San Antonio light. [volume], September 17, 1911, Page 12, Image 12

About San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993

Image provided by: University of North Texas; Denton, TX

                
12
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Illustration Showing the Progress Made In the Construction Of the Medina*. Dam
—PHOTO BY CHARLES W. ARCHER.
Work on the Medina irrigation dam to peogrrwUng rapidly. AH preliminary meaanrea have been taken and operations on the project ttsetf win begin in a few days in real earnest. The huge derricks seen in the picture will support an aerial tram*
way on which Uh* concrete and rtunc will be transporu-d to the site of the dam. Above the long building on the right of the picture Is seen the railroad on which the stone, sand and cement wiU be carried to the concrete mixers. The bare spot in the
center background shows where vegetation and the soil have been removed prior to placing building material in position. The gorge on the extreme right, the depth of which is hard to appreciate on the illustration, is the bed of the Medina river and will
become the main nwervolr of the dam when completed.
CONSTRUCTION
OFDNAOAM
WELL UNDER WA!
Preliminary Work Is Completed
and Energy Now Centered
on the Main Object.
PROJECT PROGRESSES WELL
Measures for Sanitation and
• Comfort Insure Health
of Employes.
Thirty-four miles from San An
tonio between high bluffs of the Me
dina river, the forces of man are at
tacking the forces of nature, and the
forces of man will be victorious. With
steam, electricity and the strength of
1500 men, they are hammering at na
ture's obtsacles, and soon, where now
are arid lands, the soil will laugh
with crops that shall tend to give
Ban Antonio greater commercial ac
tivity than she now possesses.
Dr. Fred S. Pearson, head of the
Medina Irrigation company, and a
prophet who peers Into futurity, has
Been the effects of a giant dam to
curb the waters of the Medina and
force them to do man's bidding. With
characteristic aggressiveness, he has
pitted himself against nature and It
Is his men and his money—or rather
the money placed in his hands as a
I Lives
I ’ Happy, Care-Free
I Parents and Children
I ' THE HOME WAS BUILT WITH
PETRICH-SAUR QUALITY LUMBER
| Phones 3030 / Chestnut & Lamar
SUNDAY,
safe investment—which is to make
the countryside blossom.
Squarely across the Medina, block
ing it so completely that even seep
age will be rare, a giant triangle of
concrete, as it were, will be placed.
One hundred and seven feet thick at
the base, with a batter-back leaving
but 16 feet at the top, 160 feet high
and 1600 feet long, the mammoth
wedge will be as stable as the pyra
mid of Cheops. Back of it will gath
er storm and normal water flows,
making a lake 16 or 20 miles long.
Four miles below, another smaller
dam—460 feet long and 48 feet high
—will catch, the overflow, raise it
sufficiently high to divert it Into
channels or laterals, and spread it
over 60,000, and possibly 100,000,
acres of soil, the fertility of which
has been proven.
Progress 1s Astonishing.
But the facta of the dams are
known. That which now appears
wonderful to the layman, is the prog
ress which is being made to can*}' the
plans to fruition. Moving swiftly
when decision has been reached. Dr.
Pearson and his corps of able lieu
tenants have bent to the task which
will not be completed for two years.
By that time (6.000,000 will have
been expended, but the results will
more than justify the expenditure.
There are now nearly 1600 men on
the Job. Of these 1350 are Mexican
laborers gathered to do the purely
manual work. Something over 100
engineers, gaploglsts, expert machin
ists. diamond drillers, concrete men,
and minor officials make up the com
plement of the army, sunnorting the
master mind whose directive force is
responsible for the push and well
being of the task.
Already the work has taken on the
aspect of the thing well under way.
In a nUht. as it were, a village has
sprung up, equipped in a manner
that leaves nothing to be desired.
Bungalows, lean-tos and tents form
an admixture of color and an ensenf
ble of line that is reminiscent of a
gold rush. Immense quantities of
machinery are either in place or Ut
ter the earth ready for Installation.
A railroad has been built, a telephone
line put up. Modern conveniences
are at hand. r
Huge Derricks Go Up.
