about twenty-one mllea an
hour. On the buildera trial the Nebraska made IS 96 knota easily. A a flagship the Nebraska will carry forty-one officer. 87$ enlisted men and alxty marinea. The
main battery conaisla of four twelve-Inch guns, eight eight-inch and twelve six-Inch. The eecondary battery contains twelve three-inch guna, twelve three-poundera,
eight one-pounders, two three-inch field plecea. two ft-callber machine guna. alx automatic 3o-caliber guna and four aubnierged torpedo tubea. The government
tefte for speed, endurance, etc., will soon be made and it Is expected that the Nebraska, 111 go Into. rumiiilmUoii early In the fall. A handiKiiQ silver Barvlca
ba bev urvhased If the lt of Nebraska fwr prcttuutlou. u th hip.-Phuto by Wcbuter b 8tvvn. Bcattlo,
Are Developing
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STREET SCENE IN
ern California Is always on show, and new
schemes are gotten up every week or ao
to advertise the country and push other
methods of Increasing the population.
Portland After the Fair.
Another city which has been growing very
rapidly la Portland, Ore. Although it cost
the people aomethlng, the exposition was a
paying investment. It was not succeeded
by a slump at the close, such aa Chicago
had after the World's fair and such as St.
Louis felt for a time at the end of the St.
Louis Purchase exposition. The merchants
of Portland tell me that business haa been
very same children- would go back to the
tenta or wlgwama In vacations and lay
aside civilized clothes, taking up the ways
of the parents as though they never had
seen better thlnga. But this Is largely the
fault of the fathers and mothers, who are
too old to learn new waya. Another gen
eration will change It all. Lucy M. Gaines
la The Sunbeam.
Soliloqay o a Baby. ' '. A ".
I'm a little baby boy, V
Only came one month ago,
o 'h'" world of doubtful Joy,
n.F,"Ted.uWl,th,B.,rane thln? I d0I't know;
But I think 1 11 atay a while,
.Nothing seema ao verv bad.
Everyone glvea me a a'mlle,
And they aay 1 look like dad.
Daddy's eyea are very blue,
Mine are Just as blue, 'tis aald;
Daddy a haira are very few
On the front part of his head
Bo are mine, aa scarce aa can be
But for that, of course, I'm glad.
W hat'a the use of hair on me
If I'm going to look like dud?
Mother wanted me with curls.
But that wasn't in the plan.
Curls are only made for girls,
And I want to be a man
Just ll'e daddy big and strong.
So from him I pattern took,
Fast I'll grow It won't take long.
Since like daddy now I look.
Pink and white Is daddy's skin,
Mine is pinker, whiter, too.
And the dimple in his chin.
Well, I've got one right in view;
Then, like him, I'm always good.
Never cross and never bad.
Sleep and smile, as babies should,
Just because I'm so like dad.
My dear daddy aavs each day.
"Prettiest bby on earth la he,"
Funny thing for him to say.
Not polite, it seems to me;
Now, when mamma saya it o'er,
I don't mind It makes me glad,
For I think she loves me more.
Just because I look like dud.
Daddy loves her, so do I,
And ahe calla ua each "her boy,"
He and I will always try,
Just to give her sweetest Joy;
Oh, what chums we three will be,
Always happy, never sad.
Then 1 guess we'll all agree
That it's nice to be like dad.
Birthdays of Japaneae Children.
The Japaneae child la a quaint little bun
dle, with a face that tella little of It
emotion. Tet under the roll of silk or
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LOS ANQELE3.
good right along and that their trade haa
ateadlly increaaed. The Jobbera are now
doing a business of something like 1200.000,
000 a year, which Is $30,000,000 or $40,000,000
more than in the daya before the exposi
tion. Real estate values have gone up fully
25 per cent, and lots on the principal busi
ness streets are now selling at $1,000, $2,000
and $3,000 a front foot. There are many
new residences and several skyscrapers , in
course of construction.
Richest On the Pacific.
Portland men claim that their town la,
man for man, the richest on the Pacific
coarser cloth which envelop the small body,
beneath the brown skin, beats a heart
which la strangely like that of the Amer
ican child like that of the child of moat
any other land. If the Japanese child is
taught early to hide emotions, it la not
taught to check the love of fun and game
which ia part of healthy childhood every
where. " ,
. The funniest thing of all la the Japaneae
child's birthday. No matter when you hap
pen to be borA In Japan, your birthday
falls on May 5 If, you are a boy, and orl
March 8 if you are a girl. The national
boya' birthday Is" a great holiday. The
birthday of every future 'warrior and
statesman I celebrated at the same time.
