THE FDJBKOW METHOD OFIKRIGATIOX. 0_ V *i 0 THE IRRIGATION AGE. VOL. XIV. CHICAGO, OCTOBER, 1899. NO. 1 THE PROGRESS OF WESTERN flMERICH At Missoula. Mont- The old gentleman with the sythe gets around with such agility that a year vanishes almost before we are aware of it. It seems but a few months since we chron- icled the meeting of the seventh annual convention of the National Irrigation' Congress, but lo it has been a twelve month and the eighth annual meeting is now history. Montana having succeeded in capturing the Congress this year, it was held at Missoula, Sept. 25. 26, and 27. and was a gathering of earnest, intelligent men. working in complete harmony for the furtherance of a cause which all had sincerely at heart. It was a profitable and interesting meeting, fuller particulars of which are giveii in another department of this issue. will be gracious. Hurrah for the next convention and Chicago. Chicago Next Time. At the risk of appearing prejudiced in its favor, we must confess our intense grati- fication- in knowing that Chicago is to be the meeting place of the ninth annual Irrigation Congress. We think it the best, the most convenient, the most central — in short, it is the ideal place in which to hold a convention — but then, we live here, so possibly we are not altogether disinterested in our opinion. Anyhow, we're glad. If Chicago cannot do anything else to prove herself equal to the occasion, she can get up, on short notice, such a varied assortment of 'weather '' with its accompanying mud, wind. Smoke and dirt as will make the country dweller go back content with bis fctition, wondering how people can live in such a dark, dirty place. Let us trust she A New Firm From time to time we have made mention of the progress being made in irrigation in1 Aleppo, Turkey. A recent comniunica- tion from there t^lls of the formation of' a commercial house that has for its object the importation of irrigating machinery, engines and other "machinery and the furtherance of knowledge* in the subject. This new firm which is under the auspices of the governor of Aleppo, and has prom- inent men as its officers is known as "El Agha.?' American manufacturers are • becoming favorably known in foreign countries in various lines of goods and there is no reason why we should not* supply Turkey with all the machinery she imports. Manufacturers and dealers should correspond with this new firm. Our Admiral. It requires a strong head to bear adulation in large quan- tities without experiencing bad results. A welcome so enthusiastic as that accorded Admiral Dewey is calcu- lated to turn the strongest head, but the Admiral bear* his honors modestly as becomes a brave man. "It was so like Dewey!' was the verdict upon learning that he had reached his native land two days ahead of time. It is almost a year and a half since Dewey won his great victory the first of May. yet his welcome by the American people was as enthusiastic as if the great Manila Bay event had occurred only last week. They honor him even more for the THE IRRIGATION AGE. steady adherence to duty which caused him to remain in the trying climate of the Philippines when he might have hastened home to receive the enthusiastic honors awaitimg him than for the victory itself. The country went wild over the great commander and the cartoon repi esenting the statue of "Liberty," at the mouth of New York harbor, as having dropped her torch and seized a telescope with which to watch for Dewey is typical of the attitude of the nation. It watched and waited for the commander who was not only a sea commander, but who, during his long stay at Manila, "shone as a diplomatist and a manager of men. He maintained his own dignity and that of his country. He got his government into no disagreeable com- plications." He well earned the sword which was presented to him and is worthy of the admiration with which the Amer- ican people, — democrats, republicans, anti- expansionists, free-silverites, all com- bined, regard him. Even the caricaturist, who like the Lord, "is no respecter of persons," has spared Admiral Dewey and the public press has had no disparaging remarks, no shaft of ridicule for him. "Chicago D»y." Chicago is this week cele- brating the anniversary of the great fire, which twenty - eight years ago laid the city waste and, it was said, ended its existence. Chicago is a good example of what may be accom- plished against almost overwhelming diffi- culties; built' on a marsh, a location which the doubters claimed was against it from the start, it justified the confidence of its founders by becoming a great city. Then came the fire, from which it rose phoenix- like from the ashes, to become one of the foremost cities of the union. So the 9th of October, 1899 finds it gay with flags and decorations, crowned with people and bus- iness superceded by rejoicings and cele- brations. The laying of the corner stone of the new posl-offlce building •vas one of the events of the week, and speaking of the corner stone leads one to think of the many disagree- ments and unpleasantnesses connected with the stone; of the protest from the labor The Corner Stone. unions because, it was claimed, the stone had been cut by non-union men; the strike ensuing, and the threats and counter threats. The unprejudiced observer is constrained to ask "What, after all, do strikes accomplish?" An exchange says: "A strike, even if ultimately successful, rarely compensates workmen for the pe- cuniary losses they sustain during the pe- riod of idleness. A lockout deranges the business of an employer, interferes with the fulfillment of contracts, necessitates the employment of unskilled labor or of mechanics unfamiliar with the employer's methods. A. duel between labor and capi- tal makes victims of both parties, and creates sores that contrive to rankle long after reconciliation is supposed to have been effected." At a meeting in Chicago of representa- tives of building contractors controlling capital to the amount of $5,000,000, a reso- lution was adopted unanimously as follows: "Resolved, That it is the sense of this meeting that lockouts, boycotts and strikes are injurious and costly to employers and employes and detrimental to the interests of the city, and that we pledge ourselves to avoid these methods, and pledge our- selves to use all peaceful means to better our relations with employes." Another chapter of the true France1.**1 storv which reads like a ro- mance has been finished; Dreyfus has been tried, found guilty, and then— crowning act to this shameful farce — pardoned. Not long since I saw a photograph — they are for sale in almost every store — of Dreyfus at the time of his first trial and at the present time, while between the two, the young soldier and the prematurely aged man, stands the faithful wife, and the thought came, even if he were guilty, a punishment so severe as to change a man as that had done was inhuman. In speaking of the trial recently some one said: "I always think of France as an hysterical woman." This I think aptly describes the nation. Impetuous, fickle, capricious, republic, monarchy, bigot, infidel, full of contrasts, such is France. But the inhuman treatment of Dreyfus, whose long imprisonment and torture has won for him the sympathy of the civilized world, is the darkest s\ain yet on the flag of France. THE IRRIGATION AGE. