194406 desert magazine 1944 june

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THE

M A G A Z N



Golden-flowered Palo Verde tree in b loom. Photo by Leo Hetzel.

EL SAGUAROBy CORA L . KE AG L E

Pixley, California

Candelabra of the Giants,When Gargantuan feasts are spreadOn the desert, in the moonlight,Boulders white for loaves of bread,

June days bring another feastingWhen Saguaro's fruit is red;To Papago Indian tribesmen,It is wine and fruit and bread.

DESERT BUTTERFLIES

B y J O A N N E D E L O N G C H A M P S

Reno, Nevada

Across these grey forbidding sandsRoots twist like gnarled and aged hands.Rock-pitted, still, the desert liesBelow unruly cloud-swept skies.How strange to see them in this place,In colorless and rockbound space,Where no bird sings and no wing flies,These hosts of golden butterflies!What brought them here, what mocking mirthHas scattered now across this earthSuch fragile things, so soon to dieBeneath an unrelenting sky?

• • •

JOSHUA TREE

B y M O N T E H U M P H R E Y S

San Diego, California

Ghost-white glow of an argent moonPaints frosty light on dervish arms,

Unlike, at night, your self at noon,A desert lord of nocturne charms.

Form grotesque of sun's domain,Of twisted, gnarled and knotted shape,

Are you wracked and warped with pain,Or soul serene of wasteland scape?

Are you true self—or soul contriteOf reckless farer by the way,

W ho rashly dared the desert 's might,-...And perished in the blazing day?

Pa/a Ven.deB y G R A C E C U L B E R T S O N

San Diego, California

Upon my wall a palo verde treeBreaks into bloom as if before my eyes.It brings back other sunlit springs to meAs clear and wide a cloudless desert lies.Within these bands of gold great vistas gleamAnd far horizons fade beyond framed bounds.Upon white desert sands I 'm wrapped in dreamAnd in white silences drown raucous sounds.

"A happy sort of picture," someone said,"The essence of all springs is captured here."And when the day dawns dull and grey and deadGlad promises of bud and leaf appear.A palo verde tree in yellow bloom—The desert smiling in my city room.

A DESERT RATTLESNAKE

By J. C. DAVIS

San Bernardino, California

Leaving his winter lair,Out from that secret place,

Into the daylight glareGliding with languid grace;

Sinuously and slow,As after sudden rain

Small rivulets groping goAthwart a thirsty plain.

In diamond tracery bold,His musky, dusky skin,

Broidered in beads of gold,Fairer than tempting sin!

Lidless his basilisk eyes;His head a poisoned dart;

Poised like a wind-blown flowerAbove — aler t — apart!

His tongue a lambent flameThat, flickering ceaselessly

Bids all, "Beware, I come!I pass! Make way for me!"

Tense curves of virile strengthRelaxed; his vantage wo n;

Straight all his beauteous lengthLies in the hot white sun.

SONNETB y J A M E S B. D U M M E R

Los Angeles, California

If I must live alone, O let me dwellNot in the narrow canyons of a town,Not where a mass of jumbled buildings f

On endless streets forever parallel,But in some place where desert hillocks sw

Above the v a l e s o'er-spread with ybright,

Where skies are never dulled by smonight

And wary horned toad basks in sandy dell.

There 'neath the silver lamps that burn onI'll feel your friendship firm and deep re

And muse on tranquil days now long goneIf I must live alone as you dispose,

For we must dwell apart and calmly tryTo banish thought that once our paths

close.

DESERT M AGIC

By MABE L E . L OWE R

Los Angeles, California

Have you felt the desert's magic—Breathless silence 'neath the moon?Seen the silvery shadows blending—Sage and sand and drifting dune?

Have you wandered through this dreamArms and hearts alike entwined—Down the starlit desert pathways;Night's soft purple curtain foldingCare away, and gently holdingJust two souls in sweet enchantment,Leaving all the world behind.

If you've known this Heaven-on-Earth Dreamed the desert night away,Heart to heart in sweet contentment,As moon's waning brought the day.

Then you've walked in God's own gardenFew there are who hold the key-—While the world roars by the gateway—Knowing not this ecstacy.

T HE D E S E R T M A G A Z I



D E S E R T

• The letter by John Hil ton appearingin this issue was intended for Desert 'seditor, Captain Randall Henderson, com-manding officer at an ATC oasis stationin the Sahara desert of North Africa.

Since it answers some of the questions ofdesert lovers about war's influence ontheir favorite haunts in the Colorado andMojave deserts of California, we thoughtthey wouldn't mind sharing the letterwith Desert 's readers. It also will ex-plain to those many gem collectors whyJohn has not been logging more fieldtrips for them.

• Th is issue carries the second editorialpage written by Corporal Rand Hender-son during the year he has served withthe Marine Corps in the Pacific andSouthwest Pacific theaters. Now that lifeis peaceful compared with the Tarawaperiod, some of his spare time is beingdevoted to writ ing. Unti l he can come

home to Desert , to write some of thosedesert travelogs he is thinking about, wehope he will increase his contributionsas a "foreign correspondent."

• This summer Desert will have a pic-torial feature in which the "characters"are absent — only their tracks will bevisible. But those tracks have revealedthe life drama of their owners to thecamera of Lt. Richard L. Cassell D.C.,who photographed them in Imperial Val-ley, t t . Cassell. who has been with ArmyAir Force Flexible Gunnery school at LasVegas, Nevada, since spring, has beenusing the 16mm motion picture camerasix years in filming birds and insects. His"War r io r s of Anothe r Wor ld" won

Lloyd Bacon Trophy in 1942 nationalcontest conducted by Home Movies mag-azine. In 1943 it was judged one of TenBest non-theatrical motion pictures inannual national contest conducted byMovie Makers magazine. His motionpicture "Humming Bird" has been ac-cented by Coordinator of Inter-AmericanAffairs and is being translated into for-eign languages for distribution in LatinAmerica. His articles and photographshave appeared in Home Movies maga-zine, U. S. Camera, Nature magazine,Natural His tory magazine.

• Novel subject for Desert readers willbe Oren Arno ld's description of theWestern style square dance which is

being revived in Arizona. The patternsof such dances as the Arizona Star, theWagon Whee l , the Baby's Cradle, are in-tricate but never would be confused withthose of the conga, the samba or the heli-copter hop.

CREED OF THE DESERT

By J U N E LE M E R T P A X T O N

Yucca Valley, California

You call me queer, and weird at n igh t ;My swords you often rue;

Y et in my arms I take delightTo hold white blooms for you.

Volume 7 June. 1944 Number 8

COVER

POETRY

CLOSE-UPS

FIELD TRIP

DESERT QUIZ

BOTANY

MAGNESIUM

BOOKS

HELD REPORT

PICTORIAL

ART OF LIVING

LETTERS

NEWS

MINING

HOBBY

CRAFT

COMMENT

COMMENT

JOSHUA BLOSSOM. Photograph byNicholas N. Koz-loff, San Bernardino, California.

Palo Verde Dreams, and other poems .

Notes onDesert features and their writers

2

3

Fossil Trea sure s of Wa h Wa h

By CHARLES KELLY 4

A test of your desert, knowledge 8

Parade of the Pentstemons

ByMARYBEAL 9

Miracle Metal From Nevada Hills

By LELANDE QUICK 10

History of Comstock Lode, an d other revi ews . . 1 4

"The desert is still waiting for you"

By JOHN HILTON 15

Mojave's Giant Lily

By CATHERINE an d DICK FREEMAN . . . 19

Desert Refuge, by MARSHAL SOUTH . . . . 25

Comment from Desert Magazine readers . . . 27

Here and Ther e on the Deser t 29

Current minin g ne ws 32

Gems and Minerals

—Edited by ARTHUR L. EATON 33

Amate ur Gem Cutter, by LELANDE QUICK . . . 36

Sah ara Diary, by RANDALL HENDERSON . . . 37

Just Bet ween You an d Me, by RAND HENDERSON 39

The Desert Magazine is published monthly by the Desert Publishing Company, 636State Street, El Centro, California. Entered as second class matter October 11, 1987, atth e post office at El Centro, California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Title registeredNo. 358865 in U. S. Patent Office, and contents copyrighted 1944 by the Desert PublishingCompany. Permission to reproduce contents must be secured from the editor in writing.

