THE SU2rfAY OREGONIAX, POBTLAXD, MARCH 6, 1910.
of
It lis His Most Picturesque Fighting Force, b
and Its Mjemb.exs Arje Amoirg the Few
Americans Living the Old-Frontier Life
V . SSH
BT E. J. EDWARDS. '
O you ever And yourself yearning
to taste of frontier life, whose ex
citements you read aboift In the lat
est popular povel, perhaps T And then,
as you are In the very midst of this
desire to experience the wild life of the
plains, does the depressing thought sud
denly come to you that America can no
longer boast of & frontier?
Oh, 'well, don't despair. There's etill
an excellent chance left for you to turn
frontiersman. Join, if you can. Uncle
Sam's little army of desert destroyers,
and If s dollars to doughnuts that before
you have been many weeks In this army
officially known as the: Reclamation
Service you'll drink; deep of Just about
all the excitements and ' adventures of
frontier life that have ever been described
between the covers of any novel.
Of a truth. Indeed, life In the Reclama
tion Service of the Government today
constitutes the nearest approach, to fron
tier llfo on the plains jret to be found
anywhere. The construction of Immense
engineering projects - in 'a God-forsaken
country, miles away from civilization. Is
enough to try the soul of any mortal
man. Add to that equation hundreds of
common laborers, oftentimes wholly for
eign born, who easily become discontent
ed and restless In such forlorn surround
ings, and one may readily imagine the
difficulties which present themselves. Not
only does nature afford obstacles to the
ffuooessful work of the Reclamation Serv
ice, but human nature not infrequently
serves to make them doubly bard to con
quer. The working force of the Reclamation
Service In itself is a small army. The
problems it is called upon to solve are
among the most notable problems of en
gineering in the whole world. Practical
ly none of them lie in the pathway of
civilization, but are situated in narrow
mountain canyons, or in the desert coun
try of the Far West, where mortal man
cannot now exist. And It is the mission
of the service to transform these arid
and swampy wastes of thepubllo domain
into garden spots, end this It is doing as
fast as men and money can construct
dams and reservoirs to irrigate the land.
The progress of the army of reclama
tion may be likened to that of an army
in time of war which is crossing the
waste places of a hostile country. It can
not rely upon the country Itself for sub
sistence. Every pound of supplies and
every piece of machinery must be hauled
through a new country. In the case of
the construction of the famous Roosevelt
Dam in Arizona, over $300,000 was spent
by the service In the construction of
roads by which to reach the project, and
in replacing roads which would eventual
ly be submerged when the project is com
pleted. The army of reclamation now
consists of six supervising engineers,
from 400 to COO engineers, 1200 superinten
dents, clerks and skilled laborers, and
from 8000 to 10,000 common laborers, ac
cording to the season of the year. In the
past seven years and a half. It has ex
pended $&2,000,000, and has restored hun
dreds of thousands of acres of waste land
to public use.
Naturally, the men who are responsible
for this gigantic labor are exceptional
tnen. On the whole, they are 'big,
brawny men of extraordinary physical
and mental resources. Practically all of
them have at some time or other in their
brief' careers been brought face to fate
with the yawning mouth of a gun barrel
in the hands of the other fellow. Many
of the most prominent officers of the
service are graduates of the Geological
Survey, in which service they knew old
Santa Fe, Tombstone, and other "tough
towns" of the "West and Southwest in
their palmiest days. ; As a result of their
composite experiences, there has grown
up in the service a policy which Is based
on the theory that nine-tenths of the al
leged troubles of the human race never
exist in fact. Consequently, the creed of
the service is, as voiced by one of its
leading officials: "Avoid trouble where
you can, and when you can't avoid It.
bury if."
Working as they do in the by-paths of
the country, the engineers of the Reclam
ation Service are frequently brought face
to face with emergencies growing out of
the peculiar manifestations of men who
live outside of the pale of Immediate civ
ilization; they have to deal with violators
of the law of all kinds. And as is char
acteristic of the really brave men, they
we extremely modest, especially when
asked to talk about themselves. When
cornered by a persistent interviewer they
are prone to dodge the issue by telling a
story on some of their colleagues in the
service, and it was in this manner that
the series of experiences here chronicled
of men high In the Reclamation Service
was secured.
