70 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



practically unknown. There are no drouths to spoil 

 business calculations. The irrigated regions are, al- 

 most without exception, healthful, possessing dry, 

 wholesome atmospheres free from malaria, with warm 

 days and cool nights. This magazine will give infor- 

 mation every month about the irrigated regions and 

 every homeseeker should read it regularly. 



The most beautiful view of snow-clad 

 Grand View of mountain peaks to be had in the United 

 Snow Peaks. States is, probably, that which may be 

 enjoyed from the heights behind Port- 

 land, Ore. On a clear day in springtime four sublime 

 snow-mantled cones rise out of the dark sea of for- 

 est and foothills, with a majesty that is awe inspiring. 



A few degrees east of north is Mount St. Helens, 

 a perfect pyramid of scintillating whiteness, towering 

 10,000 feet above the forests of Washington. It is 

 sixty-five miles distant, but seems about ten. In line 

 right behind it, thirty-five miles further away, is the 

 famous Mount Eanier (or Tacoma) over 14,000 feet 

 in altitude, but so perfectly blanked by St. Helens that 

 the former is ordinarily invisible. Eastward from St. 

 Helens is Mount Adams, 12,470 feet in height, but not 

 as impressive as St. Helens or Eanier. 



Straight east of Portland, forty-five miles away, 

 is another snow-white peak, 11,225 feet in elevation, 

 more majestic that St. Helens. This is the famous 

 Mount Hood, one of the most picturesque heights in 

 America. Southward, in the same range, is Mount Jef- 

 ferson, a towering white spur of the Cascades. 



One may see all these great peaks from one posi- 

 tion on the hills west of Portland, and the spectacle 

 is almost worth a trip across the continent. 



An article on the Imperial Valley, or 

 Save the Im- "Salton Sink," appears elsewhere in this 

 penal Valley, issue. Since it was written dispatches 



from Washington say that President 

 Roosevelt has taken up the matter of closing the inflow 

 of waters from the Colorado river, with characteristic 

 clearsightedness and energy. He strongly urged Mr. 

 Harriman of the Southern Pacific company to stop the 

 break at once and at all hazards and that Congress 

 will be asked to authorize some financial assistance. 

 The reports estimate, on a very conservative basis, the 

 property at stake to be $13,000,000. There are 500,000 

 acres of land on the California side, besides 250,000 

 acres just across the line in Mexico that may be made 

 into farms, or most of it. It is believed that when 

 once fully reclaimed this land would sell for at least 

 $100 per acre on an average. Hence, the 500,000 

 acres on the American side of the line might be worth, 

 in a few years, not only $13,000,000, but $50,000,000 

 or more. Besides, the torrent threatens to cut back 

 up the channel to the government dam above Yuma, 



and if that were destroyed, as is said to be possible, 

 the added loss in construction work,~as well as the fail- 

 ure to reclaim the valuable body of land depending on 

 that dam, would add many millions more to the actual 

 and prospective loss. If $2,000,000 has to be spent in 

 throttling the voracious current of the Colorado river 

 it will, it would appear, be a good investment. This 

 nation cannot afford to lose such a splendid domain as 

 this really Imperial region is certain to become al- 

 most every forty acres of which may be made to give 

 a family a good living and whose aggregate products 

 may reasonably be expected to be worth a grand total 

 annually of $25,000,000 maybe twice that sum. Save 

 the Imperial Valley ! 



The steel trust hires a good many men, 

 Uncle Sam's and so do some of the great railroad cor- 

 Long porations, but the people are still their 



Pay-Roll. own largest employer. A new census bul- 

 letin shows that it takes 271,169 persona 

 to run the executive civil service of the United States. 

 The army and navy take about 100,000 more ; so that in 

 all there are nearly 400,000 persons on Uncle Sam's 

 pay-roll. 



There has been a good deal of speculation concern- 

 ing the causes of the "apathy" in the late presidential 

 campaign. One very marked cause may be found in the 

 changed conditions of government employment. When 

 those of us who can look back a quarter of a century 

 were enjoying the delirious excitement of our first polit- 

 ical contests, almost all the places in the civil service de- 

 pended on the result of the election. A hundred thou- 

 sand men were fighting for their jobs, and a million 

 more were fighting to get them away. No wonder there 

 was enthusiasm. No wonder men were willing to put 

 on oilcloth capes and cambric caps and carry torches 

 with the oil dripping down the backs of their necks while 

 they sang "Jim Garfield's at the front." 



Now, out of 150,883 employes dealt with by the 

 detailed returns, 124,737, or 82.9 per cent, are in the 

 classified civil service. About 48,000 have been in the 

 service for over eight years that is to say, since before 

 the last change of parties in the control of the govern- 

 ment. Over 10,000 have been in office for twenty years 

 or more, which means that they have served under at 

 least six administrations, including four political revo- 

 lutions. 



But the rule that a change of parties meant a new 

 deal used to be general enough to keep practically the 

 entire public service hustling in campaigns, and the 

 fact that the great majority of office-holders are now se- 

 cure in their jobs corks up the principal source of 

 partisan energy. 



Send $2.50 for The Irrigation Age one year and The 

 Primer of Irrigation, 300 page book. 



