Newspaper Page Text
Imperial Valley Press.
VOL. X.
FIFTEEN THOUSAND ACRES
OF IMPERIAL COTTON
ACREAGE ALREADY PLEDGED BY GROWERS TO IMPERIAL VAL
LEY OIL MILL GIVES DEFINITE BASIS FOR CLOSE
ESTIMATE OF THIS YEAR'S PLANTING
Company Financially Able to Carry Out Project For Benefit
of the Producers. Will Put Up Several Gin's and an
Oil Mill. Committee Returns From Tour of
the South Full of Encouraging
Information.
About fifteen thousand acres of cot
ton will be planted in Imperial Valley
this season. Estimates based upon the
quantity of seed available have run
from twenty to forty thousand acres,
but no reliable estimate can be made
upon that basis and the figures have
been nothing but guesses. The plan
tations will not vary more than a
thousand acres either way from the
acreage first mentioned.
Eighty growers have signed up with
\ the Imperial Valley Cotton & Oil Co.,
pledging their cotton seed for stock
on the basis of a ton of seed per
share, and their pledges account for
about 10,000 acres. Several large
plantations have not been signed yet,
but the acreage is known and will be
signed up, and the company is as
tfured of close to 15,000 acres. There
may be a few hundred acres outside
Of the company. It is possible, of
Course, that a considerable acreage
lias not been reported by growers, and
hi. that case the planters will have
Only themselves to blame if they find
the ginning capacity in their neigh
borhood inadequate to handle their
Crop.
s The farmers' company intends to
provide gins for all tne cotton dis
tricts in the valley, and the size of
the gin for a locality must be deter
mined by the known acreage of the
■cotton planted. The acreage can be
ascertained only from the pledges of
made to the company for stock
/or from reports made by prospective
growers direct to the company.
It is the present intention of the
company to put up four-stand 70-saw
gins at Brawley, El Centro, Calexico
and Holtville, and two-stand gins at
Imperial, Heber, Mobile and Rock
wood. The work of erecting the gins
■will begin in August. An oil mill of
80-ton capacity will be established at
El Centro. A brick or tile building
large enough to house an 80-ton plant
will be erected, but machinery for only
60 tons probably will be installed this
year. The total cost of buildings and
machinery will be about $60,000.
The financial resources of the com
-pany organized by the cotton-growers
of Imperial Valley are ample to carry
out the project of working up the by
products of the cotton crop for the
"benefit and profit of the grower. Each
grower takes stock to the extent of
one share for every two acres and
' pledges the Beed from his crop in
* payment at the rate of one ton per
Bhnre, the value of the share being
$16. Consequently 15,000 acres pledg
ed give the company resources in the
"form of secured notes to the amount
of $112,600. As machinery can be
bought on easy terms, it will not be
necessary for the company to raise
more than $50,000 in cash.
Manager Geo. A. Carter and Direc
tor E. E. Bennett returned this week
from a twenty- day trip through the
cotton districts of the South, where
they made tentative arrangements for
the purchase of mill and gin machin
ery. Mr. Carter says the cotton and
mill men in Texas were quite well
Informed about . Imperial Valley as a
•cotton-growing region and were con
fident of the entire success of the oil
mill enterprise. The Imperial plan of
organization was new to them, and
-when It was explained in detail they
commended it unreservedly as a prac
tical solution of the problem that the
Offtclof Pnpop of linporletl Cownty oriel City of El Contro.
Southern grower has been struggling
with for years. The Texas farmers
have tried to help themselves through
unions, but they have been unable
to* compete successfully with the
strong companies controlling the mill
business because the companies out
bid them for seed. The idea of pledg
ing seed for stock to their own mills
had not occurred to them.
Manufacturers of gins and mill ma
chinery were greatly interested in the
Imperial Valley mill enterprise and of
fered to sell material on any terms
named to the company. They said
all they wanted to know was that
cotton would be grown in the valley,
and when the nature of the soil and
the climatic conditions were explain
ed to them, they declared that the
valley has great advantages over the
cotton regions of the South and can
not fail to become a wonderful pro
ducer of wealth. It is their belief
that the valley has nothing to fear
from the boll weevil.
