Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1928-09-07

decreased height Of slope, the slopes
being more difficult Of maintenance
than surface which are practically
horizontal.
IN respect to Harrington AZ . port
General Beach says:
harlingen Is the most rapidly grow
ing town Of the district known - the
Lower kio GraEde Valley OF Texas.
which ~ that part OF the state lying
adjacent % the boundary river ana
extending to such a distance from ID
A. can be served BY the waters cf
2 . stream for irrigation
The soil is all alluvial ana oenosited
Dy the Rio Grande in geological ages
past and like all soil laid down in
thin layers obtained from the or
soil OF other regions further 10
stream, il particularly fertile. This
fertility combined within climate
which encourages plant growth the
year round permits two and even
three crops to be raised noon the
same tract and owing to the fact
that its vegetables can be made readv
Tor market earlier than those of any
other section Of the United States ex-
cept the very southern tin of Florida.
its products ought TO bring good
prices when distributed TO northern
cities.
Harrington is at practically the
same latitude as Miami, Fla, and is
9oV miles south OF the Imperial VAL
ley OF California. Its people are
VIDE awake and progressive, losing
no opportunities to extend their COM
mercial influence and TO add to the
attractive features of their locality.
a waterway, known as the Arroyo
colorado, runs from above Har-
lirgen TO the Laguna Madre some rs
mics northeast of the city. II is
claimed by some people to be sn cid
bed Of the Rio Grande, while others
are equally positive that il is an ex-
t%ensIve geological fault. Whichever
Us origin, II now serves at time OF
unusually high floods in the Rio
Grande as AT outlet for some Of the
surplus waters Of that stream Its
mouth in the Laguna Madre consists
OF several branches OF very shallow
depth. forming q small delta. Be-
tween Harrington and this delta, the
Arroyo Colorado is a single stream. or
take, without islands. with in average
width of about 200 feet and with A
"" $3.50 MA~RA&4~ 0AA44AAEMA Id 8E~
commcdate pleasure craft. The
present depth a. some few places and
the sharp bends which occasionally
occur would prevent It's use for COM
mercial purposes until changes have
been made, but before much craft
can be brought into the stream IL
vail be necessary 70 provide a prope.
connection with the Gulf OF Mexico.
The country between the Arroyo
Colorado and the Laguna Madre is a
low lying plain whose general eieva-
ton IN passing westward from the
Laguna may be said 20 rise at about
the rate Of a foot to the mile. The
land is crossed by a few depression,
known as "resacss," probably old
river beds, which follow very irreg-
ular courses towards the Laguna, and
also by several sandy ridges, gen.
orally running in a north and south
or northeast and southwest direction
which elevations varying between IS
and 80 feet above sea level.
Padre Island
Padre Island throughout its length
consists of sand dunes and low flat
stretches only a few feet above sea
level. In some places the dunes
shift greatly with the wind, in other
parts of the island they appear 10 be
fixed BY the plant growth upon them.
me low places az several points on
the island extend entirely across it
from the Gulf Of Mexico to the La
guna Madre; some Of these places
are entirely covered by storm waves
and exceptionally high tides. but
there appears 10 be no tendency Of
the gulf TO cut across the island a.
far IS has been observed BY the few
people who are acquainted with the
localities.
The United States engineers office
&c Galveston recently mace an exam
nation Of the Laguna Madre in con
n~ection with the report TO be made
ry II concerning the ACCESSIBILITY OF
extending the l~ntercoastal Canal
from Corpus Christi Bay TO Point
Isabel and also a connection from the
canal TO Harlingen by way Of the
Arroyo Colorado The officer who
made the field examination Of the
conditions which would probably he
encountered. reports that no rock
was found within ~ feet Of the
surface on either the main line Of
the canal south of the Arroyo or in
the latter waterway. Concerning the
character Of the material to be ex-
cayated in the Arroyo. he says, "The
banks and bottom are generally a
stiff red or yellow-red clay, some
strata showing small lamps of caliche.
Bars and shoals showed depths of
four to nine feet Of soft gray mud.
sand or clay. The mounds in the
delta showed cross-bedded and mixed
sand. silt and clay, and flats being
sand and silt"