Los Angeles herald., 1891-07-04

SALroN, July 3.-[Special to the HER
ADJ The waste of waters in the mys-
terious "desert sea" continues to creep
up, slowly, to be sure, but with a dread
certainty, upon the four buildings that
constitute this town, and unless the un-
known cause that has produced a lake
where but recently was plain of arid
sand, is soon abated, Salton will be a
thing of the past and the Southern
Pacific will be locating new line.
With the daily fluctuations caused by
the change in the direction of
the wind left out OF consideration,
the water in the new lake has
risen at uniform speed for the past
eleven days, until it has covered piece
of the valley ten miles wide and thirty
miles long to an average depth of per-
haps fifteen inches. In other words
nearly one hundred billions of gallons of
water have come into this basin
in little over a week, and there
is as yet no appreciable slackening
in the incoming stream.
When the flood began there was a
spur track down to the salt marsh,
about three miles away. The track ism t
there now. Two gangs of railroad la
borers have been busy all day with
Captain MulvihilPs boat rescuing
the pieces and towing them ashore.
The salt works themselves, which are
about 1000 feet from the Southern Pa
cifc main track, and seventeen feet be-
low it, were running today, but they are
closed down now, and probably for the
last time. Last night the water drew
up to within few yards of the lower
emf Of the works, overturned the dykes
that had been thrown up to protect
them, and gave the proprietors of the
property hint of the possibilities in the
way of destruction. Today that hint
was broadened. The locomotive sheds
were entered by the waters, and the
pioneer streams twined their hungry
tongues about the supports of the i'm
mense salt warehouse.
At this writing Superintendent Geo.
w. Durbrow has fully made up his
mind what to do, and tomorrow every
available man in the place will be put
to work saving what can be saved out of
the warehouse and works. AS there are
many thousands of tons of salt ready for
shipment stored in the former building,
which is as long as the Arcade depot
and forty feet wide, and as the boilers,
engines, crushers, etc., are far too heavy
! be moved by the small force at hand,
= kxr,.n l. hat <la 49, %l0
company will be no trife.
the columns of the HERALD several days
the hills" through fear no exaggeration.
ber of huts about Salton occupied by
employees on the salt works. Now there
are four male adults left. The remainder
have all gone to Martinas, over toward
Indio, an Indian village OF the Cahuilla
tribe which is built on ground several
hundred feet higher than Salton, and
where the copper faces believe them
selves out of danger.
Standing on the depot platform at
Salton, one can see water to the east,
water to the west and water to the south.
In the southeast and southwest the true
water line blends into the mirage, and
the lake thus appears much larger than
it really is. Perhaps it would not be
amiss to 60 over the facts connected
with this remarkable phenomenon so that
the true state of affairs which has been
sorely mangled, may be understood:
The bed of "Dry lake." waterless ba-
sin ten miles long and forty wide, which
is marked out on every reliable map of
California, began to fill up from some
unknown source on Tuesday, June 22d
Chat is, the fact was noticed first
on that day., and the water has steadi-
ly, inch by inch, crept up toward the
former boundaries OF this prehistoric
basin ever since. The mere fact of this
sink being filled with water is
not remarkable. Indeed, according
to Mr.. Durbrow similar flood was ex-
perienced here no longer than five years
ago; it is the manner of the approach of
the water which creates wonderment
hereabouts, and in this respect the pres
ent food is unprecedented.
In conversations with the white men
resident nf Salton (there are only four,
Mr.. Durbrow, superintendent of the salt
works; Agent H. j. Cohen, of the
Southern Pacific company, and Louis
and Martin Kolb, two mill en-
ployees), learned that all previous
floods covering the basin of Dry lake
have been preceded by cloud bursts.
This one has not, and although conjec-
ture on conjecture has been made as to
the true ~spse of the visitation, can
state on g>ad authority that no one go
far actual'y knows the ex qua VENT.
When the water began to make its
presence felt in tho overflow of the
marsh, Superintendent Durb-ow tried to
account ior the ood.
''It IL cloud burst said
he, taking the oid-hue theory os
the true one. But chat i5es va en-
knocked in the head hen retprus eye
in from all the hill d.. tlic aua IL was
found that there had bee 20 cioade
bursts.
Then the well-man employed b tbs
salt or ;s at Indio reported that o.e 81
ba all bod opo,,a Irvy