Engineer Hill, Tamer of "Bad Men."
One of the greatest obstacles to be
. contended with by the Reclamation
Service is the liquor question. No mat
ter where the service may pitch its
tent, be It In the wilderness of can
yons In Arizona or New Mexico, or In
the desert country of Nevada, or some
other state, the rum-shop, in the per
son of some loud-mouthed, swaggering
"boot-legger," makes its appearance
sooner or later. Among men of com
paratively low standards of living, such
as frequently constitutes the common
labor of the Reclamation Service,
liquor affords many vexing problems
which sometimes threaten life, and limb
as well as the success of the project.
Twice has it been necessary for the
Government to step In and buy out
rum-shops for no other purpose than
to close them up and dump the stock
on hand into the. nearby river.
Supervising engineer Lewis C. Hill,
who is in charge of the construction
of the big Roosevelt dam, has had his
troubles in this direction, but he has
never failed yet to meet the emergency,
notwithstanding the fact that he has
"looked down the other fellow's gun"
more than once. Hill is one of those
jolly fellows who, however, has a facul
ty for doing everything he undertakes
with great earnestness.
When he first went into the Reclama
tion Service he was a "tenderfoot" of
the first water. Not only was he a.
graduate of the University of Michigan,
but he cam into the service, from a full
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professorship In the Colorado School of
Mines at Golden. Colo., a circumstance
which only made his offense doubly ob
noxious to the veterans in the frontier
life of the Reclamation Service. But
today he is recognized as one of the
best field men-, the Government has,
particularly in the handling of men.
No sooner had Hill begun work on
the Roosevelt dam than he found that
liquor, smuggled into the Government
reservation, was playing havoc with
the discipline of his force. The only
legal means he had at hand to put a
stop to the saloons was to resort to
the courts for an Injunction, and the
courts lay 70 miles away. But despite
the activity of the court at Mesa, when
appealed to, there remained prime evi
dence that "boot-legging" was going on
In camp, and Hill filially had to notify
the stage company that the business,
would have to stop.
When the stage driver heard of the
demand he took a solemn oath in pub
lic that if Hill ever stopped his coach
for a search of liquor one or the other
of them would die in his tracks. Noth
ing daunted, however, by the threat. Hill
stopped the coach one day, having rid
den out alone for the purpose with a
rifle swung over the pommel of his sad
dle. He made the stage driver climb
down off his box and hand over his man
ifests, which, of course, showed no liq
uor aboard. Then Hill went through the
boxes, all the time keeping a weather
eye on the boastful driver. Fnally, com
ing to a promising looking box, Hill rip
ped the cover oft and In the midst of
that desert country, with, a group of
thirsty passengers and the driver look
ing on, he coolly hurled twenty-four
quarts of whisky, one after another,
against the rocky cliffs nearby.
On another occasion a notoriously bad
Mexican who had had his liquor smug
gling game broken up by the vigilance
of Hill, went on a spree, and taking up
his rifle, started for Hill's office, vowing
to kill the engineer on sight. By luck,
somebody got word to Hill Just as the
Mexican entered the office. Stamping in
through the door with rifle pointed and
cocked, the Mexican next Instant found
himself in the iron grasp of mil, who
seized him from behind the door. In
the twinkling of an eye he had been dis
armed and was lying at the bottom of
the steps where Hill had kicked him.
Hill's latest exploit along this line was
to put another bad man off the reservaJ
tlon for the same kind of business. Dis
regarding a sign of warning that no liq
uor should be sold on the reservation,
this man opened a bar in a tent and
threatened to shoot Hill or anybody else
who tried to stop him. Hill saddled up
his horse, took down his riflle and paid
a social call on the intruder, the upshot
of which was that the intruder had the
choice of moving or having, his place
burned down over his head. He moved.
Five Against Maddened Hundreds.