RANDALL HENDERSON, Editor. LUCILE HARRIS, Associate Editor.BESS STACY, Business Manager. — EVONNE HENDERSON, Circulation Manager.Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs submitted cannot be returned or acknowledged

unless full return postage is enclosed. Desert Magazine assumes no responsibility for damageor loss of manuscripts or photographs although due care will be exercised. Subscr ibers shouldsend notice of change of address by the first of the month preceding issue. If address is un-certain by that date, notify circulation department to hold copies.

SUBSCRIPTION RATESOne year . . . . $2.50

Canadian subscriptions 25c extra, foreign 50c extra.

Subscript ions to Army personnel ou t s ide U . S . A . m u s t be mailed in conformity with

P.O.D. Order No. 19687.Address correspondence to Desert Magazine , 636 S t a t e St., El Centro, California.

, 1 9 4 4



Fossil mountain near Jack W atson's cabin in north end of Wah Wah valley con-

tains finest Ordovician fossils in Utah. Frank Beckwith photo.

Finding a whole mountain o

fossils is just about enough

make rockhunters like Charl

Kelly and Frank Beckwith "g

crazy." They had h e a r d th

somewhere b e y o n d the Co

fusion range in central weste

Utah there were some rare fo

sils. But when they drove in

the isolated area, pushing an

shoveling along the desert road

they did not expect to be the dicoverers of the richest deposit

its kind in the state of Utah. Th

not only found an abundance o

fossils but when they went

Jack Watson's little cabin

spend the night he showed the

what he called "live trilobites

nearest modern relative of th

ancient form of life.

7o5iil 'Ttea5ut25 ofiW&lt Walt

» / OR forty miles we jolted over a/ rough desert road, leaving a long

white plume of alkali dust. Thenwe ground in low gear to the summit ofMarjum pass in the House range, withNotch peak looming above. While the en-gine cooled we looked back toward Delta,

Utah, our starting point, a mere speck onthe Sevier desert. Westward, toward theNevada line stood a haphazard scatteringof low mountains appropriately called theConfusion range. Somewhere in thatgeologic puzzle were said to be rare fossils.Frank Beckwith and I were determined tofind them. Frank had been over the roadonce before, but the country was newto me.

At the western foot of the pass we turn-ed south on a dim trail crosscut by deepchannels eroded in the soft clay. Aftermany miles of rough going we finally

reached a bit of good road — the hardsmooth bottom of a dry lake. Farther alongwere two more playas which affordedpleasant relief from the constant jolting.At last we reached anopening in the south-ern tip of the Confusion mountains, turnedwest and entered the extreme northern endof Wah Wah valley. Across the valley

This beautiful slab, now in Smith-sonian institution, shoivs many formsof Ordovician fossils— Pliomera and

Bathyuriscus trilobites, Bryozoa, Pele-cypods, Brachiopods, Fucoids

and Graptolites.

By CHARLES KELLY

M ap by Norton Allen

stood a high ridge known as Fossil moun-tain, our immediate objective.

It took a lot of pushing and shovelingto negotiate the intervening sand, but wefinally drove our car to the base of theridge. Without stopping to eat lunch weeach grabbed a gunny sack and some old

newspapers in which to wrap specimensand started up the slope. Almost imme-diately we began to find fragments of fos-

sils washed down from above, andwe reached the fossil bearing strata Fnearly went crazy. It proved to brichest deposit of its kind in the staUtah, and one so isolated it previouslybeen overlooked.

We already had collected many be

ful specimens of trilobites from the lmiddle and upper Cambrian formatiothe House range. But Fossil mou

T HE D E S E R T M A G A Z I



Jack Watson surveys Blind valley which has been his desert empire since he was a young m an. There is but one narrow

entrance to the valley, an ideal winter grazing range.

proved to be of the Ordovician or LowerSilurian period which followed the Cam-brian and contained a much greater varietyof ancient sea life. Most prominen t werethe cephalopods, a tube-like shell from thesize of a pencil up to three or four feetlong. Many were eroded free of enclosingrock and we soon had a pile of several hun-dred pounds. Th e chambered nautilus is amodern relative of the cephalopod, but itsOrdovician ancestor was straight, and pro-pelled itself by ejecting a jet of water fromits siphuncle. In several specimens this in-

ner chamber was beautifully crystallized.

Farther up the ridge we began to findfragments of trilobites. These were mostlypliomera. They seemed to have buried theirheads in the mud, leaving their rears ex-posed, and these when weathered out hada spider-like appearance. In all our search-ing we found but two heads, both sepa-rated from the rest of the body. In the samerock were beautifully fluted plectorthisshells; pelecypod shells the size and shapeof a navy bean; ostracods, looking like tinyoysters; several varieties of bryozoa,fucoids and colonies of graptolites. W e

also found one large bathyuriscus trilobite.These were all beautifully sculptured onthe rocks by wind and rain, making veryattractive specimens.

Then, on a little bench, I found a round

flat fossil, about two inches in diameter,that looked like a petrified sunflower.

"What's this?" I asked Frank."Holy jumping cats!" he shouted.

"That's a receptaculite, sometimes calledsunflower coral. It's really a type of

sponge, and rare as hen's teeth. I neverheard of one being found anywhere inUtah. Wh ere did you pick it up?"

I showed him and we both startedsearching. He picked up another close by.Then we both began to find more, nearly

Above right — Sections ofCephalopod shells. Core in piece atright was originally the hollow si-phuncle by which it propelled itself.

Lower— Gastropods with cross sec-tions of Cephalopods (large circles).

Beckivith photos.

J U N E , 1 9 4 4



along fine. His herd increased and he waswell pleased with his isolated location.Then came an unusually dry summer andhis spring almost dried up. He began dig-ging, hopin g to increase the flow. He duguntiringly for days, but all he had was aseries of potholes in the rock. Filled withgravel they had acted as a reservoir forrainwater. He had no spring!

A timely rain filled his potholes soonafterward. He was safe for that year. Butto assure a larger supply he built a number

of small dams. Even so, his situation wasprecarious, because his potholes sometimeswould almost dry up between rains and thenearest living water was 40 miles away.

After a few years Jack's wife died. Whenwe met him he had been living alone for 30years. His cabin walls were hung withcalendars for each one of those years, andalthough nothing ever seemed to happen,he faithfully kept a diary. His pets were a12-year-old "colt," a 40-year-old mule,and a rattlesnake under the kitchen floor.

"What are you fellows looking for, any-way?" Jack asked us next morning after

breakfast."Trilo bites," Frank said. "W e found

some nice ones yesterday on the ridgeacross the valley."

"Cripe s!" said Jack. "You do n't needto go that far. I can get you a bushel of'em right here. Live ones. My potholesare full of 'em."

"Live trilobites?" I asked incredulously,wondering if the old man had lived aloneso long he was a little crazy.

"Sure," he replied confidently. "Comeon, I'll show you."

He led us to one of his deep potholes,dipped up a can of water and handed it tome. It was jumping with some kind ofanimal life. I poured some of it into mypa'm, and with it a real, live trilob'te aboutas big as the end of my thum b. Nowadaysscientists call them Apis glacial/s,but theyare the nearest modern relative of theancient trilobite, one of the earliest formsof life. In late summ er Jack's tanks arealive with them. When the water driesup they lay eggs in the mud, which hatchwhen the next rain falls. It was an oddcoincidence to find the fossil and the live

organism, separated by millions of years, inthe same spot — the only place in Utahwhere either of us ever found "live trilo-bites." How they can survive in such adesert is a mystery.

Jack then took us to Blind valley, hislittle desert empire. As he enthusiasticallypointed out its advantages for winter graz-ing, it was easy to understand why he hadbeen held to that lonely spot for so manyyears. By controlling tha t hidden valleyhe was king of the desert for 40 miles ormore in any direction.

