The Elbert County tribune., 1919-02-28

rance that gave to the desert the label
| OF bad lands The desert is con-
dition. not fact. Here you see the
passing of the condition, the burial of
the superstition. Are you interested in
irrigation?"
Rickard was not given to explain
the degree of interest his profession
involved, for the stranger drew pain
full breath, and went on.
''of course you are, If you are a
western man. You are, / think?"
The engineer said he was. by choice.
Irrigation is the creed OF the West.
Gold brought people to this country;
water. scientifically applied, will keep
| them here. Look at Riverside. And
| we are at the primer stage only. We
are way behind the ancients in infor-
nation on that subject. l learned at
school. so did you. that some of the
most glorious civilizations fiourished
In spite OF the desert which surround
ed them. That was only half a truth.
They were great because OF it, Why
did the Incas choose the desert when
their strength gave them the choice of
the continent of South America? Why
| did the Aztecs settle in the desert
when they might easily have pre-
empted the watered regions? Then
there are the Carthaginians, tho Toll
tees. the Moors. And one never for
gets Egyptr
For protection" Richard gave the
Sighted question an interested recog-
milton. "Was that not what we were
taught at school2 The forest held
foes. animal and human. Those ma
tions grew to their strength and
power In the desert by virtue of its
isolation"
superstition retorted the man
with the tie. 1--WE are babes at the
breast measured by the wisdom of the
men who settled Damascus, or com
pared with the Toltecs, or those an
cient tribes who settled in northern
India. They recognized the value of
aridity. They knew its threefold
worth"
IAN inherent value?" demanded the
coliege-bred man, turning from the
window
IAN inherent value" declared the
exponent of aridity.
''Will you tell me just what you
meanf
Not In one session. Look yonder.
That's Brawley. When 1 came through
here ten years ago / could have had
my pick of this land at % cents an
acre. They were working at this
scheme then-on paper. 1 was not
alive to the possibilities then; 1 had
not yet lived in Utah."
The train was slowing up by a brand
new yellow-painted station. There
were several dusty automobiles wait
ing by the track, few faded surreys
and the Inevitable country hotel bus.
The platform was swarming with
alert, vigorous faces, distinctly of the
American type.
The man in the seat beside him
asked Rickard II he observed the gen
eral average of intelligence in the
faces of the crowd below. Rickard ac-
knowledged that he had been struck
by that, not only here but at Imperial
Junction, where he had waited for the
train.
There Is club in the valley, lately
started. a university club which admits
as members those who have had at
least two years of college training.
The list numbers three hundred al
ready. The first meeting was held last
week in an empty new store In Impe-
rial. If It had not been for the set
ting we might have been at Ann Arbor
or Palo Alto. The costumes We're
little motley. but the talk sounded like
home.
The dust blowing in through the car
doors brought on another fiji of stran-
Cling. Rlckard turned again to the
window. to the active scene which de-
MED the presence of desert beyond.
The doctors say 1t will have to be
the desert always for me-" The stran-
ger tapped his chest significantly.
But 1t is exile no longer-not in an
irrigated country. For the reason of
irrigation 1t is the progressive man,
the man with ideas, or the man who is |
willing to take them, who comes into |
this desert country. If he has not had |
education 1t is forced upon him. / saw |
1T worked cut In Utah. 1 was there |
several years. Irrigation means CO.
operation. That is, to me, the chief |
value of aridity.''
The wind, though still blowing |
through the car and ruflling the train |
dust, was carrying less OF grit and |
sand. To the nostrils of Rickard and |
his new acquaintance 1t brought the |
pleasing suggestion of grassy mead |
ows. Of willow-lined streams and fra
grant fields.
"It is the accepted idea that this
valley is attracting a superior class
of men because of its temperance |
stand. 1t is the other way round. The
valley stood for temperance because
of the anrf of man ,,.ha hnd sot4Iod