Every proud father runs up on a tall pole
In front of his house a huge fish kite for
each of his boya. ' Race aulclde la not
prevalent in Japan. March 8, the birthday
of all the girls. Is of much less signifi
cance. The Jap daughter occasions far
less family pride than the Jap son. Each
girl gets some modest little dolls.
The brown boys and girls are fond of
gathering under the cherry trees, for which
their lnd Is famous, and playing a game
of blind man'a buff bo nearly like the
American kind that the youthful visitor
from the United Statea catches on In
stantly and wants to play, too. The Jxys
do not play with tho girls nt school. They
can be seen off In a corner of the yard,
where they are doing some very. stiff cal
isthenics, which helps them to make good
soldiers.
In the fox and loop game, the girt with
the Japanese guitar plays a short air and
when she reaches the end of It the two
girts holding the long silk sash pull hard
and close the loop. Maybe the other girl
has been able to reach through and get
the cup on the floor, but If she Is not nim
ble she finds the loop suddenly tighten
about her wrist and she Is a prisoner. The
card game Is a long one and 600 cards are
used In playing it. In the game of rise
and round and round the girl stooping
rlaea first on one side and then on the
other side of 'the hands which touch above
her. In the bounding ball game the girl
standing must step through before the girl
at her right can catch the ball on the back
of her hand and return It.
In the gatne of bow many fingers, the
After the
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Wonderfully Fast
coast, and that the people are more evenly
well to do than in any other city of the
world. Portland has ranked among tho
wealthiest cities for many years. It Is aur
passod only by FrankforJ-on-the-Maln,
which gets Ita wealth throvrgh the Roths
childs and other big banking interests, arul
by Hartford, Connv which is corpulent with
the savings of the poor stored away In the
Varloua Insurance monopolies.
The riches of Portland come from busi
ness and trade. Ita aituatlon. well Inland
on the wide and deep Columbia, make It
an excellent shipping point for a great pirt
of the Inland empire, and It Is one of the
chief lumber ports of the world. It ships
In the neighborhood of a million barrels of
flour every year and a vast amount of bar
ley and wheat.
It Is a financial center. It has fifteen
banking Institutions with deposits of be-
tween $40,000,000 and $30,000,000, and Its clear
ings are In the neighborhood of $mOU),000
a year. '
As to commerce, It Is the chief port of
the valley of the Columbia, and it haa a
large number of wholisale and retail Anna,
some of which are operated with considera
ble capital. There are thirty-three buslnea
Institutions each of which haa a capital of
$1,000,000 or more, and forty-five whose cap
itals range between $2T0,000 and $1,000,000.
The city has 2,000 manufacturing establish
ments which produce goods to the amount
of $50,000,000 a year.
Look In a; for Tonrlata,
The city of Portland haa had lta appetite
for tourists whetted by the fair, and, like
Los Angelea and Salt Lake, It now looka
upon Its scenic and climatic surroundings
as a commercial asset. I spent some time
in the Chamber of Commerce talking with
the leading business men, and from them
learned that the travel has been large since
the fair closed, and that there have been
many accessions to the permanent residents
from persons in search of comfortable
homes.
All of these Pacific coast cities have an
excellent climate, although each has fea
tures of Its own. The black current, which
flows by Japan up around the lower shores
of Alaska and then down by Puget Sound
and off the coast of Oregon, acts aa a great
hot water plant to make the winters warm.
Seattle la never cold, and in Portland the
therpiometer seldom falls below 20 degrees
above zero. At the same time tho summers
are never hot and the moist air paints the
cheeks of the children and young women
with roses. Indeed, the girls of our north
west have complexions equal to those of
Scotland, Ireland and England, where the
gulf stream Is the painter.
The, grass Is green In Portland all the
year round and the rosea bloom from
Chrtstmaa to Christmas. The people ore
fond of an out-of-door life and they are
about as healthy a the cltlzena of any
leader sings and suddenly, thrusts out a
number of fingers and every girl who has
failed to thrust out the came number must
pay a forfeit or suffer a penalty.