In a shed back of his cabin Jack kept a

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HOTCH PH. _ • • : , , , . • • • ; • • :

-S> PLACE M-ms)' £ ' • . '•

& I ' « J .;•,;„;, . .>«o MILES •''*',....i! !"•; TO DELTA

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small truck with plenty of spare parts. H e water ran out. Tha t possibility alwayswent to Black Rock, 40 miles south, two or hung over his h ead. He often had runthree times a year for supplies. He kept short, but his holes had never been en-the truck in good repair, since it was his in- tirely dry.

surance against dying of thirst in case his After returnin g home from that trip I

J U N E , 1 9 4 4



used to think of old Jack Watson everytime I turned on a water tap. I imaginedfinding him dead in his cabin, mummifiedby desert winds. He m anaged to survivethat dry summer, and the next, which waseven worse. But the third summer was ascorcher. Even city water was rationed,and I knew old Jack would be in trouble.Later, from Frank Beckwith, I learnedwhat happened.

Jack waited until his last drop of waterwas gone, hoping for rain. W hen it didn't

come he reluctantly decided to leave. Butwhen he tried to crank the truck, itwou ldn't start. He worked on it franticallyuntil he was nearly exhausted—still itwouldn't go. There was nothing to do buttry to walk out. He previously had placedmilk cans full of water at intervals alongthe road, for just such an emergency, andwas sure he could make it on foot. W henhe reached the first can, however, he wasbitterly disappointed to find it empty—robbed by some sheepherder. He hu rriedon to the n ext, but it also was empty. Rest-ing until nightfall, he continued walking,hoping to find water in some of his cans.But every one had been emptied. Hedidn 't remember much of the last 20 miles,but stayed on his feet, stumbling into BlackRock the next afternoon, nearly dead fromthirst. His mule came in next day, andthe "colt" two or three days later.

When rain fell again in the fall, Jackwent back to gather up the survivors of hisherd. I didn't hear from him for a longtime. The n he was brought to Salt LakeCity to have his right arm amputated aftera serious accident. H e had ridden 285

miles without a dressing or a sedative. Hewas in the hospital a long time, but whenhe got out he headed straight back forBlind valley.

About a year later I met Jack in Delta.

"Have you quit the ranch?" I asked.

"Yes," he said sadly, "I finally had toleave. I could have made it all right, ex-cept for just one thing . I couldn't chopwood with one hand."

"There's one question I'd like to askyou, Jack," I said. "It's been puzzling me

a long time. W hen your waterholes wentdry that time, why didn't you ride yourhorse or the old mule instead of walkingthose 40 miles?"

"Hell!" he said, looking foolish, "Inever thought of it."

No one but Jack would want to live atBlind valley, so his shack has been emptyfor several years. Possibly his potholeshave been filled up by cloudbu rsts. If anyof you fossil hunters decide to visit Fossilmountain, take plenty of water. There isn't

icing within 40 miles.

D E S E R T Q U I ZTo m ake the Sand Dune Sages continue to earn theirhigh rating, this mon th's quiz has some questions tomatch their superior w its. Answers to several of

them will be found in very recent issues of Desert Magazine, so Desert Rats andthose yet uninitiated into the Desert Fraternity, as well as the Sages, should makea good score if they are observant readers. Subjects includ e Indian lore, arch-eology, history, geography, mineralogy, desert lore, botany, Southwest literature,men who have played important roles in history and development of Southwest.Answers on page 34.

1—Rainmakers refers to—P ueblo Indians Craftsman who makes katchina

dolls W hite men who brought irrigation to the desert Banks ofclouds

2—Most of the state of Nevada once was covered by—Lake BonnevilleGreat Salt Lake Lake Lahontan A great forest

3—Brothers of Light refers to—Jesuit priests who established early missions inSouthwest A clan of the Hop i Indians Teachers in first Indianschools Secret Spanish-Am erican religious order

4—Japanese relocation camp at Poston, Arizona, was named after Charles D.Poston, who was a—Frontiersman Army officer PoliticianSociologist interested in minority races

5—The banded "Mirage Stone" used by Navajo in ceremonials and by Zuni tomake fetishes is made from—Feldspar Aragonite ObsidianCalcite

6—If you were lost in the desert, without water, you would most likely find itby— W atching direction the birds were flying Looking for a trail madeby animals Hu nting for cactus Diggin g in sand dunes

7—Elevation of Twe ntynine Palms, California, is about—2000 feet 175feet 4000 feet sealevel

8—Father Eusebio Kino, who was an important founder of Southwest missions,was of the—Franciscan Order Jesuit Order Dominican Order

9—Cactus most successfully used in making furniture is—ChollaBisnaga Saguaro... N ight-bloom ing Cereus

10—Because of strict taboo, Nav ajo never kill— Deer PeccaryEagles Bear

11—Shell ornaments commonly found in ancient village sites in southern Arizonahad their origin in—G ulf of Mexico Pacific Coast Gulf of Cali-

fornia Salton Sea12—Southwest desert area was called "Mystic Mid-region" by—John C. Van

Dyke Harry Carr Arthur J. Burdick W m. T. Hornaday

13—Mineral brought through Wingate Pass, in Mojave desert, over mono rail in1920s was— Gold Epsom Salts Tungsten Silver

14—Rainy season in Navajo country of northern Arizona and N ew Mexico is in—W inter Spring Summer Throughout year

15—Corn was introduced into Southwest—From supply brought by the Pil-grims By Cortez who brought it to Mexico from Spain W as nativeto New Worl d By Hop i whose legends say it was brought from under-world

16—If you were in a war plant and needed spiderweb silk with a diameter of fiveten-thousands of an inch, you would—Select a single strand from the Green

Lynx spider Split a strand from the Black W idow spider W eaveseveral strands together Divide four ways a strand from the GoldenGarden spider

17—Most conspicuous plant in the Southwest areas which botanists call Temp-erate Semi-desert, or Desert Grassland, is—Pinon pine YuccaOrgan Pipe cactus Ocotillo

18—Highway which crosses Great Salt Desert, west of Salt Lake City, Utah, is—40 6... 91 30

19—O ne of these Indian P ueblos is not located in Rio Grande valley of New Mex-ico—Laguna Isleta— Santo Dom ingo Cochiti Tesuque

20—Mount Lemmon, in Arizona, is the highest peak in—Superstition moun-tains Pinal range Santa Catalina mountains San Franciscomountains.

8 THE DESERT MAGAZIN



k thBy MARY BEAL

t h e Pentstemonquest, we select a few without thefiery brilliance of the Scarlet

Buglers described in the May issue of Des-ert Magazine. One of the loveliest,Palmer's Pentstemon, is rather widespread

at moderate to high altitudes, its gracefulwands of delicately colored bloom lightingup slopes, washes and canyons, and ex-haling a delightful fragrance. Etched inmy memory is the vision of a magnificentclump over 5 feet tall, supremely beautifulin the late afternoon light. It appeared likemagic at a bend of the road skirting theProvidence mountains in eastern Mojavedesert. It was standing at the edge of ashallow rainwash, its dozens of flower-strung stems gently swaying in the breeze.

Pentstemon palmeri

Several to many slender erect stems IV2to over 5 feet ta ll, from a woody base, moreleafy below, the herbage hairless and light-ly covered with a bloom, the n arrow sessileleaves mostly lanceolate with shallowsharp teeth. The inch-long (or more)corolla is pale pink (or deeper) or orchidpink, with crimson lines in the throat ex-tending well down the 3-lobed lower lip,the short tube abruptly dilated into thewide-open throat, showing the hairy palateand densely hairy tip of the sterile fila-ment. Frequent from 3500 to 6500 feet inMojave desert, Arizona, southern Nevada

and Utah.

Pentstemon spectabilis

This showy species has ventured into the

desert from bordering ranges on the west,making itself at home on dry hills and inrocky canyons. Its stately clusters of stems,2 or 3 feet tall, are generously bedeckedwith flowers of an entrancing gamut ofcolor tones, the corollas over an inch long,

bright blue or purplish blue, lighter atbase, the abruptly dilated, bell shapedthroat lilac or red-purple. A panicle oftenhas 50 or more blossoms. The pale-greenleaves are sharply toothed, the sterile sta-men beardless. Look for it in April andMay along the western edge of Coloradodesert and in the western and southernborders of Mojave desert.

