Arizona republican., 1906-02-18

Gent in the supply. I am of course | speaking roughly. One quickly fails in- | to the habit of making rough estimates | out here. The other day I heard a | man say that in his opinion there was a large supply of rock left over when | the world was created and that it was dumped into Arizona because that seemed to be the place that would suf- ] fer the least damage on account of it. He was just leaving the territory and never expected to return. Otherwise he probably wouldn't have said it. Also he may have invested money In some Arizona mine that existed only on pa Ter.
 The people who live here will not ad init that Arzona's rocks are anything but sublime and beautiful. Some of them doubtless will claim that they are even nutritious. The old inhabitant that is to say, the man who has lived here for more than six months-local- ize our national anthem and sings with great gusto: II love thy rocks and r!ns."
 AS far as the rocks are concerned, they are always in evidence. The rills are inclined, however, to be elusive. Even when one is found it is likely to disappear suddenly. Arizona streams always flow upon the bed rock When
  } streams are visible. When it isn't the streams go down in search of it. Thus it comes about that a fair sized river , may sink out of sight at a certain place Ito reappear many mics away, and thea, after flowing along for miles as a de- cent stream should flow, becomes 1n- visible again.
 Aside from the rocks and the sand, 2 however there are in Arizona some a. ? of these is the Salt river valley, in the center of which Phoenix, the capital l is located. This valley is about sixty miles long and twenty-five miles wide, and the people who live in it are con- { vinced that 1t is the richest garden spot lon earth.
 t Owing to the lack of irrigation facill ties only a small part of this valley has as yet been developed. There is so little L rain here that it is impossible to raise r anything without irrigation. The gov ernment is now building a reservoir |. up in the mountains, seventy miles l above Phoenix, which will hold enough water to irrigate the entire Salt river e valley for three years even if not Q drop of rain falls during that time. There is, of course, no likelihood that the country will ever be subjected to q such a long draught. In the mountains of Arizona rain and snow fall with as t much regularity as anywhere else. And in addition to furnishing water for the S purposes of irrigation the Tonto dam, as it is called, will stop the floods that r have heretofore been more or less de- structive.
 r Everybody here is enthusiastic over the Tonto basin project. The only thing s I have heard said against it was the remark of a man from the east, who E had evidently just paid the premium on his insurance policy.
 s I'm afraid of it." he declared. Tt 1 sounds too blamed much like tontine.' '' @ I have been assured by a resident of s. Phoenix that it is possible here to raise IS six crops on one piece of land in a g year, and" he added. that's growing k some" Four crops would probably be e nearer the truth but even four crops e would be worth while.
 Is Frost is very rare in the valley and a the only snow the inhabitants ever see is that which lies on the distant noun - tains. In the winter months the tenn
 perature ranges between 50 and 75 de- grees. In the summer the thermomete ters
 explode. A hundred and twenty-five in
 the shade is considered fairly comfort
 able at Phoenix during June. July and August. Owing to the dryness of the , atmosphere. though, sunstrokes never occur here, and one enthusiast under took to convince me that the high tenn , perature in the summer months was really good thing, because there could l be a great saving of gas for cooking purposes.
 : Everybody in Phoenix is looking for 5 ward to a great boom. It is expected 7 that the town will have a population of 50,0OO in four or five years from : now, and all the indications point tc a wonderful development in this vicin- |, ity in the immediate future. an nm
 mense amount of land remains to be put under cultivation, the people here
 insisting that anything from the best f oranges, olives. lemons plums, figs
 melons and strawberries to sound lungs can be raised on it. And they have the 7 1 goods to exhibit.
 s PHOENIX. t If you're looking after sunshine that 2 continues all the year, [ You can put away your rubbers and c serenely thaw out here; |. 'Tis the fairest of all places that are . spread beneath the sky, Or the people here so call it. and. ot
 course they wouldn't lie. Here are all the choicest blessings tha
 God ever gave to man.
 The richest, fairest profits and tn,
 deepest. darkest tan;
 All the bull dogs are sweet tempered
 and the babies never cry,
 So the people claim, in Phoenix, and
 of course, they wouldn't lie.
 s. F. RISER,
 Phoenix. Ariz.. Feb. 6.