Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1895-10-22
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r0ssInILrrY oF IRnIG ArIoN.


California, from tho Colorado river IN
the Sierras. Never can 1 forget tho sur
ferlngs OF that journey, the agony OF
| three days aud nights without water.
the intolcrable glare OF shining sands
that slipped from beneath our feet or
were driven hlther and thither in stning
clouds by blasts Of furnoce-tompered
wtnda, the quiverinE heat waves, the
lying mirages that tormentod us with
tho visions OF Tantalus. tho awful silence
ana the ever present evidences of death
Astounding on all sides. Horses ana mules
persisted. wagon after wagon was aban-
doned. and men wOll night lost their
reason as they plodded mechanically on
through that Gchenna Of sand. sunk far
| below sea level. rainless treooss and
yordurcess. save for nparso bunohes OF
slckly sage or thorny cactus In tia
distance cleaned peaks OF tile San Ja-
cinto and San Bernarilno mountains, Re-
tween thcm lay the san Gorganio pass.
tho goal OF our fierce desires and fnint-I
ing hopes place OF which we had been
told was one OF tho rus;liHg palms ami
living springs.
From that day tho experience OF those
weeks on the Colorado desert have been
as u nightmare, ami whom recently COM
! PEELED to traverse tho same desert for u
second time though / might be whlred
over it's sands In n parlor car utll
look forward TO tho trip with dread.
| AZ the train crossed the summit OF tho
pasa and rolled swiftly down It's eastern
slope a heated blast OF kiln-drled air.
sweeping up from the desert, gave warm
Ing that the latter stll existed In all
It's untomcd savagcry. ana that beyond
| the narrow thread OF stool that SPAWNED
] lft Ia
! pltlless sands. The air or tho car boz
comc Btlnng and the heat almost In
tolerlblc, In spite OF closed doorB VIM
dows aud yenulators dust filtered IN,
until ono end OF tho interior was barely
visible from the othcr. When, after
! weary miles of this experience, the limit
I OF endurance was nunrly reached, tho
! train suddculy dashed Into q place VI
| donsu nhadowu aud came TO Il halt
We had reached Indie. az vcIitablo an
| oasis as exists In amy desert OF tho world.
tho home of waving palms and double
rows OF tall foliage troes, beneath which
the tracks ran as through green tunnel.
place OF ylnoB and towering shrubs,
Of singing birds aud Whispering Winds,
| above all. place OF plnshlnR waters
and delicious coOlncss A broad-ycrat-
daed inn offered hospitnblo doors and "a
! dimy lighted interior That Hoomcd ~
most dark after the recent glare VI tho
! desert. ON tho dining tablo were fruits
and vegetables FROM an adjacent Eurdcn.
| After dinner tho refreshed travellers still
| had time 10 examine the Erent nrlehhh
! we'll that, from q depth OF COZ ieoi, poufa
| forth 800 gallons u water per hohrs Htl5
I II twelve feet above The aurfaoc ana has
! by It's magic created This SPOT Of charming
! vsrlure amid those savage wastes or
/ annd Not far from the wen nlnndn a
/ group OF superb fan palms, one of which,
/ only IL years old, meaBureH twelve anu
| half feel about rs trunk az "a point two
| feet above the ground, llalf a mile away
II hnc vineyard, irigated Dy means
| surface water, found throughout the res
! sion ut an average depth Of twenty feet,
Aiia'as r ,ns sIS" VIII S' r,ni9 tnxuTlaneS
! wherever water can rcnch H. WINE az
| fruits and yesctgolos en- es riprned nv
! least one month cnrlicr ihan on mo
l western slOpo OF tho mountains
White Iudto thus presents @ Htrlidns cN-
ample Of what mas be accomplished
/ through urtesuu irrigation OF the proliho
4 desert sands. another phase OF water
magic. and on "a TAR grander scale may
/ be- studied on the same Californian Jour-
l nvy at tho southern end pf the great san
/ joaquin valley, la and about Tho houiiHh,
| ing City W bakersfield, Ihv 'Npiorcra ot
! thirty years ago found ths Hvpuon or
] country, tho az Cfu Delta as NJ T. called,
| almost ag do7crtlike Ha that bordering thN
! Colorado Ita midsummer aspect was tnht
| OF u vast plain pHrchod aud glimmerlna
| with heat, its Hoant vegetation burned 70
| All tho more droary by comparison with
| Tho recently traVofsed OAK groves 81 ~,
,1hhe o' am war slrnr cool and insshNusd
| bic. with Its source In tho everlasting
| rows OF Mount Whitney, bnt. beyond -
| narrow fringe OF Nerduto' lls hlhueHeo
| was unfelt. - 4
| BY an Intelligent system or conAcrNh-
| ton aud distribution TINS same river 70
! Jay ~ made TO irrlEalo ana give ttauhu-
ant life 70 over aOJvoO acres OF huJaoyht
| lands. ana 10 10 trnnstorin inc sgvihllt
! desert Into ono or tho most ierule anu
| prosperous sections OF mo state. nus
| greatest irrlEnutR proposition OF mo uouh-
| Try has boon accomplished ny mo llHslns
! of twenty HoVon main canals having m
aggregate length or sDl miles, anu llup
miles Of large lnter1lH tho whole Hysleu
| having been constructed at cost OF
| 81 O00.0O0
The largest and most importgnt OF Az
/ these canals II the Galloway when " "
itself river 1870 foot VIDE ana hlN iesi
| deep. Through siXiy~llve large dlElflbu-
| tarica and network OF smaller ditohes
| the water Of tina ono canal u spread over
| 900 900 acres OF thirsty land. IL y not only
| tho largest hut ~ also tho Oldest chnl
/ OF tho system. and with us hmnina
| reaches. sweeping curves, inc tumpllhg
| falls ut It's many diversion welts Us cool
| stretches OF densely Wopled puhkh, Tvs
| - ia