326 



THE IEEIGATION AGE. 



Pacific 

 Coast Banks. 



Banks in Pacific coast cities, outside of 

 San Francisco, report deposits largely in- 

 creased, prosperity unprecedented, and all 

 industries flourishing. Banks in that sec- 

 tion are entirely independent and are large 

 lenders of money in the East. In San Francisco there 

 is great activity and the volume of business is satis- 

 factory. Banks are full of money, deposits are larger 

 than at the time of the fire, and clearings have enor- 

 mously increased. Large numbers of persons who fled 

 after the fire are returning. 



The Reclamation Service has need of sev- 

 Engineers eral constructing engineers of experience 

 Needed. in earth work, tunneling, 'concrete ma- 



sonry and similar operations. It has 

 called upon the Civil Service Commission for an ex- 

 amination to be held on October 1st to secure eligibles. 



This in the general form is similar to a previous 

 examination held on April 1, 1904, from which a large 

 number of engineers have been selected. The examina- 

 tion does not necessitate the appearance of the candi- 

 dates at any particular place, but on the contrary papers 

 are to be prepared and sent to the commission to be 

 received by them before October 1st. Markings will 

 be made on the basis of the paper submitted, especial 

 weight being given to experience in one or more of the 

 various lines of construction work. 



The salary offered at first is from $150 to $250 

 per month, and will be determined with reference to 

 the particular work to be done and the ability of the 

 eligibles for the work. 



The general theory of the examination is based 

 upon the assumption that the men who have had prac- 

 tical experience in construction will probably be rusty 

 upon mathematics and theoretical lines of engineering 

 outside of their immediate practice. It is not desired 

 to obtain scholars or professors of engineering, but on 

 the contrary to pick out men who, whatever their theo- 

 retical education may have been, have shown ability 

 in handling the men and materials and in producing 

 results. 



An excellent opportunity is offered to competent 

 and experienced men, particularly those of middle age 

 who have had ten years' or more experience on con- 

 struction. 



The grand army of the land hungry never 

 Another seems to diminish. A month ago a corn- 



Land pany many thousands strong made a 



Opening. grand rush for the towns in eastern Mon- 

 tana, where offices were opened for regis- 

 tration of persons desiring "a chance" in the Crow 

 reservation lands ; and now an equal rush is on for the 

 lands soon to be thrown open to settlement of the Wind 

 River reservation, in Wyoming. The tract to be opened 

 comprises a total area of about 1,000,000 acres. Of this 



area, between 265,000 and 300,000 acres are capable 

 of being made productive by irrigation. The large resi- 

 due is the wildest of wild land, mountainous and arid 

 and forbidding in aspect, but it is attractive to the 

 landless in anticipation at least and there is always 

 the hope under the present system of registration and 

 drawing of getting something really worth while. 



Settlement upon such lands is necessarily beset with 

 hardship. The climate of the Rocky Mountain region 

 is rigorous; irrigation is necessary to make these lands 

 certainly productive ; the most rigid economy is required 

 for the man of small means or practically no means to 

 get a start; social conditions are far from ideal; and, 

 all things considered, it is no wonder that many settlers 

 grow homesick and discouraged and abandon the hold- 

 ings they were so anxious to secure. 



A propitious feature of the opening of the Wind 

 River reservation, the drawing for which closed August 

 15th, is a carefully devised irrigation scheme under the 

 auspices of the State, insuring water rights to the set- 

 tlers and a supply equal to their needs at a cost less 

 than that for which each could build his own dam and 

 ditches. 



Boundary lines and water rights are the burning 

 questions on the frontier. Encroachments, on one or 

 the other, real or fancied, has caused feuds that have 

 led up to murder in many instances, and upon these 

 questions the individual can only see his side of the 

 contention. Hence a careful and recent government 

 survey, with lines clearly established, and an irrigation 

 scheme engineered by the State, are elements of value 

 in settling a body of new land. The settlers on the" 

 Wind River reservation are fortunate in these respects 

 and should conquer the desert and make it blossom into 

 homes with less friction and delay than usually follow 

 the occupation of new lands. 



Government reports indicate a continu- 

 1906 Yield ance of the prosperity which the country 

 of Cereals. has experienced for several years. The 



grain crop of 1906 contents the farmers. 

 The total wheat crop is estimated at 760,000,000 bush- 

 els, an increase of about 10 per cent over last year. 

 The corn crop is estimated at 2,655,000,000 bushels. 

 Other grains, except oats, show an increase. This means 

 that the farmer will have more money to spend, and 

 all lines of trade will share in the benefit of abundant 

 harvests. 



A part of the excess of this year's crop over last 

 year's will be needed on account of the increased popu- 

 lation of the United States. The million immigrants 

 who have made this country their homes since last sum- 

 mer must be fed. The babies are growing up and the 

 births exceed the deaths. If there should be stagnation 

 in trade men might be compelled to eat less meat, fruit, 

 early vegetables, and other luxuries, but they would eat 



