Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1907-03-30

/ nG. aud reports the country about
Roy Is rapidly settling lie sac tea
nleu come In there one day. ave Os
whom located homesaeaas The o..
seFxaiion IL others may ae Different,
bat wherever l have beea the topic
most In the minds ut men seems u
he the settlement Of the e0uniry and
the testing Of dry farming methods.
Al the stations. On the cars. about
the hotels. the conversation lnvarla'
bly, drifts to these subjects. The
views expressed are generally opti.
misaic. but occasionally a .ioubting
Thomas appears. Generally he Is al
old timer. who has seen many dry
years and wants more evidence: like
the man from Missouri. he wants 10
be shown.
A. write in the little seetioss
house on the hill. the wind is blowing
gale. sacking the moisture out OF
earth and air. apparently giving the
III" to all the stories about successful
dry farming. but tomorrow. or per
haps later. IL will not be, blow,
| winds. blow"
A new story win he told. or rather
an old story will be repeated. the
! wind clouds will disappear. the sun
will shine out. ana the beautiful,
bright days will come. the gentle
| showers Of spring%ime will freshen
the earth. and elothe 1t with q carpet
of green. and then the 0ptimist will
have his inning. and the world will
seem brighter
Life. after all. is series Of con.
tinuous contrasts. Sunshine and
shadow. JOY and sadness. prosperity
and poverty. youth and old age. life
ane death.
He. indeed. Is a philosopher who
can both endure and enjoy II all with
serenity. accepting all OF the condi,
tions and vicissitudes as parts of one
harmonious whole. making up the
sum Of human existence.
Speaking OF youth and age reminds
me Of how my simple minded. unso.
phisticated land lady got one on me
yesterday,
After Il late dinner the wind was
blowing great guns and the air was
filled with dust outside. SO about the
only source OF enjoyment visible was
O quiet sleep after dinner. sng'
gested to the good Dutch dame that
had been up very late the night
before and that II she could show me
room I would try and rest. She re-
piled: oh. yes. here is bed. ]
know that old folks always like to
sleep after dinner" Cigars were not
conveniently near. so | will just owe
the good Dutch woman a treat. and
with many people owing a debt Is the
same as paying II.
have been interested In the narra-
tion of stranded passenger from
Cottonwood Falls. Kansas. waiting a
train for Roy. Much information
as We pass along may be extracted
BY tactful use Of the pump handle
His place Is about twenty miles from
Emp0ria. kans. At Cottonwood. gas
has recently been found in abund-
ancc at from 2Oo to 400 feet. SD that
his home town is Illuminated beauti-
fully by gas light He tells me that
In most instances the gas Is found
under solid limestone rock, that
when the drill breaks through this
rock crust it often drops down TO
great depths AMI into a body Of wa
ter below, which is often forced up
into the well drilled for gas, and
must be cascd off. The people in his
locality believe there Is a great un-
dercurrpnt of water flowing through
the country. am told that General
Adams, who has been drilling for
over a year on the Salado in Guada-
lupe county has met with a like ex,
perience in his wells. The existence
OF such body of water near Santa
Rosa may account for the Sotenos In
that locality. As my old friend. Pete
Roth, up on the Mora road. found gas
In his we'll now cased up. only wait
ing for the accumulation Of "dinero,'
to go further down toward China, he
may be encouraged to sink further
and strike this ocean of artesian wa
ter below Who knows what treas
ure Is buried in the earth in. around
and under Las Vegas.
Now that the old and the new town
have been by the legislature, refused
a divorce. what kind Of a scheme
would 1t be to get together and spend
some surplus energy in an effort to
carry the asylum well. or that Of
peste Roth or a new one down to gas