Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-08-12


foreigner. with mixed feelings. as he views
and our country for the first time.
I'VE restless Americans, we are apt to
say. for a variety. Of reasons. from time to
time.
Yet 1t Is extremely doubtful IL either for
eigner native realizes fully just how
restless we Americans of this generation
really are: and 1t will probably prove sur
pr1sing to many person to be told that the
representative American of today is as
much given to moving about over the sur
face of the country as was the representa-
tive American of three four generations
ago, whose home one day would be In
certain valley and at the end of the follow
ing day across an intervening noun tain
range in the next valley to the westward
But such Is the case, nevertheless.
Home Seekers Still Plentiful.
For thing. the records of the weather
bureau reveal fairly we'll how restless many
of us are still to seek the west for home
steads, despite the fact that today very
little of the inhabtable public domain Is
unoccupied. Yet enough remains available
to home-seekers to keep steady stream of
them travelling west. Moreover, the division
of extensive ranches into small farms by
land companies and the opening up OF
hitherto useless desert tracts by irrigation
have contributed in keeping large part OF
population on the move westward.
For some years past 1t has been the Gus
tom of the weather bureau to furnish a
climate and crop service. Forty-fve OF the
regular one hundred and ninety stations OF
the bureau designated as climate and
crop centers and it Is the aim to have such
a center in each state and territory. to fur
nish a climate and crop service for that par
ticular state territory in which 1t Is
located.
Not he off 0f a
center collect all the necessary data to show
the meteorological conditions prevailing
from day to day in his territory; he Is as
sisted by many publlc-spirited persons who
keep similar records for their respective
localities, the government furnishing them
with the necessary instruments. Over three
thousand Of these voluntary observation
stations are scattered throughout the coun-
try, and all are great help to the various
accredited officials in their efforts to deter
mine the climatic conditions not only In the
various states and territories as whole.
but the climatic conditions In different parts
of a state or territory as we'll
The reports of officials and individuals
are tabulated and published every month;
at the same time the weather conditions for
each center or portions of It, are compared
with the conditions of previous months, and
al the end of each year summary Is made
showing the conditions prevailing through
out the year, and comparing them with the
history of previous years.
These same observers, both official and
private, extend their observations at the
proper seasons TO the growing crops. But
as the task here Is infinitely larger, they
are assisted by some IA 900 crop correspond
ents These correspondents are generally
intelligent farmers who all have an intimate
knowledge Of crop conditions In their re-
spective localities. The reports are tabu
lated and issued in the form of weekly bull
letins which serve excellent guides to
the agricultural conditions and possibilities
of the different sections OF the country. The
monthly climate report Of each center also
notes the progress Of that centers principal
crops.
Guided by Weather Bureau Reports.
Both climate and crop reports, besides be-
ing on file at the various centers. are dis
tributed free; and they have been seized
upon with avidity by thousands Of home
seeking Americans who are possessed of
the moving spirit in as great a degree as
were their early ancestors. Every climate
and crop center is flooded with requests for
these reports, and practically two out of
every three persons writing for them add
that they are contemplating seeking homes
in new farming regions and believe that
the reports will guide them in making a
tudicious selection. In addition other thou
sands into whose hands the reports have
fallen write to the centers for more de-
tailed information, and 1t Is an important
duty of the officials in charge to answer
these queries as fully they possibly can
In many centers the greater part Of the cor
respondence is carried on with restless
Americans contemplating settlement In
parts of the country far removed from the
places of their birth.
While the correspondence of tn eastern
center5 Is heavy with these Americans, off,
Gals OF the centers in many of the western
states are also literally consulted by per-
sonal visit and letter Over 80 per cent of
tie correspondence of the San Francisco
center Is with prospective home-seekers.
mn q ma ~.rYfl Of fha ont fnr tt,a
state of Washington is nearly 80. In tho
western states the spirit of restlessness
sends home-seekers from one part of a
state 20 another. and from state to state.
No Longer Restless in One Direction.
And this brings US to the peculiar fact
that we Americans no longer restless
in one general direction. and that alone
just as the fact that consult the climate
and crop service of the weather bureau
proves that we are longer heedlessly
restless, or, at least. no so much So
Formerly. and naturally. whenever an
American became restless-felt that he no
longer enjoyed elbow room: that better op-
portunit;es lay elsewhere: that he could
begin all over again with fresh hopes in
another part of the country; that what he
really wanted and needed was adventure or
travel-he struck out every time for what
he vaguely termed "the west"
Sometimes he went on foot. with a gun
as his sole provision against the future
Sometimes, with several comrades he float
ed down a river, whose general trend is
west, in hat-bottomed boat. Sometimes
he was one of a small mounted party riding
westward through forest and fertile valleys
swimming rivers and crossing mountain
ranges.
Later. he occupied the drivers seat In a
cumbersome prairie schooner; still later,
the first of the transcontinentaI RAILWAYS
| provided him with improved method
| of continuing his course toward the setting
! sun. Westward. ever westward, went the
| restless American for generations. For him
the compass pointed In no other direction
| But of late years the great fertile tracts
| OF western land that were once to be had BY
! home-seekers for the asking almost i'm the
shape of sections and quarter sections have
| been taken up; with the disappearance of
| hostile Indians and big game. the west has
| lost Its possibilities for adventure: IL has
| settled down to humdrum sort of existence
and elbow room is becoming scarce in some
| parts of 1t. So now. the pristine glory of
| his favorite stamping ground gone. the rest
| less American has taken to roaming I'D and
| down the face of the country In all direc-
| tions of the compass In search of a home.
| adventure, work or whatever else compeis
| him to keep on rolling.
Weather bureau correspondence and the
| records of land companies which have