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<br />the. s~vcn sl:1.b;s r,l1t1!;it ,sign a.
<br />treaty before lhis year is out.
<br />What is 'now atLempted ill
<br />the case of the prqposed
<br />trea.ty rcgan.ling the waters
<br />of the Colorado is that the
<br />delegates (A seven states
<br />shall freely and independent-
<br />ly sign it rmd that then the
<br />legislatures of seven states
<br />shall freely and independ-
<br />ently ratify it ann that
<br />then the Federal Govern.
<br />ment shall approve it~
<br />
<br />1\1EANWHILE Senn.tOl'
<br />Johnson, of Californin, and
<br />Congressman Swing, of Cali-
<br />fornia, approaching this field
<br />of brotherhood by a flank
<br />movement, and stationing
<br />themselves for .legislative
<br />purposes al a spot called
<br />Boulder Canyon. on the
<br />course o~ the Colorado River,
<br />where it forms the frontier
<br />between Arjy,ona and Ne-
<br />vada, have declarc(i that
<br />there at that spot, accord-
<br />ing to a bill which they have
<br />introduced into Congress,
<br />there shall be a dam and a
<br />reservoir and a power-house
<br />for the contwl of floods and
<br />for the development, of irri-
<br />galion projccts and for the
<br />manufacture of electricity
<br />all a' scale commenSUl'ate
<br />with the grandeur of the
<br />Colorado, which has a mean
<br />annual rUIl-of[ of 17.000,000
<br />"acre feet." ,
<br />The Colorado River lived
<br />without knowing its acre
<br />[eet for many decades after
<br />white men first StH'; it. An
<br />acre [oat is the amount of
<br />water that will cover an acre
<br />to the depth of OIlC foot.
<br />The Colorado now blesses
<br />its upper reaches with canta-
<br />loupe and JcUllces. We know
<br />now the ]lumber of acre
<br />foo:ct that the Colorado car-
<br />ries w~th it along in its abyss
<br />from the region where the
<br />talk may center on the vege.
<br />table market to the region
<br />where the talk may swing
<br />to the long staple cotton
<br />market of Egypt. We some-
<br />times think that ,romance
<br />and gagcs can not go to-
<br />gether. We like the place
<br />that Samucl Taylor Cole-
<br />ridge fo~nd:
<br />
<br />Where AIr thp. sacred river ran
<br />Through caverns measureless
<br />to man
<br />Down to'a sl1nless sea.
<br />
<br />This idc., of being "meas-
<br />ureless" is fascinating to us.
<br />The Colorado is measured
<br />now to iust about its last
<br />drop of -water and, its .last
<br />gmill of silt. . It is scientifi-
<br />callv known. Yet trainload
<br />afLcr. trainload of people
<br />come ,ali the time in this
<br />
<br />
<br />. canyon of the Colonido - to do nothing but look
<br />,down and draw back and look down again. ,
<br />, .Who knows if the people, who look down ove(
<br />. the brink of the canyon of the Colorad9 t9clay
<br />. are'more awed or less awed by it than Francisco
<br />. Silvestro Velez Escalante, who set fool on the
<br />rim of the Grand Canyon some sixty years be-
<br />fore the British set foot on Plymouth Rock?
<br />What we do know 1S that. in tbe year of the
<br />ringiug of our J..iberty Dell ill Philadelphia;
<br />Escalil.llte went clear across the abyss and the
<br />bas1n of the ColO1'an.o and came to the lake
<br />that is'llow called Utah Lake, not very far from
<br />the city that is now called Salt Lake City,
<br />before he turned back and left the brilliant
<br />colors of the northern rocks and descended the
<br />staircase of vertical cJijIs to the brillii'lIlt colors
<br />again of the'desert flowers in the southern sil.nds
<br />from which he started.
<br />Thi:tty~two yea'cs later"":""'in I808-a certain,
<br />other man came into the basin of the Colorado.
<br />He did not come from the South. The peculiar-
<br />it:y of this man was that he came from the East.,
<br />He came from the East and he IlUlde hi~ eJ1-,
<br />trance into the basin of the
<br />Colorado at a point in 'the
<br />region which is now the
<br />state of Wyoming. His name
<br />was Andrew }Ienry.
<br />,From that time on in the,
<br />basin of the Colorado tht:
<br />names .liI{e Andrew Henry
<br />began to overlie the names
<br />like Francisco Silvestro Velez
<br />Escalante.
<br />.Then came the ~low glacial
<br />pressure of the men from the
<br />East and the North. They
<br />went by inches 'and when
<br />they explored they measured
<br />and they took and ,they.
<br />stayed. From them' came:
<br />Johnson and Swing with tl1eir
<br />dam and reservoir.
<br />To return to the dam,
<br />then~ it wjJ.\ be the tallest
<br />dam in the world.
<br />An e a s t ern statesman
<br />says'that he once went to
<br />Los Angeles and made a. lot
<br />of speedles and was tired
<br />in tbe afternoon and lay
<br />down to sleep; but a com-
<br />mittee of hospitality woke
<br />him up and took him sight-
<br />seeing. He came to a stand
<br />in frOlIt of a gas tank.
<br />"111at " he was to.ld "is the
<br />J<trgest'gas tankin the~orld."
<br />He told the story to a
<br />Californiilll. 'rile Californian
<br />was puzzled. ,
<br />"That's what they told
<br />me," said the statesman.
<br />lIThev took me out there
<br />and s.aid, 'That's the larg-
<br />est tank in the world.' "
<br />"But," said the Califor-
<br />nian, "it is the largest gas
<br />tank in the world."
<br />Behind the' boast ahout
<br />the tallness of the dam lies
<br />the fact that a new empire,
<br />complete in itself, is to be
<br />created when a. few men in
<br />overralls, with ah oil can and
<br />a drill, a bunch of mules,
<br />some gravel, and a box of
<br />concrete, crawl along the
<br />sides of those bristling rocks,
<br />and hang a while in space.
<br />
<br />fi.Govt:rnor Robert
<br />Davis Carey, of
<br />Wyo",;'Jg, will
<br />Sf:( thai his stale
<br />Jowl't get the
<br />shore end of it.
<br />
<br />fl, GOllcYlJor Emmet
<br />D. Boyle 0/
<br />NnJltda is watch.
<br />ing the riller bank
<br />in the southern
<br />partofhis state.
<br />
<br />Cl The dellelop11lent
<br />of the big da.m
<br />scheme is heing
<br />fOllowed by Gov-
<br />ernor Mechem
<br />of New Mexico.
<br />
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