The Washington weekly post., 1900-03-20
THE RICHES OF TIE DESERT.
"oid, silver, Lead, Iron, and Conner All
Found in The Mojaye sand,


From the New York sur.
The train was rushing over tho ubi,o
MoJaVe desert, trail of sand and dust
oe"ihd' an eternity Of dust in the dis
lance. coming sandstorm high in tho sfr
.,i ne thermometer was dancing a Highland
hihg' 10 degrees, perhaps, anywhere Won
'housht IL might be, and the heat waves
rose from the sands.
II wouldn't care to own this land >, m
marked a tourist
Why asked Californian
1t is so absolutely worthless"
There's just where YOU Eastern nao-
pie are mistaken" said the native. "Tr,le
IhIS lsh The most beautiful part of Cali
formal like Los Angeles better myself
but l can tell you. TO one is going n givs
you this desert this year WHY. all il
wants is water TO convert il into the gar
den spot of the world"
That's true of Hades," retorted the
stranger, but the trouble is YOU haven't
the water and you're not going TO gat r
here"
Wrong again." said the Californian
They are finding the finest kind of ar
teslan water all over the desert Some day
you'll find this desert a banana orchard:
able mines in the State are on the deser-
Inc land that water has been put on has
been found 10 be very rich. and fruit
fipehs hVe or six weeks earlier here than
anywhere else. The desert is rich in gold
SILVER copper, lead, and iron; you don't
happen TO see il from the cars, bur its
theie all right Dozens of paying gold
mines are being worked on the desert
j llGnnEt mil in h.
Is rlght IN such place as this. and not
lar away. Ihe iron lies around like sand
and is preferred in the fine work on the
cruisers 10 all others. over beyond here
ihey raise trees, yuccas, that are ground
up ana sent 10 England, where they DriuI
papers on ii. Down at IVanpah-that's a
town right on the desert, a red-hOI place
lhey nave started a copper mine; began
this year, and it's panned out $4,000 profit
SO lar | suppose you wouldn't refuse
tnat! And II you want TO bet I'll go YOU
any amount that within a year there'H
be dozen copper mines at work on the
desert, Why, the desert is Just rolling In
wealth all ready 10 be picked I'd. rs
warm, I'll agree TO that, but there are
hotter places When YOU come 10 silver
mines, there are lots of them on the desert
at Barstow and Calico. In the worst part
Of the desert, in the hills over heVlnd
DaggetL is the most valuable borax de-
pOsit in any land. About go people are
working at 1t, and they think they are in
great luck. You can't touch the bOraX
king who owns il with a ten-foOt pole.
He makes thousands out of it,
II you want 10 see the greatest sight
IN America continued the enthusiastic
Californian, ''in the Wav of a salt mina
go down TO Salton, on the desert There
they plow II out; and there are acres OF
salt, pure and white as snow. | know an
other desert landhOlder who gets a crop
Of bitumen; another gets Dhosphates; an
other asbestos; arother has a sulphur
deposit; and still another takes out ey2-
sum, all on the desert, and the great
waste has just begun 10 be known. There's
enough gold and silver and copper lyiu..
in that desert 10 make hundreds of men
milliOnaires, and it's going "a be found
yet And added the Californian. there's
another side TO il; it's hot, but its the
healthiest place on earth. People are liv-
ing here now who would be dead in Il
few months anywhere else.
Then look Al the cUriosities." he went
on. Take Salton, way down below the
level Of the sea Ten years ago IL was
one Of the wonders OF the country. Sal
ton is $50 feet lower than sea Level
curious sort of a place. All al once the
men at the salt Stauon heard thai m
Indians said the whole sink was fun once
and was going TO NIL up again and they
began To take 10 the mountains until not
one was left, That there was sonnet hin.
~ what the Indians said any one who has
>
water line and the old fish traps made OF
rock. along the shore line The white men
didn't take much stock in the story. bur
one day they found water running into
the desert from New River, and IN a few
weeks there was an inland sea on the Mo
lave desert that you couldn't see across
and il came down into SalIOn and threa-
ned 10 ruin the salt works There IL
-taid for a month or two, one Of the Won
iers or the country, and thousands visit
I'd H.
Then" said the Californian, there's
the town Of Indio on the desert THAT'S
many feet below the sea level, and few
miles from there IL blows 50 hard that
hey'ye started a wiTd ground-ClasS fac
tory All they do Is TO set the glass Out-
doors and the first sandstOrm g-iEds il
All right
Down al Palm Springs they have A
palm tree forest that is a desert attrac-
ion. How the trees got there no one
Knows. but there are hundreds OF theE
Some people live there one man told
ne that in summer he spent most Of the
line lying in an irrigation ditch, lt was
bat or roast; and in some places on tn
iesert the nights are so cold you feel a.
hough you'd freeze 10 death. ] tell YOU
ne desert Is a great place. II isn't eX-
ictly a summer resort, but for actual |
,alue Of resources IL will go ahead of
many like areas In the richest parts OF |
America" |