Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1901-06-23

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Brookfyn Eagle.
We comfortably assure ourselves that
tho American desert is disappearing;
that It never was much Of. desert
any way. and that before long people
will be living In the middle Of it and
sitting under vines and fig trees. We
know that land in Colorado. which
zebulon Pike and Lieutenant Long de-
clared. to be unfit for human habita-
tfon. Is now raising the finest of corn
potatoes, melons, and theories, and
healthiest of tramps, and that thous-
ands Of square miles OF other mountain
States have been redeemed by irriga-
ton. But when you go through the
other thousands Of miles that have not
been irrigated, and that do pot seem
likely to get any irrigation in centuries
to come, you have to confess humbly
that there is a deal of desert left.
Death stalks through. the desert, yet
death is clothed in beauty. Thirst and
famine, scorching heat and bitter cold,
follow in his train. The victim sinks
to his doom under a cloudless sky, with
= mockery of cheer in the colors of
the buttes and mesas. and the drift
ing sands half cover him, and snarling
coyotes quarrel over him, and after a
little there is nothing to tell that foot
Of man ever pressed the spot where he
died.
Yet the desert has it's life and it's
brightness and its gayety. Flowers
bloom there-the gorgeous blossoms of
the cac.us-and strange forms abound
in those same plants. The grisly sage
overs vast territories, and the grease
wood and the mesquite grow where lit
tie else takes root. In the river bot
toms there will sometimes be found
willows and prospecting cottonwoods.
Indeed, your cottonwood Is one of the
thriftiest of trees, and is one Of the
first to be planted when a start is made
In the redemption of the desert. And
here is wild life, too, the inextermin-
able prairie dog. seemingly the tanlest
OF creatures, yet n Of the hardest
to know by close acquaintance; wolves
that prey on the dogs; jack rabbits.
great Of ear and swift of foot; rattle
snakes. that fatten on young prairie
dogs and occupy their burrows; small
owls. and various crawling things that
sting and nip. Now and again, away
on on the crest of some ridge that
divides the sand from a place of green
and water. you may see an antelope or
a deer, but the huntsmen are quick IN
the chase, and these pretty citizens
will be extsrminated before long. Back
in the hills, where the gnarly mesquite
makes patches of shelter, you are likely
to find a mountain lion-not the fierce
creature described by Mr.. R~oosevelt's
corps of press agents, but a sly, stink
ing cat that is willing to let people
alone, unless she finds them meddling
with her cubs. In South America this
animal is tame and has been known
to sport beside a man on horseback in
the pampas. Bears are not often seen
in the desert. There is nothing to take
them there. They want small game and
honey and raspberries.
The Decline of Tombstone.
The most deserted .'esert is that in
the Southwest. Arizona is a desert ter
ritory. with a population of 10000. Not
only is Arizona sparse of population
but parts of it are losing what they had.
Tombstone. for example, which was a
place of 10000 people a few years ago
is now in its decline and fall-off. be-
cause there is no demand for silver,
and it was silver that made Tombstone.
The man who made ii. and was advised
10 take his tombstone with him
thence the name) tool out So. 000. 900
from the hills. and the Indians never
bothered him or his partner. and he
is under his own tombstone now.
Where certain rivers have been tap
ped for irrigating purposes they have
dried up below, so what is to be done
ADOPT that? Obviously the way is to
create reservoirs near their sources
and encourage a better rainfall by tree
planting. Where the rivers have dwin-
died, the population has to dwindle
also. and there are Indian traditions
hereabcut that point to the ancient fer
tility of regions hat are bare to-
day.
The indians are. alone of men. ia
miliar With the desert and go hither
and yon upon it, naked and unafraid
They have an animal instinct that
guides them to the springs n water
holes and a tenacious memory for land
marks, such as can be likened only
to that OF a Mississippi pilot for the
trees and bluffs and houses he must
steer by. These Indians are seldom
benighted at a distance from a spring
A.