THE IRRIGA TION A GE. 



53 



veloped in a more rapid manner than even 

 our rapid Americans are accustomed to. 

 Foreign capital British, German and 

 American is pouring into the "Free Sil- 

 ver" Eepublic in fabulous amounts. Over 

 forty lines of railroad are now being 

 built not merely projected on paper. 

 The largest smelter and the greatest brew- 

 ery on the continent are now being erected 

 and Armour is putting two million dollars 

 into a meat packing establishment. New 

 enterprises of every character are being 

 introduced and developed. Every branch 

 of industry is represented and all offer al- 

 luring inducements to capital and energy. 

 Mexico seems to have been lying like a 

 vast treasiire store awaiting accidental 

 discovery. That the republic is on the 

 eve of a mighty leap forward can hardly 

 be denied and what effect (propitious or 

 detrimental) this burst of progress will en- 

 tail upon the United States can not be ac- 

 curately foreseen. That it will have an 

 effect is unquestionable. What it will be 

 is unknown. 



u- The demand for free delivery 

 ral Districts. O f mail matter in rural dis- 

 tricts is steadily and rapidly growing and 

 it has been given a great impetus by Post- 

 master-General Gary in his report to the 

 President. Mr. Gary reviews the few ex- 

 periments in this direction made in se- 

 lected localities and says that wherever 

 tried, the approval of the rural eomnmn- 

 ities has been most hearty and the value 

 of the service greatly appreciated. The 

 postmaster-general's recommendation on 

 this subject is very encouraging and con- 

 gress should take steps to put the rural 

 free delivery system into operation as soon 

 as possible. No one thing will be so con- 

 ducive to satisfaction with life on the 

 farm as a daily or even tri-weekly delivery 

 of mail matter, thus putting the farmer in 

 close touch with current events, enabling 

 him to attentively watch the market quo- 

 tations for his products, and arousing an 

 interest in all important questions. This 

 movement should meet with generous sup- 

 port from the friends of irrigation because 



it would be of direct benefit to the many 

 small communities established and being 

 established on irrigated land. The land 

 companies especially should actively in- 

 terest themselves in forwarding this move- 

 ment as it would be a strikingly attractive 

 inducement to city people who being ac- 

 customed to free delivery of mail hesitate 

 about settling in country places where it 

 is necessary to travel from five to twenty- 

 five miles for letters and news of the eut- 

 side world. 



Ham. Hail on William Hammond Hall, for- 

 South Africa. merly gtate engineer O f Cali . 



fornia and who is well known to the read- 

 ers of THE AGE through his series of able 

 articles on the Principles of Irrigation 

 which appeared a couple of years ago, has 

 just returned to San Francisco from a long 

 sojourn in South Africa. It was Mr 

 Hall's cousin, William Hammond Hays, 

 the American engineer who was arrested 

 on a charge of conspiracy at the time of 

 the Capt. Jameson raid. Mr. Hall is very 

 enthusiastic on the subject of South Af- 

 rica and he is not backward in expressing 

 the opinion that this vast territory will ad- 

 vance very rapidly during the next few 

 years especially in the matter of irrigation. 

 Mr. Hall is to build for Cecil Rhodes a 

 large system to water a fine tract of land 

 in Buluwayo. In referring to this matter 

 Mr. Hall said: 



When I pointed out to him that there 

 would not be a sufficient supply from the 

 natural watershed, and that it would cost 

 so much to bring water from another shed 

 that the enterprise would not pay for many 

 years, he replied: 



"Never mind that. I want it done in 

 order to show what can he done by irriga- 

 tion in this country, how much it will cost 

 and how the work ought to be done. 

 Morever, I shall be giving these natives 

 work, supporting and civilizing them, and 

 setting a good example to other capitalists 

 and companies, and that is an object 

 which will be worth all it will cost me, 

 even if I make nothing." 



I could not help asking myself, Have 



