The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1893-02-16
SOCIAL LIFE AT ZILLAH.
An Eastern Correspondent Gives an Lc-
count Of a Frontier Town Ball.
a Breexy Letter with References
60 some Well Known Pee-
pie and Our Pro-
ducttvc Soil.

ton, distance three and half miles, and
by ferry across the Yakima. Zillah is
named after the daughter OF Mr.. T. F.
Cakes, president OF the Northern Pacific
Railroad company. II could not have
well been named before her, as it is even
now an infant.
Taken in connection with its aboriginal
surroundings, Zillal life is primitive;
not, however, to such an extent as to
suggest that it is capable of sanctioning
even the slightest offence against what il
considers the laws OF eastern etiquette.
For instance, last night Zillsh gave a
ball. About half past seven, as | Was
walking homeward from my evening
ranble, saw the dignifed company
gathered-silent, waiting, the sexes in
separate rooms; and | felt like congratu-
lating the workaday folk on such reason
able hours. But the Zillaps are made of
sterner stuff. There they sal, so I alter
ward learned, nobly patient, until ten,
when the dancing began Mr. Walker
invited me to 90 with him, but re-
Trained. Mr. Walker, by the way, is .
shining example. lie il boston man
came here when fifty years old, and has
picked up homestead, desert claim, tree
claim, and a second youth. He says to
dance all night is bagasele to him nov,
and he felt aged when he came
Ac for fba hall thn lc.ox,,., 81
early evening had vanished at midnight,
/ judged from the sounds the shaking
hotel sent to my cot; and this morning
the fiddle was still at its minor chord
when took my chair Mt breakfast. FROM
the echoing floor, two dancers came to
the table, to become my vis-a-vis. They
were female Indians half crossed with
white blood. Their oval, olive faces were
lit by eyes Swallowed, yet brilliant, like
the style of Chateaubriand. wish they
hadn't spoken; for then came out the
beast on the beauty, the cultural Indian
gibberish-al ks
At breakfast the good housewife who
brought my provender exploited the hotel
for me. We've taken this job of feedin'
the folks here and we're doin' we'll. One
thing that helps US out is the onions.
You see, back on the ranch we put seven
acres all to onions, and bein' slow about
sellin' 'em, / don't know how we would
'sv worked 'em off, II We hadn't came
here; now it's easy" The case was
manifest. Onions inhabited the ieathery
stage steaks, the stewed dishes, and the
fries. They were plentiful in the pots-
toes, the hash, and the bacon. The cold
cabbage was folded in the pale coatings
OF the odorous esculent, and it was served
whole rs ''onion fritters." / sought the
prune preserves for relief. They were
seasoned with onions.
One enjoys Zillah most for what Que
learns there. 1t is the center of the canal
system. In the engineers rooms and
topographic studios of the large and com
modious headquarters building are gath
cred the profile alignments. sketches, and
maps showing every border and lateral
OF the great canal, which, itself, flows
quarter OF mile behind the town and
$50 feet above the river, from which 1,
was taken. These drawings alone COS,
thousands of dollars and illustrate, some-
what, the immense expense and labor
necessary to carry the vast body OF water
along the gradual destinations and curv-
atures which are rendered necessary by
the fluctuations Of the country.
From Zillah l drove to one OF the COM
pany's surveying camps, where (Mr. WIN.
Ham Hall, of San Francisco, the chief
being absent, found Mr. Coy Sterling.
the hydraulic engineer. Mr. Sterling was
strengthening some Of the preliminary
lines Of the canal
Here shall save" he said. pointinp
to the chart on his table, "a thousand
feet over the old survey within mile and
q hall. 1t is mostly normal work. no
humes or fills. A narrow canal has less
velocity than wide one with the same
fall, because it has more friction. We
avoid curves; they tend to wear ON the
banks and cause more excavation. The
capacity OF our canal is $50 cubic feet per
second. We have only one waste weir
Tor the entire length. The extreme
height OF our water at Prosser, our termi-
nus, will be $50 feet over the river"
Colonel Prosser, the gentleman from
whom the above settlement took its
name, found to be a rewarding man to
meet. He taught me that the extraordi
nary depth OF this soil is the secret OF its
endurance.
1T Is not only" he said, permanent
1t improves under agriculture; so con-
uasting with England and many of the
older states, where the ground has lost
Its vitality and become merely recepta-
Gle OF the seed, responding only in pro-
portion to the depth and culture Of the
dressing. The soil is the dressing itself.
II Is phosphate, and it grows better With
age. Twenty years ago these Yakima
people raised just such crops-eighty. FIVE
bushels of wheat to the acre right along.
and the timothy has renewed itself twen-
ty-four years in these river bottoms with
out reseeding. All farmers agree that
the third year is superior to the first two.
The reason of this is that decomposition
OF the virgin earth is slow and incom-
plete; and the wild elements yield not
readily. We grow everything in this
temperate zone; and DO not know how
far into the north ,roD;cs ,,.o 49,. tt