The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1911-05-24

months at a time White men can
not endure the heat. Mexicans, IN
| dians, Japanese and Chinese laborers
are used, but they cannot stand it
long. 1t is equivalent to suicide for
a man to remain in the borax marsh
es for more than a month continu-
ously, and therefore the laborers are
constantly coming and going.
The PrOspectOr's Reliance.
The automobile has taken the
! place of all other forms of transpor-
tation, including the faithful and pa
tient burro, which was formerly the
reliance of the prospector in the des-
ert and the mountains. The people
down in that arid country could new
er have gotten along without the
| burro. He has marked every trail,
he has preceded every stage route
and railroad, and has carried the
| first food and other supplies into
! every town in the mountain regions
| Of the United States. His part in
| the development of the southwest
since the invasion of Cortez has been
more important than that of any 9TH
4 er being, beast or human, missiona-
| ries, miners, farmers and military
| men included. He has never made
! a complaint. If danger has lain in
4 his path, and his instincts are as
keen as those of any living crea ture,
he has stopped until it was removed.
No one can drive a burro into an
unsafe corner, or over an unsafe
| bridge, or into a stream that cannot
be crossed. He is as sure-footed as
an American sheep; he can climb
any trail the feet of man can tread;
he can carry twice his own weight;
he can travel all day without food
or water; he can find water sooner
than an Indian scout, and when his
rider is reduced to despair he has
only to turn the burro loose and fol-
low him. If there is water within
travelling distance on the desert he
will find it if his strength holds out.
The burrO is the most patient of
all living creatures. He is affection
ate, loyal and obedient; he never ar
CUES or resists; he never bites or
kicks; he never runs away. If he is
beaten he suffers in silence; if he is
overloaded he will lie down on the
ground and wait until he is relieved.
Nearly everybody in the desert these
days has an automobile, and the
roads have been laid out according
ly, but the burro is still needed in
the mountains.
Dreadful Stories.
We still hear dreadful stories
about men who died in the desert,
and not long ago the papers were
filled with reports of the narrow .es-
cape of party from the Smithsonian
Institution at Washington. But the
introduction of automobiles, the i'm
provement of the roads, the estab-
lishment of rest and water stations
and other means of rescue and pro-
lection have reduced the mortality to
a minimum. And the people who
live down there seem to be happy
and contented. There are many
thriving towns where the thermom-
eter hangs around 10 degrees day
and night, from one years end TO the
other. Yet they have hotels, schools,
churches, literary societies, public
Libraries, women's clubs and other
appurtenances of civilization, and
rear and educate children just as is
done in the temperate zone. There
are daily newspapers printed 280
| feet below the level of the sea in
fdesert where the thermometer will
average 115 degrees the year round.
The reporters, editors and printers
work with the same energy as in
the temperate zone; they print jokes
as well as serious politics, and are
devoting their lives and their tai
ents to building up the country, keep
ing people cheerful and getting rich.
You may be surprised that the
people can be witty under such cir
cumstances, but perhaps the sense of
/ humor is their salvation. Many of
the names of the towns found in the
railway folders are satirical If you
J look on the MAP you will see Arctic
City, Ice Cave, Siberia, Snow Line,
Sodom and Gomorrah, Furnace Greek,
Funeral Mountain, Hell's Center,
Fire Meadows and Birthstone Gulch
In Death Valley, in the most hope
less, desolate, dryest dryness, is a
| large sign inscribed:
i 4
SARATOGA SPRINGS
Twenty miles from wood.
Twenty miles from water.
Please keep off the grass.
Persons plucking flowers
will be prosecuted.