210 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



STATE NEWS. 



ILLINOIS. 



The floods in Southern Illinois are al- 

 most equal to the Johnstown horror, in 

 loss of life and property. At Shawneetown 

 it is estimated that at least 500 lives were 

 lost. Relief is being sent by the state for 

 the living and coflins for the dead. 



MARYLAND. 



Baltimore News. The muskrat season in 

 Dorchester has just closed and the "catch" 

 was 200,000 skins, worth 40,000. The 

 taking of the odoriferous rodents is becom- 

 ing an important industry in the marsh 

 lands of the county, which, as preserves 

 for the rats, are fast becoming the best-pay- 

 ing pieces of realty in Dorchester. Here 

 we have another illustration of the varied 

 resources of Maryland. 



COLORADO. 



The Mosco Herald. "The state papers 

 are commenting on the shipment, a few 

 days ago, of 55,000 bushels of Colorado 

 wheat in one vessel, from Galveston to 

 Europe. They omit to say, however, that 

 the wheat came from the San Luis valley, 

 and that it is only a portion of 300,000 

 bushels that is being shipped from this no- 

 ted valley empire in like manner." 



UTAH. 



All the unallotted lands of the Uncom- 

 pahge reservation, excepting all lands con- 

 taining gilsonite, asphalt, elaterit? or oth- 

 er mineral substances, were opened for 

 location April 1, under all the land laws of 

 the United States. The mineral lands 

 mentioned shall continue to be reserved. 



MONTANA. 



Among the many resources of -Montana, 

 that of barley growing has received notice. 

 The grain is of such excellent quality that 

 it is being exported to Germany for use in 

 breweries, and brings from $1.10 to $1.17 

 per cwt, more than that from other states. 



NEBRASKA. 



One of the worst snow storms of the 

 whole season raged at Lincoln and vicinity 

 the last week in March. Street car traffic 

 was greatly interfered with and it is feared 

 that spring wheat and fruit trees may be 

 injured. 



CALIFORNIA. 



On the 30th of March the western por- 

 tion of the state experienced one of the 

 severest earthquakes ever known in that 

 vicinity. At San Jose the tremors lasted 

 forty seconds, and it is calculated the 

 earth moved approximately one-fourth of 

 an inch. 



KANSAS. 



The cattle men of Kansas have formed 

 an organization and held their first con- 

 vention the last week in March, at Abilene. 

 Officers were elected and a number of pa- 

 pers read pertaining to cattle, transporta- 

 tion and dairy interests. 



MINES AND MINING. 



A new and feasible scheme for making 

 making money on the Yukon has been 

 evolved by a bright Michigan mind. It is 

 proposed to charter a vessel to be used on 

 the Yukon river, and two boats, one of 

 which will contain the necessary ma- 

 chinery consisting of two powerful sai.d 

 pumps, and will also serve as a house-boat, 

 in which the miners can live in all the 

 comfort of civilization. The sand, which 

 is raised by the pump3 from the river 

 bee 1 , is to be washed for gold, and as the 

 Alaskan streams are said to be rich in gold, 

 this promises to be a paying venture. 

 Nineteen men from SaultSte Marie, Mich., 

 have arrived at Tacoma, and their vessel 

 has been chartered. Many of them are 

 musicians and they propose to have a 

 brass brand on the house-boat, as one of 

 the antidotes to homesickness. 



A queer geological find was recently 

 made by a United States mineral surveyor 

 near the little town of Augusta, Montana. 