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. Br HARRIET B. SMYTHE William Ellsworth Smythe was born in "Worcester. Massachusetts, December 24th, 1861, having descended from New England pioneers of the seventeenth century. He ^ras educated in the common schools of his work and learned to love the smell of printers' ink. Furthermore, he was fasci- nated with the character and career of Horace Greeley, as set forth in the most entertaining of biographies by James Par- ton. So he promptly chose to do as Greeley had done, and become an appren- tice in a printing office. WILLIAM ELLSWOKTH SMYTHE. native town. At the age of sixteen his father asked him to choose between prep- aration for a college course and learning a trade. He was already engaged in pub- lishing a small amateur paper called The Yankee, and in writing stories and articles for otber amateur papers. In this way he -had conceived a taste for newspaper Thus at sixteen he left home to make his own way, entering the office of the Southbridge Journal, then owned and edited by George M. Whitaker, who is now widely known as the editor of the New England Farmer. In less than a year the young apprentice, who had been using all his spare time in reading history and THE IRRIGATION AGE. scribbling for the newspapers, was told that he would never make much of a me- chanic, but was already fitted to undertake responsible, newspaper work. For the next two years he worked as reporter and night editor of the Haverhill Gazette. At the age of nineteen he became editor of the Medford Mercury, and his writings on Massachusetts polities attracted consider- able attention among the politicians, who were generally surprised to find a boy on seeking the editor. Later Mr. Smythe did good work on the Boston Herald and other daily newspapers, until he was attracted into an ill-fated book publishing business in his early twenties. When this venture ended disastrously Mr. Smythe accepted an offer to become editor of a daily paper in one of the boom, cities of Nebraska. The newspaper, the Kearney Enterprise, perished with the boom, but not until it had made a state reputation for the editor, who had on more than one occasion been invited to remove to Omaha and take a position on one of the leading papers. In the autumn of 1890 Mr. Smythe joined the staff of the Omaha Bee, devot- ing his time to writing editorials and signed special articles. It was here that his interest in irrigation began, with a series of articles that attracted wide atten- tion, and may be said to have marked the beginning of a new era in the agricultural life of Nebraska and the irrigation move- ment of the West. In 1890 the Corn Belt suffered a severe drought. It happened that Mr. Smythe had business that season in New Mexico. Passing through the blighted fields of .Nebraska and eastern Colorado, he was- amazed to discover in New Mexico and the greater portion of Colorado a land which sustained a perpetual drought, yet prospered beyond districts favpred with generous rainfall. He was immensely im- pressed with this fact. Looking into the. matter more closely, he discovered (hat aridity is a positive blessing when supple- mented by irrigation. Returning to Nebraska Mr. Smythe^e- gan a campaign for irrigation in that state with a series of vigorous articles in the Omaha Bee. The editor, Mr. Rosewater, at first demurred to their publication on- the ground that they would be regarded as a libel on the state, but he consented when the writer offered to sign his own name and personally assume the risk of" unpopularity or lynching. The result was most surprising. It was indeed a popular uprising throughout the western counties, but in favor rather than against irrigation. Mr. Smythe now entered on an active campaign of speeches and conventions to organize the public sentiment he had aroused. The result of a series of county conventions was a demand for a state con- vention, which assembled at Lincoln in the winter of 1891, with ex-Governor Turner as president and Mr. Smythe as vice-president. The result was the organ- ization of a strong movement, which per- sisted year after year until the state had adopted a code of irrigation laws, second to none in the United States, provided a State Engineer, and brought 400,000 acres under irrigation. These events made a revolution in the agricultural methods of Nebraska and other semi-arid states, and put prosperity where hopelessness had been. Of course many influences contrib- uted to this great result, but the begin- ning was Mr. Smythe's articles in the Omaha Bee, and the state campaign he conceived and engineered. There, was another result of far-reaching consequence. Mr. Smythe brought before the Lincoln Convention a project for call- ing a national congress for promoting irri- gation sentiment. The motion prevailed, and he was named as chairman of a com- mittee to arrange for the formation of such a congress. The result was the First. National Irrigation Congress held at Salt_ Lake City in September, 1891, and was, followed by a permanent organization,' which haa become one of the strongest factors in the intellectual life of the West, and made its influence felt throughout the nation. . In fact, its influence has been, THE IRRIGATION AGE. yet more widely felt, as delegates from Canada, Mexico, Australia, Chili, Peru, Russia, France and Great Britain have at times accepted the imdtation of the Presi- dent of the United States to attend its sessions, and have carrried the reports of its doings to foreign courts and legisla- tures. For four years, beginning with the Salt Lake Convention and ending with that at Albuquerque in 1895, Mr. Smythe bore the chief responsibility for the executive con- duct of the Irrigation Congress, first as secretary and later as chairman of its national committee. Curing this period he traveled thousands of miles, made many addresses, wrote many articles, and carried on a large correspondence in the interests of the work. He aimed steadily at two chief results — first, the improvement of state water laws and the provision of state systems of administration; second, at the formulation of a national irrigation policy for presentation to the law makers at Washington. In both respects3 but espec- ially the first, much progress was achieved during his time of service, and he retired in 1895 with a unanimous expression of thanks and respect, registered by rising vote of the Albuquerque Convention. In April, 1891, Mr. Smythe began the publication of the pioneer, journal of .its kind in the world, THE IRRIGATION AGE. It immediately sprung into circulation and influence, becoming the organ of national irrigation sentiment, and making a reputa- tion for its editor as the foremost popular writer on the subject. Though the meas- ure of its support was never equal to the standard set by its publishers, and its maintenance therefore entailed a constant struggle, there can be no doubt that the magazine contributed powerfully to the growth of the cause for which it stood. Mr. Smythe has always felt that the ac- quaintance with men, localities and insti- tutions gained through his years of hard work on Ihe Age compensated him for the cost. What Mr. Smythe has been doing since he severed his connection with this maga- zine, four or five years ago, and what he proposes to do in the future, is so closely identified with the colony, plans which b.0 will describe in these pages, that nothing need be said of it here. Mr. Smythe is a hard and constant worker, and impresses all who come in contact with him with an enthusiasm which is "fairly contagious, and a strength of conviction which leaves no room . to doubt the sincerity of his own belief in his cause and his love for the beautiful West, for the ' advancement of which he has worked so hard and so long. GUY E. MITCHELL. Mr. Guy E Mitchell, the recording sec- retary of the National Irrigation Associa- tion, who is located at the Glover Building, GUY E. MITCHELL. Washington, D. C. , is doing yeoman ser- vice in the interests of national irrigation. Mr. Mitchell's location at the National Capital, and close touch with government officials and congressmen, enables him to prepare much valuable matter on this and kindred topics, and many irrigation news items and articles appearing in the west- THE IRRIGATION AGE.Z prn press are from his pen, though un- signed. Mr. Mitchell is a practical fruit grower and owns a farm in Virginia, near Washington. He lived for some years in the Michigan peach belt, and took a course at the Michigan Agricultural College. He tells us incidentally of a year's experience in Nicaragua where irrigation was quite unnecessary; the rain guage measured during the year 299 inches. He is a staunch advocate of the federal storage proposition, and sees nothing but disadvantage in the policy of the cession ef public lands to the States. On the other hand he thinks the leasing of the grazing lands, the title to remain in the general government, until actual settle- ment, and the applying of the rental to •tate improvement, the most practicable solution of the range question. "There will undoubtedly be a very strong effort made," Mr. Mitchell says, "to get Congress to act upon this question during the coming session. Western rep- resentatives realize that something must be done to adjust this overstocking of the public range, with its accompanying con- troversies and conflict between stockmen, and the leasing of these lands in limited areas would seem to be the most feasible plan. The scheme is in successful opera- tion on the railroad lands of the great trunk lines, and appears to be very gener- ally favored in all quarters. Secretary Wilson tells me he believes it the best solution of the problem. He also