Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1922-09-01
in THE GREAT
BARREN WASTE
MIR. Newton Astonished at Sight
of American Desert, Through
Which Party Passed En-
route to Pythian Con-
yention.
Especial to The News.)

Great American Desert, Aug. s.
Here we are, travelling through n
section of our country that few of
us have any conception of. / had
heard of it but had no idea of its
magnitude. In fact the whole country
West of the Mississippi is marvel
| to US from the East because of its
vastness. Travelling over the Santa
Fe, as we'll as ovor other railroads
entering California ono must pass
over this desert.
The term "desert" Is probably Civ
en- to it because of its unproductive-
ness. Not that the soil is lacking in
fertility in most places, but heonus.
nature has withheld from this por-
tion of the American continent the
necessary rains. The soil Ia dry from
the parched rays Of the hot sun. Riy-
er beds and gulleys are in evidence at
points along the route, but they are
dry as bone. Even the bed of the
Rio Grande is parched. Huge hills
tower above us and in the distance,
and it would seem that rain would
be plentiful but the soil in the var.
leys and on the mountains indicates
q woeful lack Of the refreshing show
srs. Animals arc few and far be-
S"Scii. AL OSSuoiOldl pTulTIc uOH ana
occasional herds of mountain goats
are to be seen.
There is scarcely enough variety
in tho scenery to afford pleasure and
inspiration to the traveller, who is
usually willing to gaze occasionally
through the windows only to soc the
same, unchanging scenes. Night is
relief, because it is our province to
HE away to our bunks and spend n
cool night in refreshing sleep, only
to awaken In the morning with tho
same views to greet our eyes.
In one of the large fields strotch-
ed out before us l saw the words
"Oasis" on large sign board saw
no houses near and no sign of life,
though there was an automobile road
throughout the entire length Of this
desert. What this oasis meant is still
mystery to me, though, of course,
there was some meaning. There must
have been water there, but it was
not to be sen fro mthe train, nor any
evidence of fertility,
There arc occasional stops, or rail-
road stations, and n few inhabitants
surrounding them. Then for miles
and miles one travels without any
sign of the abode Of man until an
other station is reached. Verify, the
desert has few charms for the travel
Ter, but it is worth the time of any
ono to see this part of America, and
to know the vastness of the torri-
tory.
The writer asked Miss Gwen Bris-
tow, of Selma, Ala, n member of
our party for an expression of her
views on the desert, which she gave
in five minutes time, as follows:
From central Texas, on through
Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Colo
rado and part of California one
crosses the Great American desert
vast waste Of sky and sand and
sage, stretching full red and gray
across hundreds OF miles of treeless
plains, winding among the towering
Dases of the Rocky Mountains till
IL reaches the orange groves on tho
shores of the Pacific.
AT first sight the desert is a neu-
tra!, colorless waste-ugly, hot, unin-
viting. And yet, crossing the great
plains, gazing out to where the sand
dunes touch the sky somehow one Ia
nnypnotized by the spell. The glow of
the desert creeps into ones being.
lie hes back, lulled into day dream
y by the very. lure Of the monotony.
The sages beckon him. The rray-
green mesquite in the hot sand the
cactus stretching it's gaunt arms. the
blue mirages at the edges of the dis
tant horizon-it all has sort of
dreamy fascination as it sleeps under
the e, arching blue of the desert skv.
Inc westemers love it. They saw
tnat the vast open spaces have
p,eauty Of their own. They tell us
thnt every man needs to. know the de,
sert-that when he makes it his
TREND he has found something that
tne busy heart Of civilization cannot
give him-something that somewhere
the East has lost. "''eio
II M M