The cotton-seed ojl business is very
profitable in the South, notwithstand
ing the high prices paid by the mills
for seed, and a,ll that Mr. Carter
learned from the mill men tended to
increase his confidence in the great
success of the enterprise inaugurated
by the Imperial Valley fanners. Had
the growers not taken the matter into
their own hands here, Southern mill
companies would be Tacing to get
control of this field of operations.
Cotton planters of long experience
in Tennessee told Mr. Carter that they
denied it foolish for the Imperial Val
ley growers to plant the ordinary
short staple cotton, and advised the
planting of improved varieties pro
ducing a longer staple. A slight in
crease in length of staple adds from
$4 to $10 to the value of a bale, and
the conditions in the valley are pe
culiarly favorable to the production
of the longer and stronger staple. Mr.
Carter obtained for experimental
planting 200 pounds of improved Geor
gia seed and 200 pounds of Fforo
dora long staple seed from Tennes
see.
At Little Rock, Ark., the Imperial
Valley men saw a demonstration of
the work of a new mechanical cot
ton picker that seems to be prac
ticable in principle. The machine is
mounted upon a truck that is driven
between the towb, and consists' of a
suction 'pump operated by a gasoline
engine. A flexible pipe on each side
is handled by a man, who presents
the nozzle to the bolls, whereupon
the lint is sucked into the pipe and
delivered to a sack upon the truck.
Each man may handle two pipes, one
in each hand. The ends of the pipes
are so guarded by leather lips that
only the lint enters them, bolls
and leaves being excluded mechani
cally. The picking Beems to be clean
er than that done by hand. It is
said that the machine, operated by
three men, has picked 5,400 pounds
of cotton in a day.
The machine 1b not yet on the
market, only the working model of
full size having been built. Other
inventors are working on the prob
lem of machine cotton picking, and
the cotton men of the South are con
fident that they will solve it. Mr.
Carter is Indued to believe that the
Little nock man hap found the right
principle and will perfect a practi
cable machine.
EL CENTRO, CALIFORNIA, SATURDAY MAY 21, 1910.
TRACK LAYING ON THE
INTER-URBAN EXTENSION
A corps of eighty men will be
gin track-laying Monday on the
westerly extension of the Holton
Interurban Railroad from El Cen
tro — the easterly connection of
the San Diego & Arizona Rail
road. These men are from the
Southern Pacific construction
crews which have been engaged
in construction work at Tucson,
Arizona.
They will lay the tracks as far
as New River as speedily as pos
sible. The crew will be able to
lay a little more than 4000 feet
per day. The entire mileage to
be laid at this time is nine miles,
which includes a switch on the
Wilsie place, two miles west of
El Centro; one at the new town
of Mobile, and one at the pres
ent westerly terminus of the road
at New River.
There will be forty-two small
bridges or culverts in the track
age from El Centro to New Riv
er, and the longest of these is
only forty-three feet. Less than
a mile of grading remains to' be
completed, and it will be all fin
ished before the tracklayers are
ready for it.
The outlook is good for the op
eration of trains on the extension
by the first week in July.
•X- -* * * * ..- -X- -X- * -X- ■» -X- * * *
CANAL IMPROVEMENTS
Progress of Work on Concrete Struc
tures of the California Develop
ment Company.
Receiver Holabird, of the C. D. Co.,
returned from Los Angeles to the val
ley this week to inspect the work on
new structures for improvement of
the irrigation system. The protec
tive levee in Mexico is practically
completed and will prevent the flood
waters of the Colorado from invading
the valley and damaging canals this
year. The new seven-foot drop in
the main canal west of Sharp's head
ing, to take the place of the old ten
foot drop and the check above, is well
under way.- This is a concrete struc
ture designed to last as long as the
Irrigation system can be used in this
region and is of the type that the Re
ceiver would put in everywhere if he
had the authority to do more than
maintain the canal system about as
he found it.
Work is not progressing as rapidly
as was expected on the Rose dam in
the Alamo because of the withdrawal
of many teams for use on the ranches.