Pentstemon albomarginatusA smaller species, growing in low

clumps 6 to 10 inches high with severalleafy stems from the long fleshy root, theherbage pale grey-green with a sheen.Leaves and sepals white-margined, flowerswhorled in a spike-like leafy panicle, thecorolla light to deep rose pink, throat palerwith bright reddish lines and dense yellowbeard. Found infrequently at moderatealtitudes in April and May in sandy areasof western Arizona, southern Nevada andeastern Mojave desert.

Pentstemon antirrhinoides

An intricately-branched leafy shrub 2 to7 feet high, with many small glossy rich-green leaves on pale woody branches. Thevery broad, gaping corolla is sulphur-yel-

low, washed with terra cotta or russet out-side, the sterile filament densely bearded.Rather common up to 5000 feet in rockycanyons and mesas of southern and western

Blue Beard-tongue{Pentstemon spec-tabilis) . Photographed by the author

in southwestern Mojave desert,California.

Arizona, southern and eastern Mojave des-ert and along the western edge of Coloradodesert from April to June.

Pentstemon pseudospectabilis

A beautiful plant with several erectstems up to 4 feet tall, the oblong-ovateleaves sharply serrate, the corolla about aninch long, gradually inflated to the spread-ing lips, bright pink to rose-purple. Com-mon in sandy washes and open ground up

to 6500 feet in mountains of eastern Colo-rado desert, Arizona and southwesternNew Mexico, blooming in spring andsummer, according to altitude.

Left to right— Scented Pentstemon (P. palmeri), a favorite of ho ney bees in eastern Mojave desert. Bushy Beard-tongue (P.antirrhinoides), specimen from Providen ce mountains of eastern Mojave desert. White-margined P entstemon (P. albomar-

ginatus) , usually growing in drifting sand. Photographed specimen from a colony found by the author nearblack lava bed surrounding Pisgah Crater.



Left to right. 1—The prospector, daring desert heat and endless miles of hills and sand, deserves credit for locating the great

deposits of magnesite from which ma gnesium is made. Photo by Truman D. Vencill. 2— Magn esite blasted out with dynamiteis scooped u p with b ig shovels, du mped into specially designed trucks which carry 20 tons of ore each, in steady stream to Gabbs

plant, from where m agnesium oxide and other concentrates are hauled to plant at Las Vegas, 33 4 miles away. 3— Ore is pulver-

ized in a battery of ball mills (center), then moves to classifiers (foreground). Finer material flows

out and is carried to the next operation.

M hacLe M etal Ttom A/evadaBy LELANDE QUICK

P h o t o s c o u r t e s y B a s ic M a g n e s i u m , I n c o r p o r a t e d

r HE romantic thing to me is thatthe plant stands squarely astridethe old Spanish trail so that I

like to refer to it as the Path of Progress."Guernsey Frazer, administrative assistantto the general manager of Basic Magne-sium was talking to me as we looked overthe enormous plant at Henderson, Nevada .

"That idea pops into my mind oftenerthan do the facts that confront us daily,such as how we built this third largest city

in Nevada in 11 months to house the 5500permanen t workers we now have at BMI—a town complete with hospital , schools,churches, markets and a general shoppingcenter. Cons truction of the plan t itselfover a period of only 18 months was thelargest construction job ever accomplishedin four directions—in refractory brickwork, sheet metal , electrical and plumbinginstallat ions. It was buil t by Mc Neil con-struction company of Los Angeles be-tween November 15, 1941, and July 31,1943 . "

I

I had spent the whole day with BillBurke, Fraze r's able assistant. I wa sn't tootired, for the buildings were so large wehad driven right through most of them inour car. Silver-like mag nesium ha s beenaptly called the miracle meta l. Its use iscomparatively new because it used to cost$5.00 a pound to produce i t but now itcan be turned out for about 20 cents. Mag-nesium is about two-thirds the weight ofaluminum but it has the tensile strength of

hot rolled or mild steel. Its potentialitiesfor postwar use are unlimited for makingthe standard things l ighter—washing ma-chines that will weigh less than presentvacuum cleaners, bath tubs that one mancan easily carry. An d because it is cheaperto produce, the cost of items made fromit will be reduced in two directions for itis an axiom in the metal industry that "ifyou save a pound you save a dollar."

BMI, as they always refer to Basic Mag-nesium, Inc., is the largest magnesiumplant in the world, using more Boulder

Dam power daily than the city of Los Angeles. It cost more than $140,000,00and beside it other war plants authorizeby Defense Plant corporation were reallminute. The electrical installation aloncost $40,0 00,000 . Of this amount $23000,000 went into solid silver bus barAll of this silver had been mined in Nevada and stored in eastern vaults at WePoint, New York, but because of the acushortage of needed copper, usually used fo

bus bars, the silver was processed inequipment in the east and came homagain to Nevada as a substitute for the copper bars in six of the ten electrolysis uninow operating at the plant.

Aside from the cold and unromantic sttistics of the accomplishment the real rmance was in the successful fight omore than 13,000 construction worke(Boulder Dam had but 5250 at the peakto accomplish their purpose in the face onatural difficulties and lack of livinquarters. With the combination of natur

Left to right. 4— In battery of roasters magnesium oxide is calcined. Partially moist magnesium oxide, introduced at top of theseseven-story units, is subjected to intense heat generated by oil burners. Last process at Gabbs mill. 5— One of a battery of wet

mixers in ivhicb coal, peat moss, magnesium oxide, magnesium chloride are mixed. From m ixture cakes of magnesium are ex-

truded, cut into slabs by piano wire. 6— Here cakes of raw materials pass through long tunn el kilns, thoroughly dried. Process

consumes some of the coal and peat moss, leaving cakes porous.



* KP'

Left to right. 7— Cake s of raw materials after being con veyed from oven kilns. From here they are conveyed to crushers which

break them into small pellets, which go to chlorinators where magnesium oxide is transformed into m agnesium chloride.8— From chlorinators molten magnesium chloride is carried in electrical jeeps and poured into cells. In cells are other chlorides.

Direct cu rrent of high amperage, low voltage, passes through. Electro-chemical action causes metallic magnesium to rise to sur-

face, while chlorine passes out to be re-used in process. 9— From electrolytic cells metallic magnesium is skimmed from top

and poured into pots. Worker at left is ready to sprinkle flux in pot in case molten magnesium catches fire. There are 88 0 of

these cells at Basic plant, in operation 24 hours a day, 1 days a week.

and man-made hazards a world safety rec-

ord was established despite 75,000 record-

ed accidents which resulted in but ten

deaths. That many fatalities reasonably

could occur in any community of 10,000

persons following normal pursuits in an

18-month period. Nev er had there been amore concentrated effort to whip the im-

mutable forces of the desert to make it

serve man.

They tell you at BMI that while the

magnesite ore exists all around them they

get it from deposits nearby that had been

worked earl ier. "N earb y" is the Gabbs

valley, 334 miles northeast of the plant.

The Pacific ocean is the same distance from

BM I! But distance is not the tangible-

thin g in the desert that it is in cities. A

few hundred miles of desert is not awe-

some to a man working in a plant so largethat one section of it has more than 50

buildings in a row. Gabbs valley contains

mountains of magnesite ore which is

crushed and processed into magnesium

oxides and other concentrates at the mine

and then hauled in huge trailer trucks

south to the plant at BMI which is 15 miles

east of Las Vegas.

There are other magnesium plants in

the country but they recover the magne-

sium from sea water. Only BM I uses the

electrolysis process, through a strange com-

bination of circumstances. Germany first

developed the process and then she helped

England build a plant at a t ime when her

purpose was to keep England stronger than

the France she feared and believed strong.

