The Colville examiner. [volume] (Colville, Wash.) 1907-1948, 1920-08-28
SLATER WRITES
To EXAMINER
FORMER COLVILLE ATTORNEY
IS NOW AT ALAMEDA
CALIFORNIA
Took Trip by Auto From COlville to
Frisco, and Made Many Interest
ing Observations on Way
(Omitted from last week.

the Sacramento valley at Redding,
camped in sight of Mt. Lassen, the
only active volcano in America, which
stands some 25 miles easterly. The
thermometer registered 115 plus and
at Red Bluffs, 35 miles further south,
the next day it was equally hot.
Travellers left the roads and sought
the shade in the heat of the day
We drove into an oak grove by the
river and found ourselves alongside
an aviation rendezvous. This was
government forestry division of
trained men who patroled the nation
al reserves in that country. Occa-
sionally a pair of planes would make
considerable height, reconnoiter and
return to the station. One aviator
in making a detour of Mt. Shasta
that day attained an altitude of over
1900 feet where the mercury regis
tered below zero. On returning to
the field he found the change in
temperature too radical to risk
landing. He signaled for an aide and
the two scampered away to the cool
slopes of Shasta to await the even
ing for a return. 1t was claimed
that had he come below 1000 feet
above the surface of the country on
that hot day he would have lost his
senses in some sort of a physical
collapse and fallen to his death.
This was one of the many dangers
in the life of an aviator we did not
know about. The pay of these SER
vice men is about $162 per month
or that of an army lieutenant. When
transferred to the mail service they
receive the basis of 1852 per month
plus cents per mile, for distance
actually travelled, which frequently
amounts to more than $1,000 per
month.
The Sacramento valley is vast
level plain which for centuries has
scorched under the dense heat of a
blazing sun. Where it could be cul-
tivated wheat was the chief product.
Deciduous fruits grow in the Sacra-
mento valley further north than in
any other place in the United States,
if not in the world, oranges and
lemons being successfully grown even
to the foot of the Siskiyou noun
tains. Up to seven years ago grain,
hay and orchards were grown near
the river, and the inland region was
neglected for many reasons which
govern in pioneering. These uplands
were, about six years ago, found
available for rice culture. lrriga-
ton systems were engineered to
cover these lands with the waters of
the Sacramento, Transforming the
country into great fields of rice pad
dies and made to yield one of the
richest money crops Of the state of
California. The seed is sown on
dry ground in the spring; fields are
then flooded with water which re-
mains sstanding until the grain is
ready to mature when the moisture
is withdrawn. When the ground is
dry and the grain ripe, the combine
takes care of the harvest. Last
year there were more than $4,000
acres of rice harvested in California
yielding a crop worth more than
$60,000,000. The capital for the
development of this industry was
furnished by San Francisco financiers.
In some instances during the dry
season the entire flow of the Sacra-
mento river, we are told, is diverted
from it's native channel. This ex-
cessive use of waters has involved
the irrigation companies in heavy
precipitated by down coun-
try landowners and municipalities.
1t would require a volume to re-
count the many big things that have
been developed by human ingenuity
and industry during the past dozen
years, almost any one of which will
exceed in value the wheat crop of the
famed Inland Empire. Fifteen
years ago the lower spread OF the
San Joaquin valley was practically
desert. Thousands of acres could
have been bought with few hun
dred dollars. Irrigation of recent
years has given a place to the sugar
beet, sugar factories have been es-
tablished and twenty million dollars
would not buy the sugar produced
this year within an area of the SIZE
of Stevens county. Corn, alfalfa,
sunhowers, melons and other kinds
of food are produced for commerce.