Norwich bulletin., 1916-07-18
THE WAR PRIMER By National Geographic Society

Water on The Border-"One of the greatest problems facing the officers rushed to the Mexican border is how to keep their men and horses supplied with water says tOday's war geOgra- phy bulletin issued at Washington by the National Geographic Society.
 While the water question is q ser iOUs one throughout a wide zone on both banks of the HOO mile Rio Grande boundary, it is vastly more i'm pOrtaut along the 700 mile line eN- tending from Fl PasO to the Pacific Throughout the latter section the aver age rainfall dCes not exceed eight inches a year. while in some parts of the Yuma dessert there have been drOughts when the aggregate rainfall for twelve months has been less than -fOurths Of an inch.
 "ThrOughCut this region there are two sO-caIIed rainy seasons the more important being that which extends from the first of July to the middle of September
 For the next two months our border soldiers will witness a remarkable growth fof vegetation, the moisture and the intense heat combining to cause grass, grain, fruits and flowers to spring to life and maturity as if quick ened by some magic of a wizards s wand. All growing things of the soil will experience spring, summer and autumn in the space of three months Then leaves and grass, shrubs and vines will shriVeI as the clouds disap- pear and a brazen sky once more can Opies a region of silence, solitude and sunshine
 Between the Rio Grande and the Pacific Coast the international bOun- dary line crosses only five running vC nf tbpCp in the yVpET- ward journey being in the San Der nardinO valley, 192 miles from Fl PasO, where thousands of cattle find excel lent pasturagc. Just south of the line, along the BernaTdino Creek, a tribu- tary of the Yaqui River, are the ruins of an adobe fort, a relic of an eXten- sive settlement in the days of Spanish dominion in the New World.
 Even where running water is found along this frontier it is not always conveniently available for irrigation purposes. For example, the San Pedro River, which crosses the boundary midway between Douglas and Nogales, Arizona has cut so deeply into the soil that the bed of the 15 foot stream is now far below the surrounding land, making gravity irrigation Impossible.
 "The Santa Cruz River, further west crosses the boundary twice, rising north of the line, flowing south for a distance of Is miles into Mexico, re- turning to Arizona and finally disap- bearing in the sands north of Tu5cOn, about 75 miles from the border.
 Beyond the Santa Cruz the bOunda- ry line crosses a resert region where the intelligent, peaCe-lOVing PapagOs Indians lead a strange existence, con centrating all their agricultural aCtiv- itieS in the three or four rainy season months when the land becomes an in tenSiVe-culture garden of great fer tility. With the first clouds of June the natives rush to their 'tempOrales, small tracts of land in the vicinity of natural or artificial water holes, where shallow irrigation ditches are dug and where quickly maturing beans, pump kinS, melons and Indian corn are planted. One of the chief articles of food in this region is the fruit of a giant cactus, which TlpenS in June and July. It is eaten fresh, is died for winter, boiled and preserved, and made into Q syrup, while a considerable DOT tiOn of the annual yield is converted into a much prized intoxicating bever- age. After tho summer harvest the PapagOs migrate to the mountains where they gather acOrns for food. Tn lean years they sUibsist largely on mesquite beans and certain varieties of grass seed.
 '@These Indians are constantly sus- tained in their hard battle for existence by the belief that their Messiah, whom they call sAIoCteZuma,' will come some day 10 correct all, abuses and make the desert his garden of paradise. The entrance to their abode hutS face the east so that the great benefactor will find all doOrs open when he comes with the rising sun.
 The heat in the desert regions dur ing the summer months Is overpOw- ering. Government surveying parties have had to endure 118 degrees, Fah- renheit, in the shade, while the gTada- tiOns Of the ordinary thermometer are not sufficiently high to record the ter rife heat in the sun, which has been known to reach 150 degrees.
 On the eastern slope of the Sierra de TtnaJas Atlas, three miles north of the boundary line, there is an exten- sive seni-circuIar ampllttheater in the midst of which is a series of cur ious reservoirs. Here seven great nat ural tanks have been carved from the rocks in the course of centuries by water 4tumbung down a narrow gorge during the rainy season. These tanks have 6 capacity of from. IS ,000 to@20,- 900 gallons and the water which they catch each summer is protected from evaporation by overhanging cliffs.
 Some of these tanks can be reached only after a d1f1cult climb, and the imaginative traveller can readily picture the many Tanta1us tragedies which occurred l1ere during the great gold rushes of the hfties' and the sixties Numerous crosses of stone in the vicinity mark the graves of r those ,perishing Drospectors who req ched the great reservoirs but who had not sufficient reserve strength to scale the rocks and place their parc1Ded lips to the rim of these giant beakers of nfegiving water.
 '"The heat and dryness of the atnros- phere in this desert land induce such profuse precipitation that both men and horses require an abnormal quantity, of water, the average for men being ssev- en quarts a. day and for mules and horgess20 gaHone "'s