Gilpin observer., 1906-12-13
WONDERS OF COLORADO.
The World Should Be Informed Of Its
Marvellous Resources.

|
of the American Smelling aud Rein
ing Company, found eastern investors
! eagerly looking Tor places of sound in
vestment, and when he returned to
Colorado he realized more fully than
ever that there is no other state or
territory which offers such induce
ments as his home state Yes
terday he furnished reasons for the
faith that is in him and gave won.
derfuilv interesting survey of the e.
ant strides taken by the state in re-
cent years, and told of what is in
| store in the next year or two Mr..
| Guggenheim is a trained business
man OF sound judgment and his state.
ments carry force and conviction. In
all departments and branches of in.
dustry, in sugar beet and fruit culture,
in agriculture generally, in mining, tho
| state has gone ahead and it has yet
| good way to 90 to reach the zenith.
| The world should be made aware OF
what Colorado has to offer.
Il was never so much impressed by
| the greatness of Colorado as on my
recent visit to New York" said Mr..
| Guggenheim. During the three
| weeks ] was away | read several in.
terviews in the Denver papers regard
| ing a semi-centennial celebration for
| this city. | am heartily in favor of it.
| believe we should show the world
what Colorado has to offer. Our great
| need is people who will come here with
| money to invest or who are ambitious
| to become citizens of the state The
great need of the people of the East
is opportunity for investment and
| employment. 1t is certain thai people
who are looking for new locations or
| investments will pass us by unless we
reveal to them the world-astonishing
possibilities of this state.
| when | say we can astonish the
world ] mean it. | talked with a
building contractor in New York who
was employing men excavating base.
ment for SIPS a day. When I told
him the beet growers of Colorado
would pay $500 a day for those men,
and board them. he was astcnished
| IT reminded me of the days when Colo
| rado people doubted the men who said
the sugar industry in this state had
a great future.
| Il recall visiting the first sugar fac
| tory at Grand Junction six years ago
when it was standing idle, and hear
| ing people say the industry would
never be profitable here. Now our fac
tories have capacity of 10000 tons
of sugar every twenty-four hours
and beets are piled in the fields
because the tillers of the soil
have outstripped the headlone
pace at which capital has been
preparing to care for what they raise.
1t would take eastern people many
| years to accomplish what we have
| done in half a dozen years.
| Il wish we could exhibit to the
world the marvellous strides in the de-
| Welopment of our agricultural lands.
| Coming into Denver the other day
over the Burlington l saw scores Of
prosperous farmhouses between here
and Otis, 125 miles east, which were
built in the past year. The short
i,rass' country in Washington and
,tyuma counties is coming into its OWL.
All the way to Chicago l saw evidence
t'lat the Colorado land agent was at
work. | can remember the time when
Eou couldn't find a man selling Colo
rado land. If you were to tell the
Wonderful advance of the prices Of ag.
| ricultural lands of Colorado tc east.
ern people they would not believe you.
They need such an object lesson as
an exposition would provide. When |
told New Workers. tha' IL the past five
years the area of irrigated land in
northern Colorado had increased fiji.
teen per cent. while the aggregate
value had actually doubled, they
thought we We're having a boom
| told them our San Luis valley irrigated
acreage had increased twenty per
cent. and that over on the western
slope and down in the Arkansas val.
ley the irrigated acreage had doubled
and the value increased twenty five
per cent. assuring them there was no
| land boom nor any effort to make one.
you know in the East farm lands
are actually depreciating. II they only
realized what we have here, the
scenes at the opening of a government
reservation would be duplicated. Five
years ago what is now called dry
farming land, was being sold for
taxes. This was in the short grass
region of eastern Colorado and in the
section far north of Greeley. Now this
land sells for SO and SIS an acre.
"The Union Pacific railroad had for
years great difficulty in selling land
for s. an acre. In Kit Carson county
some friends of mine recently paid SIC
an acre for land that the railroad
wanted to sell five years ago at any
price. Two years ago ranches out in
Adams county were going begging at
s1.50 an acre; 10000 acres have re.
Gently been sold there for $3.50 ar
| acre.
"The Bijou ranch, in Ebert county,
10000 acres, has recently been sold
the poorest of X bringing $3.50 and the
best $40 an acre. Three years ago 81
an acre was the highest offer they
could get. In Montrose county. as q
result of the government tunnel, land
which absolutely had no value a few
years ago is selling at an average price
of $40 an acre. Over in Routt county
four big bitches carrying 1900 cubic
feet of water second in the aggre.
gate will water $4,000 acres. The lare
est of these bitches, when empty. can