The concrete delivery gate for the
Mesquite Lake district and the waste
way are well along toward completion,
but the earth work is behind the sche
dule and it is not likely that water
can be sent through the power canal
into the Alamo for about three weeks
more.
A new canal has been made for No.
7, and work on the delivery gate at
the boundary will be started imme
diately. The new canal will enable
No. 7 to serve a strip of country with
ing the old limits of No. 1 that has
been above the ditch level and has
not been reclaimed.
WILL BUILD BUNGALOW
E. T. Embry, who with his wife
has been spending the winter and
spring at Hotel Oregon, and who is
a capitalist of Montana, has decided
to make El Centro his winter home,
as he nowhere found such a delight
ful winter climate. He has purchased
a lot at the northwest corner of State
and Seventh street, opposite the resi
dence of County Treasurer Paul Bo
man, and early in the fall will have
erected a residence of either fraino
or brick. It will bo one of the fin
est residences in Imperial Valley. Mr.
and Mrs. Embry will spend the buiii
mer in the north, returning here early
in the fall.
CREDITOR'S MEETING
A meeting of the creditors of Chas.
D. Stephens, a voluntary bankrupt,
who was engaged in the plumbing and
garage business in El Centro, was held
before the Referee In Bankruptcy,
Lynn Helm, in Los Angeles, last Mon
day. A. trustee was selected to clos*
up the business.
POSSIBLE PASSAGE
OF RELIEF BILL
Gleason Says His Efforts Have
Helped Rather Than
Hindered.
Interior Department Favors Legisla
tion to Protect Holders of Assign
ments Who Are Not Accused of
Fraud — Davis Decision Likely to be
Sustained by Secretary.
According to a letter written from
Washington by I. \V. Gleason under
date of May 12, there was some hope
of getting the bill for the relief of
desert land claimants before the House
out of regular order on Monday, May
14, but a two-thirds vote would be
required to bring it up.
Mr. Gleason argues that his inter
vention with an amendment to ' the
Senate bill expedited rather than re
tarded action on the bill by the House
committee. He says:
"The House had taken no action
whatever when I got here about
March 10, and I could not get the
Public Land Commissioner to set a
date for the consideration of any form
of any bill until after they had taken
up the consideration of the Railroad
bill and the President's conservation
bills, and then our case was hopeless,
except by the appointment of a sub
committee to hear and act on the
matter in the afternoon while Con
gress was considering matters of mi
nor importance and where the mem
bers could be within call in case of
a roll call.
"The Skinner vs. Davis decision will
be sustained by the Secretary and
make any legislation so unnecessary
at the present time that nothing
would have been done at this session
if I had not come here and brought
up these other matters for considera
tion, but the cloud of Judge Well
born's decision would have continued
to hang over us, and it is entirely pos
sible, as Mr. Lawler says, that the
Hammers case may be decided on a
collateral question and leave it still
hanging over us.
"This bill will pass If it can be
brought to a vote and nothing Nole
man, Havens or Churchill ever has
done has hindered in the least degree
its coming to the voting stage. I
spent about three minutes' time show
ing Havens up, but neither that nor
his attack upon me had any influence
upon the legislation asked for.
"I came here much prejudiced
against Oscar Lawler and I still think
he has a very much exaggerated idea
of the extent and Intent of fraud in
Imperial Valley, but if you can once
convince him that you have acted
honestly you will find him willing to
go as far to protect every honest per
son as he has been to bring persons
acting fraudulently to full punish
ment."
The substitute for the Senate bill
was committed to the Committee of
the whole May 5, Mr. Smith reported:
"The original bill had the approval
of the Interior Department, but after
the Senate took action thereon, the
department concluded that the lan
guage should be changed in certain par
ticulars. These changes are incorpor
ated in the substitute, but the intent
or purpose of the bill is not changed.
"Briefly, the purpose of the bill is to
allow bona fide assignees of desert
entries to perfect title where the or
iginal entryman had no intention of
reclaiming the land but was in effect
a "dummy." The bill allows only those
to take title who had no knowledge of
the bad faith of the entryman.
