The morning call., 1891-07-08
TURNED BACK.
The Desert Lake Expedition Re.
turns to Volcano.
Another Party Will Leave Flowing Well:
To-Day With Instructions to Find the
Clay Ridge Channel. -

The exploration party sent out last Friday
by the Southern Pacific Company to locate a
passage supposed to exist in a ridge of clay
separating the Indian Wells and Desert
Lake region, turned back fifty miles short of
their objective point on Sunday, and on
Monday evening at 9 o'clock reported to the
Los Angeles office from Volcano. a small
station thirty-four miles south of Salton.
A Mr.. Carter had charge Of the expedition,
and his report, as received at Fourth and
Townsend streets yesterday. is suhstan-
TALLY as follows:
The water leaves the Colorado River eight
miles from Ell Rio and flows through several
channels from four to six feet deep and
from thirty to sixty feet wide. 1t flows
westward along the sandhils and on the
line of the old Yuma-San Diego stage route,
through the Alamo Locho Station. At this
point the channels join. making a stream
about 100 yards wide, or more, having a
velocity of four miles an hour and gaining
rapidly
A BIG STREAM.
1t was impossible to take soundings here,
but the old slough at this point was former
ly twenty feet deep. We followed the
source about four miles in the direction of
Indian Wells and found the stream from
half to one mile wide. and from two to
four feet deep. having a velocity of two
miles per hour. The main channel passes
Cooks, Seven Wells and Gordon Tor ButD
Station, then to Alamo Mucho, making a
distance OF ffty-two miles from the river.
Here it enters the desert for Salton. The
old stage route from Yuma, with the excep-
water, and the only way to reach Alamo
Mucho is over dreary sand wastes and
mesaS.
No explanation has as yet been received
OF MIR. Carriers reasons foT returning with
such meager information as his report con-
talns, and none can even be ascribed lie
went out with provisions enough to last or
six days and with explicit instructions to
explore the clay ridge for a passage. So far
as can be known his observations have
resulted in nothing really new concerning
the matter, unless 1t Is the depth and veloc-
ity of certain streams, which, if not entirely
foreign to the main issue, has very little
bearing upon 1t.
WHERE THE SECRET LIES.
That the clay ridge holds the secret of the
desert lake, and that close examination OF
this elevation will tell the whole story is no
longer matter of speculation among the
engineers who have given their attention to
this subject. Convinced of this, the South
ern Pacific will send out another party to-
day under charge of Nh Swain, resident
engineer of the Yuma Division. He will
leave Flowing Wells. station on the
Southern Pacific nearly opposite the ridge,
"a miles southeast of Salton and 60 miles
this side OF Yuma, at 10 o'clock this morn
ing.
This expedition is we'll provided for in the
matter of wagons, horses trained to desert
work, provisions. ETC., and will move across
the desert, keeping south of the Mud Vol
cano region, and. making its way along the
southern border OF the ridge, will search
carefully for the mysterious passage upon
which the fate of the country for miles
around depends, for if there be any danger
II is from this source
WHAT THE DANGER Is.
Should the channel, which is known to
exist somewhere in this locality. be wide
one, with prospect of widening by the
constant action of the waves, then the dan
ger is apprehended to be very great. A
strange fact in this connection is that while
the Colorado is daily going down at Yuma
the volume in the sink Is on the increase
Yesterday morning at o'clock the Colo
RADIO at Yuma stood p feet, 10 inches. On
July I'd it was % feet, s inches, the highest
point reached this season. On the Sd it had
lowered inches, and gradually followed
this reduction until yesterday, when the
gauge marked the figures above quoted.