Imperial Press.
VOL. I.
ORGANIZED TOR WORK
New Railroad Committee Selects
CbalmiMM* Secretary
Mr. Grant Will be Back to Take Hold
and Mr. Holt Will Come From Im
perial to Attend Meetings
There was a general feeling of satis
faction expressed throughout the city
yesterday, says the San Diego Union
dated last Friday, when the action of
the railroad meeting of the proceeding
afternoon became known and there
was the general comment on the sub
ject that the people were getting down
to business in a way that would result
in something. Everybody hopes that
it will result in the speedy formation
of a corporation to accomplish some
thing.
The meetings of the committee ap
pointed to take charge of and go for
ward with the work of organization of
a corporation at the proper time and in
the proper manner, will be watched
with interest, though it is probable
that in the nature of the work mapped
out for the committee to perform, the
meetings will not always be public,
and the action taken will not always
be made known until results have been
accomplished.
The first meeting of the committee
was held yesterday morning. It had
been called for the chamber of com
merce rooms, but because of an acci
dent to Mr. Marston in the early morn
ing, he changed the call so that the
members gathered at h is home on Third
and Ash streets. All the members
of the committee were present except
Mr. Grant, who is still in New York,
and Mr. Holt, who is at his home in
Imperial.
Mr. Marston was elected chairman
of the committee which it was decided
to call "The San Diesro-Eastern Rail
road Committee," and L. L. Boone
was named as secretary. The position
of manager was not filled, as the mem
bers of the committee did not think
that the time was quite ripe for so
thoroughly organizing. There is but
little doubt, however, that when the
time comes for such action, Mr. Fer
gusson will be selected as manager to
take active charge of the work and de
vote his attention to it under the di
rection of the committee.
Other meetings of the committee will
be held early next week. Mr. Grant,
who was named as a member of the
committee has been away from San
Diego for some time in New York, but
it is understood that he will return
home in the course of a few weeks and
will take active part with the commit
tee in its work. W. F. Holt, the other
absent member of the committee, has
not had time to reach San Diego from
Imperial since he was named as a
member, but it is understood that he
will be able to leave his business there
to attend all of the important meetings
of the committee, which will probably
all be held in San Diego.
The Christian church is now receiv
ing the finishing touches.
"Water l» King-Bert It Its Kingdom."
IMPERIAL, CAL., SATURDAY, JUNE 29, 1901.
THE DESERT DISAPPEARS
EDITORIAt LETTER BY FRED L ALLES, OF
THE EVENING EXPRESS, WHO WAS HERE
The Colorado desert has forever dis
appeared from geography and history
so far as the recent editorial excursion
party is concerned. In order to ''make
good" a desert must have sand and so
litude and dreaminess, with neither
past, present, nor. future. The great
stretch of land, lying between this
point and Yuma, a distance of about 70
miles, and extending to the base of the
mountains which fringe the valley 40
miles to the west, has few of these
characteristics. From Flowing Wells
to Yuma, along the track of the South
ern Pacific railroad, there is a stretch
of desolation and sand which deserves
the name of being' a desert, but at a
distance of from three to ten miles
west of the railrod the character of the
country changes as abruptly'as it does
between fertile Covina and the San Ga
briel river wash. The railroad follows
the real desert into Yuma because that
was the only possible grade by which
it could cross the Colorado river with
out going over the boundary line into
Mexico.
The following morning the visiting
editors were taken in stages from Im
perial down across the country to Ca
meron lake. The afternoon drive car
ried the party westward to Blue lake,
along the old L«os Angeles and Yuma
stage road, pass the ruins of Indian
Springs, where many samples of old
pottery were found, across the bed of
New river again, making a complete
circle of the lake, which is about a
mile across, raising many ducks, geese
stork and other birds. We were taken
across interminable miles of exceed
ingly fine land, a light chocolate in
color, carrying a slight admixture of
clay, friable, easy to work under the
plow, and undoußtedly of extraordin
ary fertility.
O/er the boundary in Mexico the co
mpany owns 100,000 acres of fine land,
recently purchased from Guillermo
Andyade, Mexican consul at Los An
geles, and this will be placed under
water next year. Cameron lake can
be made an ideal spot for hunting and
fishing, as it is full of fish and thou
sands of ducks, geese and other wild
Chief Engineer Rockwood was
up from Cameron Thursday and
stated that crops are doing nice
ly in that region. Alfalfa, Sorg
hum, Millett and mellons are the
crops planted, and Mr. Rockwood
stated that about three hundred
acres planted to these various
crops are up and growing very
finely. We can imagine how
pleasing to the eye the green
.fields surrounded by a barren
waste will be to the eye,
The PrBSS is the only paper publish
ed on the Colorado desert.— ll.so.
fowl cover it at some seasons. The
growth of timber around the lake and
along the banks of New River is very
good, consisting largely of fine mes
quite and willows. The land in this
section has practically all been filed
on, though thousands of acres of fine
land can be had within a few miles to
the west.
