Imperial Valley Press.
VOL. IX.
AUTHOR AND SINGER
DELIGHT AUDIENCE
Harold Wright Delivers Elo
quent Address on Education
at Opera House.'
•Grammar Bcho'ol Baccalaureate Ser
vice Occasion of Admirable Enter
tainment — Impromptu Musical Reci
tal By Visiting Singer and Accom
panists Follows Regular Program.
"Baccalaureate" service is an in
novation in grammar school peda
gogics to be credited to El Centro.
The eighth grade of the El Centro
grammar school held services of that
iiaturu at Holt Opera House last Sun
day night, and the occasion proved
to.be an excuse for one of the most
•enjoyable entertainments ever offered
to the public in the county seat.
Prof. Ragan bad the gqod luck to
persuade Harold Bell Wright to de
liver an address, and announcement
•of that feature of the program caused
the Opera Hou^e seats to be filled.
Mr. Wright has been a resident in
the valley for about two years, but
he has declined all invitations to
speak, in public and devoted himself
wholly to ' the literary work that he
prefers to other modes of expression
•and that has brought him ' no small
measure of fame — not to speak of
substantial rewards.
The author of the Ozark trilogy —
"That Printer of Udell's," "The Shep
herd of the Hills" and "The Calling
of Dan Matthews" — was one of the
famous pulpit orators of the Middle
West not so Very long ago, but he
did not, find, church work, as .carried
on in these days, what he thinks it
should be, and he no longer answers
to the title of "Reverend." His "call"
is to the pen and the brush, and
through forms of art he is trying to
express the truth as he sees and feels
it.
Mr. Wright's first public address in
El Centro justified the reputation ac
corded to him in his pulpit days, when
he bewildered, not to say scandalized,
conventional church people by preach
ing Christianity instead of creed and
dealing with life and humanity in
place of dogma*.
Mr. Wright spoke without notes, dif
fidently at first, but as he got into
the swing of his subject and forgot
himself, the eloquence of sincerity
possessed him and held his audience
in rapt attention. He talked of edu
cation and what it means, and none
of his audience ever heard the sub
ject .dealt with in the same, spirit and
bo simply and clearly. before. Wright's
eloquence is not that of the elocution
ist, from the lips outward, and his ef
fects are not premeditated. The im
pression he makes is that of ono giv
ing utterance to his inmost thoughts
and convictions regardless of effect
and almost oblivious to the presence
of an audience.
At the conclusion of the address,
Prof. Ragan, thanking Mr. Wright, de
clared that he had derived from his
words a broader conception of the
work of a teacher and could go on
with renewed enthusiasm and confi
dence.
The full program of exercises was
nu follows:
Hymn, "Come Thou Almighty King,
invocation, Rev. Fraser; Solo, Mrs.
Black; Scripture Lesson, Rot. Burn
ham; Male Quartette, Messrs. Mor
ton, Bell, Clark, and Waite; Dacca- !
laureate Address, Harold Bell Wright;
Ladies Quartette, Misses Carr, Davis,
Whitescarver, and Williams; Hymn, |
America; Benediction, Rev. Tout. '
At Prof, lingua's request, the au
dience joined in singing the hymns.
From a box on the" right a rich, pow
erful, perfectly trained contralto
voice dominated and took the lead, and
most of the audience forgot to sing
In listening to the splendid voice. The
singer was Miss May Gowan, o* lled-
Janita, who was one of a houso party
this week at "Tecolote", Mr. Wright's
ranch home at Mololand.
After the services, Miss Gowun was
persuaded by the muslc-lovern who
lingered in the hall to give au iiu
promptu musical recital, and Miss
Helena Long, sister of Mrs. Wright
and organist of a Chicago church, and
Miss Chloe Holt assisted as ancom*
panists. • Miss Gowan sang tho "Slave
Song," "The Prodigal," "Loch U>n
ond," "My Ala Folk" and other selecr
tions, and the auditorium was nearly
Official Pnpor of Imperial County and City of 131 Contro.
filled again soon after the first note:;
of her wonderful voice were heard.
Miss Gowan is a musical artist of
high order and her voice has a quality
that is rare among the best slngors.
The impromptu recital was a* de
lightful as it was unexpected.