Later England needed our magnesium and

through lendlease arranged to pass along

the secret to us in exchange for the in-

cendiary bomb material . Th e magnesite of

Gabbs valley in the desert drops on the

cities of Europe almost nightly to destroy

the factories producing materials for the

t nemy .

Frazer continued his conversation as we

sat in his office at the end of the day. "I

always have been a close student of Ne-

vada history and as near as I have been

able to learn, Father Silvestre Velez de Es-calante was the first white man to go

through here. He made the trail through

these vegas or meadows in the summer of

1776, the trail that later was used by Jed

Smith, Jefferson Hunt and the first occu-

pant Bringhurst , sent down here by Brig-

ham Young in 1855.

"The founding fathers in Philadelphia,

ringing their liberty bell at almost the same

hour, did not dream of this vast land being

explored by Escalante, a land whose mag-

nesium would one day help save the liber-

ties they were found ing. Ever since then

we've celebrated the 4th of July and the

fireworks have been steadily improved in

magnificence due to magnesium. But now,

with cheap production of this flare ma-

terial, a community need only spend a

hundred dollars for an evening of fire-

works where it used to spend a thous-

and . "

"Just why did you build at this spot?" I

wanted to know.

"We had to use Boulder Dam power

and Lake Mead water—lots of it, and it

was better to bring the ore to the power

and water than vice versa. W e had many

unique problems to solve here, but the

strangest of all was that mortar set too fast

on the bricks for the furnaces, or re-fractories as we call them . In these desert

temperatures the mortar became as hard as

a bride's first cake in less time than it takes

to say BM I. W e solved that problem by

mixing m ortar in ice cream freezers."

"Yes , I read about that," I said. "I saw

the special ice plant you built for the pur-

pose. Bill Burke was tel l ing me how the

mortar hardened like glass so that it was

air tight, acid tight, current tight, gas

Left to right.10 —

After molten white metal is ladled from cells into pots, it is poured into co ntainers as shoivn here.11—

Mag-

nesium "cheeses'' go into crucibles at BMI refineries, w here other alloying metals are introduced. Various alloys are m ade— fo r

incendiary bombs, sheet magnesium, airplane parts, tracer bullets, flares. 12 — Cruc ibles of still-hot magnesium alloy go into

ingot pouring machine which is kept hot by gas flames, tips automatically, keeping outpoured magnesium alloy flowing steadily

into moving molds. Ingot molds m ove dow n line to right, cooling as they go. A t end, they drop into bins— a finished product.



CRUDE

MAGNESITE

MINED AT

QABBS, NEVADA

CONCENTRATED

T|ON

MAGNESITE

CONCENTRATES

F I NELY PULVERI ZED

MAGNESITE

RESULTING FROM

FLOTATION PROCESS

CALCINED

MAGNESITE

RESULT OF ROAST1NG

MAGNESITE

CONCENTRATES

IN FURNACES

COAL

Ml NED I NTHE WEST AND

SHIPPED TO B.M.I.

PEAT MOSS

FROM

BRITISH COLUMBIA

OR I ED, BALED AND

SHIPPED TD B.M.I.

SALT

MINED IN

CALIFORNIA DESERTS

SH| PPED TO 9.M.I.

MAGNESIUM CHLORIDE

SOLUTIONMADE BY NEUTRALIZING

DRY MIX

M A G N E S I T E C O N C E N T R A T E S , C A L C I N E D

M A G N E S t T E , C OA L AND P E A T ARE M I X E D

IN A

A M A G N E S I U M C H L O R I D E S O L U T I O N

PELLETS

RE3ULT OF KNEADINC THE

WET MIX AND DRYING IN KILNS

TO MAKE PURE

CONCENTRATED BRINE

PLANT ACID

RECOVEREDFROM PROCESS

MADE 8Y

ELECTROLYSIS

PROCESS AND MIXED

WITH FRESH CHLORINE

MAGNESIUM CHLORIDE

(ANHYDROUS)HYDROGEN

BY-PHODUCADE AS A FUSfD MELT BY

GA S IN E L E C T R I C F U R N A CE S

LIQUIDCHLORINE

U S E D BY O T H E R

D E F E N SE I N D U S T R I E S

SODIUM

HYDROXIDEBY-PRODUCT

REFINING FLUXES

CRUDE

MAGNESIUM METAL

OF BRINE.

USED BY OTHER

DEFENSE INDUSTRIES

A3TING OF ALLOYED

ROLLING INTO SHEET3

RCRAFT-, AUTOMOTIVE

RTAT I ON EC.UI PMEN T

STANDARD INGOT

PURE MAGNESIUM. USED FOR MAKING

POWDER BlLLETS AND TOR MAKING

MAGNESIUM AND ALUMINUM ALLOYS.

MAGNESIUM WEIGHS ONE-THIRD LESS

THAN ALUMINUM

BILLET

MADE B

WI TH

ALLOY

Y ALLOYING

OTHER MET

A IRCRAFT ENG1 NEAN D INCEND1ARY

INGOT

PURE MAGNESIUM

ALS. USED

AND FRAME

BOMB CAS

FOR

PARTS

NQ S

PERMANE

OR ALLO

POWDERE

FLARE

MAKING

T MOULD

ED MAGNE

1 FOR SE

5. ALLOY

ODS, BAR

IL30 8LAN

A9T1NG OF

IUM. PURE

IN TRACER

CITHER PURE

Bit

BULi

ILLETS ARE US

1, TUBING, A KG

(S FOR FORGIN9

ETC

ET'9

A f l lAwn

0 FOR

ES ,

1ETI

AteuadcA lujM Meted 9«du&buf,How Basic Magnesium, Incorporated, turns Nevadaraw materials into strategic magnesium products whicare used around theworld intheAllied cause.

12 T HE D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E



tight and corrosion resistant—and that'stighter than a funeral drum, I guess."

And then Frazer asked me, after I hadpeered into every tunnel, furnace and lab-oratory for eight hours, if I knew what wasgoing on at BM I. "N o, " I said, "what doyou make?" After the loudest guffaw everheard in southern Nevada the geniaJFrazer said, "Te ll him again, Bill. He 'sseen so much today we've got him dizzy."

"Well, I helped string up the firstpower line here," Bill Burke replied, "butI vaguely understand it all myself. Afterwe get the materials in from Gabbs, themagnesite concentrates, calcined magne-sia, coal and peat are mixed in a dry stateand then mixed in a solution of magne-sium chloride. After kneading the wet mixand drying in kilns the material is madeinto pellets. Then anhydrous magnesiumchloride is made as a fused melt by treat-ing the pellets with chlorine gas in elec-tric furnaces. Crude magnesium metal re-

sults from electrolysis of the molten mag-nesium chloride. From this we get slabsfor rolling into sheets and plates for air-

. craft, autom otive and other transportationequipment. Then we get a standard ingotfor making powder billets and magnesiumand aluminum alloys. The billets arepowdered for use in tracer bullets andflares. W e also make alloy ingots for air-craft engine and frame parts and for in-cendiary bomb casings. It's a big step fromthe first magnesium used in the flash when

Crucible, loaded with two tons of white hot magne sium alloy, has been lifted fromga s furnaceby overhead conveyor in one of the three BMI refinery units. It is being

lowered to cooler before being sent to ingot-pouring machine (See No. 12) .

grandma had her tintype taken—but it'snot so complicated, is it?"

"Simpler than the solar system," I re-plied.

"We get a lot of things besides magne-sium, too," continued Bill. "See those bigtank cars? The y're super-thermos bottles.

In shipping departmen t, finished ingo ts are strapped with steel and packed intocardboard cartons for shipping.

We load them with liquid chlorine andthey are lined so that the contents nevervary more than ten degrees while in tran-sit regardless of the outside temperature.That goes back to Pittsburgh to makeglass. Then we get sodium hydroxide asanother by-product of the electrolysis ofthe brine. This is used by many other de-

fense industries. We use mountains of saltfrom the deserts roundabout to make thebrine and we couldn't get far with our oreif we didn't have all this water, salt andelectricity we get near the plant."