The work at Imperial is in the hands
of S. W. Fergusson, general manager
of the Imperial Land company, with
W. F. Holt assistant, and is being
taken care of in a businesslike way.
Mr. Fergusson was for many years
manager of the Kern County Land
company at Bakersfield, and under
stands the development proposition in
all its phases. The land company
handles all of the townsitesand assists
intending settlers in making selec
tions of good land. It wants settlers
to make a success of their new venture
and will not permit a filing on rough
land or land of poor character when it
can prevent it. The settlers compose
the water company and control their
own affairs. In buying slock they be
come members of a mutual water com
pany, having a contract for the pur
chase of water from the California
Development company at the Mexican
boundary line, at a certain stipulated
price perpetually. When the water
crosses the line it is the property of
the settlers, who control it as they
please. The $11.25 per share which
they pay is for the building of canals
and surveys.
The village of Imperial, laid out in
January, has one good store, a hotel,
lumber yard with shed, church in
course of construction, which will be
completed in a few days and some tent
and frame residences.
The prospects of the Imperial valley
are very much better than the pros
pects of Riverside were 30 years ago.
The men who go to Imperial now to
make homes have the experience of
similar settlements to guide them and
failures will be practically unknown,
and pioneering under the conditions
which exist there will be robbed of
many of the hardships which usually
attend the settlement of a new region.
Last Saturday and Sunday Po
cahontas county, in West Virgin
ia, was visited by a flood, the ex
tent of which will equal if not
exceed that of Johnstown in 1889,
so far as the loss of property is
concerned. Two hundred lives
were lost and the damage to
property cannot be estimated.
Keystone, Elkhorn, Vivian and
other towns are completely wiped
out Passenger train on the Nor
fork and Western railway meets
flood and passengers were drag
ged from windows of up side of
mountain.
NO. 11.
SAN DIEGO AND
IMPERIAL RAILROAD
Details of Plan Adopted by the
Citizens
Col. Fereosson and Mr. Holt Will Be
Here Tomorrow and Active Ef
fort Will be Made
The San Diegan-Sun dated Monday,
24th, say concerning the railroad pro
position:
Col. S. W. Fergusson, who is now at
Santa Ana, was expected here today,
but a letter from him says he has been
delayed by an accident which occurred
Saturday, and in which Mrs. Fergus
son was somewhat injured by being
thrown from a tally-ho while driving
down a mountain road. Her escape
from very serious injury was almost
miraculous. The colonel writes that
he will be here tomorrow and will be
accompanied by W. F. Holt of Imper
ial, another member of the San Diego-
Eastern railway executive committee.
Mr. Holt comes all the way from Im
perial to take up his share of the work
in connection with the railway. It is
understood he will remain a week, and
longer if necessary. Mr. Holt will be
a strong member of that committee, as
he has had ample business experience.
He was for years engaged in banking
in Arizona, having organized and es
tablished successful banks at both
Safford and Globe. He came to Impe
rial when the proposition began to de
velop there, and at once saw the busi
ness opportunities which would certain
ly follow. He bought out and immed
iately enlarged the general store, put
up several new buildings, aided in es
tablishing the Imperial Press, the first
newspaper in the Colorado delta re
gion, built 40 miles of telephone from
Flowing Wells to Imperial and Camer
on lake, is the chief promoter of the
first church, and at his own expense
has employed an able minister, Rev.
John C. Hay, formerly of Pueblo, Col.,
and has personally paid the ministers
salary two years in advance. Mr. Holt
proposes to engage in the banking
business at Imperial as soon as ar
rangements to that end can be perfec
ted. He is a quiet, unassuming man,
but has a faculty for seeing: into the
future a little further than the average
citizen, and a habit of performing rath
er than promising. He will be found
a strong member of the committee,
and can be counted on to hold up the
Imperial end of the proposition.
Both Mr. Fergusson and Mr. Holt,
and in fact all the members of the
railway committee are now rapidly ar
ranging their personal business so
that they can give practically their en
tire time to the railway business from
now on, or at least after the Fourth of
July holiday.
Besides securing a complete survey,
the committee will ask for terminal
facilities and franchises in this city,
and rights of way through the 'coun
try and for subscription* all along the
line.