E. C. Hopson, the supervising en
gineer now in charge of the work; ot
reclaiming 176,000 acres of arid and
swamp land near Clear Lake, Oregon,
can show a list of exciting adventures
as long ai Engineer Hill's, and he has
displayed as much pluck as well. Pluck,
by the way, and plenty of it. is a most
necessary qualification for any one who
desires to become a unit Jn Uncle Sam's
little army of desert destroyers.
Not long ago, when Engineer Hobson
had abdut 400 Bulgarians at work on
the Clear Lake project, unknown to
him or any of his four assistants,
feud broke out between several rival
gangs among the foreigners, and the
first Intimation that the bosses had
that there was trouble afoot was when
a part of the laborers took to the sage
brush, and the rest, armed to the teeth
with guns and revolvers and any other
weapons that came handy, took up ths
pursuit.
The scene of the outbreak was 30
miles from the nearest town. It 'was a
situation that called for speedy action;
there was no time in whicn to send to
the county officials for aid. So sum
moning his four assistant engineers to
him, Mr. Hopson armed them and him
14
self to the teeth, gave his little band
a few simple instructions, and then led
a charge on the whole bunch of shout
ing, swearing, fighting Bulgarians.
Shots were fired at them from the brush,
but, nothing daunted, the five engineers
went right at the feudists', and by their
sheer grit actually squelched the war
and drove every warrior back to camp
and ' to work.
Mr. Hopson's previous most exciting
personal experience occurred when the
Government sent him up to the Oka
nogan country in Northeastern Wash
ington to begin the construction of a
large project. The lafbor was assem
bled when a sudden climatic change
coming on the work had to be stopped.
For this act of Providence, which in-
uuiivcuiBocea iiiBin gre&ny, me laDorers
were uiaposea id noiu jar. raopson ana
his assistants personally responsible,
and for a time it looked as If they
might each decorate the business end of
tnn Til 1 f nAlthAi ia .nnonjlBflr mm
t
his assistants were quite ready to starTments of the dsm on the. walls of the
in a lynching bee, and, displaying the
same sort of grit that he used later
when he cowed the Bulgarian feudists,
Mr. Hopson persuaded the would-be
hangmen that it might go ill with quite
a number of them before they got him.
After that the blame for the sudden
coming of bad weather was diplomat
ically shifted from Mr. Hopson's shoul
ders. The 'Woman Yho Stopped Swearing.
Another present-day American who
knows from actual experience all about
frontier life at" its best or worst
whichever way you care to look at It
Is Supervising Engineer H. N. Savage,
under whose direction the highest dam
in the world, with a height of 328 feet
the Shoshone dam In Wyoming was
built between the almost perpendicular
walls of cliffs reaching skyward to a
height of 1S00 feet. And how excite
ment meets the man who is attached to
the Reclamation Service at almost
every turn, he makes Is well illustrated
by the story Mr. Savage tells of bow
order was preserved in one of his
camps in the mountain region of ths
Central West.
"The management of the messhouse
In this camp," said Mr. Savage, "went
so far as to prohibit profanity at the
table and enforce the order, too. At
the head of the establishment was a
woman who was as large physically as
any man In camp, and fully as nervy.
When she undertook to enforce disci
pline she was usually backed up by her
husband, who was a retired heavy
weight prizefighter of more than local
renown in his day. On such occasions
the husband usually provided himself
with a large-sized meat cleaver as a
supplement to his well-known flstlo
abilities. Furthermore, there was a
master of ceremonies in the place, who,
at the time, was well known through
out the mountain district as the best
lightweight prizefighter in the section.
"One day one of the boys let go his
string of profanity, which reached the
ears of the trio In the kitchen. The wo
man walked in and grabbing the disturber
by the chin, turned him around lh his
chair and said squarely in his face: "We
don't, allow no swearing here. There's
leddles present. See?"
"It I s needless to say that the rumpus
stopped right there. And I may add that
whenever a supervising engineer stops off
in this community to examine the. Gov
ernment works, he may be certain of a
call from this mess-house management, to
pay their respects."
Braving Death for Three Tears.
How the Reclamation Service is fur
nished adventure by nature when men
don't supply it, is exemplified In the
career of the man who made the
Shoshone dam feat possible, and yet
who has remained unheard of until
now, and in the survey for the Gunni
son tunnel, in Colorado. William H.
