Mohave County miner and our mineral wealth., 1922-12-01
Inside Story of River Conference
By Arnold Kruckman in Saturday Night Clos Angees)

Santa Fe, New Mexico, Nov. 15
 l922.-lf there is anything in the pop
 ular superstition about the ill-omen
 of the number thirteen, this day has
 fully justified its evil repute, at least,
 so tar as seven Caiifornlans are con
 cerned, who are here in attendance at
 the meeting of the Colorado river
 commission. It is not at all impOssi-
 ble that the bad luck which has be-
 fallen the seven Cail1ornians may pro-
 foundly affect, in a similar way, the
 entire work and destiny ot the com
 mission. While not very important
 in itself, the incident strkingiy illus
 trates why the labors of this commits
 sion inevitably will be abortive. Still
 more strikingly does 1t illustrate Sec
 retary of Commerce Hoover's abso-
 lute absence of the most rudimentary
 elements of tact and ordinary social
 consideration as well as political in-
 stinct, and it reveals the sadly-defec-
 tive way in which the state of Cali
 fornia is represented on this commis-
 sion.
 It is unfair to mention the names
 of the seven Californians. The inn
 plications of the incident, unquestion- ably, were not intended by Mir. Hoover and they are, of course, absolutely unwarranted. Suffice it to say that one of the victims is prominent member of the government of the city of Los Angeles, representing the city, officially, at the meeting, while an- other is g widely-known official of bureau of the city's government, also present on the city's business. Two more are engineers assisting State En- gineer w. F. Mcclure, Calfornia's representative on the commission, in a professional capacity, while the fifth is an official of Long Beach with more than a statewide reputation. The other two have adequate justifi- cation for expecting every considera- tion at this meeting and at least one of them is widely known throughout the southwest and not unknown national ly, in connection with the movement t9 develop the resources of the Colo rado Basin.
 Where this meeting is being held is a glorified "dude ranch, three and a half exceedingly dangerous miles dis tant from the city of Santa. Fe. In order to get to the place you are obliged to w1iggle in an automobile over a convolution of roads that dig , zily swoop up and down like switch back roller coaster and hang so pre- ,ariously to the steep sides of the res plate landscape that the passage of a vehicle makes you think of a fly over an eyebrow. The place 1 vas chosen for the meeting because { t is the only public hostelry within evenly miles of Santa Fe capable of housing fifty persons. Santa Fe it. , elf despite all its moth-eaten Spanish dating back to 1929, has lot yet reached that mature stature I ivically marked by real hotel, al- t hough it is the capitol of the state. I dr. Clarence c. Stetson, the secre- q ary of the commission, who halls { rom the New England of the sacred V cd, undoubtedly, was influenced to V recommend the place for the meeting r ecause he deemed it proper to com i liment the governor who entertained a i'm so pleasantly last spring in that e ,pen season for flagellations when he Penitentes nearby performed their c painful rites. p
 Quite naturally, the meeting has o rawn hither representatives and in- t luential citizens of all the states in W crested in the Colorado River. The S California delegation took the pre- o aution many weeks ago to make ade- uate reservations for its group. But t. then it arrived here last Wednesday,,