Bisbee daily review., 1910-07-24

Oh q uiFect me, Nnlle 70 cross ines
two territories through the wides
part you must go as far as from
New York to Montpelier. VT. in tn.
case OF Arizona. and as far as from
the metropolis 10 Portland. Me, n
the case OF New Mexico.
Only one Two-Hundredth Reclaim
able.
The largese reservoir in the world
is now being built In Southern New
Mexico by the reclamation service
This is to be formed by the great
Elephant Butte Dam. set in a deeI
land narrow gorge of the Rio Grande
t120 miles north of Ell Paso. 1t will
be Of concrete, 225 feet high and 1856
feet long on top. and the reservoir
behind it will be forty-six miles long
and 200 feet deep at the lower end
holding enough water to food 2OO0
600 acres of land a foot deep.
The waters Of the Rio Grande are
being diverted to irrigate and make
fertile 10000 acres of desert waste
in New Mexico. In Arizona is being
completed the great Roosevelt Dam,
ESQ feet high. 1880 feet long and stor.
ing over twenty-five square miles OF
water-enough to flood 1880. 900
acres a foot deep. This will regulate
the flow OF Salt river. whose water
when needed for irrigation. can thus
be diverted to distributing canals
moistening 10000 acres. Other ir
rigation projects will reclaim so O0g
acres Of Arizonas arid lands. The
director of the reclamation service
classes the entire areas of these pro
posed states as arid land. and tells
me that probably not more than one
two-hundredth part OF the area OF
each can ever be reclaimed.
over 5000 ostriches are now in the
Salt river valley of Arizona. These
comprise more than four-fifths OF all
such birds in the United States. and
the climate and feed of the valley is
found to be better adapted to their
growth than those of any other re-
gion in America. Their chief food is
alfalfa, an acre of which will support
five adult birds About 1000 young
are being Matched out per season, a
record equaling any reported from
South Africa. These birds are pluck
ed every eight months, with an av-
erage yield at each plucking Of one
pound of feathers per full-grown bird.
and the feathers bring s25 a pound.
The annual cost of the enterprise IS
about $40 per bird.
One OF theseven wonders of the
new world, the Grand Canyon of the
Colorado. is a treasure which Arizona
has to display. The wonderful gorge
is a mile and a quarter deep, and
near by are the seven Moqui cities
while in the center Of the territory
lies Zuni. the largest pueblo.
Oldest Town, Church, House. and Ru-
ins.
Arizona prides herself on having
the Oldest town in the United States.
sucson. Ancient parchments discov-
cred in the old mission of San
Xavier. near this town. are claimed
TO establish the fact that Tucson was
settled about 1855, and that Marcos
de Mia, after exploring Arizona in
! 1889. made such a glowing report on
the country TO Charles successor
to Ferdinand and Isabella-that that
monarch sent out the colony whose
descendants were found at Tucson by
missionaries more than a century
later. This find enlisted Tucson in
controversy with New Mexico's
capital Santa Fe. whose claim to be-
ing the Oldest town on this CONT
nent has long been disputed by St
Augustine. Fla
THE oldest house in the world IS
one OF the sights Of ancient Santa Fe,
which will be the capital of the state
OF New Mexico. It also contains the
most ancient American church. San
Miguel. built about zoos. but destroy
ed BY Indians and rebuilt in ITO.
The adobe Palace" OF Santa Fe
was built in 1898. and has since been
continuously the official residence of
the terrltory's chief executives.
Spanish. Mexican and American. In
It Lew Wallace while governor OF
New Mexico. wrote Ben Hur"
But the very Oldest American ruins
are to be found in either Arizona or
New Mexico. These are the Cliff
dwellings along the Colorado river
and the Rio Grande. which were
built centuries before Columbus; and
approaching them in antiquity are
the mysterious adobe compounds,
whose walls. labyrinths. subterranean
chambers and battlements were lately
dug out OF an Arizona desert sur
rounding the ruin of Casa Grande,
now believed 70 have been the tenn
pie Of the chief priest Of a sect of
sun worshippers once inhabiting this
region.
Thus our youngest states win dis
play to the world the Oldest habita-
tons standing within the Union
-O-