The new enterprise., 1904-11-24


similar character TO be experienced
elsewhere. The prospector, the man
who sees most OF II. can describe II
10 you. He can tell you OF its heat,
its binding glare and the awful feeling
Of being without water to moisten the
parched lips with, but with all that
he can say nothing that adequately de.
scrlbes the awe that comes upon a man
who is there alone. There is com.
panionship in the very rocks and trees
of the mountains. The noise OF the
birds singing and the running water
cheers the heart, but on the desert
there is none Of these things. A man
off the trail, lost there, is indeed help
less, and well may one say God help
him."
Every year the desert claims its
quota OF victims, just as the ocean
must be fed by its list Of wrecks.
Beyond Its confines they are little
heard Of. Within them they sometimes
happen and are not known Of for years,
says the Chicago Chronicle.
Occasionally prOspector--he, too,
may be off the trall-stumbles across
the bleached bones Of another Of that
pioneer breed who had perlsbed years
before. A piece OF paper, an old en-
velope, or pockctbook may give the
data to identify the remains by, but
often there is nothing, and they are
put beneath the ground 10 mngle with
The dust, unmarked by any needless
formaity. Awe-inspiring it is, indeed,
10 come upon the skeleton Of some lost
prospector, Think OF q man, himself
wandering, uncertain whether he is
travelling parallel with the trail or is
to the north ar south of it, thus at
tracted. For few minutes he forgets
his own predicament, He stands over
it and ponders: Who was he? When
did he dley He tries, If he Is an old
desert prospector, TO call to mind those
whom he has missed and who may
have come that way, or perhaps he is
a newcomer and 1t is the skeleton Of n
man who prospccted there before his
time. BE that as ii may, to a man lost
on the desert the sight is awe-inspir-
ing beyond ability Of mere words to
describe.
An illustration Of this maybe CLEANED
from the experience Of two American
prospectors who had been exploring the
line country between Sonora and Ari-
2Ona. Gold veins, some carrying good
values, ere plentiful in the little ranges
which appear here and there on the
desert Of that region.
The white population in tract af
country embracing 10000 square miles
numbers less than twenty-five souls.
And there may be as many Mexicans,
and there is floating population OF
indians. These latter In small bands
dig considerable basins in the ground
10 hold the rain water, which falls
twice year. Twice q year sometimes,
It should be said, but more often only
once, and sometimes there are seasons
Of drought, when the rain does not
fall at all for several years. These
little accumulations Of water do not
last long, and when they have dried up
The Indians leave. Here and there
is an oasis where a white man lives,
always in the foothills. He is there
TO mine, and has, maybe, little store
and a few head OF horses and cattle
His water, perhaps, comes from well
several hundred feet deep, and is just
sufficient for his own purposes. Tho
Indians can get supply in passing
and a little 10 support life until tht
next water is reached, perhaps forty
miles away, but they cannot remain
and consume the little there Is.
And so it happens that there arr
fines when the desert is almost dc
nuded Of its inhabitants. 1t was cI
one OF these occasions that two Amer
lean prospectors were crossing from
the Sonora side CT the boundary lin,
into Arizona. They were out Of water
Twice they had been disappointed. o.
eac1 occasion the Indian supply the,
lad counted on was dried u0. III
bottom CT the chaca, MS It 70 called
was as hard as a brick. They ha,
been nearly Gag and half withou
water, and the arirlals at the last dis
appointment lag down and could no
get ~ again.
What an outlook! Surely enough I
stagger the brayest. The prospectori
old hanCs at the game, realized thei
predicanent. No tine then for delay
One Of them know OF a tinaja, or tan
Nvate-, il range OF hills about seve
miles distant, ct the south end os th
Cunsight rarge. After taking thel
packs from the burros, which the
fllly realized had made their last prol
pcctins trip, they set out for this, thel
last. hope. Hours later, for the su