The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1902-09-05

went down and down, in spite Of all
his efforts to save them, till they dis
appeared beneath the rich black, oozy
soil, never to reappear, he was still
more regretful. He had. nevertheless,
good thing, but he did not know it..
The bog was opportunity, but it took
another to discover 1t.
Eight or nine years ago man from
the East wandered down to Santa Ana
and there saw Mexicans and Chinese
hauling wagon loads of dried peat
about town, selling the product for
fuel. Peat burns very nicely when
properly prepared, and coal and wood
being extremely scarce in Southern
California, a number Of persons man
aged to get a fair living out Of the
big tule swamp The stranger had
never heard of the great peat bog, but
he asked some questions and learned
all about 1t. Then he went down to
Smeltzer and saw it for himself. Next
he began purchasing all the swamp
land he could buy.
Strangers Level Head.
Public opinion was divided regarding
the stranger. He must be either idl-
otic or insane, the people thought, and
the vote was about a tie as TO which
was the case. Nevertheless the own
ers of the swamp lands made haste to
profit by his supposed mental innrmi-
ty, and they eagerly unloaded most of
the bog upon him. Some of them, Her
vey among the number, retained part
Of the bog land just to see If the stran-
ger really had a rational motive in ac-
quiring the well-nigh worthless real es-
tate. They are now congratulating
themselves that they did so.
Some of this swamp land brought the
owners as much as $40 an acre. The
most of it, however, went for less than
half that sum. To-day the land is
worth $400 an acre. and off the 5000
acres which are being utilized the
owners will obtain this year a revenue
OF 100000.
Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Buff
falo, Pittsburg, Chicago, Cincinnati, ST.
Louis, and a hundred other cities in
the East are eating celery raised in
the great tule swamp Of Orange coun-
ty. More than 20 cars a day are ship
ped from the fields and the most of it
goes east of the Mississippi river. 1t
has taken some work and expense to
put the swamp in condition to bring
this income, but nothing compared
with the return it yields.
The first work was to drain the
swamp sufficiently to permit Of the
land being worked. In order to do this
huge drainage canal, IA feet wide
and II feet deep, was run from the
swamp to the ocean four miles away.
The lateral drains empty into this.
Chinese labor was employed in digging
the bitches and laying the tile through
the soft earth and the same labor was
used In clearing the swamp Of the tule
and other growth and putting the
ground in condition to be plowed. Then
came the problem, how to plow the
land. Notwithstanding the drainage,
TIE lands were still soft and spongy
and the danger of begging the horses
was not slight. The stranger from the
East was again equal to the emergency.
He had, in the course Of his travels,
had experience in navigating uTson
snowshOes. and he proceeded to rig
shoes for The horses on modified
snowshoe plan. Now the horses plow
the land. bank the celery. pull the cut
ting machines over the fields and car
ry away the crop in safety.
Cheap Labor Employed.
Nearly all the labor employed is Chi
nese and japanese. This is not so
much because that kind OF labor Ia
cheaper than other kinds-though that
feature of the case is not objected to
-as it is that the white men can not