The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1880-04-16


nv great railroad centre; like huge octo-
NC pus, it is sending out IFS feelers, or
eu tentacIes, east, north and south, all
.. contributing more or less to the ad-
- vantage of this growing metropolis of
ie the Pacific Slope. Other ports to the
20 Forth and south have been named as
~ possible rivals, but any hurtful
~ rivalry to the business prestige of the
Bay City is long way of.
" One OF the greatest feeders to the
future greatness OF this business cen
~ tire will be the Southern Pacific Rail-
, road. It looked like q wild goose
- chase to be running railroads across
trackless deserts without water, cities.
or even ranches as feeders to such an
enterprise; remarks were made that it
L did not pay for the oil to run the loco
motives, and so forth; but older heads
!, than the detractors OF the great enter
~ prise were al the helm, and public |
+, confidence is being slowly established
. that the future of the road will be a |
successful result financially.
Galveston, Oh the Gull OF Mexico, is
the terminus of the Southern Pacific
Railroad. This city is 1000 miles
from San Francisco. The road is
now completed and in working order
over hall the distance. Redwood ties.
and steel rails make the finest road
you can hope for. Ii is still going
forward and will not stop until it gets
teo hot to handle the rails. The worst
part of the road is built. From Tue
son eastward the country is more
interesting. Some call it a grass
country; it need be more inviting or
passenger traffic will soon tire of sand, f
slksi and poor water in summer 8
time. One OF the chief attractions on O
the line of the read Is the orange /
growing region of Los Angeles aud
the slopes of the Sierra Madre with
the charming valley Of San Bernar-
dino. 1t is indeed a beautiful part of
the earth and no country can be
more attractive to the lovers of nature
and genial climate, but there are
always serious drawbacks to the most u
attractive places; everything is over p
done. The residents complain that
they cannot get anything for their b,
produce when it is raised; that with re-
all the climatic advantages, they have
a considerable struggle to make head Of
way. 1t is true those who have fine or
orange orchards do we'll, but orange
orchards are OF slow growth. 1 heard fe
gentleman say that The only al
article that brought them money
was the raisin crop; go don't ar
all rush to this earthly paradise nj
FOX everything that can be secured of RI
any value is already in the possession
of somebody. I found persons willing
to leave such country, and travel 10
for one month across the cherries
desert with the thought of making a
raise. But dissatisfied persons are by
everywhere, and very few know when CC
they are we'll of.
With the exception OF this locality, |
the road runs through level plain IA
the San joaquin Valley first, the Al
Mohave Desert next, then the orange =
country, next the Colorado Desert, II
then ella Desert. The Colorado
River is the only running water the
road crosses for 500 miles No grass,
no trees bat mesquit and palo verde =;
1.-THE wonderful tree without leaVes), ~
and the thousand and one cacti that VAC
line the road. On the ella Desert
the candelabra cactus Is very
noticeable object. There are also the
choya, the ocotiila, the niggerhesd,
and other kinds that serve tc keep a.
the observer on the qui riue. Standing 'hl
out alone, the openitis gigantic or III
cactus looks like q lone I'M
sentinel on the candy plain. How it we
manages to live On the scsRty rain Ar
fall is a wonder to everybody, the
rainfall en- the desert portions OF Ari-
iona being from four to five inches
In the regions north, where there
are lofty mountains, IS much as
twenty inches of rain will fall IN
year. The heaviest rains ara in July NJ.
and August. The winter months
November, December, January and
Fe6ruary-are delightful, the rest 'u
execrable. The weather report kept
at Maricopa shows the startling fact
that the mercury rarely falls below
1902 for a month in midsummer, ex
either night or day. With such b!
gradual heat eggs will hatch without NJ
the assistance Of the hen-it only b
needs O temperature OF 99' for three M
weeks to raise chickens. OF course, M
solid butter cannot be found-it must Fl
be poured from bottle. ODe of the
railroad hands told me that after one
hot day he ran out on the ground in
the night and The ground was 80 hot b.,
ne could not stand it. Engineers on ~
the locomotives state that it marks 10 i.
14O' in the cab of the engine when 81 81
they are running in summer time; az
add to this the fact that the water Is of
everywhere brackish and never cold,
and more than this, it is hurtful to =
many persons, sometimes producing
Inflammation OF the bladder and other
dissgreeable consequences, the reader
can form slight idea of the future
Of such a country Tor agricultural
purposes. Strange 10 say, the land IN
is very rich and along the valley OF in
the ella immenae crops are raised. Sc
The Indians are thu farmers. The =
Yumas, PINES and Maricopas scratch u
the ground over 10 the crudest way, n n
vet manage to rails good crops. ~
Some few MexicaEs are farming, but a
not on advanced principles. White p
men in this particular locality do not u
have much ambition to go gardening. u
The water on the desert used by y
the railroad company, is obtained ~ q.
from wells sunk at their expense, and VI
to the credit of the company it can be
said that they furnish the article free
to all, whether On foot or By team, at
all their stations and section houses. -,
The indians in that part OF the 4
country are as naked as they dare be.
Some of the Pimas bellies are fair to T
look upon, but many of the older d
ones are not go fair, TIE Pimas live ?
in little low huts modelled lone would
think after the hut of the Esqui-
msux. Chey enter it upon oil fours;
it is surprising that where there Is
90 much land they should use 80
small O residence. They are a Z
'oueer lot" as my friend, Miss 5
Harrison, would say; and if the g
truth about Old England must net be e
told-what shall do when l talk OF O
l.