The sun., 1891-07-02
THENEWLAKEIN THEDESERT
IT rs NOW 50 MILES JoN9 BIZ ~ WIDE,
AND ef INCHES DEEP

a.half.mito Current-Its neueNoe 80 no
Caused By the Overflow OF the Colorado
Tho Southern Pacific People HIVE No
Fears-A Talk with Prof j. w. Red
way About the strauge Phenomenon.
BAN FRANCISCO. July 1.-The lake In the COL
orado Desert at Salton is reported to-day TO
be thirty miles long by twelve wide. with an
average depth OF twenty-one inches. The
stream that feeds 1t runs at the rate OF four
and q half miles an hour. Tho Southern
Pacific engineers assert that the water reaches
Salton through an underground passage be-
meath low range OF hills that separates the
sink on tho south from salton. Tomorrow
Ave engineers will start out to determine the
possibility OF stopping the water. The rail-
rond people. however. have NO foar Of the track
oyerfowing, as the evaporation is 80 rapid In
the desert that It alone would keep down
water unless 1t came In far m ore rapidly than
It doea now
There is no danger Of much damage 10 tho
salt works at Snlton. Imagine heat 80 herco
that II one stood immovable. without clothing.
water would run from him as II he were under
o douche. Such is Salton. Water is needed.
and plenty OF It. for evaporation is rapid.
The ground around tho salt works has always
been so shaky that 1t would not bear the
weight of locomotive on the switch from the
light dummies. A heavy piece OF iron dropped
on the ground will often cut through 1t anu
disappear. Freaks OF nature are plentiful IN
this mysterious region. 1t will be remembered
that last winter White Water River suddenly
disappeared and was not seen for months.
when 1t resumed running Those who have
examined tha geological features OF the
Colorado valley are Of the opinion that
It was once covered BY the waters OF the Gull
OF California. but that the shifting Of the sands
at the mouth OF tho Colorado River. which
gradually extended southwark. formed
bar which shut of the main body Of tho gulf.
and the waters OF the inland sea thus created
were speedily evaporated by the intense heat
This theory is further strengthened BY what
is known as New River. which was first seen
by Capt. Anss In 1774. and By all others
who have crossed the desert after his time
The Now River is caused by the overflow OF
the Colorado River at q point good many
miles below Yuma. and runs back on the des.
ssh ct eighty ny miles, bending erooha hke efeA'
It IL seldom the flood waters get as far as
thsy nevi aa gone mouth oi h.
about thirty feet high. Add the waters vat aas o. tnis
RGF: tG hs a
tss Sssi n % IL ysss
again and III ut least that portion OF 1t now
below sea Lowell.
the climate OF southern California should tho
Hood lie permanent The result would ccr.
es'hS q Lowe We 0e Csforna whcS lies between the
gulf and the ocean. There would he no more
iss hSs s 'es
peninsula would be extended northward to the
latitude Of Orange county.
AsuN reporter called on Prof jacques W.
Rcd dway Yesterday afternoon at bis RESIDENCE.
%.aa %s sSs
ieSis OF the Hood. at Salton. IN the Colorado
Sgsy a L s.ss oS sSs Years. RsG ss
@Hssi sisR sP ss II S.w hses liz ssS quit. number
9ssy va ssa al bsene Or to
aH beiow se0ii sea isye. The sinks and dry lakes q
thi. deprsssion cover an area OF about l;4oo
% The ssd sS ss the Is
level. Old lacustrine beds are NUMEROUS al
The fsgin q Ths Sem sns All Of and thH sH
shore s' msrsins Ia Gin are sill vs5ie By IaEe. pear
Snlton, is moro OF q marsh than dry lake bed.
near filot Knob and AigodCn. In veryy high
hae thron n b. this wa Is and partly hsd tho marsh.
AS soon rs the river would fall the wash wonld.
OF
200 miles above the mouth OF The river down
to the Gulf Of California. every one OF which
mas GSia Is not Impossible That the river itself
may have flowed through this d;snre.sion in
its old course by the shifting Of sand, This is
the AREA which 10 1879 L was proposed by Dr.:
California. hut the evaporation is enormous
because Of the extreme heat aud tho scheme
The soil is light and felspathic in character.
the water itself. and a slight current is capsble
n uarud n dAAFN 70 N a n
Fl sms Ss''"E not W thinf there
to be- placed in tho assertion that th., lake 10
Is h'' Allied With, felspsthic sand 10
ss sI's Moad ane
nss po6e Ss% Ike that M dssp
rsr no ssGns % That e %hos
the ColoIudo River may b. shifted The wind
''e sasf. tne sea 'sys1 being
as as TAI far nor north as Death Valley. . disI anee oi
about 800 miles. has Suggested the idea that
tho tho sea. Such may have been the case, but all
Of tho old shore margins are distinctly lucus-
thine and not marine ssG hhs se"n
pa hic rock worn from the. Granitio, ridges;
which here sy aad there protrudo about The level
Replying to the question whether the South
location to the mountain regions. Prof. hedway
said
ern Railway lies in O. portion OF the depres:
sion that Is liable 20 be INUNDATED but II will
danger. it would require a detour Of several
hundred miles to avoid al M psrts Of ~ The a,- de-
will have to be shifted only q few miles. Pos
sibly with q judieious shifting OF tho sand
fences the wind may Pile up onouRh sand to
make . natural barrier against further en-
crOa oh m Al is OF the water"
Prof. Redway 10 very strongly OF the opinion
that the water flows down the wash on the
west side OF the Colorado and makes Its way
10 the sink, the centre of which he found to
have q Depression Of $50 feet below sea level.
9ssardnK the Indian irrigation sTst aaa dtSh the
isS' Affect tie H outf ow 81. the river.
I'm this region he continued, there are
feet high. Tie largest OF these can be formed
or swept away in two Or three three days; jays SO % RAPIDLY
day, and to- morrow they are blown away.
Drifts OF ten feet deep have been seen to form