Lincoln, the inspector in charge of the
Shoshone dam job, worked for three
solid years in momentary danger of
death. In marking out the measure-
'ST
TATE WOX&OrVS OAI:t
J
canyon, he and his assistants were
dally swung from the cliffs by ropes.
1st a similar manner It was necessary
to drill Into loose portions ot rock in
the cliff walls in order to remove them,
before the actual work of construction
could begin below. But Lincoln com
pleted the dam-without a single acci
dent to an engineer engaged on the
Job, although several day laborers were
killed and injured. Then, by a queer
trick of fate, he lost his own life while
engaged in the prosalo and seemingly
safe work of patching a spillway of the
dam. He fell a distance of 34 feet upon
some rocks, and was picked up Insensi
ble and died after a few hours.
Strangely enough, not a wound or a
bruise appeared on his body, and
and whether he died from shock or
some other cause, is one of the hidden
mysteries .of Providence.
Much has been written In recent
months on the wonderful trip made by
Engineers Fellows and Torrencs
through the canyon in which the world
famous Gunnison tunnel was construct
ed. While not detracting In the slight
est from the feat, it is ruecessary to set
the records straight by saying that
this trip served no useful scientific
purpose, but was the result of a dare
devil desire to accomplish what no
man before nad ever been able to ac
complish. The feat had nothing what
ever to do with the construction of
the Gunnison tunnel project. As a
matter of fact, the really daring work on
this project was done by two men of the
topographical survey,) Edwards and
Ahearns, who climbed all over the cliffs
on their hands and knees, each holding
onto the other while the Instruments
were brought Into play. Not In
frequently it was their dally duty to
climb cliff 1000 feet high immediately
after breakfast in order to begin ths
day's work where the work of the pre
vious day had been left off. Further
more, it was Just as long and as danger
ous a climb to get back to camp again.
In charge of the actual work of con
struction on this project was Ira Mc
Connell. a witty Irishman. - who over
came more obstacles of nature in build
ing this one work than have been met
with In any other reclamation project.
Among other things McConnell had to
contend with was a law In Colorado
which provides compulsory education.
McConnell duly established a school
and sent out notices to his employes
that they must put their children to
school.
One settler, a woman, living at the
-Reclamation Service town of Portal, In
the -canyon, sent a. complaint to the Sec
retary of the Interior that McConnell had
1 forced her little girl to go to school. She
said Bhe was a "good Republican," but
that she -was afraid to take her daughter
out of school for fear her husband would
lose his job on the tunnel. She also com
plained that her daughter got Into fights
at - the echool. The complaint was re
ferred to McConnell In due time. After
answering the burden of the complaint,
he added:
"For the following of Mrs. Wilson's
grievances I hereby disclaim any respon
sibility: "First Her Republicanism.
"Second Her large family, of relatives.
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1
"Third Her daughter's disposition to
fight heredity works out sometimes.
"Fourth Her belief that there is not
one honest man left to investigate my
work.
"I also wish' to add that her fear, that
her husband may be discharged if her
daughter Is taken out of school is un
founded. He was discharged for incompe
tency some time ago."
While working off "the beaten track of
civilization, the officials of the Reclama
tion Service frequently run across a type
of settler who has lived so long outside
the pale of law and order that he is
very liable to become unruly when sub
jected to both at the instance of the new
regime in his immediate neighborhood.
Typical of this class of trosble-makers
was a settler whose land was about to be
Included in a great reservoir under con
struction by the service, and who made
arrangements for the temporary lease of
other land within the reservation, but
refused to - sign the necessary contract.
Then, one day he walked into the head
AUTOGRAPHS
Volumes
7k
BURIED treasure has come to
light in New Bedford, Mass. It
was not digged by the light of
the moon from a gnarled tree. It was
carted In broad daylight from an old
attic.
Busily hiving treasures brought by her
husband front over seas, quaint scraps
of paper with royal seals and signatures
upon them, old letters of Colonial times,
there was a New Bedford woman who
arranged very slowly during Winter
evenings, piece by piece, letter by letter.
one of the most complete American auto.'
graph collections In the world.