Tho eighth grade class of thq 12)
Centro grammar school may well be
proud that it was the moans of giv
ing to the people of the city the op
portunity to hear Harold 801 l Wright
and a singer of Miss Gowan's quality
in tho same evening. The members
of the class, were: Joe Conkling,
George Forrester, Clifford Hand, Carl
Miller, Harry Newton, Edwin Pearson,
Frank Stockton, Rollie Clark, Robert
Boman, Reginald Norlhcott, Nettie
Buttram, Essie Fowlkes, Wanda Greer,
Anna Gilbert, Mildred Hand, Callie
Heil, Jessie Jones, Rose Julian, Marie
McClure, Lillle Jones, Eleanor Egge.
SMUGGLER TURNED LOOSE
Customs Inspector Refuses to Assist
in Suppression of Bootleg Liquor
Traffic.
City Marshal Bradford has been
watching a bootlegger, one Forbes, for
several weeks, and last srtinday so
caught the fellow smuggling whiskey
over the border from Mexicali.
Bradford reported the matter to the
customs officers and asked their as
sistance in suppressing the saloon-on
the-hoof that nad been bothering him
so long. An inspector went to the
train, seached Forbes and found two
bottles of liquor, but he paid no at
tention to Bradford's demand that the
fellow be placed under arrest. The
inspector confiscated the whiskey, told
of the awful things he would do to
Forbes if he should catch him again,
and turned the bootlegger loose.
The inefficiency of the customs ser
vice at Calexico is asserted by peace
officers of the valley cities to be re
sponsible for failure to suppress the
petty retail liquor traffic that accounts
for the prevalence of "drunks" on
the streets. They say smuggling
whiskey in bottles is the easiest trick
imaginable. A receipt for duty paid
on one bottle is made to serve for
as many bottles as a man can pack
across the line ono at a time.
FARMERS GET TOGETHER
Plan of Organization to be Presented
at Next Meeting in El Centro
! A meeting of farmers of the valley
was called for Wednesday afternoon
at the school house in El Centro for
the purpose of organizing an exchange
or cooperative association. So many
farmers were busy planting cotton and
harvesting hay crops that the attend
ance was not large. Mr. I. May field,
of El Centro, presided, and W. F. Dil
lett, of Holtville, acted as secretary.
j The benefits to be derived by the
farmer from an organization that
gathers and distributes information
of crop and market conditions were
discussed, aud all present were in fa
vor of systematic work along that
line. No final action in the direction
of organization was taken, but a com
mittee, consisting of Messrs. May
field, Sprouse and Dillett, waß ap
pointed to correspond with associa
tions of citrus growers, formulate n
plan of organization and articles of
incorporation, and report at a meet
ing to be held In El Centro on Satur
day, May 29.
PROGRESS ON POWER PLANT
William Behr, of the Allis Chalmers
Co., has arrived in El Centro from
Milwaukee to take charge of the
erection of the machinery at tho Hol
ton Power Cos. plant In Holtville. Mr.
Behr will have full charge of tho
work until the plant is put In opera
tion, which will probably be in 30
or 40 days.
MISSIONS BECRETARY PREACHES
Hey. Oeorgo C. Hulterfield, secre
tary of the Southern California Home
Missions of the Presbyterian Church,
preached in tho El Centro Presbyter
lan Church last Sunday morning.
EAGLE HALL IMPROVEMENTS
Dr. J. C. Blacklnton is constructing
a 25x50 foot extension to the upper
floor of the Blacklntou block. This
will be uaed by the Eagles lodge for
buth rooms and a recreation hall.
EL CENTRO, CALIFORNIA, SATURDAY, MAY 15, 1909.
TWO NATIONAL BANKS
IN EL CENTRO CITY
First National Bank Opens for
Business With Strong
Directorate.
County Seat's Banking Facilities Now
First Class and Business Conditions
Improving Valley State About
Ready to Pay Depositors in Full.
Assurances have been given that El
Centro's temporary inconvenience re
sulting from the closing of^the Valley
State Bank Is to have speedy relief,
while the opening of the First National
bank and the continued growth of the
El Centre National provide banking
facilities equal to those of any city
of this size in California. A town's
banking facilities have so direct and
Important influence on its business
condition that it is usually insecure
to have only one bank, no matter how
strong that bank may be. El Ceutro
has now two National banks, its mon
ey handling facilities are as nearly
perfect as they could be and the bus
iness of the town and of the country
tributary to it is thereby so protected
and stimulated that all business en
terprises will be made piore secure and
a considerable increase in the volume
of trade can bo expected at once. In
fact, conditions are already better
than at any previous time for a year
and all the business men of the city
look forward with confidence and op
timism.