states that the overcrowding of the grazing lands and their reduced capacity is at the bot- tom of the present beef scarcity." WHAT THE WINDS BRING. Which is the wind that brings the cold? The north wind, Freddy, and all the snow; And the sheep will scamper into the fold When the north begins to blow. Which is the wind that brings the heatV The south wind, Katy; and corn will grow, And peaches redden for you to eat, When the south begins to blow. Which is the wind that brings the rain? The east wind, Arty; and farmers know That cows come shivering up the lane. When the east begins to blow. Which is the wind that brings the flowers? The west wind, Bessy; and soft and low The birdies sing in the summer hours, When the west begins to blow. —Edmund Clarence Stedman. IRRIGATION AND COMMERCIAL EXPANSION. BY JOEL SHOMAKER. An era of unprecedented prosperity has dawned upon the irri- gated realm of the United States — the trans- Mississippi division of North America. The oriental trade, the Alaskan demands and the ever increasing avenues of domestic commerce have made requisitions on the producers of Arid America that compel greater expansion of the fields of labor. Over 500,000,000 of the Asiatic inhabitants are looking to the ships of America for flour, fruits, vegetables and general farm products, and the irrigated states are expected to supply the majority of this permanent order. While men may differ on political theories concerning national policies of governing new territories, the real, active commercial expansion is an enforced condition, which must be grasped at once by the tillers of the soil and those engaged in shipping. The great northwest, comprising the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Dakotas, Minnesota, Iowa and even to the east of the Mississippi, lies at the gateway of this vast Pacific commerce, and the irrigated farms constitute the basis of individual prosperity which will contribute to the national wealth and independence. This area has the natural facilities; mountains of perpetual glaciers, reservoirs of abundant waters, rivers of never ceasing flow, carrying soil moisture and plant food to millions of acres, which when properly cultivated, yield pro- fusely of the cereals, grasses and fruits required to supply this new world of humanity. A short time since I visited Tacoma harbor, the open gateway to the commercial ports of the oriental isles, and witnessed the actual transactions of this new era of financial expansion. The Northern Pacific railway with its seventy miles of side tracks, crowded with trainloads of farm products, was delivering to more than a score of large ocean vessels, carrying one thousand tons or more each, the food for millions, to be conveyed across the waters. At this port over one-half the imports and exports of Puget Sound, the inland arm of the Pacific northwest, are loaded or unloaded. The exports for last year, from the Puget Sound ports aggregated over sixteen millions of dollars, while the imports reached about six millions, the trade being chiefly with the irrigated districts of the northwest. While the northwest is particularly favored by location, for the Pacific and Alaskan trade, the southwest portion of Arid America, 8 THE IRRIGATION AGE. which includes California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas and Texas, has a direct ocean connection with foreign points, and the grains and fruits, with cattle, hogs and sheep, are in demand for shipment to the consuming cities and isles of Oceanica. The land of irrigation of the present day has no idle laborers in any honest vocation or legitimate industry. If agriculturalists are wandering about the country in quest of employment, they are of all men the most miserable, for numerous opportunities are open on every hand, for labor investments. The soil has yielded of abundant fertility, and harvest fields await reapers. The entire people of our vast country must be interested in this development of commercial interests. As irrigation is necessary to TACoMA HARBoR. successful soil culture in twenty states and territories, the general government should exercise a paternal oversight in directing and shaping the destinies of those engaged in reclaiming the land from desert aridity. To properly lend assistance in this matter more national forest reserves should be established and the native forests protected. This can be done by Congressional enactment, and the appointment of competent foresters who will forever prohibit the destruction of those mountain reservoirs, by excluding sheep and cattle from the limits and preventing the woodman's ax from making merchandise of the timber. Individual efforts cannot conquer the western enemy of soil husbandry — the lack of rainfall — but the general government, through a union of Congressional and State legislative action, can construct THE 1RRIGA TIO .V A GE. 9 reservoirs for impounding the immense volumes of surplus water flowicg down the many mountain streams, to waste in the ocean. If the sources of the Missouri river were controlled, and the surplus held in suitable reservoirs, erected in Montana, the Dakotas and Nebraska, and that water properly distributed throughout the irrigable districts, there would be thousands upon thousands of prosperous homes created in what is now the worthless deserts, and the annual appropriation for the improvement of the Mississippi river be unnecessary. This would enhance the value of every farm and increase the business interests of every industrial city in the Mississippi Valley. The art of irrigation is an important study, which necessitates WHEAT ELEVATOR, TACOilA, WASH. the mental development of the agriculturist. It contains no elements of chance; there is no need for speculation on crop failures or suc- cesses; and the farmer who attempts to master its wonderful intri- cacies, will become a learned man, in all that constitutes a broad financiering education. Certainly our government is directly interested in the moral, physical and financial growth of her millions of noble men and women making up the agricultural or wealth-pro- ducing classes. In building reservoirs and constructing canals in the Rocky Mountain states the government would not only enable thousands to erect new homes, but would protect a similar number of equally good and industrious citizens from annual losses by reason of inundation of surplus waters. If the forests are preserved and the watersheds are held in tact 10 THE IRRIGATION AGE. the range industry will become a thing of the past, but civilization- will take the place of the semi-nomadic life characteristic of the present utilization of the eminent domain. It is more important to the colonizing of our country, as contemplated by the declaration of independence, that we erect homes, establish agriculture, and build up the waste places, for the benefit of the masses, than that a few should monopolize the free government range for temporary herding grounds. It is better for the progress of the people as a whole, that permanent home builders have the undisturbed right of occupying the lands of the government, than for transients to speculate upon its gratuity, and destroy the usefulness of its mountains and valleys. When the arid lands are reclaimed and brought under cultivation ORIENTAL STEAMSHIP. by the ramifying canals of irrigation, the era of intensive soil culture will be appropriately ushered in. The farmers will then become the stock raisers and wool growers of the west, and where as at present a constant warfare is maintained, there will be peace and prosperity for the masses. The cultivated lands may be sown to alfalfa and the fields pastured with hogs, cattle and sheep and every farmer thereby become an independent capitalist, shipping his products to the markets far and near. There is nothing visionary or speculative about the existing conditions, as the ships of commerce are touching the irrigated shores and the consumers are ready and anxious to purchase the products. Industrial development always follows in the train of agriculture, and in some instances creates the field for horticultural progress. THE 1 'It RIG IIJ ION A GE. \ 1 With the growth of soil products comes the railways, the postal delivery, the schools and churches and the wheels of manufacturing plants. While European countries are bidding for the expanding trade now awaiting American enterprise, the factories for making desirable goods should be located in the irrigated empire. These require labor and raw materials coming directly or indirectly