Not till -the possessions of Miss Mary
B. Hathaway came into the hands of
her counsel, Oliver Prescott,-did anyone
realise the value of the 40 volumes of
autograph letters of distinguished public
men, made by her mother; Mrs. William
Hathaway, which have set collectors all
over the state a-talklng. "
Mrs. William Hathaway, daughter of
a wealthy and blue-blooded Colonial
family, one of the 'hill people" of New
Bedford, began the collection in 1S42.
Commanding In figure, silent, and an
aristocrat to her finger tips, she was
little known by the townspeople. Save
for a formal "God speed you" at the
meeting-house door she spoke only a
half-dozen words to them in a lifetime.
To a few of her friends, 'however, she
would talk charmingly, always of the
world outside, and of people great and
distinguished.
When she threw open her Colonial
mansion on Orchard and Arnold streets,
rich with scarlet brocades. Ivories from
the Orient that her husband had brought
her on his voyages, containing Chippen
dale and Sheraton furniture, and the
original cases in which they were Im
If
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Tsars s-j&vc:
s- :
quarters of the supervising engineer and
laid a sawed-off shotgun and two revolv
ers on the desk Jjy way of Introduction.
Thereupon, he tendered money in pay
ment of the rent of his land and demand
ed his receipt. In reply, he was told that
he could sign the contract or take his
money or get out or be thrown out. He
signed the contract.
The Reclamation Service is headed
by a man who has had his share of ad
ventures in the West. This is Arthur
Powell Davis, its chief engineer, and
because his headquarters are now in
Washington, it happens, that his most
exciting experiences occurred when he
was a member of the Geological Sur
vey, from which many of the head men
of the Reclamation Service have been
recruited. Twice, in the early '80s,
while engaged in Government work In
Southern California, Mr. Davis endured
the greates of all physical privations,
a lack of water. '
"On one occasion," said Mr. Davis,
"we were aeni out to climb a high
HIDDEN IN AN OLD ATTIC
of Bare Signatures Collected Since Year 1842.
ported, she would show the few who
were honored by the Invitation to her
home the signature of Napoleon on a cu
rious parchment-like document. She
would show them, also, a homely letter,
full of affection, that Benjamin Frank
lin wrote to his wife, whom he addressed
as "Dear Debby."
She could point to the wall where she
had hung a letter from Benedict Arnold
written to his wife, beginning "Dear
Peggy." She could turn the leaves of
one of her scrapbooks and show them
autographs of nearly all of the signers
of the Declaration of Independence.
Not till recently, when the property
was disposed of and the treasures hidden
for years in the attic ere brought to
light, had any one an Idea of the com
pleteness or value of the collection. Some
of the letters are worth S400 apiece. Mrs.
Hathaway had obtained a signature of
John Morton, a signer of the Declaration
of Independence, whose letters are said
to be worth $1000 each.
In all there are 40 volumes of these
letters and signatures, which Mrs. Hath
away carefully arranged herself, and an
notated with printed magazine and news
paper clippings and fine steel engravings.
Each volume is bound in cloth, with
its title in fine gold letters across the
back. Some of the titles are "Signers of
the Declaration." "Foreign Statesmen."
Napoleon, Louis XVI, Oliver Cromwell,
famous Generals and statesmen; "Amer
ican Authors," a collection of letters;
Presidents of the United States," "Pres
idents of Colleges," in two volumes,
"Union Patriots of the Civil War,"
"Union Soldiers of the Civil War," 'Of
ficers of the Revolution," "Statesmen of
the Revolution," two volumes of "Pres
byterian Clergymen."
The signature of George III is on a
commission of a First Lieutenant, signed
at the court of St. James, December 6,
1789. Sprawled in weak Ink in a regal
mountain covered with white thorn un
derbrush, the worst in the world. Our
starting place was a ranch in a nearby
canyon, from which point, with the aid
of the rancher, we picked out what we
believed to be a feasible route for the
ascent. It was a red-hot day and every
foot of our way had to bo cut through
the underbrush with axes. In the thick;
underbrush the air was stifling, th
water in our canteens became hot but.
nevertheless, it disappeared with rapid
ity. When night came on we were a
lonr way from the top and none of
us slept or ate for lack of water.