On the west bank of the river—
that chosen as a site for the village
and the working end of the under
taking—huge derricks lift their heads
more than a hundred fuet. On the
opposite side another Is erecting. A
cable, two and one-half Inches thick,
of the finest cable wire, is strung. On
this cable will move the enormous
loads of concrete which will be sunk
Into the dam and in which will be
embedded the rocks and limestone,
shale and soil, which, intermingled
with cement and sand, form a com
position impervious against the at
tacks of time or the elements.
The San Antonians who went last
week to review the work were sur
urlsed. All about them lay evidences
of zealous application. Immense
rock crushers, mammoth concrete
mixers, engines for hauling and
dumping, and, above all, the der
ricks that will handle Herculean
loads with the ease of child's play,
caught their fancy and forced excla
mations of wonder. Much masonry
work and piling to support the heavy
work has been completed. Material is
arriving dally and before the end of
the week It is believed that the ac
tual work of placing the concrete can
be commenced.
Little excavation has been done to
the bed of the river. Little Is needed,
according to A. W. K. Billings, the
chief engineer in charge. The dam,
he says, will be stable through Its
own weight. The’re Is no necessity to
go down as the foundations will rest
on limestone of equable stability all
through as far deep as drills have
penetrated.
Everything is practically in readi
ness to begin concrete placing, and
this of Itself is but a monotonous
task. Machinery will do most of the
labor, but the hand of man, as rep
resented In those 1500 unskilled Mex
icans, will be required to give aid.
Precautions for Health.
It is a matter of precaution for
health and the concentration of
work that particular attention to de
tails'ls seen. Possibly no town of an
equal number of inhabitants Is so
well provided with what goes to
make up modern comfort and sani
tation. The town has:
Electric lights.
Complete sewer system.
Artesian water system, piped ev
erywhere.
Equipped hospital.
THE SAN ANTONIO LIGHT
Store and postoffice.
Company physician.
Screens everywhere.
If there is anything left out of the
above enumeration it has that also.
"Build a hospital" are said to have
been the first words of Dr. Pearson
when he decided to go ahead with the
project. That is always hie first con
sideration to take care of the health
of his employes.
Dr. Fletcher combines In hlmaelf
the duties of company physician and
justice of the peace. Incidentally,
there Is a sheriff and a peace officer.
But liquor Is not allowed to be sold
anywhere on the grounde. There
has been, as reported, some boot-leg
ging going on around the camp in
the brushes, but this will be stopped
at once, if the company has to hire
private detectives to run out the illi
cit liquor dealers.
Two Years on the Job.
Two years is the time required to
complete ■ the task. It Is estimated
that less time will be necessary, and
that about March, 1913, everything
will be ready to begin irrigating. As
contemplated at present, 60,000 acres
will be given water. Almost as many
more can be taken care of if it is de
cided to open them. These matters
are so far in the future that they
will take care of themselves long be
fore the dam is completed.
The company owns a strip 1500
feet wide on each side of the Medina
river. It extends for miles down the
river, 10,000 acres lying in Bexar
county and the balance In Medina and
Atascosa counties. Possibly more
acreage will be bought in Bexar coun
ty, as there are many suitable tracts
which can be acquired. In any event,
60.000 acres will produce a vast ton
age of corn, cereals of other kinds,
spring truck and cotton that will go
through San Antonio to the markets.
As an enterprise the-Medina dam
will be easily the biggest in Texas and
about the fourth in size in the United
States. The Elephant Butte dam
the Roosevelt dam and the Shoshone
dam are larger. As compared to it,
the Austin dam sinks into a minor en
terprise. The advantages accruing
are, In a business sense, duo to come
to San Antonio, which is the market
where all provisions are being bought
and where all products from the land
will be sent when the water puts into
cultivation the thousands of acres not
now tilled because of the uncertainty
of the rains.
The oldest book agent in the world
is George Clinton Paine of Elmira, N.
Y. On the ninth day of last July he
was 100 years old. And yet, within
the last two months, he has sold 1000
books of fiction.
DISFIGURED WITH
SCALES ANO CRUSTS
Eczema from Top of Head to Waist.
Suffered Untold Agony and Pain.
Doctors Said It Could Not Be Cured.
Set of Cuticura Remedies Success*
ful When All Else Had Failed.
