The Cairo bulletin., 1905-05-15
SAND OF The DESERT.
The Wind sports with II and work
Curious Ehects.

Curious Ehects.
As mysterious. as uncomfortable, as
treacherous and as entertaining as the
vast ocean which lies only a few
leagues west Of its borders is the great
sea of sand which forms large por-
lion OF CALIFORNIA; greatest desert
known. because of its proximity to the
river Of chat name, as the Colorado
desert.
This desert is the winds favorite
lplay He comes over the noun
tains from plowlnS the mighty deep
and works strange fancies in the pli-
able sands: be duplicates The great
pillows OF the turbulent ocean: he lml-
tates the ripping waves OF the placid
sea; be caryas ana builds and plays
at artist. sculptor ana gcometrieian.
When he becomes weary Of his sports
he lashes himself to fury and losses
the sand a mile high in the air and
| filings it broadcast over all the plain,
/ whlrllng ana hurting the particles till
/ he obscures tile sun ana brings Il SUI
/ locating darkness to the land.
| on the Gust side of the desert be Is
at present busy engulfng a railroad.
| Already he has buried many Of the
| telegraph poles which stand along the
way. and he hes invaded the right of
way of the road, ami the company is
busily fighting 70 hold possession until
a new line, which Is being built around
| the intru,iing hills, shall be oompleteda
Then the rolling pillows Of sand viii
be allowed to sweep on undisputed
In the southwestern portion of the
| same desert is another range of travel
/ ing hills. These are more wonderful.
/ however, than the ones which are men
| acing the railroad, for upon these hills
the wind has practiced his skill at
| carving geometrical figures These
hills are known as the Crescent hills.
Each is tie shape Of 4 true crescent,
the points Of which are toward the
east. 4 Hill which ~ fifty feet nigh II
found to be 100 feet thick at the base
ard 200 feet from point to point Of the
duplicate horns OF the crescent If a
|
mansions will be found TO have dou-
hled also Little and big, they keep
their proportions as they move slowly
across the plain
In crossing the desert one frequently
finds footprints Of men and animals
not indented in tie yielding sands, but
standing above the level OF the eartl
supported by tiny sand columns sS
inches to one foot In height This phe
nofnenon IL easily accounted fol- The
( SO called sand OF the Colorado desert
is really fine particles Of SILT for that
region was at one time the bottom OF
. the gulf OF California when that body
Of water extended north couple 81
hundred miles farther than at the pres
ent time. There are certain adhesive
! properties To this SILT and under thC
weight OF nun Or beast the particle,
\ cling together and become stationary
instead Of continually drifting befor,
the wind, which continues its work o
\ erosion upon the impressed soil abeu
Y the tracks, soon leaving them STRANDED
u In the air. Thus the footprints I'd TIL
sands &c timc7 become monuments 3
passing events.
1 in Death valley the phenomenon /
reversed. There forty years after
wagon party went 70 its death IN tina
4 valley the course Of the party was cas-
Y NY traced by the tracks mode fou
Z decades before Here Tie peculiar na
ture Of the soil was such Az to proven
) erosion Of the earth about the tracks
= The winds catried continually over til
soil sand brought from another part Q
the valley, often filing the ruts ana q
often emptying them again. 1t wa
4 only d few years ago that the trail 3
"tlie Pathfinder John 81 Fremon
was easy to follow across a portion {
the Mojaye desert in region posses
ed Of similar formation. Many an
many O time was the trail coverc
inches deep beneath drifting sands, Of
ii ly to be again rescued from slbme
sion BY the same tickle winds
In many places in the desert has Il
wind left his autograph In sand rifle
M and sinuous, ripping waves, like Il
~ waves Of a sheet of water when Il
NJ gentle breezes set them dancing
playful mood or like the rifles upC
the surface Of pebble fretted strear
New York Tribune
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