The age-herald., 1902-02-02

From the New York Tribune.
 As in the days of "Pike's Peak or bust
 the old picturesque emigrant wagon or the Western plains is again on the trall' From California, from Nevada and doz- en other States long trains of them are trailing across the prairies and through foothil gaps for a common centre, the Colorado Desert, which is not in Colorado but in Southwestern Arizona ana oouth- eastern California. In olden pioneer days they would have taken particular pains to keep clear of this region, but Ameri- can enterprise is changing even this bar ren region into a healthy agricultural district By diverting billions of gallons of the Colorado River into canals that throw their arms over the desert soll thousands of acres have been reclaimed from what before was a region too un- healthy even for the coyotes Seeds that have suddenly been recalled into life, and now grasses and plants are springing up where before only prickly pears could exist As a consequence, hundreds of families are moving in to stake out home stead claims, and in few years the country will be covered by farms and Vll- lages. Where the canvas covered wagons are now creeping along railroads will fol- low to carry in timber for building homes, farming implements. machinery and oth- CT needed articles and the same trains will carry out the crops of wheat, hay and fruit and the cattle raised on the grass, which. already grows there in abundance. The soil Is naturally rich and needs only water to make it as fertile as any part of California. There is no winter there and several crops of those cereals which produce only once year | in colder climates can be raised In the new country each year.
 | It has long been supposed that the Col 1 orado Desert was rich in minerals, espe- l cialy gold, but few of those that ventur- l ed there to prospect ever returned Now | rich mines may be discovered to add to l the already acquired wealth of the coun- l try. Already gold and copper claims | have been staked out. which before could
 not be worked In a few years from now, | at the present rate of progress, the des- | ert will be as thickly populated as neigh | boring regions, and the Colorado Desert | will be only memory of blank spot on ! the old maps. One year ago the popu- lation of the Colorado Desert was esti- mated at about one thousand now it will
 reach five thousand.
 1 Statistics show that in the last year the Territory of Arizona has made great CT progress in mineral development and railway construction than any other State or Territory in the Union. Other industries have enjoyed rapid strides. Public and private enterprises have en- couraged the investment of millions of dollars of New York and other Eastern capital, and plans we'll under way are opening the way for the investment of many millions more. The remarkable increase in the population of the Terri tory, as shown by census figures that are probably altogether too conservative, de- monstrate that Arizona Is becoming pop u1ated commensurately with the import ance of her industries. Of greater import ance in the progress of the young Terri tory Is the fact. fully developed in an expert m amer by researches made in the last twelve months, that Arizona Is rich CT in natural resources than any other political subdivision of the United States. For these statistical reasons, colored by more or less sentiment, she is rapping loudly for admission into the Union, and no stone will be left unturned by her people to achieve success during the present session of Congress-
 First in importance Is the really mar vellopSr headway In mining The mineral output has not been increased materially If at all,a principally on on account of la Dor difficulties, but tremendous amount Of new machinery has been installed stablished1mines, aided by the output of regions newly opened. will give mineral production for the next twelve months which will be enormous. The metal output cannot be definitely determined on ac- count of the absence of legal require- ments, and for the reason that the re- ports of express companies do not include by any means the entire amount of bull lion and especially ores, shipped out
 This Is particularly true of the gold pro- duction Much of the yellow metal ia shipped out in combination with copper matte, and records are unavailable Most Of the copper ores contain a percentage of gold The following figures upon the output of the year conservatively repre- sent expert estimates of the mineral pro- duction Copper, $25 COG, 900; gold, $7,OOO 900; silver $2000,000; lead $500,000
 Railroad construction in Arizona has not been equalled in any other part of the country. It has been hinted that the activity in preliminary surveys and buir1ing Is due largely to a combination between the Rock Island, which is said to be seeking an outlet to the Pacific Coast, and the Atchison systems, both of which companies are operating in such mann0 as not oneply to violate traffic agreements with the Southern Pacific. It is probable, however, that the new roads are purely local lines.
 Agriculture, which is almost entirely de- pendent in this Territory upon irrigation, has made advances principally in those new regions where large volumes of wa ter have been diverted from the Colorado and Gila rivers and conveyed to new lands by canal systems. The Imperial Land Company has just completed a ca nal system calculated to reclaim A half -------------------.-