The First National Bank opened for
business. Wednesday morning in the
splendid quarters in the Beach build
ing at the corner of Sixth and Main
streets. The officers are Leroy Holt,
president; True Veucill, vice-presi
dent; J. V. Wachtel. cashier; Leroy
Holt, True Vencill, J. V. .Wachtel, W.
F. Holt, Harold Bell Wright, Fred Ful
ler, Geo. D. Abrams, directors, The
stockholders in addition to those
named as directors are F. C. Abrams,
S. W. Dunaway, H. C. Griswold, Paul
Bonian, Franklin J. Cole, A. H. Reh
kopf, D. G. Whiting, W. A. Van Horn,
B. Salomon, W. R. Garey, T. B. Blanch
ard, R. H. Clark, D. S. Elder.
The First* National was capitalized
at $25,000 and this amount has been
paid in. Steps have already been taken
to increase the capital to $50,000 and
it is expected that the increase will
be made in a week or two.
The opening of the First National,
with its strong backing, and efficient
officers, means that more money will
be available for El Centro and that
its banking facilities have been
strengthened. The bank will be con
ducted safely and conservatively, but
all proper accommodation will be ex
tended to its customers.
The Xl Centro National, starting two
months ago, has made the splendid
record of increasing its deposits to
over $100,000, while its cash resources
are extraordinarily large. The con
fidence which the people of the town
had in President Fuller has been fully
justified and he has already demon
strated that in the El Centro Nation
al Bank the city has an institution
upon which it can always depend and
whose strength is-suJlicient to meet all
legitimate banking demands. Cash
and exchange now on hand amounts
to $85,000 and money will at all times
be available for loans. The paid up
capital of the El Centro National Is
$30,000 which will soon be increased
to $60,000.
Progress in handling tins affairs of
the Valley State Bank has been satis
factory, but there are still some minor
details to be decided before the bank
can be opeued for the purposo of
paying its depositors.
Officers of the bunk stato that mon
ey in a sufficient amount to pay all
depositors in full is in hand and they!
expect to turn it over within a few
days. No announcement has yet been
made regarding the plans of the offi
cers of the Valley State Hank beyond
tho payment of the depositors at an
early date, and it is not yet known
whether or not the bank will continue
in business after it has paid off Us
liabilities. Ah stated in the Press two
weeks ago, the resources of the Val
ley Btate Bank were large enough to
preclude any danger of loss to de
positors, the only reuson for any de
lay at all being the necessity for suf
ficient tjmo In which to convert a
part of the securities into cash.
COITON PLANTING
ON VALLEY FARMS
Thousands of Acres Devoted
to Test of Soil and
Climate,
Experienced Cotton Growers Confident
of Success— American Nile Company
Pledges Installation of Machinery to
Handle Crop— Advice to Planters.
Cotton planting is in progress in
Imperial Valley, and this year will
demonstrate the suitability of soil and
climate to cotton growing on a scale
that will be convincing. More than
1300 acres are assured by the con
tracts already signed and seed dis
posed of by the American Nile Com
pany, and it is probable that the total
acreage of cotton will exceed 2,000.
One implement house alone has dis
posed of fourteen machine planters.
J. R. Loftus will have 280 acres of
cotton, the latest planting being 80
acres at Mcloland from which a bar
ley crop has been harvested.
Many of the planters are Southern
men, who have had experience, and
they do not regard cotton-growing in
this region as an experiment. They
assert confidently that they know this
is the best cotton region in the Unit
ed States. Others, lacking experience,
understand that they have something
to learn about the habits of the plant
and methods of cultivation, and all
probably will have to experiment to
ascertain how to irrigate to best ad
vantage.
The American Nile Company ad
dresses to planters the following:
The Cotton Industry.
For the benefit, of thoso interested
in the cotton proposition I wish to
stato that the aim of the American
Nile Cotton Company is not so much
for an investment as it is to estab
lish the industry of cotton growing.
Realizing the importance of thla
great staple and the benefits to be de
rived therefrom both to the planter j
and to those having extensive land i
holdings, this company has taken the ;
initiative. ;
As the establishing of this industry
will undoubtedly have a beneficial ef
fect upon land values and various
other interests, the members of this!
