St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1898-11-19

L C~sACVAa 04u kAAG I'LL
waters OF their rivers in great pitche
OF reservoirs. and refresh their lal
whenever they will.
The work has already been grand
begun by the United States cover
} ment. Over 200 lakes have alrea6
been officially taken possession of |
the nation for the great enterprise
irrigation. Rivers that have been rol
ing idly through these regions, doir
nothing on their way to the sea, wi
be lassoed and corralled and penne
up until such time as the farmers nee
them. Under the same processes II
Ohio. the Mississippi, and all the oil
er rivers will be taught to beha,
themselves better, and great basin
will be made to catch the surplus {
waters in times of freshet. and kee
them for times of drought. The irr
eating process by which all the ari
lands between the Atlantic and Pac
&C oceans are to be fortified is a
new experiment.
1t has been going on successful,
hundreds If years in Spain, China, il
India. in Russia, in Egypt. Abou
SOC, 100000 of people Of the earth to
day are kept alive on food raised on il
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 O
industrious population. The work be
gun will be consummated. Here ant
there exceptional lands may be stub
born and refuse to yield any wheat OF
corn from their hard fists, but il the
hoe fail to make an impression, the
miners pick-ax will discover the req.
son for it. and bring mp from beneath
those unproductive surfaces coal and
iron and lead and copper and gold
God speed the biologists and survey
ors, the engineers and the senatorial
commissions, and the capitalists and
the new settlers and the husbandmen.
who put their brain and hand and
heart to this TRANSPORTATION OF the
American continent! Streams in the
DESERT"
But while l speak of the immensely
of the continent, l must remark it is
not an immensely OF monotone or
tameness. The larger some countries
are, the worse for the world. This
continent is not more remarkable for
its magnitude than for its wonders of
Yosemite and the ad-
joining California regions! Who that
has seen them can think of them with
out having his blood tingle? Trees
now standing there were old when
Christ lived. These monarchs of
foliage reigned before Alexander, and
the next 1000 years will not shatter
their scepter. They are the masts of
the continent, their canvas spread on
the winds. while the old ship bears on
its way through the ages!
That valley of the Yosemite is eight
miles long and a half mile wide, and
5000 feet deep. 1t seems as if it had
been the meaning of Omnipotence to
,rowd into as small place MS possible
some OF the most stupendous scenery
0f the world. Some of the cliffs YOU
10 not stop to measure by feet, for
hey are literally mile high. Steep SO
hat neither foot of man or beast ever
scaled them. they stand in everlasting
iefiance. If Jehovah has a throne on
.arth. these are its white pillars,
down in this great chasm Of |
he valley, you look up. and yonder is
cathedral Rock. vast, gloomy, minister
'niit for the silent worship Of the |
Yonder is Sentinel rock.
.27O feet high, bold, solitary, standing
,uard among the ages, its top seldom
ouched, until a bride, one Fourth of |
uly. mounted it and planted the ma
ional standards, and the people down |
n the valley looked up and saw the
cad of the mountain turbaned with
tars and Stripes! Yonder are the
'hree Brothers. 1000 feet high:
loud's rest, North and South dome.
nd the heights never captured save
y the fiery bayonets Of the thunder
torn!
No pause for the eye, no stopping
lace for the mind. Mountains hurled
n mountains. Mountains in the wake
mountains. Mountains flanked by
Mountains split. Noun
Inns ground. Mountains fallen.
ountains triumphant. As though
ont Blanc and the Adirondacks and
cunt Washington were here utter
g themselves in one magnificent
lorus of rock and precipice and wa
RIAL. Sitting and dashing through
e rocks. the water comes down. The
ridal Veil falls SO thin you can see
e face of the mountain behind il.
onder is Yosemite falls, dropping
i34 feet, 16 times greater descent
an that of Niagara. These waters ,
shed to death on the rocks, SO that ,
e white spirit of these slain waters .
cending in robe of mist seeks the I
avens. Yonder is Nevada falls. :,
lnging 700 feet, the water i'm arrows. !;
e water in rockets, the water in :,
arls, the water in amethysts. the
tier in diamonds. That cascade
ngs down the rocks enough Jewels !,
array all the earth in beauty, and :
shes on until it drops into a very !,
II of waters, the smoke Of their tor 9
mt ascending forever and ever.
But the most wonderful part of this
lerican continent is the Yellow :,
me park. My two visits there made =
on me an impression that will last Z
ever. Go in by the Moneida route,
we did this summer, and save $50 :,
les Of railroading, your stage coach =
ting you through day OF scenery :,
captivating and sublime as the Vel :.
Fstone park itself. After all poetry :,
exhausted itself concerning Vel
'stone park. and all the Morans and :,
,rstadts and the other enchanting
lists have completed their canvas. "
re will be other revelations to
Ike. and other stories OF its beauty 81
wrath. splendor and agony, to be !.
tied. The Yellowstone park is the =. :.
'iogist'sparadise. BY cheapening OF !"
vel may il become the nations play y
nnd. In some portions of it there ~
ms to be the anarchy of the ele- =
ats- Fire and water, and the vapor y
n Of that marriage, terrific. Gey- :.
cones or hills of crystal that have a.
n over 5000 years growing! In ~
ces the earth throbbng, sobbinr. 50