"Some time ago I was Uken with eczema
from the top of my head to my waist. It
began with scales on my body. I Fullered
untold Itching and burning, and could net
sleep. I wts greatly disfigured with scales
and emata. My ears looked as if they bad
been most cut off with a razor, and my neck
was perfectly raw. I suffered untold agony
and pain. I tried two doctors who said I
had eczema tn Its fullest stage, and that it
could not be cured. I then tried other rem
edies to no avail. At last. I tried a set of
the geauine Cuticura Remedies, which cured
me. Cuticura Remedies cured me of eczema
when all else had tailed, therefore I cannot
praise them too highly.
"I mSered with eczema about ten months,
but am now entirely cured, and I believe
Cuticura Remedies are the best ekin cure
there Is.” (Signed) Miss Mattle J. Shaffer,
R. F. D. 1, Box R, Dancy, Miss., Oct. 27,1810.
"I had suffered from eczema about four
years when boils began to break out on
different parts of my body. It started with
a fine red rash. My back was affected first,
when it also spread over my face. The itching
was almost unlxarable at times. I tried
different soaps and salves, but nothing seemed
to help me until I began to use tile Cuticura
Soap and Ointment. One box of them cured
me entirely. I recommended them to my
sister for her baby who was troubled with
tooth eczema, and they completely cured
her baby.” (Signed) Mrs. F. L. Marberger,
Drehersville, Pa., Sept. 6, 1910.
Although Cuticura Soap and Cuticura
Ointment are sold by druggists and dealers
everywhere, a liberal sample of each, with
32-page booklet on the skin and hair, will
be sent, post-free, on application to Potter
Drug A Chern. Corp., Dept. 4B, Boston.
PLEA FOR COMMON TONGUE
(By Dr. D. D. Zamenhof of Warsaw, i
originator of “Esperanto.”)
The conflicts that we find between I
the various races and peoples are the ’
greatest evil that afflicts humanity. j
What is the chief. If not the only '
cause of this hatred which sets one
people against another? Should we
seek It in the political conditions, the
rivalry that there Is between those |
various groups of human beings to
which we give the name of kingdoms?
Certainly not; since it Is clear that a
German belonging to the German em
pire. for Instance, has no natural sen
timent or hatred for a German of
Austria. Germans who have been.
born and are living under the same
diverse governments are linked In mu- ;
tual sympathy, while Germans and .
Slava, born and living under the same ■
government, regard each other as for
eigners, and, if they had not a feel
ing of humanity stronger than the I
self-consciousness of their particular
group, they would hate and combat
each other. It Is not, therefore, the >
difference of governments which ere- ;
ates different peoples, and engenders,
hatred between them.
Not Economic Rivalry.
Is it economic rivalry that Inspires 1
this hatred? Once more, certainly;
not. We do, Indeed, often hear a cry
of alarm in this connection. We find
a people exclaiming that they are
about to be devoured and absorbed ,
economically by some other people
and declaring that they must hate,
oppress, or tight it. But any man who
is not blinded by Chauvinism can see
at once that these cries have no mean
ing; that we do not hate foreign peo
ple because they are in danger of ab
sorbing us, from the economic point
of view, but we raise the cry of ab
sorption because we hate them. If,
In point of fact, an economic dangot
were a source of mutual hatred, men
would be torced to hate and tight each
other in every country, every prov- ,
Ince and every town.
Can we say, for instance, that so
many millions of poor Russians hate 1
the millions of poor Chinese on econ
omic grounds, when they shed their
blood so willingly to defend their
Russian oppressors against the at-1
tacks of foreigners? Assuredly not,
for the Russian soldier knows very
well, when he kills a Chinese soldier,
that the men could never do him as
much harm as the “mailed fist” of his
own compatriots. It is not economic
cause that gives rise to national ha- !
treds.
Is It due to the distance between
the two groups, the dissimilarity of |
climate and other geographical con
ditions, which might give rise to mu-1
tual aversion or antipathy? Certainly
not. Remoteness from each other and
difference in local or climatic condl- j
ttons evidently produce certain varia
tions In external appearance and in
the character of men, but they do not
create peoples, and do not Impel them
to hate each other.
Not Geographical Difference.