Company will be benefitted thereby!
the same as will everyone else. !
Seed is being delivered at cost laid
down, plus one half cent per pound,
which does not quite pay the cost of
handling. The company has obligated
itself to build a gin, etc., at El Centro
in order to provide for marketing the
crop. -,
Seed is now being planted. The
month of May is considered by many
old cotton growers to be the proper i
time to plant here. Any time before
June Ist, is desirable. Cotton plant
ed July 4th has made a good crop
here, but late May planting la per
haps the most desirable because of
the spring winds being then about
over. Planters must bear in mind
that cotton, like all real staples, can
not be compared with melons, fruits,
or trucking products, which are sub- !
ject to uncertain values. A bale of
cotton Is "legal tender" and the fact
that it can be gathered during the
winter months when other crops do
not interfere is an advantage that
must not be looked over by the plant- j
; er.
The company is making contracts i
and (delivering seed daily and success :
is already attained.
There is still plenty of seed on
I hand but wo would urge those intend
ing to plant to call at once and those
having contracts for seed are re
quested to call as soon as possible and
take the seed homo.
Let everybody join in and take ad
vantage of the opportunity to estab-
Ilsb tho cotton industry.
American Nile Cotton Company.
By Irving Jaquay.
FARM HELP BCARCE.
Etanchera in Imperial Valloy com
plain of difficulty in obtaining help.
There 1b plenty of work to be done,
but men to do it are scarce. Com
petent farm laborers are paid $40 a
month and board, and there are steady
Joba waiting for a considerable num.
ber of men of the right sort. Tbla
is in addition to the help required
for a short time during the melon
picking season.
RECEPTION AND DANCE
A reception and dance was given
Wednesday night In Masonic Hall by
Mr. and Mrs. C. E. Paris to Miss
Chloe and other members of the
house party at Harold Bell Wright's.
About 26 couples were present, many
of thorn coming in a special car from
Mololand and vicinity. There was
good music for the dance, refresh
ments were served and the evening
was delightfully spent. Miss Holt and
Miss May Qowan of the party returned
to Redlands Thursday morning.
ANDREW GARCIA'B EBTATE
Andrew Garcia, who died in Ari
zona, had ranch property in Imperial
Valley, and his brother nominated
George P. Blair, of Imperial to act
as administrator. Judgo Cole has de
cided that tho Imperial county por
tion of the estate must pass through
the hands of Public Administrator E.
E. Forrester.
JOINED THE HERD
Twelve El Centro Men Initiated in
Redlands Lodge of Elks.
There were lively times in the lodge
rooms of the Elks in Redlands Wed
nesday night when a large class was
Initiated in the presence of a big rep
resentation of 'members and visitors
from the San Bernardino and River- j
side lodges.
Besides the representatives from
Riverside and San Bernardino says
the Review, the following visitors from
El Centro were present, of whom
twelve were taken in: .
Paul Boman, W. O. Hamilton, W. P.
Hamilton, Kyle Macßratney. Samuel
W. Dunaway, Fred Fuller, W. J. Pur
cell, H. R. Balcom, T. A. Atkinson, E.
H. Games, D. H. Chaplin, and J. M.
Eshleman. J. Stanley Brown, former
ly of Redlands, and now a great boost
er for the Elks in El Centro, came
up with the party. ,
The El Centro party arrived in the
city early Wednesday morning and
were guests of the. local E)k3 all day
and night. '
BUSINESS MEN MEET
Credit Association Working For Re
duction of Unfair Freight Rates
The Imperial Valley Credit Men's
Association held a meeting In Centro
Tuesday afternoon, President J. H. Ed
gar in the chair. Secretary Steven
son read a number of letters from
•prominent Eastern firms assuring the
association of their practical coopera
tion in securing the restoration of the
intermediate freight rate. It was de
cided to further pursue the corres
pondence relating to it.
It was announced that a new rate
book would be ready for delivery in
about two weeks and It was decided,
to , issue inbnthty Supplementary
statements, if practicable.
The 'question of charging commis
sions for collections again came up
and was referred to a committee com
posed of B. Salomon, of El Centro
and Paul Maull of Holtville. ; The
members present expressed satisfac
tion at the results secured thus far
by the association and stated that
j the handling of accounts had been
! simplified since its organization.