Prattle of the Youngsters
Little Elsie (In berth of sleeping car)
Mamma, I want to go to bed.
Mamma Why,, you are In bed, dea,r.
Little ElBle No, I'm not,' mamma; I'm on
a big shelf. ' " " "
Mamma Tou have a bad cold, Johnny.
I'll wrap you throat with flannel and give
you some cough syrup.
Johnny Wouldn't flannel cakes and maple
syrup be better, mamma?
The rector' little daughter did not appear
to be wholly satisfied.
"Why, dear," said her Vnother, "don't
you remember you prayed the other night
for a brown collie dog? Well, here It la."
"Tea," pouted the little girl, "but I
prayed for a brass collar and chain, too!"
This ia the manner in which the two little
glrla acraped an acquaintance:
"My name ia Trilby Jones, and I don't
like the name a bit. What'e yauraT".
"Bertha Skynoggle, and If a worse one
than yours. Don't you think bo?"
"Yes, but you can change that, all right,
by marrying somebody, and I can't I'll
always be Trilby."
Visitor What seenfs to be the trouble
Harry? Why so sad?
Harry Papa la going to whip me when he
cornea home.
Visitor Indeed! What will you give me
f to take the whipping off your hands?
"Harry He ain't goln' to whip me on my
hands.
Rudyard Kipling aaya that one day when
he waa revising aome proofa hla little
daughter Elale was sitting nearby. Pres
ently he began to sing "On the Road to
Mandalay.1' His daughter looked up In aur
prlae. Her father kept on sinning. Sud
denly the girl interrupted Kipling, saying:
"Father, didn't you write that aong?"
"yea," waa the reply. "Well, It aeema to
me you should know the tune better," she
aid.
Builders' Trial
v. f y.
1 (
United States town. Their denth rate Is a
llltlo over nine to tho thousand, while fl-.l-cago
haa sixteen, Cleveland seventeen, Den
ver eighteen, Cincinnati nlnl tern, and tny
own city of Washington. I. C. twenty
three. In ot'.ier words, considerably inure
than twice as many out of every thousand
people die In Washington every twelve
months as In Portland.
I found the people of Portland talking
about Irrigation quite as anxiously as th.iae
of other section. A largo part of ravtern
Oregon Is arid and It la claltu. d that much
of It enn bo redeemed. There are altogether
something like 42,000,000 In that part of the
state, of which less than LOOX) Hre i:ndr
cultivation. I am told that there ate
about 12.000.OiK) acres which might be re
claimed If the water available wero prop
erly used. This Is an area almost half aa
large as tho state of Ohio and It would
support more "than 1,000.000 people. I have
already spoken of tho iJeschutes river
scheme on tho eastern' side of tho Cas
cades. Oregon is doing other work In
reclamation and at the closo of 1904 the
stato had contributed almost $G,000,0u0 for
natural Irrigation projects.
t nrle ffam'a Reclamation Frojecta.
Indeed, the government schemes for re
claiming our arid lands are JuRt at their
beginning. Those already undertaken and
planned will Involve an expenditure of
about $33,000,000 and when completed they
will make fertile almost 2.000.000 acres of
land. Thla land Is, now worth compara
tively nothing, but when the water la on It
It will bring something like $T0 an acre.
The averago price haa been estimated at
$47 an acre and at thla figure the twtal
would be worth $94,000,000, adding that much
to our national wealth.
A largo- part of thla reclamation Is west
of tho Rockies and In some places millions
of dollars have already been spent. In
southern Oregon and northern California
there la a project to redeem 300.000 acre
by the dlveraion of the Klamath river, and
the Malheur river. In eastern Oregon. If
properly ised, wtll redeem aevcral hundred
thousand acrea In the Umatilla valley. In
Arizona $3,000,000 have been set aside to
redoem 190,000 acrea by the Salt river pro
ject, and In Idaho the Minidoka project
will redeem 00,000 acrea at a cost of $1,300,
ooo. In Wyoming the Shoshone project will re
deem 125,000 acres and will necessitate the
construction of the highest dam In the
world. The dam site Is In a narrow canyon
with perpendicular walls about a third of
a mile high and the dam itself will be
810 feet in height
In addition to these there are other pro
jects under construction and approved by
the aecretary of the Interior In Colorado,
Nebraska, Nevada, Wyoming, New Mexico,
South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana,
Arizona and Washington. I have already
written of the Milk river scheme and of
Irrigating parts of the Inland empire.
