Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1931-09-14

day or SO at least, during the weeks when the
grain haryesters clatter in the fields and asphalt gets soft
and sticky in city streets. But the thermal capital Of the
United States will still remain in Death Valley.
This strip Of desolation in southeastern California holds
the highest honors in heat for the Western Hemisphere.
and a few years ago. before it was ouaed by the sizzlIngly-
named city of Azizia in North Africa, it was the worlds
champion mercury booster.
Death Valley is a deep trough between two mountain
ranges. 1t is something over a hundred miles long and
averages 10 miles wide. Within less than a hundred miles
of Mount Whitney. the highest peak in the United States
proper. it sinks its lowest depression to 20 feet below sea
level. This is official measurement; there may be lower
spots in the valley still awaiting the surveyor telescope
eye.
For ages it has been the catch basin Of desert streams.
and once. il Is believed. it was the scene Of geyser action
that would have made even Yellowstone look tame; so
that there is on its arid floor a vast accumulation Of concen-
trated mineral salts Of various kinds. including the famous
borax deposits that until a few years ago supplied the world.
1t got its name in the epic gold rush days Of '49. when
a starved and decimated party OF emIgrants. who had
struggled Though il with infinite suferings. looked back and
gave it the sinister title that has chung to it tor this day.
1t was on a blazing midsummer day l6 years ago. on
July 10. 1913. that the official thermometer at Greenland
Ranch recorded a temperature OF l34 degrees Fahrenheit.
This figure stood for nine years, two months and three
days. until September 10. 1922. when the aforementioned
Tnpoltan town of Azizia sizzled itself up to l36 degrees
in the shade-if any.
DOTH these figures are challenged by claimants Of heat
records for other hot spots on the earth. But Azzia
remains champion. and Death Valley runner-up for
world honors and champion Of the Western Hemisphere.
because these temperatures are official, obtained by ceTtI-
fed thermometers in standard scientific mountings.
But Death Valleys claim to distinction is not based on
a single spectacular days work. Death Valley IS a con-
sistent performer. 1t delivers a very high average temper
ature year after year. and practically every summer il turns
out a few days-or perhaps even weeks-ot weather hit
for oldtimers to brag about.
And IT can do a handsome job in droughts. too-months
on end without the hundredth-inch sprinkle Of rain that is
the y. 5. Weather Bureaus minimum requirement for a
RAINY day. When the rest Of the country was .~parching
in the great drought Of 1880. Death Valley outdid itself.
Ii had no recorded rain all year. and the drought over
Tapped on one end into December. 1929. and into Janu-
AIRY, 1881. on the other: 40l consecutive days on which
no measurable precipitation occurred!
The whole story Of Death Valleys climate has been
made the subject Of a thorough scientific examination BY
Ernest T.. Eklund. Of the Weather Bureau Office in San
Francisco. He presented his results at the recent meeting
Of the American Association for the Advancement Of
The station where Mr.. Eklund's data were obtained is
at Greenland Ranch. a property OF the Pacific Coast Borax
Company. Here the Weather Bureau has installed its
instruments. and employees of the company have been trained
in attending them and keeping the records.
That the name. Greenland Ranch. has nothing to do
with the oft-sung icy mountains OF the old hymn is amply
demonstrated by the records-thoug ice is by no means
unknown there in the winter. The name refers more 10
the patch of cool greenness that relieves the iron hues Of
the desert at this place. where fields Of alfalfa and a lux
uriant grove Of date palms drink from warm water in iri-
CATION bitches.
TyHE water that makes Greenland Ranch possible comes
down from the mountains partly in a small stream
known as Furnace Creek. Greenland Ranch is To-
Gated at the sink" of this stream. where it loses itself and
disappears under the sands. The oasis is therefore known
to many persons as Furnace Creek Ranch.
This name again has nothing to do with the temperature.
though it certainly seems more in keeping with the region
than the alternative Greenland title. 1t refers to a number
Of rude ore-roasting furnaces found along its course by the
pioneers of 40. They probably had been built by Mex
lean miners.
Greenland Ranch was a busting place in the old days.
xlar tka knrax ~crnranv'c ~fureSn and rnu~b- aIvor
tised 20-mule teams feighted ~ponderous wagons Of borax
out Of the valley. Now. however. better paying borax beds
have been discovered elsewhere. and mineral operations