"The second section alms to cure
a mistake made by the Land Depart
ment. In a circular and form of af
fidavit required which was sent out a
few years ago and which was in use
for a short time, those who, before
patent, had disposed of a desert en
try were permitted to take an assign
ment of another one. |About a dozen
cases of this kind are known, and as
the parties paid a good price for their
claims and have further improved the
laud, it is thought they should not be
deprived of their titles, the error hav
ing been caused by the Land Office.'*
In a letter to the chairman of this
committee, the Secretary of the In
terior says: "The department la not
disposed to offer any objections to the
enactment of a law along the lines
Indjcated in the bills, because It is
known that there are many entries in
connection with which there was some
good faith and who have spent a great
deal of time and money In the Im
provement of the land. I would sug
gest that the bill submitted bo amend
ed by adding a second section, and
that as thug amended It be enacted."
The second'sectlon, proposed by the
Secretary, covers the cases In which
Mr. Oleason is interested.
CLUB HOUSE AND PARK
Women of El Centro Proceed With
Project of Securing Lots and
Erecting Building — Outdoor
Play.
"The Ten Thousand Club Corpora
tion" is the title given the new organ
ization formed within the Women's
Ten Thousand Club of this city for
the purpose of handling the proposed
building enterprise.
The Board of Directors met on Mon
day night and organized by the elec
tion of Mrs. Violet Campbell as pres
ident; Mrs. Lewis Havermale secre
tary; Mrs. Virgil McCombs, treasurer.
It was decided to proceed at once
with the incorporation. The capital
stock is to be placed at $15,000, divid
ed into shares of $10 each..
The Club has secured pledges suf
ficient to enter into contract for the
purchase of four lots on the south
side of State street, between Fourth
and Fifth streets, as a site for the
proposed club house. It is expected
that these lots will be secured at
once so that they may be utilized
as a general meeting place for the
open-air gatherings of citizens until
such time as the permanent building
may be erected.
The present plans provide for the
erection of a commodious band stand
on the property, and the placing of
benches on the grounds. Trees are
to be set so as to form a park around
the proposed building site.
A novel feature proposed by Mrs.
John Crawford, chairman of the Club's
Park Committee, is the presentation
early in the fall of an open-air play.
It is proposed to reproduce the West
ern drama, "Arizona," which was so
successfully presented by home talent
last year. This would give opportun
ity for the introduction of various
novelties, such as the appearance of
the troop of cavalry, the trick riding
of some of the star actors, an 3 the
realistic setting of a ranch home sug
gested by the lines of the play. Near
ly all of the persons participating in
the pray as previously presented are
now in El Centro, and it could be
reproduced on short notice.
FROLICSOME FIESTA
Lawn Fete at C-M. Ranch a Brilliant
Social and Financial Success.
The lawn fete at the C-M. ranch
last Saturday night was a brilliant
success in every respect and was en
joyed by several hundred people from
Calexlco and the sister cities. Mrs.
Bowker and the ladies associated with
her in the management of the affair
arranged the attractions and enter
tainments admirably. The fine lawn in
front of the ranch house was convert
ed into a Midway by the erection of
decorated booths and was illuminated
by many electric lamps and Japanese
lanterns. Many of the visitors were
in fancy costume, which enhanced the
gayety of the scene.
A Gypsy Queen told the fortunes
of those who sat by her camp fire
and crossed her palm with silver; a
star-gazer read horoscopes and sold
magic philters and burrs from the
comet's tall; Aladdin rubbed his lamp
and the genii brought gifts; Rebecca
drew lemonade from a wonderful well ;
refreshments were servod by white
capped frauleins in the old Dutch mill;
curios were sold in a Japanese booth;
Mexican blankets and cigars in a
Spanish pavilion; a darkey stuck his
head through a canvas and defied any
one to hit him with eggs; George
Washington, Captain Kldd, Alka^f Ike,
Slnbad the Sailor, Don Carlos, Yopay
and other famous persons strolled
about and played games for peanuts
and popcorn, and Punchinello sold a
score of Angora kids at auction. Topsy
clad in guunysack and ribbons and
dancing with her shadow, made the
hit of the evening and succeeded in
keeping her Identity a secret.
