New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1919-03-14

| restricted by a brown silk tie; and II
two neckties in the entire car, and
they occupied, Richard observed, the
same seat.
"The beginning of the canal sys'
tenn"
ltickard looked out upon n fiat, one.
toned country, marked off in rec,
tangles by plows and scrapers. Far
ther south these rectanglcs were edged
by young willows. He fancied he
could see, even at that distance, the
CLEAN of water.
1t was the passing Of the desert. A
few miles back he had seen the desert
in its primitive nakedness, which not
even cactus relieved. He was passing
over the land which mar and horses
were preparing for water. And he
could see the land where water a
"That was the way Riverside looked
when l first saw It," commented the
other nan who wore a tie. "COme out
on the e II platform. We can see bet
ter"
Richard followed to the back of the
dust-swept, sitting car. The glare on
the platform was intense. He stood
watching the newly made checkerboard
of a country slip past him. Receding
rails which connected and separated
him from the world outside. He was
"gOing in" Not in Mexico even had
he such a feeling of ultimate remote
ness. The mountains. cOnverging per-
spectively toward the throat Of the
valley, looked elusive and unreal in
their gauZe draperieS of rose and viO-
let. The tender hour of day was cloth
ing them with mystery, softening their
sharp outlines. They curtained the
world beyond. Richard felt the sus-
pense of the next act.
1t was II torpid imagination, he
thought, which would not quicken over
this conquest of the desert. East Of
the tract men and teams were prepar-
ing the newly furrOwed ground for the
seed. The curved land knives were
breaking up the rich mold into ridges
of soft soil as u%ncOhesive and feathery
as pulveriZed chocolate. 1t was the
dark color of the chocolate of COM
merce, this silt which had been pill
fered from the states through which
the vagrant river wandered. The smell
Of the upturned earth, sweetly damp,
struck against his nOstrils. Richard
INDUCED a minute of whimsical fancy
this was California territory over
which his train was passing, but the
soil, that dark earth those blades were
crumbling, was it not the tribute of
other states, of despoiling Wyoming,
of rnvishing Colorado and Arizona?
To the west new squares were being
leveled and outlined. Shrubby rec
tangles were being cleared of their Gre
osOte bush and tough mesquite. Com
pared with other countries, the prepa-
ration for planting was the simplest.
Horses were dragging owe the ground
n railroad rail bent into a V angle.
which pulled the bushes by the roots
and dragged them out of the way. Be-
yOnd, farther west, could be seer the
untouched desert. The surface for
many miles was cracked by water
lines, broken and baked into irregular
sand cakes; the mark of sand which
has been imprisoned by water and
branded by swift heat.
Close by men were putting in with
care the seed that vas to quicken the
river silt. They were passing a square
the green tips of the grain
piercing the ground. Now they
were abreast of a field Of matured al
falfa over which the wind raced CRATE
Desert and grain field; death
and life! The panorama embraced the
whole cycle.
They went back to their seats. After
4 few minutes the other leaned over
MS shoulder, his hand waving toward
The passing mountains. 'ThOse are the
Superstition mountains you can see
over yonder. An unusually apt name"
"Yes?"
"Why is 1t good, you mean? That
bile of dark rock stands as a monu-
nent to an effete superstition. 1t is
he gravestone for a gigantic mistake.
Why, it was only the grOssest igno-
that gave to the desert the label
If bad lands The desert is q con
lition, not a fact. Here you see the
of the condition, the burial of
he superstition. Are you interested in
Richard was not given to explain
he degree of interest his profession
involved, for the stranger drew a pain
ul breath, and went on.
"Of course you are, If you are a
man. You are, l thinkY"
The engineer said he was, by choice.
Irrigation is the creed of the West.
iold brought people to this country
water, scientifically applied, will keep
hem here. Look at Riverside. And
We are at the primer stage only. We
re way behind the ancients In infor-
nation on that subject. l learned at
chOOl, so did you. that some CT the
most glorious civilizations flourished
spite of the desert which surround
d them. That was only half a truth.
hey were great because of it! Why
i'd the Incas choose the desert when
heir strength gave them the choice of
he continent of South America? Why
i'd the Aztecs settle in the desert
'hen they might easily have pre-
the watered regions? Then
here are the Carthaginians, the Toll
ecs, the MOors. And one never for
cts Egypt"
"For protection" Richard gave the