DESERT SIGN POSTS POINT TO WATER

DESERT SIGN POSTS POINT TO WATER

EDITORIAL

沙漠旅游将剥夺其最好的之一t terrors and prospectors whose calling of necessity leads them into the vast waste of the western plains will no longer suffer from thirst if Congress passes the measure calling for an appropriation of ten thousand dollars for sign posts directing the weary and foot-sore traveler to sources of water. This has been the dream of George W. Parsons since his trip several years ago along the border of Death Valley, where he counted thirty-six human skeletons—each one an eloquent testimony of a lost wanderer whom water within reach might have saved had there been some means guiding the way. These signs, which are to be the result of untiring efforts on Mr. Parsons’ part, are not necessarily to be erected for the benefit of the chance automobilist, but for every traveler through the unfrequented expanse, and the prospector especially, who certainly needs all the assistance that can be afforded him. The dry, hot sand, and scorching sun should have no restraining effect upon the automobile traveler, who counts time by the minute instead of by the day, as of yore, if the matter of thirst can be dissipated, and although the time will probably never come when the Death Valley will hold out sufficient charm to entice visitors, the sink of the Amargosa may yet be frequented by tourists, despite its unhealthy air. Death Valley is forty miles long and about eight miles wide; in its deepest part its bed lies one hundred and sixty feet below the sea level, while its rocky sides rise to a height of two thousand feet above its bed. Every part of the valley is desert, where the air is exceedingly dry and intensely hot. Its topography and climate have never been accurately observed, for no man can live long enough to ascertain the needed facts. The poisonous quality of the air is perhaps only its intense heat, as in the coolest and highest part of the valley the thermometer often stands at one hundred and twenty-five degrees. That deadly gases are emitted from cracks in the rocks—as the valley is of volcanic formation—has never been proved.