from the rural districts where irrigation produces both the strong, health- ful laborer and the material of which we must weave the finished article of commerce. Will the people of this country grasp and retain this new era of prosperity and develop Arid America, or shall the tide pass by and others gather the golden pearls brought from the isles of the sea'? BROWN'S EXAMPLE. "There." said Brown, with a shake of his head. "I've painted the house and the barn and shed! The fence has been fixed, and the la"wn's been mowed. But I do wish the town would fix up that road. It's a shame. I call it. just plain and flat, That we have to drive over roads like that! I'll wait no longer. I'll start to-day And fix my part of it anyway." Now. Brown was one of those fellows who When they start a thing, just ''rush it through." And a week or two after, as Neighbor Jones Was driv ng home with his pair of roan?, Brown's road was dry. while his own, next door, Was mud to the depth of a foot or more. "By George," said Jones, "I'll let Brown see That I can build roads as well as he!" Now, Neighbor Smith, who lived below, Saw Jones repairing his road, and so He fixed up his, to be 4iin the game," And Neighbor Rooinson did the same, And soon every householder in town Was trying his best to "beat out Brown." And now, when the town committee meets To talk of roads, they call them "streets.'' ******** The moral this tale to the reader brings Applies to roads and other things. Reforms, like snowballs, will keep on growing, If somebody only sets them going. —Joe Lincoln THE TRIUMPH OF IRRIGATION. WEST RIVERSIDE. BY T. S. VAN DYKE. Nothing in California is more wonderful than the quiet, steady progress made South of Tehachapi during the last six years. Start- ing with the collapse of a real estate boom that would have laid any other land flat on its back for twenty years, it plunged headlong into the hard times that begun in 1893. Before that, Providence had smiled upon the whole section, through ten winters of rainfall so am- ple that thousands believed tree- planting and electric wires had changed the climate of over two thousand miles of coast. The dis- enchantment was the most painful any country ever had to endure. Six winters followed, of which only two were up to the average, and two scarcely a fourth of it. And two of the worst came in succession and upon top of the series. It was freely predicted that the water supplies of the mountains would give out, and this was greatly feared by many who dared not predict it. The failure of the irrigating water was supposed certain, and every one knew what the result would be, although it was certain that in most sections the trees could be kept alive with cultivation only, while in all others there would be water enough to save them even if the crops were lost. But the loss of crops was apparently cer- tain, most people believed even the trees would be lost, while thou- sands more believed the climate had changed the wrong way, and capital was scared. Under such circumstances, who could expect a country to grow? Yet Southern California not only has grown, but has done better than any other part of the Union in the same time. It has surpassed all records but its own, and in places has even done that. The dozens of feet of decayed rock and soil in the mountains, and the hundreds, even thousands, of feet of gravel and coarse sand in the valleys, the great washes and slides at the feet of the mountains, have proved vast sponges, holding untold stores of water in the grip of years, and let- ting it down slowly to supply the needs of the land below. None have been more surprised at this than those who thought they knew the country best and none so much as the most experienced engineers. The consequence has been a continuation in most places of that substantial growth that sprung from the wreck of the great boom, quiet, unostentatious, and looking only to business-like cultivation of the soil. As an object lesson of this kind of prosperity and good THE IRR1 GA TIOX AGE. 13 sense, no place surpasses "West Riverside. Few of those who know the country best even suspect its existence. The tourist, loooking always for something in sight of the railroad station, would not dream there was such a place. And the people of West Riverside go on at- tending to their orchards and alfalfa fields and don't care whether the world knows them or not; the same as the people of Duarte, and other rich sections lying a little off the lines of travel have done for years. The land on the West side of the Santa Ana River at Riverside is exactly the same as that which has worked such wonders on the South side. But being three miles from the Santa Fe station at Riverside, and some four miles from the Southern Pacific line west from Colton, one is not compelled see it. Like Arlington, East Riverside and other .parts of that wondrous section lying under the Riverside ditches, West Riverside has a large area of frostless land which has stood the severest test of the last seven years, and on these are now dozens of orchards of orange and lemon that equal the best of auy other section. All deciduous fruits, alfalfa, berries and all else do the same as at Riverside and Arlington, and cannot do otherwise since the conditions are exactly the same. The whole success is dependent on the same solid water right as that of old Riverside. The canal drains the same vast reservoir of gravel and coarse sand that is now, after six years of steady flow, holding the old ditches up to the same water J line that has marked their sides within the memory of man. It is almost incredible that this unparalled drouth of six years- has1 made absolutely no im- pression upon this supply. The owner][of landi in Riverside can get today any amount of water he wants and. at almost any hour he wants it. West Riverside has 600 inches of water^out of the old Meeks & Daley Ditch, which ran to the old Mexican, settlement of Agua Mansa. About 1888, Riverside, to compromise this claim, which was a first lien on the water of the Santa Ana River, cemented the whole ditch and turned it over with the agreement]that it should have eight hun- dred and twenty-five inches of water before, any went into the River- side ditch, a perfectly safe arrangement, as time has shown. If River- side is safe with this the other is better, for it cannot fail until the three thousand inches or more of water that now go to Riverside have failed. Of course many other places have gone ahead in the same manner, but I have selected this as the most remarkable [because it is out of the sight of all lines of travel and has been done with no blast of the trumpet. Strict attention to business has done it and that business has been strictly irrigation instead of townsites, ^ hotels, colleges, waterpowers, factories, bays, or "natural advantages" of any kind. It shows that irrigation is good enough and that all else can be trusted 14 THE 1RRIGA TJOiV A GE. to follow in its own time if this be properly taken care of; that irri- gation is the surest and quickest of all foundations for prosperity directly from the soil when the projectors believe in their own game and devote all their business capacity to it. In striking contrast to this as an object lesson is the canal on the Mojave, near Dagget. Several hundred inches of water are there flowing today exactly the same as four years ago, coming from the underflow of the largest of Southern California rivers. It is plain that there is ten times (or more) that amount that can be taken in by extension of the drains, an operation both cheap and sim- ple. The water ha.s been flowing four years upon land that has been perfectly proved and has nothing the matter with it. Tens of thou- sands of acres more lie beneath the water. No better proposition lies out of doors, that is for one equally remote from big centers. Every „ pound of stuff raised there has a freight rate of fifty- six cents a hun- dred in its favor, and four years ago the produce laid down at the single point Dagget, was ninety-seven thousand dollars a year, all of which could have been raised there. The proposition has been ap- proved by every expert who has seen it, yet it lies there a desert to- day. I own, myself, two feet of the water, a hundred inches, and want to put a half section in alfalfa. Yet I won't do it or allow any of my friends to consider it in its present condition. What is the matter V Townsites, smelters, waterpowers, stamp mills, electricity and everything in the world but the simplest, surest and quickest