Then I asked Frazer what postwarwould mean to BMI. "It will mean manythings," he said, "but this is no 'war baby.'Magnesium will be in terrific demand forpostwar recovery and industries."

Even so, the possibility of a shutdown isa real nightmare to every BMI employee.

But the Anaconda Copper company, great-est name in metals, operates BMI and theyhave an easily understood urge to do toaluminum what aluminum did to copper.Whatever happens two things are prac-tically assured—the metal business will berevolutionized and the desert will be in-dustrialized. They brought the cotton millsto the cotton fields and the romance of thedeep South faded. Now they bring thefurnaces and foundries to the ore depositsof the deserts, but we hope that at leastthe peace of the desert will not be too dis-

turbed.

J U N E , 1 9 4 4 13



detent U diU waUincj, (a* you(AN OPEN LETTER FROM JOHN HILTON TO RANDALL HENDERSON)

rr

Thermal, CaliforniaDear Randall:

It seems a long time to us since you leftthe American desert for the African but Iimagine it seems even a longer time to

you. Th e last I heard from you, aside fromyour editorials, was at Christmas time. Theother day I got to thinking of what youmust be wondering about the desert andthe changes on it. So I decided to sit downand write a sort of general report on thepart of the country that you and I havetraveled together.

You probably remember that when Gen-eral Patton and his desert troops were com-ing into this area, I spent a great deal oftime with the army as an unofficial guideto more or less orient them. I went onsome mighty wild and interesting ridesduring that time in everything from a peepto a tank. I helped locate roads, maneuverareas, ranges and targets, gave talks togroups of officers with slides from my col-lection and in any way I could, helped

them to become acquainted with desertways. It was hard work at times but a lotof fun. I met a great many fine m en, fromgenerals to buck privates, and I wouldn'thave missed it for anything on earth.

Then the calcite deal opened up . Sud-denly we found that there was a cryingneed for this material and we had one ofthe three potential producing properties.I dropped everything to mine calcite—even to writing for the DM. W e triedkeeping the shop open for awhile but soonEunice was too busy with company busi-ness to do it justice so we closed up forwhat we thought would be the duration.

Capital had entered into the picture bythen and with more good intentions thansound business judgm ent I turned the prop-erty over to others and worked for a salary.

One day I took one of those crazy falls, thata fellow can, when my feet slipped outfrom under me on loose rock. The nextmorning I could hardly walk and myshoulder and neck were one solid pain.

Several different doctors tried to help butthe darned thing didn't get any better.Then finally they decided that I had in-jured the main nerve in my left arm andshoulder. I worked for several mon ths

with an arm in a sling and was never with-out considerable pain until just recently.At one period I lost the use of the handfor as long as a day at a time.

W e got the calcite out, however. Thatwas the important thing. We m ined crys-tals that would have been prizes in anymuseum in the world but this is war andthey all went into making the still secretinstrument that has saved so many livesand so much equipment.

Then one day we failed to bring anycrystal off the hill. The day stretched intoa week and we kept thinking that one of

the crews would strike a good pocket butthey just didn 't. Production was prettyslim for some time and the summer heatweakened the m orale of the m en, includingthe various "ex perts" they sent out to study

'Snow incrusted the north side of e very rock, palm tree, cactus and even the bright colored ivildflowers."

J U N E , 1 9 4 4 15



"Colonel C. T. Sen ay, comm anding officer of C amp Young, has learned to love the

desert and hopes to come back when the shooting is over."

the problem at a low ebb. At about thistime a possible synthetic substitute loom-ed on the horizon and another mine strucka rich pocket. The camp was abandoned,

machinery sold and I was out a mine anda job. And with an arm I couldn't usevery well.

We finally got readjusted. I sold acouple of paintings and opened the shopagain. My arm seems wholly to have re-covered and now we are doing pretty well,thanks to a good DM friend, Mr. J. L.Kraft, who found a wonderful stock of oldjewelry that had been in storage since thedays of tintypes. These brooches and pinslook wonderful set with desert stones, andsell like everything. We've been doing lit-

Hbut cut and polish and wholesale these

pieces of jewelry to get on our feet againand when I say we, I mean the wholefamily. Eunice and Philip (who is 15 andover six feet tall) both have learned to

polish and Katherine (she's five now)gives "expert advice" from the side lines.

I have started again helping the army alittle, only this time it is in moving out in-stead of into the desert. The officers incommand at present are conscientious intheir desire to see that the desert is left asnear the way they found it as possible. Ihave been going along on inspection tripsover the area with Colonel Senay and sev-eral members of his staff.

These trips have taken me back intomany of the favorite haunts that you and Ihave enjoyed together. For instance, the

other day we were in the upper end of LosPalms canyon in the Eagle mountainsThere had been a freak snow storm in thhills the night before and the canyon waa beautiful sight. Snow incrusted the nortside of every rock, palm tree, cactus aneven the bright colored wildflowers. I shoa whole roll of Kodachrome. The washas been heavily traveled and the foot trato the palms well worn. There m ust havbeen as many men in this one remote spoin the past two years as there have since thdawn of creation. Yet I can truthfully sathat the canyon is as lovely and unspoileas ever. Not a palm has been mutilatednot a tin can or bit of rubbish was to bseen.

For every careless hand that would leavsuch things there are crews everywhernow burning and burying and cleaning. know that you won't be disappointed iLost Palms canyon on your return.

On the way down, the snow had melteand I could see the green tips of new orchid shoots coming through the reeds bthe tiny creek bed. I called the colonel

attention to them, saying this was the onlplace on the desert where I ever had founthis little wild orchid. He found it harto believe that they really were orchids until I discovered some of last year's flowestems with the pods still intact. ColonSenay has served in Panama, and othejungle countries and is an observant maHe had to admit they were orchids. Thdriver, a boy from the Middle West, wenhome muttering about a country wheorchids and palm trees were covered witsnow.

One other day we crossed the Litt

Chuckawalla mountains on one side of thwide graded roads the army has built rigacross this range of hills—from highwa60-70 to the Nilan d road. W e stopped eat lunch (after a good bit of maneuverinon my part) near one of my old geodfields. Heavy rains and a complete lack rockhounds have combined to make picing mighty good. W e all gathered rocfor awhile and now I am afraid the whostaff is turning rock conscious. Especialafter they saw some of the green moss agapolished. W hen the war is over there wbe literally dozens of swell gem fields map for the DM with passable roads within easy walking distance.

One other day in the Chuckawallas tcolonel called from over the hill and wall converged to see what was wronThere was a shaft someone had sunk onsmall manganese vein and at the bottowas a desert tortoise, the first of the seson we had seen. He had fallen in unhubut was unable to get out of the verticpit. He would have starved down thewalking helplessly round and round tbottom so I climbed down and got him oWe soon found another and the discussio

16 T HE D E S E R T M A G A Z I N



peep is a rockhound's dream. Here o ne breaks a new trail

in the Chuckawallas."

springing up since this winter's heavyrains.

If you will remember, the wild flowersalways are the thickest and brightest where

the desert crust has been broken. Thegraded sides of a road are invariably twobright strips of taller and larger flowersacross the desert in the spring, for the

breaking of the crust has planted the seebetter and allowed more rain to get deeinto the sand. The same thing has happened where desert maneuvers have takeplace—only on a grander scale. The annuals are not the only ones to get a newimpetus. Young smoke trees, ironwoodsocotillos and even barrel cactus are springing up a ll over such areas. Last week took a photo which illustrates my poinperfectly. A wash was sprinkled witabout an average crop of desert flowers except the path that had been made by caravan of military trucks. These trackstood out as if they had been painted by giant brush across the sand.

I am writing you this because there ara good many "sob sisters" of both sexemaking quite a thing of how the army "wrecking our dear desert." These folkfor the most part, don't know the desevery well or they would not be so concerned. You and I know that the desert tough and adaptable. That it has bee"torn up" by other hoards at differentimes and that today a few peaceful olghost towns are the only evidence of a

this activity. The desert is mighty hard tspoil. It's too darned big and resilient. is going to take more than a war to destroits peace and beauty.

