The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-06-15

BN ANNIE WESTERN WHITNEY.


of sand and its lack of water, except
IN spots where nature has generously
provided rest and rcircshmcnt for
man and beast, the thought of any
thing like home life would seem an
absurlity In our own Inited States,
however, there are deserts naturally
rs barren a. Sahara. and on them live
people whose lives to those who love
the trees, the birds, and the flowers,
would seem the essence Of dcsolation.
These deserts are in Nevada, I'tah
Arizona, Wyoming, and California
and on some Of them no trees, rras~
or weeds grow naturally, while What
water is found on them in spots i, 20
-alty a. To be unfit for manor beast
The State Of Ncvaia, whose whole
population j, only forty thousand
hardly enough u make a good sized
city is practcaIl, one vast desert.
It's lack of ycr'urc and Of water has
always made il Il dangerous State for
cmigrantS to pass through At times
ranchmcn and cattIcmcn have under
taken to drive their cattle across the
State but in the majority Of eases the
experiment has proved disastrous
There is record of az attempt some
years ago, by experienced Shepherds
f.t- 4
California to Wyoming While pass
ing through Nevada eight thousand
sheep died in five days for want Of
water, while the men themselves were
only saved from terrible suffering by
finding pools too small to supply the
sheep.
But the great iron horse has found
his wa" across the State, and now
travellers complain Of the alkaline
plains" whose dust Sits through the
double windows of the trains and
irritatcs their throats as they fly
across the State as fast as steam can
carry them. Few Of these travellers
realize the dcsolatc lives of those liv
ing in the tiny settlements they pass,
nor do they know that before and be-
hind them are water trains bring
ing from distance the only drinking
water these people have, az we'll as
water for the very engines that carry
them along.
And little, in turn, do the people
living on this desert know Of the lives
Of those passing in these same trains.
\ bright little fellow recently inform
cd stranger that his mother had
taken him awoy on u train, and, he
said, with all tlc delight child takes
in telling of something wonderful, 81
saw tree =
Think of Il boy with his cycsight,
living in the heart of our United
States, who had never seen tree!
Yet many Of the children living on
this great desert have never seen
blade of grass, and have never eaten Il
fresh vegetable, except such as can be
brought from distance: while horses
COWS, sheep, and even eats and dogs
would be curiositics to them. They
know nothing of tho delight to be
derived from Il flower or vegetable
garden, nor do they know anything Of
life in the woods, or Of how the sing
ing birds build their nests among the
trees and care for their young. And
it is not the children alone who have
not seen these things, but often their
mothers and fathers as we'll.
Into one of these settlements,
where there arc five families aud eight
children, Il young girl has recently
gone to teach. The country around
her is level. there arc no trees, no
grass, nothing green. for the ground is
covered with white deposit Of alkali
which is death to plant life. There
are no roads, for there are no neigh
bors; and no horses, for there is 10
f'.~SS AoA W 81. NOih ACh
them to do, and nothing for them to
live on. The railroad on each side Of
the station is straight as far as the
eye can sec, but no next station"
can be seen, for it takes an express
train an hour to go from one station
to another. How strange life this
young teachers will be- How many
beautiful stories she will have to tell
these children Of the everyday life
elsewhere that will seem TO them like
wonderful fairy tales. yet arc true, for
she has seen and lived in them.
This great desert is not I'll one vast
plain. There are mountains and val
ieys, but they are bare and dcsolatc
A kind of sage-b bush and low, short
nrooc xphioh CrOwc crlx, Il,