way of getting money out of the ground, irriga- tion. That is of the last and least importance. That can take care of itself. All else must be attended to first. That can afford to wait. She heard old Winter on her track. And running- faster and faster, She tripped upon a slender vine, Its scarlet love-knot tying About an oak tree's mossy root And sent her treasures flying. So now on every sunny hill, In every Jittle valley Or meadow, where the amber brocks With music love to dally, And all along the winding road, With summer dust still hoary, Her scattered garlands blossom yet In gold and purple glory. NATURE'S STORAGE RESERVOIRS. BEING A PAPER READ AT LOS ANGELES BY THE EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN OF THE NATIONAL IRRIGATION CONGRESS. BY GEORGE H. MAXWELL. Nearly every one now recognizes the need and importance, all through the arid region of America, of great storage reservoirs to save the waters that now, in the seasons of high water, run away to the ocean, not only wasting the wealth that the use of the water would produce, but oftentimes carrying destruction in their pathway, as the floods sweep down the mountain sides and through the valleys. There are not so many who realize the equally important fact that Nature has already made for us great storage reservoirs which must be preserved if we are to maintain the water supplies that we are now using. These natural storage reservoirs are absolutely essential to the very life of many communities in the arid region, and yet, in may places, we are allowing them to be recklessly and ruth- lessly destroyed. Much that I would have said to you on this subject has already been better said by others. In his address to-day Mr. Schuyler strongly brought out the close relation between forests and reser- voirs, and showed how essential it is, if we are to utilize the oppor- tunities which Nature has created for building storage reservoirs in the mountain canons, that we should preserve the forests and the foliage that covers the mountain sides, so that the winter storms will not bring down masses of detritus which will rapidly fill up and destroy the storage capacity of the reservoirs. He has showed, too, how imperative it is, if we would preserve our sources of water supply, that we should preserve the reservoirs which Nature has provided for holding back the water in the natural sponges, made by the network of undergrowth and roots and decay- ing leaves, and shrubs and brush and trees which in so many places line our hillsides and the precipitious slopes of our mountain canons. And he has showed you how, when this natural sponge is once destroyed by fire or grazing, the waters will rush down in torrential floods, carrying away the scant remaining soil, and making it difficult and often impossible to restore the growth on the slopes that are left barren. Mr. Olmstead, the City Engineer of Los Angeles, also portrayed 16 THE IR RIGA TION A GE. to you most vividly what a wonderful natural reservoir existed to enlarge the water supply of the city of Los Angeles from the Los Angeles river, by filling with water in times of flood the great gravel bed lying between that river and the mountains, leaving it to grad ually percolate out into the river in the later months of the year. In this suggestion there are great possibilities for water storage in probably every arid state, where the water can be led out in time of floods on to the high mesa lands and the porous sandy and gravelly soils on the higher levels can be saturated with water in seasons when it is abundant, leaving it to gradually find its way out into the canals and natural channels on lower levels in seasons when it is needed. Mr. Olmstead has given us another illustration to prove the fact now so generally recognized, that water stored on the headwaters of navigable rivers, and first taken out on the bench lands for irrigation, will find its way back into the river in the low- water season when it is most needed for navigation. The use of the water for irrigation is merely another illustration of water storage one of "Nature's storage reservoirs" until it is needed for navigation, and shows how super- ficial is the objection sometimes made to the use of water for irri- gation which has been stored for the benefit of navigation. I was deeply impressed by what was said by Mayor Eaton and by Mr. T. S. Van Dyke as to the lack of information by the public generally on these subjects, and the need of a campaign to aro.use the interest of the general public and awaken a public sentiment which would demand and accomplish the solution of the various problems that confront us in the preservation of our forests and water supplies. And I could not help thinking that if the enormous importance of these matters was appreciated there would not be a man who is now tilling an irrigated farm or vineyard or orchard in Southern Cal- ifornia who would not be here to-day. Every irrigator from an underground supply would be here if each would only stop and ask himself: "Where is the source of the well or the tunnel from which my water comes? How long will it last? How do I know that Nature is replenishing for me the supply from which I am drawing?" As you watch an artesian well, every one realizes that the beautiful drops that are thrown up from below by the unseen power to glisten and sparkle in the sunshine have not come up underground direct from the sea. They were at some time evaporated from the ocean and carried in the clouds to the mountains and precipitated there. Now what checked them from rushing down the hillside and back through stream and river to join again the ocean from whence they came? Somewhere in their onward course they were stopped by some leafy covering which held them until their course was turned down- THE IRRIGA TION AGE. 17 ward into the earth. And from thence they have percolated through some underground channel or stratum until they have found a vent through the artesian well that has brought them once again to the surface. They may have fallen with last winter's rainfall: they may be coming from some one of "Nature's storage reservoirs" under- ground, which has been gradually filling for a thousand years; it may be that each winter's rainfall is replenishing the underground supply as fast as it is being drawn off, and it may be that it is not. But of one thing we may be sure: If we allow our mountain slopes to be deforested and permit the destruction of the under- growth and foliage which did check, in their downward flow, the waters that are coming to us now, our underground reservoirs will cease to be replenished and refilled. The \vaters which should find their way down into the earth to come up again in our wells and out through our tunnels will rush down the steep and bare mountain slope in torrents to the sea. And not only our underground supplies but our surface supplies as well will be gone, and aridity will over- come our fertile fields just as it has where the forests have been destroyed. This need not happen and will not happen if the people will wake up to the possibility and the danger. All we need to do to prevent it is to preserve these storage reservoirs of Nature and see to the main- tenance of conditions that will perpetually replenish our underground reservoirs. How are we to do this? By a campaign of education. It is absolutely essential that the whole community all through Southern California should be aroused to the vital and far-reaching importance of this great subject. The people must be awakened from their apathy. The dead wall of indifference on the part of the people generally must be broken through. We must unite all who realize the magnitude and immediate importance of the subject to preach a crusade to awaken a right public sentiment about it, not only in Southern California, not only in the West, but all through the East as well. It is a national, not a local, problem, and as a national problem we must treat it. The preservation of our forests means not only the preservation of water supplies for irrigation in the "West; it means the preser- vation of water supplies throughout the whole country for power, for navigation, and for all the manifold needs for which the waters of the eastern streams and rivers are used. The American Forestry Association is a national organization. It is already strong and influential. It has worked wonders already in its labors for forest preservation. Let us make it still stronger and more- influential by extending its membership and resources. By doing so you are putting in the field an army of peaceful and ceaseless workers to protect your homes from destruction by Drought — an enemy as much to be feared as any foreign invader. 