Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1905-09-03
MANY LOSE LIVES IN THE
FAMOUS death VALLEY
Panic Stricken Fear the Principal Cause
Says One Man Who Has Made Many
Trips Across the Valley
Signboards Needed

that direction. knowing that if he
could reach the track hi ami his fam
lily would he safe. All night he drove
ON. hut in the morning there WAS no
sign nj the railroad, and SepIlycda
understood tina, the mirage hnd lurc'i
MN into Il tracklcSS waste of sand. He
turned toward Il distant range Of hills
and urged his team IN. hoping to reach
hem ami find shade before the heat
al the afternoon sun should come up
On them.
AS the outfit came to the crest Of Il
| sandhili blue lake fringcd with trees
appeared at one side ur the course, and
| he woman and children shouted Joy
| iully and thanked heaven they were
saved. I'nt ScpulvCdl had some desert
| experience, and he knew the lake was
an Illusion. II WIS Il mirage so perfect
| In lis mockrry that the woman could
not believe her husbands declaration
| that the ripping waves Of blue water
were only p,IlsaiinE pillows Of heated
air raising from Scorchiug sand. and
| she urged him almost irantically to
| turn from the course aud drive into
! The waters Of the lake. The man and
/ the horses were not deceived. aud as
| they went on The mirage rcccdrd into
The distance and melted away, and
| where the wave had danced whirling
dust devils arose ana waItzcd madly
across the desert
| In the afternoon thundcrclouds gath.
cred along The range uf hills. and soon
| the storm broke with crashing pcals
and vivid flashes. The horses reared
ami whrlcd, cramping and Ovcrturn-
ing the wagon, broke from the har-
ness, and ran away Tho family WAS
| ltit afOul in the land IF despair. and
nothing remained but await madness
and death
One of the smaller children was
missed, and i'm search Of the wandcrcr
| Scpuvc'ia walked to he top of y
swalc into which he had entered t.
look over The country. Standing upnn
the summit and outlined against thu
! horizon The man was seen by IL party
| pi miners campch not far away at Il
spring And So The Scpulvc,las were
rescued and guided toward Search
| light IIcarsc Of the absence of guide
| posts they had gone Il hundred mile.
ont Of their course.
| G. W. Turner former owner of an
oasis known as Indian Creek ranch. in
Lincoln county. Nevada, told me some
thing about Death Valley recently.
Alr Turner is Il typical desert dwell
l"r, hr"nzcd rs an Indian. icah and
| why. tough AS hickory, despite his i1
| years. anu with hair and beard as
black as jet. He was horn on Tho
Hudson and came ia Nevada overland
| in 1919 Two Or three years ago he
| sold his ranch and went to Oregon
hui il was too wet for him there and
| rtt IN no ,ln ri u.I
strange lure no man can resist when
once il takes grip on his soul
We were speaking of the seven pros.
prciors who were found dead in Tho
| valley in June and Turner said: 81
have crossed Death Valley often, anu
al all seasons. and | have learned
What il is thai kills men there. 1t is
fear. The heat is awful and when =
man faces the burning wind aud his
cychnlls arc scared by the glare of sun.
li.ht on the sand he thinks he ncvc:
! will lc able Ia pull through and blind
terror scizcs him. knew one man
who killed himself when he still had 4
cantcCn full Of water. lie wrote a
note saying that he preferred sudrlcu
death To the dclirium thai he felt com
inr on him. and shot himself ID was
the terrible heat that frightened him
] There are springs in Death Valley and
there is green timber in tho mountains
around il. One who knows he loca
lion OF the water holes can rct
through all right if he does not he
come panic-Stricken and wear himself
out in his blind haste TO get some
where. The sink might well he
named the Valley of Fear"
Almost without exception Tie trag.
cdics of the desert are caused ny the
lack Of guide posts to direct travellers
Ia water. and that lack is due to the
apathy and negligence of county Of
ilcialS in California ami Nevada. The
last legislature of California appropri-
atcd $1,000 for iron sign posts ana the
put them up and take care OF The
water holes; Only Inyo county had
done anything mp to the last of July
/ when public agitation following daily
reports of deaths on the desert forced
Los Angeles. San Bcrnar,lino, River
side and Kern county to make some
show Of activity
When the desert trails are marked
plainly, finger posts pointing 10 springs
erected water holes cleaned ont and
protected from pollution and wells
sunk along he roads. the awful stories
ni suffering, madness aud death will
end and the Valley Of Fear will lc
hcrcf OF some OF its tcrrors--Ncw
York Sun.