The fete was given for the benefit
of the free reading room iv Calexico
and was so well patronised that the
managers counted up |300 receipts.
NEW WATER SYSTEM
TALKED BY TRUSTEES
Plans and Estimates Presented
Again By City
Engineer. ■■■•
Board Disposed to Put in Entire New
System Instead .of Patching Up 014
One For Temporary. Use-rrProvlslon
..Made For Cast Iron Pipe Lines on
El Centra's Main Thoroughfares.
At a special meeting of the EX
Centro City Trustees held at the City
Hall on Tuesday evening, all mem
bers of the Board were' present t»
discuss the proposition of proceeding,
at once . to install the entire water
system for this city.' : /'■
The City Engineer presented a re
port on the proposed' 'system, from
which the following ' summary is
made: .'-'•"
The Board has at its disposal for
water works construction and pur
chase of the present system, lands
and water stock, the sum of $69,000.
Of this amount, $10,000 is to be paid
to the Holton Power Company for th» "
present water system, about fourteen
acres of land and 120 shares of water
stock in Imperial Water Company No.
1. The Board has under consideration
the purchase of twenty acres of land
from the El Centro Land Company, t»
cost $5000, and upon this land, lo
cated in the southeast corner of the
Balcom tract, it Is proposed to erect
the pumping plant, tank and tower,
settling basins, etc., for the munici
pal water system. • ;
The plans of the City Engineer
provide for the construction of ftv»
settling basins, each having a capa
city, of 200,000 gallons, /thus provid
ing a total water capacity of Looo,oo#
gallons. The' plan provides valves s»
that any one basin can be filled or
emptied independently of. the others.
The estimated cost of these five ba
sins is $2000. :.'./-.:
The pump house proposed will be
30x50 feet, of tile, with tile roof and
brick or concrete floor. Its esti
mated cost is $2000. '• The pumping
plant proposed' will consist of tw»
units, each of which will be a forty
horsepower distillate or crude oil en
gine and a No. 4 two-step centrifu
gal pump, capable of delivering 501
gallons per minute working against
a 150-foot head. The piping is to be
so arranged that each' unit can work
independently of the Qther, and in
case of fire the pressure can be rais
ed to 100 pounds per square inch
at the hydrants. The pumping plant
will have a storage tank of 13,009
gallons capacity, and a self-starting
device wfth air-compressor and air
tank. The estimated- cost of this
plant complete is $5000.
The tower and tank proposed will
be of steel, with hemispherical bot
tom, 100 feet in height from the foun
dations to the balcony line, and to
have a capacity of 100,000 gallons
Its cost is estimated at $8000.
The main from the tank to the dis
tributing system will be ten inches,
of cast iron, to weigh 70.8 pounds
per foot. It is proposed to ran this
pipe from the tank north on the
Date Canal road to Orange avenue,
east on Orange avenue to Sixth street
From Orange and Sixth to Orange
and Fourth streets, eight-inch casl
iron pipe will be laid; and six-inch
cast iron pipe will be laid on Fourth
from Orange to Commercial streets,
on Fifth from Orange to -'Railroad
avenue, and on Main street from Fifth
to Sixth streets.
Four-inch cast Iron pipe would be
laid under these plans as follows:
On Seventh street from Orange to
Railroad avenue; on Brighton from-
Fourth to Seventh; on Olive from
Fifth to Seventh; on State from Sev
enth to Eighth; on Main from Fourth
to Fifth and from Sixth to Eighth;
on Broadway from Fourth to Sixth,
and from Seventh to Eighth; on Com
mercial from Fourth to Eighth; o*.
Railroad from Seventh to Eighth
streets.
It is expected that screw pipe from
the present system can be used by
relaying to cover emergency cases un
til the funds are provided to com
plete the system with cast Iroa
pipes.
The piida of all pipes on Eighth
(Continued on p*f« 8)
No. 7