18 THE IRRIGA TION A GE. The National Irrigation Association is another organization fighting in the same field, one of its purposes being forest preser- vation. It is strongly advocating the inauguration of a leasing system, which will enable the now wasted resources of our great public domain to be utilized so as to yield a revenue for forest preser- vation and irrigation development in the arid region. Several million dollars annually could be realized from such a leasing system. Of course the mountains of Southern California have too great a value as sources of water supply to permit of their never being leased for grazing. But after excluding all forest areas which should be exclusively reserved for water conservation, there are still left in California over 25,000,000 acres of public grazing land. Through this National Irrigation Association we must first unite the West in favor of one district policy, and then turn to the work of converting the East. It needs only concentration of purpose and tireless work to accomplish this. The wage -earners of the East want wider fields for labor. The manufacturers of the East want new markets for their wares. Where can either get what they want so fully as by the development of the great arid West which is capable, with irrigation for its irrigable lands, of sustaining a greater popu- lation than the whole United States holds to-day. And here in Southern California there is a local organization which every one who has any interest in the welfare of the people of this section should join. It should number its members not by tens but by thousands. And its influence will grow as its membership roll lengthens. THE COLONY BUILDERS. ANNOUNCEMENT. WILLIAM E. SMYTHE. Beginning with the November number, the AGE will publish as a regular feature a department under this head. It will deal with the subject of home-making for the masses in the unsettled regions of the world, particularly with the problem of developing homes, farms, and institutions in the reclaimed valleys of the West. The department is specially designed to serve the needs of those who would like to im- prove their condition by settling in such colonies as may be well lo- cated and wisely planned. It will also prove of interest and value to the managers of irrigation enterprises, but it aims to be much more than a directory for settlers, or a chapter of suggestions for managers. One of the most striking economic facts of the time is that there is throughout the world surplus land, surplus people, and surplus •capital, millions of acres need men; millions of men need acres; mil- lions of dollars need profitable employment. Those who control the land do not command the labor: those who control the labor do n«t possess the capital. The result is suffering and discontent, which threaten grave social and political consequences in course of time. The evils resulting from these conditions are worldwide. They :are felt in every town and city of every country. The remedy is col- onization. This alone will absorb and utilize the surplus land and other natural- resources, the surplus men and surplus dollars. But •colonization is itself a problem, and a problem of the most difficult and complicated kind. No other work touches human natures at more points, or deals with interests more delicate and precious. Noth- ing involves more chances of failure, more possibilities of bitter dis- appointment. Nothing calls for more knowledge of all the factors to be dealt with, nothing demands more devoted and unselfish leadership. Sound industry and social plans are essential, but hardly more so than -a certain indefinable quality of direction and management, which may be spoken of as the personal equation in the colonists and their leaders. This quality is not conceived with the commercial aspect of the matter, but belongs to its higher atmosphere, — to its ethics rather than its economics. There is and ever must be, however, a strong commercial side to the work of colony- building. Colonies cannot be made without capi- tal. Capital cannot be had without security and profits. Security and profits cannot be assured without responsible and able management. 20 THE IRRIGA TION A GE. To the settlers' side, too, there is a strong commercial aspect. Land, water, industry, and capital do not alone and of themselves assure success. It depends much upon what is produced and how the product is handled. It depends on how the supplies are purchased. It de- pends on how labor is directed. It depends on the industrial polity, which must be such as to provide the certainty of a living and the hope of an independence. It is upon these broad lines that this department will be con- ducted. It will aim to outline a practicable program for the conquest of waste places by waste labor and waste capital throughout the earth. It will deal not with theories, but with practice. It will bring all its plans to the test of actual experience in this and other coun- tries. It will seek to deduce lessons from failures in the field of colo- onization as well as to find light in the many instances of success. It will describe conditions in different localities with perfect candor, speaking of their drawbacks as well as advantages. Some of the practical questions to be discussed are these: How much capital is required to establish a family on an irrigated farm? What is the best size of the farm unit? What scheme of production should be recommended in different localities? What is the best way to dispose of the product'' What economics can be effected in the purchase of supplies? Are people from the cities well suited to make homes on small farms? Is any form of superintendence feasible as a means of preventing mistakes and assisting settlers to prosper? Questions of equal importance are: How can homes be had by people having no capital, save their ability to perform productive la- bor? How can people of means invest their money safely and profit- ably to be used by others? How can people of regular income set apart a portion of it each month and year and so provide homes brought to a complete state of production at the end of a certain period? How can investors who never intend to be resident settlers invest in a colony and share its profits? Some of the larger economic questions are: In planning the in- dustrial organization how much should be undertaken in co-operation and how much left to individual enterprise.? What measure of con- trol should be exercised over settlers who operate entirely or mostly on borrowed capital, and how long should they work under such con- trol? By what method should states, industries, and other enter- prises closely related to colony development be conducted? What so- cial scheme is calculated to conduce to the contentment and prosperity of the settlers? Is Socialism feasible at the present time in new colo- nies of small membership? Many widely-scattered colonial efforts will be drawn upon for ex- periences. Among them are the labor colonies of Holland, Germany, and Australia; the communities founded in the Forties under the For- ties' teachings; the Morman settlements in Utah; the famous places THE IRR IGA TION AGE. 21 in Southern California, and many others. The co-operative industries of Europe, especially of Ireland, will be examined for valuable les- sons. In a word, the best thought and experience of the world in re- lation to the improvement of social and industrial conditions for the masses will be made use of in planning methods and institutions for the conquest of surplus land by surplus men and money. The various valleys in the seventeen states and territories west of the Missouri River will be discussed in the light of their availability for enlightened colonization effort. All sorts of questions pertinent to this subject are invited and will be answered fully and carefully. In announcing an undertaking as important as the study and ac- count of colonization proposed in this department of "The Colony- Builders", it seems quite impossible to avoid a personal word, since the value of the work depends entirely upon the writer's fitness' to perform it. Older readers of THE IRRIGATION AGE, familiar with its pages during the period of my editorship, 1891-'95, will recall many editorial allusions to the need of the most enlightened efforts in colony-making upon our arid lands. Perhaps they will