El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-05-24
- HTRERT HrNTER.

Gay what you please Of business de-
- preston and the unsettlement Of
industries on account Of the war. our
neighbor in the second house TO the
west is making money hand over
fist. I mean Arizona II any other
state west OF the Mississippi is max
ing money faster and more Of il than
Arizona, joy be with her. I haven't
heard OF il.
Perhaps money ought not 10 be
emphasized in the first paragraph. a
number Of other things come first
honor, patriotism, justice, the spirit
Of service. happiness. Arizona has
all Of these attributes and so have a
other states and several territories
and far Off possessions Arizona has
them all and is at the same time
prospecting amazingly in a financial
way. Prospecting without prOfiteer-
ing The Hundred Percent American
club in Tucson promised Ions rope
and telegraph pole TO the first
profiteer caught in the state. which
shows that the soil is very llkali 10
the money grabbing plant
ordinarily the word booming rs
unsa tisfactOry- tt has been misused-
II has come 10 suggest initiation, un-
Soununess. the hot air stuff OF pro-
moter. But in sound. true sense 10
applies 10 arizona The state is
booming and there is more optimism
10 The square yard in the sections
visited recently than anywhere else
I know Of
Phoenix Hits a Fast Pace.
Phoenix has always been the geo
graphical center Of the state and it
has been the legislative. financial I
agricultural center Tor tie past 81
years From 1913 TO 1916 Phoenix
had some dull years, comparatively. !
but didn't quit improving and eN-
pandlnE on that account, and for the
past two years has been going q fast I
pace. getting better every day.
have just spent the greater part /
Of two weeks in Phoenix and the Sslt I
river valley that surrounds it. il I
was the first time I had been there [
IN nearly five years and perhaps the ]
changes in that time impressed me I
more f0rciblT than they do the people /
who have lived there all the time and I
have some difficulty in seeing the I
woods for the trees
Cultivated Area 100 Percent Greater. I
WIS struck by rhe nearly 100 per-
cent Increase in the cultivated area I
in the valley. rive years aCo the I
farmed area was past the 100, 900 acre /
mark and steadily going up. Today i
a bout 100000 acres are in crops. Con-
slider what that means in terms OF
money That land ranges in value
from $50 an acre TO close 90 $1,000
D .
Phoenix. the size OF the tract offered
for sale and the nature OF the crops
and buildings Orange groves Of
course, come highest Put the aver
age value Of all the acreage at the
low figure Of $500 an acre and the
total value of the cultivated area
about Phoenix is 100000 This
merely gives the mind something def
mite 10 work on 7 don't mean that
the land Of the salt river valley
could be bought for s40,0O0,O00 or
even for SS0-010.000.
Mixing the Desert Produce.
With the extension OF the culti-
waited area. land has been brought
under the pillow in the past five years
which I never expected to see in
crops For instance, north OF the
Arizona canal. from a point near the
Did Ward orange grove 10 one in the .
vicinity Of Scottdale- there used 20
be a long stretch OF rather badly cut
land between the canal and Camel +
back mountain. which looked impos- {
sibIe. II lay north Of and higher than
he northernmost and highest canal {
So how could IL be irriEated2 But J
&c is in crops uow-alfalfa- grain,
cotton and ORANGES. That old wild
5esert Is gone There are fields there. Z
fences and bitches. stacks Of hay. @
rows OF orange trees ana homes Of ?
'ontented farmers They found Z
way TO irriEate it by taking out J