Crop Every Other Year.
In addition to the arid land which can
be irrigated, I understand there are vast
tract In the west which will produce crops
every other year If the ground be properly
cultivated. Utah alone has 23,000,000 acre
of auch soil. It la desert, but if the rain
can be saved It will produce abundantly
once In two yeara.. All that 1 needed I
that the land should be plowed deep In
the fall and the top kept well stirred.
Thla holda the moisture and the twelve
Inches of rain for one year becomes twenty-four
Inches In two yeara, resulting la
a big crop If planted the aecond year.
There are now six experimental farms
working In these Utah deserts. They are
supported by the state and are testing all
matter regarding desert crops. They ex
pect to have an arid farm exhibit thla
year, and to show that wheat can be
raised on lands which are now considered
almost worthless. At present Utah la sell
ing such lands at $1.60 an acre.
The men who are testing the matter
claim that the land will produce fifteen
bushels of wheat per acre, which, at 75
cents per bushel, would net $1125. They
say that It costs $3.60 per acre to raise
thla wheat, so that a man could pay for
his land with his first crop and have
about $5 per acre to the good. This state
ment is made by the officers of the experi
ment station at Logan, Utah.
FRANK 6. CARPENTER.
Decoys For Mail Thieves
There have been several arrests and con
victions of postal employee recently for
mall depredations, and In discussing these
Instances a postofflce Inspector at Wash
ington said:
"Although we use the same old bait lit
catching postal offenders, and the novice
p.t the business and the old hands know
what It Is as well as we, they keep on Just
the aame until the time-worn, but deadly
certain, 'decoy letter' landa them high and
dry In the penitentiary, to wonder and la
ment at their leisure why they were ao
weak and foolish to bite at it.
"The 'decoy letter' la auch a simple thing
that the average citizen may wonder at Ita
effectiveness, or why the thief doesn't auc
ceed In dodging It. It la the greatest silent
tblef catcher In use by men who make It
their business to apprehend their dishonest
fellows, will always remain so and doesn't
need Improving to insure Its stability In Jhe
criminal world.
"There Is an angle of dcluaion In matters
criminal aa In honest affairs, and the postal
thief's alant la that he thlnka he will not
be discovered; at the aame time he knowa
perfectly well that complaints of missing
letters containing valuables are Invariably
aiade to the department, and that tho de
partment's machinery for the Investigation
Is practically perfect, based upon years of
experience.
"The postal thief, emboldened by Initial
success and elated by the pleasant novelty
of having In his pockets ready and easy
money for which he did not have to work,
goes along merrily until the Innocent ap
pearing 'decoy letter' is silently slipped In
the malls, to finds Its way to hla hand a
aurely aa doea the fish torpedo the steel
magnet of the battleship' aides.
"Do they try to dodge the missive of dan
ger? Oh, yes, they do try. The explosion
does not necessarily follow the launching of
the first letter. If a postal thief is suspi
cious of a letter he will let it go through,
evert though he is morally certain that It
contains the coveted cash he Is after. In
these cases the 'decoy continues Its part of
the silent detective Just the same. If the
dishonest employe allows it to 'slip by" It
ttrls the inspectors at the other end of the
line, in Its mute way, that the employe is
'on.' Thr-y Just Bend another, and still
othera, if necessary, until the Inevitably
certain one lands In the pocket of the thiev
ing employe, then to change its role of de
tective to 'documentary evidence,' which
winds up the career of the victim of his
own cupidity.
"The 'decoy letter' contains all the out
ward and Inward, for that matter, appear
ance of an ordinary piece of mail intended
for the addressee, who may be some private
citizen or business house whose mall Is be
ing tampered with. That's how we get 'em;
they can t tell the difference, It being a
case of all look alike to me.' Only a postal
thief is naturally cautious, and doubly ao
If he thlnka ha la being watchd. But they
don't all look alike to the poatoffloe In
apector in charge of the raae. Their pri
vate earmarks as aa big aa a house to th
Inspectors, and when they are shown up in
court, one by one. I gueaa that they look
about twice as Urge to the UUef oa trial.
-Washington Star.