remember an article called "The Republic of Irrigation", in which I appealed with passionate earnestness to certain distinguished Americans to help us in forming institutions which should make arid America the scene of the highest civilization in the Twentieth Century, and the place where social equality and industrial and intellectual independence should best be realized by the common man. At that time I saw but dimly the outlines of what I have now come to believe is the greatest problem of our time — the problem of giving the masses of our fellowmen ready access to the land and other idle natural resources, and of so guiding their efforts that they and their children may be really and forever free, in the full economic sense of the word. I felt that there must necessarily exist some true relation between the surplus people in old countries and large towns, and surplus lands, waters, forests, and mines which abound in the greater portion of our own and of other continents. I was impressed with the idea that the solution when found, would apply as well to the social congestion of London and Paris as to that of Chicago and New York, and as well to the utiliza- tion of the natural wealth of Australia and Africa as to that of Idaho, California, and the other great western States. Originally I had no design of personally becoming an organizer and founder of colonies. Always interested in sociology — in liuman society— I found the history and progress of western settlement a most fascinating study. When living in Chicago I found that there was in our great cities a vast number of people who earnestly desired to make homes in the West if the way could but be opened. Finally I concluded that the only method by which the idea could be advanced was by making an actual colony, and decided to mark my last year as 22 'l ' HE I R RIG A TION A GE. head of the National Irrigation Congress by founding a settlement Hence, the Plymouth Colony of Idaho, of which more will be said in future numbers. The Plymouth campaign taught me that, if colonization was to be developed on a sound basis, there must be a permanent organiza- tion, and that this, if successful, would almost inevitably combine many irrigation projects, siuce there are a hundred unanswerable ar- guments in favor of organizing the western emigration movement of the future upon a great scale. Hence, the Associated Colonies, in- corporated in New York in the Spring of 1897, under my presidency. The work of this company has taken me constantly back and forth across the continent, and called for frequent addresses from Boston to Los Angeles. It took me to Europe last year and gave me a brief but fruitful opportunity to see co-operation in its triumphant progress as the regenerator of agriculture where the industry had formerly sunk well-nigh to hopelessness. I found the greatest American mag- azines— such as The Century, The Review of Reviews, Atlantic Monthly, Forum, and North American Review — ready to offer me a platform to present the claims of our cause. Some of my literary work has been translated and republished in France, Germany, and Austria, and re- sulted in correspondence with eminent social scientists and reformers, who have encouraged me by saying that the ideas of colony-building presented are sound and feasible and adapted to the improvement of their own as well as of our country. During the past summer I have completed the final revision of a book dealing with the whole subject, and hope that through this medium the message will reach the widest publicity. The work in which I am immediately engaged, as the practical part of the general movement, is the making of Standish Colony, in Honey Lake Valley, among the mountains of Northern California. Having determined that at this stage of the work I can do no better service than personally to conduct the iniiial settlements, at least during that part of the year that may be spared from the eastern field, I have built my house in the midst of the sage brush and pro- pose to share the experiences of pioneer days with my friends, the colonists. At Standish we are applying all the plans of settlement that will be advocated in this department, so that it must, at least, be granted that I possess the courage of my convictions and am willing to bring my ideas to the test of actual experience. I shall speak frankly of Standish and the Associated Colonies in these pages, giv- ing all other colonies and irrigation enterprises the benefit of any- thing learned of our trials and progress. I ask the reader's pardon for intruding so much of a personal nature upon his attention, but when I consult a doctor I want to know that he has had opportunities both of education and practice, and those who may look to these pages for guidance in home-making, or THE IRRIGATION AGE. 23 for ideas of social progress, have a right to know that the person who edits this department has at least some claim to authority on this subject. For ten years I have been thinking of nothing but irriga- tion and the social problems growing out of it, and for five years been practically engaged in planning and organizing colonies. It has be- come my life-work. I feel that it is my mission, and that the present- ation of it is my message. Like all work that partakes of the nature of construction or reform, it has been attended by many difficulties and hardships. It has not yet reached the point of acceptance and of triumph — not, perhaps, by many hard years. Yet no salary or position could tempt me from the work 10 which I have set my hand. I believe profoundly in its usefulness and its ultimate success — aye, in its very necessity as an imperative conditioa of the peaceful progress of human society everywhere. And in future numbers of THE AGE, I shall try to give good reasons for my faith. Standish, Gal., Sept. 25, 1869. THE EIGHTH ANNUAL IRRIGA- TION CONGRESS. HELD AT MISSOULA, MONT., SEPT. 25, 26 AND 27 About 200 accredited delegates attended the meeting of the Na- tional Irrigation Congress. They came from every part of the union in which an interest is taken in irrigation of heretofore arid lands, and included a number of officials from Washington, D. C. Prof. J. E. Stubbs was chosen temporary president in the ab- sence of Dr. S. B. Young, of Utah, the president. Guy E Mitchell, of Washington, D. C., briefly stated that the work the congress is to accomplish was ' 'The proper presentation of the problem of satisfactorily disposing of the grazing lands by the leasing system, and the securing of a just and suitable share by im- provement appropriations for the development and improvement of interior states, along with the seaboard states." Prof. Maxwell's address was practical throughout. He held that irrigation congresses had accomplished about all that could be ac- complished by them along the lines that had been followed. It was useless to appeal to eastern congressmen. They could not be brought to see the question as the people of the west view it. They believe that when we ask for government aid to construct storage reservoirs we have the desire to put our hands in Uncle Sam's pocket and take therefrom what we want. He said that if the people of the west would go about it right they could secure in one year what they have been working for for 10 years or more and are no nearer than at first. The politician should be left alone. We should demonstrate to east- ern manufacturers, wholesale merchants and trades unions that by the reclamation of arid lands trade would be quadrupled within a year or two and that the poor man with a few dollars could make a home for himself and his descendants. He held that we must appeal to the pockets of the manufacturer and the merchant and the good sense of the wage earner if we secure co-operation, and only by that co-opera- tion can government assistance be had. He advocated the holding of the next session of the congress in Chicago. The west asks for noth- ing more than is just and fair. It wishes for no more than its due, and equitable distribution of the appropriations that are made for im- provement of water courses and a system that will properly recom- pense the western states for the expenses that they are put to in policing the vast areas of public lands; combined with this a system THE IR RIG ATI OX AGE. 25 of education upon matters that pertain to the problems of irrigation — that is the plan of the congress. It is composed of men who are earnest and devoted workers in this field and who are numbered among the best informed men in the work upon