The differences brought about bj
geographical and local conditions be
tween the inhabitants of St. Peters
burg and those of Odessa, or between
the inhabitants of Kiev and those of
Krasnojarska, are incomparably great
er than the differences, for instance,
between the inhabitants of Berlin and
those of Warsaw, yet the former arc
united by a sentiment of nationality
nnd fraternity, while the latter are
divided by a feeling of deep aversion
and most fanatical national hatred
It Is not, therefore, the dissimilarity
of geographical and climatic condi
tions that creates national hatred.
May we seek it in the circumstance
that the various races and peoples
differ from each other In their bodily
features? Certainly not. Within th*
limits of any single people we find
men of entirely different skin-colors,
and with the greatest possible differ
ences In stature and In the character
of the various parts of the body. It
often happens that two men who be-,
long to the same people differ from
each other more than two men of
separate nationality, as we see, for
Instance, in the medium type of the
Japanese and the French. But no one
would think of separating the indi
viduals of the same people into dis
tinct groups according to their physi
cal characters, and of supposing that
there groups ought to detest and Ugh’
each other.
There Is only one race to whlcn
many of us seem to have a natjiral
antipathy—the black race. But care
ful reflection soon shows us that our
antipathy comes from a totally differ
ent source.
The negroes, with whom we white
races have contrived to have so much
trouble, were savages at no very dis
tant date, and then slaves: and the
greater part of them still retain the ।
characteristic features or traces of
their long period of barbarism and
slavery. That has the instinctive ef
fect of causing us. as free men and
long established in civilization, to re
gard them with aversion.
Is the hatred due to difference in
mental endowment? That the vary*
ing degrees of mental endowment do
not constitute a national peculiarity
Is shown, not only by the fact that
the individual members of any Euro
pean nation with the same education,
have the same mental level, but is still
more clearly demonstrated by com*
paring, for example, the Egyptians
of* the ancient civilisation, the Jap
anese of modern times, with the civil
ized inhabitants of Europe. The three
belong, not merely to different peo
pies, but to wholly different races and
continents, yet if we leave out of ac
count the conditions of time, place
and religion do we not And just the
same mentality In these Africans,
DEVELOPMENT
UNDER HEADWAY
Mr. Hamilton Mid Mr. Appy, formerly
of Missouri, have been at Forwlerton sev
eral weeks. They have been getting ac
quainted with oonditiona.
They were here yesterday; they bought
tools and a hone and various articles
needed to begin fanning.
They have bought 20 acres of our Frio
Valley Winter Gardens and are clearing
it up, getting-it ready for onions.
They are building a home; have let a
contract for a well and are the happiest
people in Texas.
Their onions will very likely pay out
the entire cost of the land ana improve
ments the first year and leave them money
in the bank.
If you will buy some of this land it will
make you independent.
A 10-acre farm and a free residence lot
in Fowlerton, the best town in Texas, can
be had on terms of $16 cash and $10 per
month.
•
FOWLER
BROS.
LAND CONP’Y
Frost BulMIng
San Antonio.
Write or Call on
B. 0. HATCHER
Sales Manager
FOR AN AGENCY
SEPT. 17, 1911.
Asiatics and Europeans?
What, then, is the true cause of
the dissensions and hatreds which in
flame people against each other?
Language, especially, is a prepon
derant, If not the sole element. In ths
composition of the difference between
peoples. This is so true that in some
languages the words “tongue" and
“people" are synonymous. Free men
speak the same language, assuming
that one does not use it for the pur
pose of hunUUatlng the other, but
that they use it with equal right; it.
in virtue of their common tongue,
they not only understand each other,
but have the same literature (oral or
written), the same education, the
same ideal, the same sentiment of
human dignity, and the same rights;
if. in addition, they have the same
"God,” the same festivals, the same
morality, the same traditions, and the
same customs, they feel that they are
brothers, that they belong to the
same people. If two men do not un
derstand each other, they regard each
other as foreigners, if not as bar
barians, and instinctively avoid and
distrust each other, just as we In
stinctively distrust whatever seems to
us to hide in the darkness.
F. V. W. G> Otrapoa D. G,
Fowler Bros.’ Land Oo,
Frost Bailding,
Ban Antonio, Tkz.
naaoe send me
prices and tennsi also your
booklet. Quote price end
terms on..........acrea
Fanza ... ...^.......
Bti'eut or P. O. Box No.
State
Town . .