Los Angeles herald., 1908-11-10
LIFE BELOW SEA
LEVEL ENJOYED
SUBMARINES" OF IMPERIAL
VALLEY COMING MONEY
Unfailing Water Supply from Colorado
River Makes Rainfall Unneces-
sary and Heat Makes Soil
MarveIousIy Fertile
BY HUGH X. HARTUNG
Especial correspondence)

Ell CENTRIC, Cal, Nov. Giving
below the sea level is not only posi-
BILE, but delightful. Twenty thousand
mortals are lively, breathing examples
of the wonders of the California eli
mate as exemplified in the Imperial
country.
They are typical Californians, boost
ers all, seeing only the advantageous
side of life and proud of showing the
growth and material progress of the
new inland empire.
Lying below sea level the air, they
explain is more fully charged with
oxygen than anywhere else on the hap-
liable globe.
1t is extremely dry. The maximum
humidity rarely rises above what is
the average at other of the most "a
vored sections of the coast. Only at
rare intervals does it rise above the
minimum humidity of the great valley
and coast sections of the east.
Sheltered by encircling mountain
walls the valley is free from fogs and
people enjoy more days of grateful,
cloudless sunshine than is enjoyed IN
any other part of the United States.
1t is. of course, very hot during the
summer months. If it were not so the
soil would not be so astonishingly pro-
ductive. But the lack of moisture in
the air makes Ine MAXIMUM tSiiipCio
ture of the hottest days less fraught
with discomfort than is the sticky
sweltering heat encountered elsewhere
in the United States during the sum-
mer months.
In a word. Imperial valley dwellers
are quite sure the valley enjoys the
most euuable and delightful climate
to be found on the continent.
ONLY recently the government estab-
thor stations in the
district, and the world henceforth will
know the exact temperature from day
TO day.
FL Centro's highest recorded temper
ature is 113 degrees
Water for a Million
In California a common question is
"How is the water supply?"
Superficially hostile critics would pc
ouickly converted if they merely looked
out of the car windows of trains be-
tween Coachella and Calex1co. Hun
dreds of times the trains run over tres-
tie work which marks the passageWay
of small rivers or ditches, all Oh tneEl
carving the needed water volume,
though in all there is considerable silt
the rich earthly deposit which the Colo
RADIO river for ages has spread over
the whole valley of which 1t is the
great feeder for the valley.
The Imperial valley is the largest
bodv of irrigated land in the world.
It's water sources lie IN seven greal
states The flow of the Colorado 1or
q thousand miles is unpolluted by city
drainage.
A full half million of miners inches
are available, according to the llter-
ature given out by the FL Centre Ien
Thousand club" which is based on re-
ports from various sources.
hi on
lust when it is needed most, for in
spring and summer the melting SHOWS
send their greatest flow.
An acre of land can be flooded with
water twelve inches deep for 30 cents.
Three feet of water over one acre de-
posits fourteen tons OF silt'
The railfall, which averages ~
inches; a year, is a negligible quantity,
but because of the unfailing supply OF
moisture from the Colorado, is not
greatly desired.
Mines Open Market
Mining is attracting many visitors
to the Imperial district, mineral dis
coveries having been made in the Gu
cupah section, below the Mexican line,
about fifty miles south of CaleXico, and
on the west. toward San Diego. IN the
Lills behind Signal mo@ntain. This
mountain stands partly in 10th repub-
ucs and derived it's name from the
fact that the Cucupah and Yuma In
dians watched each other from its
heights in their long warfare of ear
lier days.
Adolph Shenk of Los Angeles, a
brother of Assistant City Attorney
John w. Shenk, went into the Cucupah
country eight years ago, when he was
a postoffice inspector and afterward
became postmaster at Calexico. He
and friends have since developed the
Uncle Sam mine into a gold PROPOSE
tion that is making good returns.
The mines in time will furnish a
further market Cor such alfalfa, hogs
and other products as the settlers. do
not wish to ship north to Los Angeles,
or east via Yuma.