The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1912-11-08
THE GREAT EXPOSITION.

Washington, Nov. At San
Diego in 1915. will be shown for the
first time, in a comprehensive way,
what has been done to redeem a
wilderness and make it the most
fruitful region in the whole world.
From the days when Father Juni-
pero Sierra traversed on foot the
length of what now is California,
carrying the Cross and the gospel of
civilization; from the pathfinding ex-
ploits of Lewis and Clarke, of Ere
mont, and the Argonauts of 40;
from the days of the railroad build
ers pushing their cleaning trail of
metal over desert and mountain, to
this year of Our Lord, there has
been waged constantly a battle to
redeem a vast region whose prom
Use, then understood by only a few,
has finally become a realization for
the many.
And the realization, while only
partial, is one which staggers the
imagination to comprehend. Mil
lions of people now live in the re-
gions of the far West, beyond the
Mississippi, even beyond the great
mountain barrier that Nature placed
between the fertile valley of the
Missouri and the golden sands of the
Pacific, in more than comfort. This
latest-won province wrested from
the grip of Nature, has proved the
best and most bountiful of all It's
winning was difficult, but the reward
has been great.
To Show the World.
The whole world knows something
about the Winning of the West,
but there is very much that could be
told of the magnificent country be-
yond the Mississippi river, stretch
ing away for 1000 miles westward
and still westward toward the set
ting sun.
What reader hereof knows that
Louisiana ranks next to the great
states of the Pacific Coast as a pro-
ducer of lumber? Or that she is
the greatest producer of sulphur,
as OF sugar? What reader knows how
near the top of the list Oregon stands
as a producer of hops, or Missouri
as a source OF lead, corn and cattle
What richness the valley OF the Ar
kansas pours into the lap of COM
merce, which State has the most
sheep grazing on it's plains, what
rivers of crude petroleum flow from
the wells of Texas, or where the
most rice or wheat is grown? How
many know that in a river delta
richer than that of the Nile, the peo.
pie of California and Nevada are
growing the finest cotton in the
world, the best dates ever placed
before an epicure, and table grapes
that would make the mouth ot
Bacchus water? No breakfast table
to-day is quite complete unless it il
graced by the peerless navel oranges
of California, but California pro
duces a hundred other choice pro
ducts of the soil-raisins, olives
wine, nuts, figs,-more than could BIZ
catalogued in a column of this pa
per.
1t almost staggers the imagina
tion to take even a glimpse at the
wonders of the West, but at the SaI
Diego Exposition these great States
will present to the public visible
demonstration of what they can of
fer-of what they have done and are
doing, with perhaps some prophesy
of what will be done in the near fu
ture. They will present convincing
reasons why men and women should
desert the unhealthy environment.
of the crowded centers OF the OLE
and the New World, and seek wealth
and health, (Which is more to bC
wished for), in the great wonder
land of Western America.