Fort Mill times. [volume] (Fort Mill, S.C.) 1892-current, 1920-07-22
MOTORING IN THE DESERT.
Christian Science Monitor.

Christian Science Monitor.
The deserts of the world are con-
stantly becoming more and more con-
tracted; and the motor car Is, Of
course. one of the reasons why In
western America, for instance, many
of the great regions that had hardly
been explored when men had to go
afoot. horseback. or by wagon, are
now easily traversed in comfort in
less than a day by enthusiastic pic
mic parties in motor cars. Wherever
one lives. whether It be in n mining
camp amid the sagebrush or at
ranch where tiny stream trickles
down from the mountains to irrigate
thousand acres. 1t is always possi-
BILE nowadays to go for n pleasant
ride. The stranger from the city may
think. as he looks, from the collection
OF brick buildings and shacks that
form the town, out over the desert.
that there is no place to go: but he's
mistaken. Somewhere out In those
hills that are so blue in the early
morning. there is n spring with a few
trees around it.; somewhere else there
are the ruins of an old stone house
by another water hole and every
where there is the broad country to
go tnrOuSn, WIN ltS nara, StTaiSHt
read that required little making.
a desert in America is not usually
a place of mere sand. The sand Is
to he found here and there in the
irrigated regions; but what IS still
barren is usually rather good soil
which lacks only water to make II
productive. Over track through
this good soil motor car can go
about as fast as over modern con-
crete road. That is one reason why.
even in this new era of road. making.
the concrete has not yet extended
much into the desert. Motoring on
the desert. however. is not to be ade-
quatcly Judged by what one encoun-
tcrs on some OF tho main travelled
highways across the country. The
Old trails that go almost from no
where to nowhere, for n hundred
miles or more away from the small
est settlements, arc sometimes tho
best for pleasure travelling. An al
kali fiat of just the right kind Is es-
rocially satisfactory for speeding. for
there the wheels of the car hardly
make dent I'm the solid surface.
AS ono speeds over the desert there
is always plenty to see IL one Is really
watchful. Lizards, locusts and rab-
bits, spears of grass. and areas OF
rabbitwood, with perhaps here and
there n small Joshua tree which Is
not really n tree Mt all, hut n kind
Cr yucca, all these arc more inter
esting from an automobile than from
u train window. Indeed, from the
observation car one would not sec
any of these varied details which help
to give n Zest to the motoring. Pros
rcct holes and abandoned mine
dumps of the smaller sort. tunnels
and rough shafts. with here and there
the remains of q house that was built
OF tin cans and rocks. these also still
show something of the old mystery
CT the desert that has mainly passed
away with the broader use Of the au-
tomobilc.
People who have been prcjudiced
against the desert, who have thought
of II as bare and unintercsting to pass
through on the train. need to motor
here and there over its actual surface
in order to appreciate II. With all
its baroness. there Is constant va
riety of shape and color, n wonder
full clcarnoss of the atmosphere, and
often n very welcome GOODNESS of the
air. especially at night or in the morn
ing. Motoring at night on the desert
Is, of course, best of all, for then the
eyes OF every animal, small or large,
are atirc in the dark: and, one and all,
what animals are there arc attracted
by tho lights of the car. Nobody who
has travelled thus at night could call
the desert really lonely. a ride over
il is quite different from ride In
II city park: but il Is n ride to enjoy
and to remember. Old prejudices
against the desert must. indeed. rap
idly disappear as its actual nature Is
better understood.