m atters that are as- sociated with these problems of reclamation of arid lands and the im- provement of those that are semi-arid. Hon. El wood Mead, superintendent of the federal bureau of irri- gation in Wyoming, read an interesting paper on "Water Right Prob- lems." Mr. Mead outlined the growth and development of the water right problem, and showed its importance. He illustrated the knotty points that have arisen, and pointed out the dangers that they threaten. Suggestions were made as to remedies of existing evils and valuable outlines presented of explanations that would work the reform that is much needed. Hon. T. L. Cannon, secretary of the St. Louis Manufacturers' Association said in part: "The appropriation of money for irrigation is as necessary as it is for the improvement of rivers and harbors. The Congressman must understand that when he spends public money he spends your money and you are entitled to some of its benefits. Private capital can not accomplish this great work of reclamation. States can not do it as states. The authority and the funds of this work must come from federal sources. This cause is just. You must work to convince congress, that is, not by threats, but by presenting the cause in its true light. Every dollar that is expended in building storage reser- voirs and irrigating canals will carry on this development and will be returned a hundredfold.' If it was right to spend millions in Havana harbor; if it was right to pay §20,000,000 for the Philippines, my God, is it not right to spend money for th« reclamation of vast empires of arid America?" Continuing, he said that it is convincing facts that must be presented to congress. "It is not what irrigation will do, but what it has done," said he, "that you must show them. The next congress should be held where you can show the east what you have done. Instead of having yonr exhibits up here in the mountains, send them where they will be seen by the people you want to interest. Interest the manufacturers who sell you wares. Show them how they will have bigger markets if the arid lands are reclaimed." Mr. Cannon advised the congress to hold its next meeting in some great eastern manufacturing center. Prof. Xewellthen delivered his lecture upon"Hydrographic Work o! the United States Geological Survey, "of which he is at'the head. The lecture was illustrated with stereopticon views. Prof. Newell traced the histoiy of irrigation legislation in the United States, say- ing at the beginning: "The origin of the reservoir investigations 26 THE 1RR1 GA T10N A GE. carried on by the geological survey may be traced to the early work of Major J. W. Powoll, and particularly to the report prepared by him on the lands of the arid region transmitted April 1, 1878." After this review he spoke interestingly of work dene under "these laws. Most of it has been of the first class mentioned — that of exploring for reservoir sites and investigating the flow of streams and other possible sources of supply. The progress of the work was carefully traced. In conclusion Prof. Newell said: "To sum up the present con- ditions of reservoir surveys, it may be stated that at scattered localities throughout the arid region a number of reservoir sites have been surveyed and that some of these have been constructed; others still more important may be built, but probably this can not be done with direct financial profit. The great body of the public lands has not yet been examined in detail, but as fast as means will permit reservoir surveys are being conducted on a small scale. These should be extended whenever practicable. The United States is still the owner of one-third of its whole area, exclusive of Alaska, an area three times as great as the thirtDen original states. This one-third contains not only great resources in minerals and grazing, but also immense tracts of rich agricultural land capable of supporting a population of many millions wherever sufficient water can be had. The utilization of this land or any considerable portion of it and the development of the resources of the western half of the country are practically at a standstill owing to the lack of water conservation. The measurements of this survey have shown that during each year great volumes of water run to waste, much of which could be held by storage in natural reservoir sites already surveyed or believed to exist among the high mountains and upon government land. In order that these sites may be utilized whether by the individual or by the community, it is necessary to continue and extend accurate surveys and obtain correct information as to the location, capacity and probable cost of construction." The lecturer closed with a discussion of possible causes of failure and explanation of details of construction of dams and selection of sites. The work now being done by the hydrographic department is of incalcuable benefit, and will contribute largely to the success of the plans for reclamation of arid lands. The trend of action so far has been toward government owner- ship and management of streams, the waters of which have been or may be diverted for irrigation purposes. Hon. Ellwood Meade, expert in charge of the United States division stationed at Cheyenne, Wyo., is outspoken in demanding repeal of the law now governing- water rights and the enactment of laws which will vest such rights THE IRRIGATION AGE. 27 in owners of the land irrigated and not in persons who appropriate water under the present laws for speculative purposes. Dr. Seymour B. Young, vice president of the congress and per- manent presiding officer, is a grandson of Brigham Young. The doctor is well posted on irrigation in Utah and is proud of the system established by his grandfather. The paper of Fred Bond, state engineer of Wyoming, read to-day gave many for the first time a knowledge of the irrigation laws of Wyoming, acknowledged to be the best laws of the kind on the statute books of any state. Higher praise could not be given Wyoming than was uttered by State Engineer Wilson of Nebraska, who said that the irrigation laws of Nebraska were silly when compared with those of Wyoming. He said Nebraska had copied after Colorado, where litigation over water is continually going on, where every farmer has to retain an attorney and keep a shotgun loaded to protect himself against encroachments of water companies. The delegate most in evidence seems to be Professor Maxwell of California, who is well posted on all irrigation problems, who is often on his feet, who has something to say on every question, who is a fluent talker, and who pours forth his words with such rapidity that the official stenographer puts down his pencil and tries to look pleased. On an informal ballot for location of the next congress, St. Paul received ten votes, Chicago thirty- six, the rest scattering. Upon motion Chicago was made the unanimous choice of the convention. The time for the meeting was left to the executive committee. The report of the committee on nominations was received and adopted unanimously, the secretary casting the vote of the congress for the following officers: President — Elwood Meade, Wyoming. First vice president — S. M. Emery, Montana. Second vice president — L. W. Shurtliff, Utah. Third vice president — C. B. Hurtt, Idaho. Secretary — H. B. Maxson, Nevada. On motion, George H. Maxwell of California was elected national lecturer and ex-officio member of the executive committe. The national executive committee elected is as follows: Arizona, J. H. McClintock; California, Scipio Craig; District of Columbia, E. F. Best; Idaho, D. W. Ross; Illinois, J. E. Forrest; Indiana, J. H. McNeeley; Michigan, O. E. McCutcheon; Missouri, Tom R. Cannon; Massashusetts, Herbet Myric; Minnesota, F. W. Wilsey; Montana, I. D. O'Donnell; Nebraska, E. M. Allen; New Mexico, Bradford Prince: Nevada, J. E. Stubbs; Oregon, A. N. Jones; Utah, C. L. Swendson; Wyoming, Fred Bond. PROPOSED PLAT OF RAILROAD TOWN. BY CHAS. C. CHRISTENSEN. Whenever I cross the deserts of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and California— and I generally do so once a year — I see something else than the white sand and the giant cactus; I see the future farms, gardens and cities; I see the electric cars running; I see the whole landscape brilliantly lighted by electricity; I pass by schools, colleges and churches, and thousands of lovely homes, surrounded by semi- tropical gardens, orange and lemon groves; I see five, ten and twenty acre fruit ranches and extensive alfalfa fields, and through the land-