There are thousands of officers and mewho trained here who have learned to likit and have a great respect for this lanthat others think is such an awful placThe average of those who like the countrand intend some day to come back anshow it to their folks is about the same aalways, but the volume has been greaHundreds of thousands of men from awalks of life and every part of our lan

have gone through training courses in oudesert. Ou t of them will come thousandof boosters and others who will come live and build up our young communitie

I'm going out to hu nt calcite next monif my ration board app roves. I have seeral good leads and a lot of experiencfrom the last mine. It still is one of thtop strategic minerals. I hope also to hatime to get out a few articles for the DM.

Yes, Randall, the desert you love is stwaiting for you. It hasn't changed a gredeal and probably never shall, and thfolks out here can hardly wait till you gback to enjoy it with us.

As Ever, Your Friend,

JOHNP.S.—I'm enclosing some of the pi

tures we took on these recent trips.

"In the heart of the Turtle mountainswe found a saguaro cactus over 30 fetall, despite the fact it is supposed tobe confined to the Arizona side o f theColorado river. This country lookslike a combination of MonumentValley, Utah, and the cactus countr

of southern Arizona."

18 T HE D E S E R T M A G A Z IN



J U N E , 1944 19



PICTORIAL RECORD OF JOSHUA TREE BLOSSOM

Photos an d text by Cathe rine an d Dick Freem an Title photo graph by F. V. Sampso n

Fossil remains discovered outside the Joshua tree'spresent limits in California, Nevada, Utah and Ari-zona, indicate that in earlier, more humid ages it hada much wider distribution. Catherine and Dick Free-man, in photographing this series covering early budstage, full flower, developing and maturing of fruit, tofinal skeletal period, chose as their subject the Yuccabrevifolia, or short-leaved species. Close-ups of theflowers were taken 20 miles west of Lancaster, Cali-

fornia. Besides the yuc ca m oth which effects its fertili-

zation,the Joshua is host to the night lizard, Xantusiavigilis, which lives under the porous bark, subsistingupon termites, ants and insect larvae. Other animallife in the little community, according to EdmundJaeger, includes at least 25 species of birds. Com-monest inhabitants are red-shafted flicker, cactuswoodp ecker, ash - throated flycatcher, Baird wren,plain titmouse, western bluebird, Pasadena screechowl and Scott oriole. Pack rats sometimes build their

large nests of coarse twigs at the base of Joshuas.



Above, left to right. 1—In the earliest stage the Joshua budresembles a large artichoke. The fleshy bracts, or m odifiedleaves partially enclosing the flowers, are tinged with a soft rosecoloring on the outside, while underneath they are tinted with apale lemon yellow. The ir texture is like soft chamois or suede.2—As the buds develop and swell the bracts are pressed back-ward. At this period of growth the bracts reach their greatestbeauty. Deep ashes-of-roses tinges the outer w all, which cupswithin the waxen creamy bundles of marvelously interlockedflowers. 3—The great "artic hoke " is bursting with the crowd-ing lilies within. Looking at it from th e tip, the robust blossomsappear to be pressing forth vigorously against their soft protect-

ing walls.

Below, left to right. 4—A t last the bracts straighten out hori-zontally into an attractive star design, while the p artially openedlilies continue to clamber for a place in the sun. 5—Com pressedinto a dense ovoid m ass the maturing flowers never find room tobecome full-blown, as do most other yuccas. The thick waxenpetals are brittle and will break off if forced to open more fully.A heavy fragrance fills the air near the blossoms and attractswithin the little pronuba moth which effects fertilization by de-positing her eggs in the developing capsules. 6—U nder eachbract a pedicel, or flower stem, develops on which may be fromone to nine flowers. From the center of each blossom the longpistil extends beyond the petals, disclosing the opening at the

top through which the pollen is forced by the pronuba moth.

6



v V /

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Above. 7—Heavy clusters of densely crowded flowers are 12to 18 inches long. Asmost of them, bloom at about the sametime, the flowering season isone of luxuriant display. When infull bloom theonce lovely bracts shrivel upunder the blossoms,become dark and brittle. The coloring at this period isgreenish-white or cream, theweight several pounds.

Below. 8—The capsules, or fruits, begin todevelop near thebase ofthe flower w hile the upper end still is in full bloom. They8

often reach considerable size before the flowers are entirgone. The persistent perianth, orpetals, hang loosely about t

enlarging fruits, giving a ragged appearance. Often these docompletely disappear until the ripe capsule itself falls off. 9Almost mature capsule shows thepersistent stamens andpetduring development of the seeds within it. Dark spots probaare evidence of parasitic larvae which injure plant tissues jbeneath surface. Fungu s growth toomay make such spots.




10

Above. 10—Sometimes the crop is so large the fruits crowd

one anothe r as closely as the blossoms before them . SinceJoshuas live in the higher desert elevations which are subject tostrong winds, each little stem, or pedicel, must be tough andstrong to hold fruits until complete maturity. 11— Wh en cap-sules have reached full maturity they break off readily, roll overdesert like "tumb le fruits." Fragile outer covering soon breaks

11

under strain of this rough treatment, seeds escaping to lodge in

many scattered spots. Old flower stalk, however, may remain ontree for several years, a skeletal reminder of former loveliness.Below. 12— High in the arid mesa lands of the Mojave des-

ert such forests as this, in the Lancaster area, may extend formiles, varying from open to very dense stands. In all seasonsMojave's giant lily is an unusual feature of the landscape.

12



Y O U C A N B U Y B A C K I S S U E S O F D E S E R TA limited number of Desert Magazine back issues is available at the low rate of $1.00 each assort-men t. S ubjects listed be low are but sam ple s of the features in each issu e. Every assortment h asstories on travel, history. Indians, botany, wildlife, legends and lost mines, poetry, book reviews, andmany others. Starred articles include maps. To insure prompt delivery of gift orders, please indicatesec on d ch oice . Do not ask for substitutions—we cannot offer these issu es at so low a rate except in the

com bination s listed. Sen d orders an d remittance ($1.00 for eac h assortment) to

DESERT MAGAZINE, EL CENTRO, CALIFORNIA

ASSORTMEN T THREEHope-climbing, Deep Canyon, Santa Rosa Mts., Calif.*Discovery of Three Turkey Cliff Ruins, ArizonaTrip to Hidden Forest, Northeast of Las Vegas, Nev.*Agate, Jasper on Ancient Beachlines, Mojave Desert*Camping Trip to Skeleton Canyon, Southeast Arizona*Hopi Girl Tells About Hopi Snake Dances, Arizona*Black Pottery of San Ildefonso, New MexicoTrip to Redrock Arch Country, Southeast Arizona*Following Anza's Trail up Coyote Canyon, California*Myths and Facts About Great Salt Lake, UtahCollecting Howlite and Geodes in Mojave Desert*Garnets in the Aquarius Range of Western Arizona*Pete Augereberry, Death Valley Prospector*Finding Obsidian at Mono Craters, California* '

Climbing Trip, Fortification Hill, Lake Mead, Nevada*Native Palms in Kofa Mountains, Western Arizona*Exploring Great Salt Lake Islands, UtahFinding Lt. Ives' Colorado River Boat, "Explorer"*Cochiti Indian Drum Makers of New MexicoMineral, Fossil Deposits, Santa Rosa Mountains*

I n c . Nov. 38, Aug., Sept., Nov., Dec, 41, Jan., 42.

ASSORTMENT FOURDiscovery of Enchanted Mesa, New Mexico*Quartz Crystals, Cave Creek, near Quartzsite, Arizona*Navajo Tribal Record of Ruins of Astaelakwa, N. M.*Camping in Havasu Canyon, Northern Arizona*Martin Hennings, Pioneer New Mexico artistObsidian and Agate Along Bonanza Road, Nevada*Chemical Mining at Dale Dry Lake, California*Navajo Indian Legend of the White Shell Woman*Exploring Meteor Crater, Arizona, with Magnetic Rake*

Heat, Dryness .Cloudbursts of Desert Climate E xplained*Amethyst Crystals, Bullfrog Hills near Rhyolite, Nev.*Travelog to Captitol Reef National Monument, Utah*Japanese Relocation Center, Poston, Arizona*Collecting Sandstone Concretions near Yuma, ArizonaBy Boat from Gulf of California to Salton Sea*Collecting Copper Ores, Dragoon Mountains, Arizona*Jet Found in Coal Veins, Henry Mountains, Utah*Capt. T. J. Jeffords, Blood-Brother of ApachesPrehistoric Giant Sloth Cave on Lake Mead, Nevada

I n c . Apr., June, July, Aug., Sept., Nov., 42.

