Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-05-24
IMPERIAL'S MARCH
IS EVER UPWARD
GREAT VALLEY BEATS RECORD
FOR NEW SETTLERS
BUILDING ACTIVITY PERvADEs
EVERY TOWN
Tremendous Pace Of Progress to Con.
tlnue unbroken Through Hot Sum-
mer-Trlumphant Rise from
Deserts Dust
. BY WILBUR HALL

Special 10 The Herald.
Ell CENTRIC, May 23.-Real estate
and business men of the Imperial val
ley say that never before in Its. his
tory has the thrush of prospective pur-
chasers and of settlers been so great
at this season of the year as 1t Is. now.
In spite of the fact that the warm
weather Is just starting to make itself
felt, every train brings in colsnists and
land seekers, and business appears to
be better than usual. To the extensive
advertising done by the various towns
of the valley and the newspaper pub
licity recently given 1t, coupled with
the recent optimistic report of Irriga-
ton Engineer c. e. TAFT of the gov
eminent service, are given the credit
for this condition.
Practically no Ill effects Of the late
financial depression were felt or are
today In the Imperial valley. Build
ing and Improvement in the towns and
villages and extensive and costly rec
lamation work throughout the farming
districts have gone ahead at tre-
mendous pace, and II looks now as
though there would be little cessation
during the summer.
AS an example OF the remarkable
growth along all lines in the valley
may be cited the facts that Imperial is
and has just let the contract for a fine
new Baptist church.
Brawley has voted bonds for a new
school house, and Philo Jones, man.
ager of the townsite company, has been
compelled to keep six crews Of car
penters for the summer months, his
full force, when he had originally In
tended to discharge at least three of
them.
FL Centre Makes Progress
Ell Centre is going ahead by leaps
and bounds, and there are six build
ings In course OF erection in its busl-
ness district now.
Holtville has two new buildings 60
ing up. Heber is about to begin work
on two buildings for business, and
ground has been donated by the Heber
townsite company to the Congrega-
tional church OF Southern California
for an agricultural college. 1t is UNI
derstood that this is to be operated I'M
der the management of the board of
trustees of Pomona college. Calexico
is becoming an important railroad GEN.
finished at any time by the Southern
Pacific.
In the reclamation of desert land
and the planting of crops the valley is
going ahead rapidly. Two new water
districts have been recently connected
with the mains of the California De-
velopment company by means of "a
large fiume across New river, and In
these districts no less than 5000 acres
are being put in now, with probably as
much more to be started this summer.
Frazier and Jones. the big Ocean Park
magnates. have purchased a section
near Holtville and put thirty teams to
work leveling and bordering 1t. Edgar
Bros. are finishing half section near
Holtville. The Oakleys are about to
subdivide piece of ground near Braw-
ley and start new town, and another
real estate firm is opening UP a town
three miles east of the same place,
to be known as Alamo. DR.. r. P. Shep-
herd, the educator and preacher, of
Pomona, has started town to be called
Meloland near his place on the Holt
Vile interurban railway line, at what
has formerly been known as the Glea-
son siding. II anything, there will be
more work this summer rather than
less.
Means Visible Results
Desultory and cheap work toward the
reclamation of desert land is vain. So
that when work goes ahead in this
line 1t means actual, visible results
the sowing of seed where no living
thing ever grew before and the cult
walton of land that for centuries has
lain idea waste and barren fiat.
The mismanagement that we'll nigh
ruined the California Development COM
pany, the break in the Colorado, adj
verse and historical reports by gov
eminent and other investigators in tho
early history of the valley put 1t three
years behind. But now 1t Is coming
into its own again and there seems no
probability that 1t will ever be thwarted
again. 1t Is estimated that in five years
100000 acres will be under cultivation
In the valley, producing, at conserva-
tive guess, more than $5,000.000 worth
of crops annually. This is at the rate
of a little more than 500 an acre. AS
a matter of fact the lands now under
cultivation in the valley average more
than SIS per acre a year.