The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1896-08-28
DEADLY MOJAvE VALLEY.
In the Heart OF California Surround
cd by Mines.


awful destruction of life which goes
on every year in the Mojave desert.
This is a great tract of land in the
heart of the gold fields of California.
All around it lie the richest veins of
gold and silver, of borax and other
useful minerals that have been found,
and, Lying perilously within thcs'
Eldorados of fortune and fame tn,
desert, across which prospectors mus
go to seek for wealth.
If they take n circuitous path
around the desert they traverse onl,
the we'll worn ways, and have les:
hope of success. The recent loss OF
Edgar Clark of New York and Hcnr!
Stanford of Columbus, both members
of the best families, has stirred W
into activity the much talked of relief
IF these men perished, what hope foi
tie less favored with money and in
tluence?
Last year the very most optimistic
calculations of the Moiavcs victims
was 100. 1t is probable there were
three times rs many. Ninetv-cight
were fully Unidentified, and the 100
was completed when a traveller can c
gallowing into the settlement on ii c
outskirts, and throwing himself down
from his dying horse, gaspcd out til,
awful peril he had been through anG
told of the ''two dead or dying out
there now!!'
No aid could be sent. for he had
passed them two days before, and the
Mojove's victims became one hundred
good, strong men, made to cross tn,
desert by necessity, in order to pro-
vide the things demanded by civiliza
ton. 1t is this awful traffic in lives
that the Rcd Cross is trying to stop
The great deserts of the world
Sahara, Arabia, Pharan and Libya
are pleasant spots compared to thr
death valley which lies mcnacingl,
in the heart of the fairest State ir
the Union. Sahara has oascs. Arabia
boasts of thread like rivers. often dr,
in spots, but still running above tn,
surface every few miles. And in til,
stony Pharan arc two spouting foun.
tains that can be seen for miles away
But the Mojavc, although small, is
bare of anything to comfort til,
travclor, Not Il drop of water cal
he found during the eighty mile,
ride across. and at this season ther,
is not IL day when Il sand storm doe
not blow. The thermometer dali,
r>achcs l3S degrees, and on hot day,
takes Il Jump up to 80. Never Il;
night does it settle below 12O. Thi.
deadly heat. without Il trace of shad,
or vegetation, the terrible sand storm,
aid the burning sun of the middl,
hours of the day are the clements that
deprive Traveller Of all horc Of get
ting across alive.
\ ride of eighty milcS is short
tip for man mounted on horseback
In friendly country man can rid,
it in a day. \ ride of one hundred
miles is not impossible with traincc
riders. But in the desert the tril
takes week. sometimes two weeks
And four miles an hour is the best
progress man can hope to make
When the sand storms come he must
dismount and cover his horses hcaC
and his own with blankets, and when
the terrible heat pours down from tn,
sun he must improvisc a shade or hi,
cvclids will blister and blind his ewes
making ii impossible to keep tn,
slender trail.
The chances of finding gold ncal
the Moiavc desert are as great a> they
ever were, for California is still the
golden heart of the world. The onl,
obstacle is that much Of thc gold lands
arc already owned and to reach tho