IMPERIAL WATER BONDS
I
i
I James H. Adams and Co., of Los
Angeles, have offered to take at par
the entire issue of Imperial city water
bonds, and the City Trustees have re
ferred the proposal to the city attor
ney for an opinion on the details of
the plan of sale.
CITY HALL MOVED.
City offices were moved yesterday to
tho new city hall in the Beach block,
where the clerk, recorder, marshal and
city engineer will transact business
and meetings of the trustees will be
held.
BUYS RAILROAD MATERIAL.
The Holton Inter-Urbau R. H. Co.
bought Beveral cars of ties aud bridge
timbers from C. H. Rockwood and they
are now 'being via loaded on the eom
pauy'g property lv El Ceutro.
Born— May 5. to Mr. aud Mr«. Fred
Moore, at Drawley, a daughter.
SLIGHT GRADE ERROR
IN SEWER SYSTEM
An Inaccurate Map of the City
Said to Be Cause of
the Trouble.
Contractors and City Engineer Ab
solved of Blame by Olmstead A Gil
lelan, Who Offer to Pay Half the
Cost of Correction—- Defect Only a
Trivial Matter.
El Centro's new septic sewer sys
tem, now under course of construc
tion by Frick & Ware, of Los An
geles, is hustling along at a rate
which, is gratifying, and which indi
cates that the job will be completed
within the time limit.
All of the 12-inch pipe from the
septic tank to Fourth street and the
10-inch and 8-inch pipe south on
Fourth street have been laid, and;.
pipe has been laid through the four'
south alleys to the west line. In the
aggregate 17,000 feet of sewer have
been completed out of the entire 36,
000 called for In the' contract.
About 2000 feet of the outfall have
been laid, but work on that section
was delayed this week by the flooding
of the trench with irrigation water. Ir
rigators along the line of the out
fall have disregarded , the sewer, work;
and impeded the ditching machine by.
flooding their fields- inopportunely.' In ~
one case jtho contractors were obliged
to apply for an injunction to avert
serious interference. The flooding of
the trench caused a delay that will
set back the work about ten days.
' The ditching machine is now op- -
crating east of the \ Dogwood canal.
Steel for reinforced concrete construc
tion of the septic tank has arrived^
and when-the cement arrives work oa
the tank will start. Ten carloads of
gravel have been brought in from the
Whitewater gravel pits for use in lay
ing sewers and constructing the sep
tic tank, and thirty carloads of sewer
pipe have been received. The pipe
; has come in good condition, with but'
little breakage. Construction of man
holes has been started, and taken as
I a whole, good progress has been made
ion the construction of the system.
It was discovered last Monday that
sewer pipe laid through the west '
blocks of the city were coming, too
close to the surface, ana some exci
table cltizenß Jumped to the conclu
sion that either an awful blunder had
been made or that, someone was
"grafting.' There are persons bo con
stituted that the sight of a telephone
pole two degrees out of. plumb causes
them to emit shrill yells of "graft."
It was made plain at the start of
the inquiry that Frick & Ware, the
contractors, were not responsible for
the error. Trustee Brown conceded
that they were doing good' work is
every respect, but he refused to audit
their bill and the payment due them
was held up, pending determination
of the cause of error. In response to
a telegram to Olmstead & Gillelan,
engineer Gillelan came to El Centro
on Wednesday to see what was the
matter and after Inspection he ab
solved the contractors and the city,
eugineer from blame.
Nothing very serious ( waa the mat
ter, and the contractors estimated
that the trouble could be corrected
at a cost not exceeding $350. Mr.
Gillelan offered to stand half the ex
pense and the contractors offered to
do the extra work at actual cost.
It appears that the map of the city
adopted as official is incorrect and
that the actual distance |f o»n the
railroad to the west line is more than
it scales on the map. Consequently
the grade, as given on the profiles,
runs out at the surface Inside the
block lines.
Had the Ims Angeles engineers been
on the ground during the progress of
the work, probably the error would
have been detected sooner and cor
rected before tho pipe was laid. Tver
aro getting paid well for supervising
construction work, aud it might be ;
in order for the city of El Centro to
suggest that It is entitled to servloo
In return for the fee.
Discovery of the dlbcrepancy be
tween the official map. which was not,,
made for the city however,;
and th» blocks as marked
on the ground, brings out the need
for a correct survey and an accurate
map. It will cost about $500 to inako
a proper map. .
No. 6