ODDS AND ENDS. 



IRRIGATING THE VALLEY. 



Land owners in the Spokane valley are 

 taking keen interest in the project of D. C. 

 Corbin and W. L. Benham to put a large 

 part of this beautiful valley under irriga- 

 tion. At Rathdrum. the citizens held an 

 enthusiastic meeting, and it was the sense 

 of the gathering that the construction of 

 the irrigation ditches meant much for Rath- 

 drum and the Spokane valley. A citizen's 

 committee was appointed to confer with 

 the promoters. 



After careful surveys, Mr. Corbin and 

 Mr. Benham are convinced that the plan 

 is entirely feasible. The Spokane valley, 

 running in an easterly direction from this 

 city for 30 miles, presents a beautiful ex- 

 panse of undulating grass lands. Here 

 and there farms and gardens have been 

 planted, and on the upper part of the val- 

 ley fair grain crops are grown without irri- 

 gation. Where extensive cultivation has 

 been practiced excellent gardens have re- 

 sulted. But on the whole, and taking one 

 season with another, the rainfall is insuffi- 

 cient for the warm gravel soil of the 

 prairies, though the occasional seasons of 

 unusual rainfall have demonstrated what 

 could be done with abundance of water. 



This water is near at hand. Near the 

 state line, both in Washington and Idaho, 

 Nature has carved out a number of exten- 

 sive reservoirs. Some of these are almost 

 on the borders of the valley, and others lie 

 only a few miles back in the hills. It is 

 now proposed to gather the waters of Hay- 

 den. Fish. Newman, Coeur d'Alene. Sal- 

 tese and Liberty lakes, and convey them in 

 pipe-lines and ditches over the rich soil of 

 the prairie. The enterprise contemplates 

 he irrigation of about 100,000 acres. 



This undertaking is the most important 

 improvement now on foot in this city and 

 section. If carried out it will provide 

 valuable and productive homes for several 

 thousand farmers, market gardeners and 

 dairymen, and convert the bare valley into 

 a vale of unusual beauty. Spokane will be 

 made still more attractive as a home place, 

 and a source of enduring wealth will be 

 brought into existence. Spokeman 

 R>. dew, Spokane, Wash., Dec. 31, 1899. 



MCCLURE S. 



The February McClure's opens with a 

 second instalment of "The Life of the 

 Master," by the Rev. John Watson (Ian 

 Maclaren), illustrated with four of Mr. 

 Linson's brilliant paintings reproduced in 

 the colors of the originals, and a number 

 of beautiful drawings in black and white. 

 In both text and illustrations, the work 

 increases in interest and distinction as it 

 progresses, and more and more decisively 

 sets a new standard in magazine publi- 

 cation. 



THE FORUM. 



The Forum for February contains many 

 articles of great merit, nearly all written 

 by well-known authorities. Lieut. Gen. 

 Den Beer Poortugael, of the Holland 

 Privy Council, contributes the leading 

 article on ''The Relation of England to 

 the Transvaal;'' an able paper is furnished 

 on ''The People's Party" by Senator 

 Marion Butler, Chairman of the People's 

 Party National Executive Committee. 

 President Charles Dabney, of the Uni- 

 versity of Tennessee, writes a timely 

 article on ''Washington's University." 

 Two papers of the Old- Age Pension Prob- 



