Imperial Valley press., 1924-10-29

the levee on the Main canal, south
of El Centre, where an cart bank
was holding back from two to eight
feet of water. that bank protecting
the whole county of which Ell Cen
tro formed thcIeenter. Traverss Gall
ed off al, his hien leaving the baiid-
ings to take care of Themselves, and
with his crew worked shoulder to
shoulder with the farmers gathered
there and built up the levees inch by
inch to keep the water from over
flowing and destroying tens of thou
sands of dollars worth of property.
And when the strain was over JAS
per and his crew went back to their
work of building homes and offices.
1t was all III the work of the pio-
neer contractor.
Great Activity in 1912
"When we came here in 1906 we
had nothing to build with,' said
Jasper Travers when talking this
week about other days, $50 we
shifted some from Imperial. That
was the real start of this city. We
Thought the Franklin hotel a great
place in those days, and Broadway
was Broadway, the Franklin now
being known as the Thelmo. The
greatest period Of activity was dur
ing 1912 to 1914, for the people of
the valley, no so many in number
then. had unbounded confidence III
everything pertaining to this area,
and the same confidence is to be
found again in the people right
now.
''There is an optimistic change in
Ell Centre recently-you can feel 1t,
and / attribute that feeling, that
expression, to tho fact that eonfl-
dence is established by the thought
of the great dam being put Ill up
the Colorado River. The recovery
in farm products has, of course, had
lot 70 do with the present tone,
and in my opinion the prices for
our products will yet reach higher
levels. Farmers are making more
money now, and | believe that due
to the fact that we had no short
age of water for the land and no
trace of the hoof and mouth disease
here the fame of the valley has gone
forth with redoubled impetus.
"What will have to be over
come is the shortage of houses
everywhere. A sign of the times
is the fact that there has been
more people come in the past
three months than ever be1ore.
Most of these are people who
are looking for suitable loca-
tions. a
u am sure hundred suitable
houses would be grabbed up. speed
iiv, for we have got past the shack
reriod, and people want to live
here and make it their home instead
of transient stopping place. The
gypsum mills to the west OF the
city are going to be a big thing III
our lives here.
II think the valley is i'll its in
fancy, and the youngster is just re-
covering from the ricketts,, but 1t is
going to be bonnie boy soon. We
are Just coming to ourselves. In
the 10 years I have been here l
have never seen thelvalley more en-
thused about conditions than to-
day, and things to my mind are
looking better than ever L remem-
Der them.
"We have confidence. that the
government is going to put in the
Boulder Canyon Dam to control the
Colorado River, and there will be no
danger of the valley ever being sub
merged again. The dreams of the
past will be fulfilled, and we will
live to see it. The people of the
valley are as one in the desire to
see the Colorado curbed, and as a
potential source of power the at
tention of the whole west has been
turned to. the possibilities, of the
great DAM"