Adventures of the Chief Engineer,
"The next day we beat a hasty re-,
treat on foot. Arriving at the ranch.!
we were unable to quench our thirst.!
although our stomachs were soon fultj
of water. In the heat of the day be-1
fore our blood had become thick, and.)
when we were too full to drink more,
we lay beside the pools of water and
filled our mouths and let it run out.
still suffering the tortures of complete
deprivation. It was more than an hour
before we felt refreshed, the water hav
ing In the meantime reached the blood.
"On the way down the mountain I
had seen another ridge, off which the
underbrush was burned, and had also
noted what I believed was a trail. The
next day we topk saddle horses, reached
the summit of the mountain by noon,
by that ridge, completed our survey
and reached camp again by nightfall.
When the ranchman came I told him
about it and he replied:
" 'I forgot all about that trail. It
comes right down by my bee ranch,
too." "
Morris Bien, who looks after the
legal matters for the Reclamation
Service and Is also stationed in Wash
ington, is another old graduate of the
Geological Survey. One expedition he
accompanied into the Southwest a num
ber of years ago was headed by a man
who had not the technical knowledge
to carry out the work. Consequently,
he had to fall back on the services of
two college graduates, who worked out
the mathematical calculations for him.
Inasmuch as figures of large dimen
sions were unknown to the chief, he
always showed the greatest Impatience
when the answer was not arrived at
Immediately.- Finally, a graduate of a
Swedish university and an exceedingly
able engineer, was added to the force.
One day he ran into the chief, who
was swearing at the "new-fangled no
tions" of the college graduates, who
were deep In the mysteries of loga
rithms, working out a problem.
"New-fangled notions," roared the
Swede. "New-fangled notions! By
Yimlny, dose logarithms vas older den
all of us poot togedder, and 1600 years
more."
As Is the case with most of the head
men of the service, both Mr. Davis and
Mr. Blen are college men. And it
used to be said that men of education
were not fitted for frontier life and
here comes along the Reclamation
Service to prove that they are not only
fitted for frontier life, but also know
how to cope with it and make it per
form difficult feats In up-to-date civili
zation. (Copyright. 1910, by B. J. Edwards.)'
fashion across the top of the sheet ts
George R. (Rex). The initial G. is fullv
two inches high, and the R with the
final tall Is two and one half. Even
sprawller is the N. I. (Napoleon Imper
ator) which the Emperor who changed
the face of Europe implanted on an of
ficer's commission. It is fully two inches
high and it also changed the face of the
document.
As one would expect. Cromwell signs
himself in a blunt, clear hand, but the
curl of the C, the gyration's of the tail
of the final L describe more parabolas
than do all the royal P"s and Q's together.
The signature of Cromwell is affixed to a
printed document, of which there is only
a fragment, but enough remains to show
the concluding "Sealed and Delivered in
the presence of O. Cromwell."
Mrs. Hathaway may have been in se
cret a suffragette, for she had faith
enough in the future greatness of women
to devote a complete volume to them. In
the book titled "World's Distinguished
Women" are the signatures of the mother '
of General Lee, Mrs. Alexander Hamil
ton, Mme. de Stael, dated Stockholm,
October 6. 1812. Queen Victoria. Flor
ence Nightingale, a poem and signature
of Harriet Beecher Stowe, dated Andover
July 30, 1SS2.
One or two prospective buyers lifted
the lids and found that the garments
dropped to pieces when they took them
out. Maurice Flagg. instructor of draw
ing in the Swain Free School of Design,
took a chance upon the contents of two
of these trunks and purchased them for
123. The faded and - moth-eaten silks of
the trays were practically useless, but at
the very bottom were valuable laces.
These he took to a lace buyer to as
certain their value. The buyer told him
that he would give htm $500 for them,
but that they were probably worth $1100.
Mr. Flagg heard afterward that they were
worth $3,000. Boston Herald.