Imperial Valley press., 1926-05-13

THE insect life of those early
, days had to he rcckoncd with, too.
Fortunately, astdc from flies, they
did not bother much in the day time,
but when candies and coal oil lamps
were lit, they seemed to come IN
herds from all corners of the
globe FLYING ones, crawling ones,
tat ones and skinny ones, hard she'll
and soft she'll, big and l,ttlc, Many
Of them, particularly the crickcts,
net their doom Pickering around
the large are lights, that in later
years were placed in the corners Of
the streets
"Of course. there were 10 walks.
People had to literally wade in the
sand five and six inches deep. The
country roads were little more than
paths, often entirely oblitcrated
after wind storm. 10 drive from
one town To another and transact Il
little business WIS an "alldav .job =
As years went on, the roads were
doubled in sic permitting of floed-
my one half At time. leaving Il
lard surface To drive on. This pan
worked we'll, providing the water
did not get away, ftoodins bath
sides Of the road at one time.
:. No one who lived i'll FL Ccnlro
at the time. can ever forget the joy
and comfort that came with the
first few miles of pavement. MheH
il was finished it made the occasion
for Il street dance III which all taa
residents of the city and neighb3l.
my towns participated.
Autos were quite numerous by
that time and after a hot, uncomfort
able da1, al home or in the office
II seemed heavenly 10 climb into a
machine III the cool of the evening,
drive over the pavement, eirellns
the few miles again and again, u
..cool off before going to bed.
Pavement Great Boon
:. The pavement linking FL Cea-
iro with the san Diego highway Nj,
likewise a great boon to Imperial
Valley residents. in the early davs
WITS near sabbath day 5 joes-
Iev' to reach the gravelled mouu.
tain roads. There was but Il sing
ra8a aud where n, meet Was ne
essarv. often a machine would SIM
20 deeply into the soil it would b."
effectively stalled for hours, aad
take III combined energy of two -
three cars - get back on the raad
- pursue itS Journey.
Tie euterp1ismg merchants -
Fl Centre eatered more and more ~
the wishes - is patrons and >4a@
" zst into the. habit ef expecting
u ct what We asked for. Mr..
GriswoId recalls being iii the FRS,
IaF1Warc store hi Fl Ccntre whch IA
husky Young ruueEcr car.e in - bay
"a tea kettle. There wa~ none n
stock. and f-cm taac day 10 this.
Mr. tsri,woA has not forgotten the
di>plca>urc and disgust expressed
}v the man 10 have t. drive to In
prriaf over soft dirt roads with i
f,a#. the round trip tcqliIG. scN-
r;.. hours for he must take back q
tca Ect lc 10 Tire good witr. II
seemed easy - g"t canned and pack
age food, but fresh fruits and veg
efablcs wore vrrv scare" and the
price almost plohlb,,iNc ;ill rercn;
years.
Captain Kelley, an Old aud wei,
known ncwspaperman, author OF
: California ) Dixie, arrived IN the
fall Of 1907, becoming editor Of the
.Imperial valley Press, which
vas organized by Edgar f. Howe
nd sons, Armingcr ", AVID Clinton
T., and first published il the town
of Imperial.
First Club Organized
'.Captain Kelley organized tn
male residents Of III Cfntro mta
a club calling thcmsc!vc, ,hc " Ten
Thousand club -, its primary rur.
,,ose to work for population OF
Doud, 3. l.. Roberts, the Misses Rose
Sammons, EvalNu Bolnan, Irene
l,ft