The Imperial press., 1904-08-13

! line. though now dvscrt, without ! water, is remarkably fertile, and, when ! irrigated. will bc adapted to agriculture and stock raising iu its most profitable forms with irrigation and quick rail. ! ruad acccS- to Los Angeles, it is cx- Y r-.ri,d that the development in this, ! inc Colorado River Delta country, will ! l,r as phenomcnal as that which took | place in the Imperial Valley, north oi ' the boundary.
 ! One ot the chief purposes ot the ! southern Pacific iu planning to divert ! iIs through travel tn a moru southeriy ] liue. and across a portion ot Lower Cali ] forniA, is to avoid the terrible stretch ot sandy desert between Old Reach and Yuma, the surface oi which is constantly shifting before the winds and covering ' the tracks. Water, tOO, is lacking along ' the present line frnm ludio almost to 1. inc Colorado River, and the added weight ol a water car has to be carried [ by each train over this distance, up con siderable grades, adding to operating cx- r-.ns,s in no small degree. \ saving ot thousands oi dollars year will bc ac- complished by using the proposed new route. and a productive instead oi hopelessly barren region will be tra- vvrscd.
 The proposed new route taps, at it's junction with the main line at Fl kio, lin this State. lands that have been Set aside by the United States government for the purpose of reclamation by gov ernment irrigation. These are a part of thousands oi now arid acres that will be irrigated from the proposed LAgnna Dam oi the Yuma project, an under taking which will cost not less than fS .OOl DlO. This sum has already been sei aside by the Secretary of the ln- trrior for the purpose, under the recia- nation law of 1902. This eastern . junction oi the In'er-California Railway with the Southern Pacific's main line Is on the Yuma Indian Reservation. Arrangements are to be made with the Mexican government for the passage oi . through messengers over that portion oi the railroad traversing Mexican terri tory without molcstation by customs officials at the two crossings Uf the inter national boundary. These arrange ments will be similar To those existing with reference to through travel at rail road crossings between the United States and Canada.
 TEN STATIONS.
 There will be ten stations on the Inter California Railway, the railroad officials believing that the possibilities oi the new country to be traversed war
 rant the contemporary establishment of these traffic points.
 Aside from the tremendous industrial development oi the vast region that will
 be yiiaIized by the Lew line. and tn, consequent profit that will fall to Los
 Angeles, as its natural com mercIal capI
 tal. there will be the attractions of [
 trip through two republics, with the
 same comforts and making practically
 the same time as ordinarily. Upon the
 eastern travelling public this fact VII
 no doubt have a stimulating influence as ii certainly will or the passenger re
 ceipis oi the Southern Pacific. Instead
 of crossing the dreaded stretch ot deser
 west oi Yuma, tourists to the Coast ma!
 travel by the Inter-Caliiornia roub
 through w hat will be the most famou irrigated region on earih-In fact, ti'
 two most famous, the C0achella artesiaI
 belt OH the desert, through which th'
 Southern Pacific already passes, belnG
 among tho. chief wonders of the lrrigate'
 Southwest. The only iorbiddIng deser
 left on the Southern Pacific overlan'
 route will be from lndio 10 the San Der
 nardinO Mountains.