Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1898-10-27

then all these newborn states of the
! Union, North and South Dakota,
| Washington, Montana, Idaho and Wy
oming. Each state an empire in size.
"But," says some one, "in calculat'
ing the immensely of our continental
acreage you must remember that vast
reaches Of our public domain are un'
cultivated heaps OF dry sand, and the
bad Lands OF Montana and the Great
American Desert" / am glad that you
mentioned that. Within twenty-five
years there will not be between the
Atlantic and Pacific cousts Il hundred
miles OF land not reclaimed either by
farmers pillow or miners crowbar. by
irrigation, the waters of the rivers and
the showers of Heaven, in what are
called the rainy season, will be gath
cred into great reservoirs, and through
aqueducts let down where and when
the people want them. Utah is an OBJ
ject lesson. Some parts of that ter
ritory which were SO barren that q
spear of grass could not have been
raised there in a hundred years, are
now rich as Lancaster county farms OF
New Jersey. Experiments have proved
that ten acres of ground irrigated
from waters gathered In great hyro-
logical basins will produce as much as
50 acres from the downpour Of rain as
seen In our region. We have our
freshets and our drougths. As you
take II pitcher and get it full of water,
and then set IL on n table and take a
drink out of II when you are thirsty
and never think OF drinking pitcher
full all nj once, SO Montana and Wyo-
ming and Idaho will catch the rains of
their rainy season and take up all the
waters of their rivers in great pitchers
OF reservoirs, and refresh their land
whenever they will.
The work has already been grandly
begun by the United States govern
mcnt. Over 400 lakes have already
been officially taken possession of by
the nation for the grent enterprise OF
irrigation. Rivers that have been roll
ing idly through these regions, doing
nothing on their wny to the sea, will
be lnssocd and corrnllcd and penned
M until such time MS the farmers need
them Under the same processes the
Ohio, the Mississippi, and all the 9TH
err rivers will be taught to behave
themselves better, md great basins
will be made to catch the surplus Of
waters in times of freshet, and keep
them for times of drought. The irri-
eating process by which all the arid
lnnds between the Atlantic and Pnci-
Gc oceans are to be fcrtili2ed Is no
new experiment.
II has been going on successfully
hundreds of years in Spain, China, in
India, in Russia, in Egypt. About
10000 900 of people of the earth to-
day are kept alive ON food raised on IT.
rigated land. And here we have al
lowed to lie waste, given up to rattle
snake and bat and prairie dog, lands
enough to support whole nations OF
industrious population. The work be
gun will he consummatcd. Here and
there exceptional lands may be stub
born and refuse to yield amy wheat or
corn from their hard fists, but II the
hoe fail to make IN impression, the
miners pclt-aN will discover the rea-
son for it, and bring mp from beneath
those unproductiNc surfaces coal and
iron and lead and copper and gold
God speed tie gColugtSts and survey
urs, the engineers and the senatorial
commissions, and the capitalists and
the new settlers and the husbondmen,
who put their brain aud hand and
heart To this TRANSPORTATION OF the
american continent "Strcams I'm the
DESERT"
Rut while speak Of the immensely
of the continent must remark it is
not an immcnsity of monotone or
lamcurss The larger some countries
are, the worse for the world. This
continent is not more remarkable for
its magnitude than for It's wonders of
construction. Yosemite and the nd
Joining California rrgtousl Who that
haas seen them can think Of thrm with
ont having his blood tinglc2 Trees
NOW standing there were old when
Christ lived! These mouarrhs of
foliage rripmcd before NcNandrr, aud
| the nest lO0O Years Will not Shattcr
thvir Necptcr! They are the maSts of
| the continent, their canvas spread ON
the Winds, while the old ship bears on
It's way through the ages.
That valley OF the Yosemite Is eight
mites long and Il half mile wide, and
| 5000 feet deep. II seems rs If 1t had
been the meaning Of Omnipotcncc to
| crowd into MS small Il place ms possible
some of the most stuprndous scenery
/ of the world. Sumc OF the cliffs You
| do not stop to measure 10y feet, for
! thcN are literally mile high. Steep SO
that neither foot of man or beast ever
scaled them, they stuud IN everlasting
defiance. lf Jehovah has Il throne ON
earth, these are its white pillars.
| Standing down in this great chasm of
the valley, You look up. and yondcr is
| Cathedral Rock, vast, gloomy, minister
! luilt for the silent Worship of the
mountains, Wonder is Sentinel rock
ago feet high, bold, solitary standing
guard amuun the ages it's top seldom