The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-08-29

the fresh water lake of Utah. however.
be exaggerated or disappear into the earth.
thousands Of square miles would cease to
be habItable. 50
decade ago sequence Of dry winters
so decreased the volums Of snow-fed
mountain streams which are tributary to
Utah lake that state and national au-
thorities were seriously alarmed. The
outcome was that the Utah lake region
was made a government reservation. an
act which has kept irrigation companies
from drawing water either directly from
II or from its feeders. In itself 1t has be-
come a might reservoir, the Jordon per-
forming the functions Of q canal In car
rying its Eden making fiow through the
valley. The tapping Of the Jordon al
along its source. while fatal to the Great
Salt lake, does no harm to Utah lake As
long as the streams flowing into the lat
ter are not attacked the influence which
Is lowering the former win not directly
affect the fresh water body.
Nevertheless, the cause which makese
scarcity Of water throughout northwest
ern Utah. forcing the jewellers to infringe
upon the Great Salt lake supply. Is one
which has an effect upon every lake and
| river. From the proximity Of snow-caD-
ever, does not melt until the season Of
GRO planting IL past, and when the fresh
| cts come down they frequently do more
damage than good. The average of snow
fall. too, Is less upon the Wahsatch Noun
tains than upon either the Colorado or
Wyoming ranges.
Once the rivers have found their way
into Utah or the Great Salt lake. or on
the way thither have spread out into
basins, the assaling influence is that OF
evaporation. The Great Salt lake Is T.
| 200 feet above sea level. and its south
ern feeder lake is 100 feet higher. At this
altitude the evaporation Is something
enormous even with fresh water. while
the action of the salt increases the disso-
luton hundred fold. II water could be
preserved, once 1t had been directed to a
reservoir. Great Salt lake might hold its
expanse OF 1s7e-then, 1850 square miles
for numbered years to come.
Yet its eventful fate would be unchang-
ed. for 1t is decreed that the Great Salt
lake is not to endure upon the face Of the
earth. On the mountains which rise from
its shoresit has written the story OF its
fall of 1000 feet. Although 1t is given to
no one to know the number of centuries
which have witnessed the dwarfing pro-
cess, the fact itself has been made so
plain that he who gazes may be enllght-
ened
The successive STEPS Of the descent
from mightiness to comparative lowliness
are craven on the ranges of mountains,
which are within sight of the lake on
three sides. The fronts of some OF the
mountains have Appearance OF having
been formed by piling truncated pyra-
mids, one on top OF the other. The DIFF
ferent shore lines of the past stand OF
as distinctly and as evenly as IL a sur
veyors line had bee run along the face
of the ridges
The terrace effect has one of its best
Illustrations along a spur of the Ouqirrh
range at the south Of te lake. When the
body of water was a sea in truth. these
jutting mountains may have been long,
narrow islands. Either that, or else they
were entirely submerged. In the latter
event the surface has ballen more than
1000 feet, how much more no standard Is
left by which to judge. The line OF the
top terrace is near enough to the sum-
nit of the range to permit the theory
that once there was a still higher Level
above the crest.
That the belief Is Illogical is shown by
a comparison Of the appearance OF hihy
isIets in the lake, with the mountains
back for the shore line. Frequently an
isalnd shows. a single terrace. on the
line, generally, of the lowest Of the mark
ings of the coast range. The level OF the
second terrace comes above the top or the
hill, furnishing proof that the island. at
least, was once far under water.
No imaginary description can give an
ADEQUATE idea Of what must have been
the sic of the primeval. Its area, II
scientific estimate be accepted as facts,
certainly incdlude Bear lake at the north
and tab lake at the south. To the east
the wahsatch Mountains and their right
angled spur, the Uintah range interposed
an impossible barrier, but to the west II
may have spread over the entire terri
tory of the present great American des-
art.
Many geographers have asserted that
originally It flied the entire great basin
of which the desert is but part. South
ward, winding its way between the o.
uirrh and the wahsatch ranges 1t could
stretched away until its waters Tapped the
sides of Mount Nebo. whose snow-white
head Is visible from the shore of the lake.
at.cucI its fSothilss are a days journey
away. It Is well within the range OF pos
sibllity that the sacred titled mountain
itself may have been an island in the bos-
| nm of the sea. Some persons even have
dareS - say that Mount Boldly. away to
the southwest, was once part of coast
range. More probabilit yattaches to the
statement that Lake Sewer Is another
remnant of the great sea. II the body did
| extend this far to the south 1t has left
no evidence of the mountains. which,
however. are of a formation less ant to
be moGeles by the water than those far
Their to the north.
The greatest mystery about the tideless
ocean turks in the manner in which 1t
| subsided. BY the mountain markings II
| would seem that some unknown agency
made its force felt at regular intervals
turning out a portion Of the contents
| Of the basin with the precision OF mar
emptying q bucket. The power never was
exert.A IN It's entire force, else there
would be not so much as a strip OF WateI
remaining. II it was volcanis origin. ia
application in all probability was made O.
the region of the northward and nerth
ives ward OF the shore. each disturbance
| ----,s., . --,5a- ga q NaenAr WAY 70 ths