Tombstone epitaph., 1922-12-24
PHOENIX ACTIVE ON EVE OF
 NEW ADMINISTRATION
By C. P. Girasib

the great Salt River valley. regarded in the light of a barometer of exist ing conditions about the state at large reflects a brilliant vision of het- ter times ahead
 In Phoenix may be found the pulse" of the state politically, Of course. but industrially as well
 Enthusiasm. inspired by actual pro ercss, marked every angle of the re cent annual convention of the Ari- zona Industrial Congress held in that city, every industry in the state be- ing represented at the gathering Twelve states. Sonora. Mexico. and the District of Columbia were repre- sented al the annual convention of the Arizona Industrial Congress. it was revealed when the register of the convention wes checked
 Tine states represented were Wis oonsin Iowa. Nevada. Tevas. Yer mont, Montana, Colorado. Ohio, Penn sylvsnia. Indiana. washineton and California
 Heads of Arizonas industries sub- mitted conyincins proc. that the state has v.athered the darkest hour and now stands on the brink of the slor- ious sunrise of prosperity.
 The mining industry has made greater strides toward return 10 normalcy than probably any other, but. taken as whole. the goal of pre-war standards is in sight
 Farmers Have Learned
 The farmers of the Salt River valley have learned costly lesson. and are rapidly retracing their steps to the path from which they strayed. Bales of cotton. three autumns old. and un- picked fields tell vivid. though mute. story Of a gigantic ill-reckoninG.
 The alfalfa fields. the herds of con tented COWS. and all those things that were crowded ont in the frenzied pro gram which terminated in the farm CTS taking the count from King Cot ,.l- hai r1l. in the valley of the North American Nile.
 Flow shares are now uprootinc the dried stalks of the one-time fields of white gold" and by spring the grim reminders of former folly will have been. for the greater part. eliminated. Cotton will always be grown in the Salt River valley but the King" pre- fiA will be lost through the increased acreage of diversified crops
 Orange trees and other citrus plants which were left 10 live or to die are now being carefully nursed in the hope of revivins the spark of life
 More Farmers
 Those farmers who. for their own satisfaction perhaps will persist in vindicatins their own poor judgment bv passing the buck for their failures to the Salt River valley in general. are leaving the state. but their mum Der is being more than augmented by new arrivals from other farming sections of the country. and they are not coming into Arizona to raise cotton.
 At Msr!copa yesterday morning. a veteran farmer Of northern Arkansas accompanied by his family and his children's families. sons. daughters. rrandsons and granddaughters. were waiting for the stub to complete their long journey to the Salt River valley Driven from Arkansas. where be had farmed all of his life. by the eternal gamble with alternate and sometimes consecutive years of drouth. this vet ersn and his little colony were look ing ahead with keen anticipation to the possibilities that lay before them ia valley of fertile soil and irriga- ticn canals that are always full. The old veteran was hep" 10 the cotton situation. and will follow his lifelong principle of raising diversified crops.
 He had evidently made a success of farming in Arkansas, despite drouths. and the Salt River valley apparently had. after careful inves- tiration. satisfied him Of greater pos abilities 10 the extent that he moved. families. bags and baggage. Farmers of this type. those who can contend