The progressive farmer and southern farm gazette. (Starkville, Miss.) 1910-1920, 1910-09-17

1t was five years ago-nine months before
~ the awful earthquake of 1906 when look
ed down on 1t from the top of Mount Tamalpas-
the splendid city at my feet on the south the
Sacramento River winding like silver thread
through the valley to the north, on the east the
far-blue of the Sierras, and on the west long
line or fog clouds hanging low over the misty
Pacihc-one OF the prettiest of memory's pictures
The view now is little changed, completely has
the wrecked and fire-swept city been rebuilt
The Isolation of Our Pacific Coast.
THE trouble with San Francisco is that 1t is
too Tar from the United States" said one of my
felow-passengers last night, and he was about
right. To get to II from the rich States of the
West and Southwest you must travel across
sheer thousand miles of mountain and desert
more than n thousand miles IL you come by the
Union Pacific. And this morning In eastern Cali
fornia was more than mile and quarter high
er up than am in San Francisco tonight. With
such rough and barren country between our
Pacific Coast and the thickly settled West Central
States one is inclined TO think little more seri-
ousy or Homer Lea's prediction that Japan will
ultimately seek TO capture the Philippines Hawaii
and California and thus win the complete mastery
OF the Pacific. Certainly | have gained new
idea OF the enormous difficulty the United States
would have In getting re-inforcements across to
It's Pacific frontier II the Japanese should succeed
in capturing two or three of the important
railway lines.
The Stirring days OF 49,"
This dry. desert-like mountain country with it's
few safe passes. also reminds me of the enormous
dsath-toll In the rush TO California In the gold
hunting days OF 40. Only this morning we pass
cd Lake Bonner. so named because by It's banks
camped great party OF the early immigrants,
the great majority OF whom died OF starvation be-
fore ever reaching their hoped-for FL Dorado.
And hundreds and thousands of others in smaller
Darties-fuSt he ord ols of
Heaven will ever tell-eft their bleaching bones
to mark the trail for other travellers only few
of them remembered even by one OF those mex
pressbly lonely headstones which / saw occasion
ally amid the sandy sage brush in the desert yes
terday. | myself remembered hearing my father
tell of emigrants from my old home who started
out and were never heard of again.
Enduring Hardness Like Good Soldiers"
And yet those days have unfaing appeal
for all OF us. They had their compensations in
that their trials brought out the iron in men. and
called forth the highest qualities of daring and of
perseverance till death Hosea Bglow echoed a
universal feeling OF the human heart when he
said: II du like a man tibet amt afeared." AS
we came through passes this morning hallowed by
these epic memories of the early settlers, could
not but wonder IL the young OF time will
be made OF stun rs stern and worthy-wondered
all the more as there stood beside me a lank pale,
bespectacled young descendant of these emigrants,
who complained even of the military training in
the University as "beastly" his exquisite ring on
his right hand and his ruby-and-diamond ring on
bis left marking him unmistakly as a Sissy" No
wonder William James begins No speculate as to
what shall do to develop qualities of hardness
and manhood In city youth-those who are so
unfortunate never TO have served farm ap-
premiership In breaking steers and blowing new
grounds and mauling rails. noticed in maya
zine only this morning his remark that
ITO coal and iron mines to freight trains,
A,kt Ia has It,k, chit
and clothes-washing and embarrassing,
10 bodybuilding and tunnel-making to foun-