ASSORTMENT FIVEPowell Weaver, Colorful Trapper and "Mountain Man"White Sands National Monument, New Mexico*Dick Wick Hall, Famed Humorist of Salome, ArizonaCollecting Bloodstone in Orocopia Mountains, Calif.*Thunderbird Trading Post and "Cozy" McSparron, Ariz.*

History of Calico, California, ghost mining townAmerican Girl Mine in Cargo Muchacho Mtns., Calif.*John Wetherill and First Expedition to Rainbow BridgeHidden Valley, Joshua Tree National Monument, Calif.*Chalcedony "Roses"—Their Characteristics, LocationsBuilding of San Jacinto Tunnel, Colorado River Aqued uctExpedition to Crossing of the Fathers, Colorado RiverLone Woman Miner at Copper City, Mojave Desert*Prospecting with a Portable Ultra-Violet Ray LampStory of Cochise, Famed Apache ChieftainCollecting Chalcedony in Turtle Mountains, California*Trip to the Valley of Fire near Overton, NevadaStory of John Albert Scorup, Mormon C owbo y of UtahExploring Salt Cave, Collecting Crystals, Lake Mead*Travelog to Eagle Mountain Canyons, California*

I n c . Mar., May , June, 38; July, Sept., Oct., 40.

ASSORTMENT SIXFossil Oyster Beds, Yuha Basin, Imperial Valley*Collecting Staurolite (Fairy Stones) near Taos, N. M.*Malcolm B. Cummings Tells of Rainbow Bridge DiscoveryTechnique of Rock-climbing Explained and IllustratedHunting Meteorites w ith Ma gnet in M eteor Crater, Ariz.*Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park, Washington*Wickenburg's Discovery of Gold on Hassayampa. Ariz.Story of Lorenzo Hubbell, Jr., Navajo Indian TraderOnyx in Orocopia Mountains, Colorado Desert, Calif.*Mortero Canyon Palm Oasis, Western Colorado Desert*Story of C. Hite an d Lost Silver Mine, Monument V alleyFormation and Desert Locations of Rillensteine*Reg M anning, Famed Desert Cartoonist of Phoenix, Ariz.Travelog to 49 Palms, Mojave Desert, California*

Explanation of "Desert Varnish," or "Sunburned" rocks*Characteristics of Genuine Navajo Indian JewelryFluorescent Opal in Virgin Valley, Northern Nevada*Story of Ghost Mining Towns—Hamilton, Treasure City*"Chanting Rocks," El Cajon Pass, Mojave Desert*Most Popular Lapidary Equipment Pictured, Described

I n c . May, A ug., Nov., De c, 40; July, Oct., 41.

ASSORTMENT SEVENNellie Coffman, Founder of Desert Inn, Palm SpringsTravelog to Colossal Cave near Tucson, Arizona*Canyons of San Jacinto Mt. near Palm Springs, Calif.*Building Metropolitan Aqueduct from Colorado River*Chalcedony and Cornelian in Saddle Mts., Arizona*The Pinnacles, south of Searles Lake, Mojave Desert*Collecting Sand Spikes in Colorado Desert, CaliforniaClimbing the San Francisco Peaks, Northern ArizonaIdentifying the Odd, Colored Desert Lichens

Petrified Roots, Jasper at Kramer Hills, Mojave Desert*History of the Vallecitos Stage Station, California*Travelog to Carrizo Badlands, Colorado Desert, Calif.*Strange Life History of Yucca Moth and the YuccaH. H. Nininger Tells How to Recognize MeteoritesDiscovery of Moki Ruin near Colorado River, Utah*Following Vagabond Trails Through the Southwest*Finding Ruins of Ancient Indian Antelope Run, Utah*Charley Williams, Mojave Desert Rock collectorAm using Cactus Cartoons by Harry Locke, Ariz. Artist

I n c . Jan., 38, Oct., 39, Mar., D ec , 42, Jan., Mar., 43.

ASSORTMENT EIGHTThe Rare Red Ant Chant, Navajo Healing CeremonialExplaining the Danger of the Gila Monster's PoisonDesert Color—Its Source, Effect on Sky, Clouds, etc.Life and Land of Papago Indians, Southern ArizonaKangaroo R at, and other desert rodents

Discovery of Indian Petroglyphs in Northeast Utah*How to Understand Cause of Desert MiragesExplanation of Lightning Spoiled, or Split, RocksPersonality Story of Lon Megargee, Desert ArtistHistory of Lee's Ferry on Colorado River, Arizona*Legen ds and Modern Life of Laguna Indians, New M ex.*Building a Desert G arden in N avajolan d, Northern Ariz.*Navajo Creation Myth, Murals by a Navajo ArtistTwo White Women Spend Christmas in Acoma, Sky CityBuilding and Furnishing an Adobe Home, Phoenix, Ariz.What Happened in Past Geologic Ages to Petrify Wood*What Sand is—How it wa s M ade, its Forms, CompositionStory of Black Horse, Navajo Indian of Rock Rocks, Ariz.*Indians Ruins—Wukoki, Betatakin, Keetseel, etc.Ross Santee, Artist Interpreter of Life in Southwest

I n c . Jul., Sept., Oct., Nov., D ec , 43 , Jan., 44.




"Brown an d golden and r ich! Some thing l ike aroas ted yam , ye t ho ld ing a l s o an indes c r ibab le t angof p ine app le an d of m an go ." That is the w ay Mar-shal South descr ibes roas ted mescal , the mos tpr ized del icacy at Yaqui tepec. This month he te l lshow the mes ca l hea r t s a r e ga the red and roas ted—an d eate n. The South family practic es the r ite ofmes ca l roas t ing in much the s ame manner a s theIndians who once l ived on Ghos t mountain and lef ttheir ancient f ire pits behind.

By MARSHAL SOUTH

r HROUGH the east window the ragged mass of an un-finished wall bulks like ebony against the pale dawnlight. Except for the vibrant blun dering notes of the

big carpenter bees about the eaves troughs, Ghost Mountain iswrapped in a cloak of silence as absolute as though it was thefirst morning of the world.

Soon the sun will be up. Already the jagged rocks along theeastern ridge, where the mountain crest plunges into the

shadowy lowlands, are beginnin g to glow pink. Lone, deadmescal poles are gaunt against the sky. Between the bulk ofgiant boulders the silhouettes of gnarled junipers are an edgingof black lace. Rider is already awake, lying quiet and thoughtfulin his covers, awaiting the arrival of the goldfish.

Every morning, just as the sun looms above the horizon, thegoldfish make their magical appearance, swimming gracefullydown the length of an old smoke-tinted ceiling beam. First,along the dark length of the stretching timber that is their prom-enade, appear the shimmering waves of a pale golden sea. Then,suddenly, in the midst of it, there are the goldfish. A long lineof them . Flash ing, ruddy-gold fellows of assorted sizes, allheaded south. Their appea rance, and the ceremony of countingthem, marks the official beginning of a Yaquitepec day. Rud-yard and V ictoria always wake up to take p art in this tally of themagic fish, and always are baffled. Because, no matter howmany times they count them, they never can arrive at the samenumber twice. "Tw enty-tw o," says Rudyard. "N o, seventeen,"declares Victoria. And they are both wrong— or maybe bothright. For when Rider, the countmaster, makes the check, thereare but eighteen. And as he goes over his count to verify it,there perhaps will be fifteen. Or nineteen. Magic is in the gold-fish, that changes their number, from second to second, withthe rapid lift of the sun. Sometimes we think tha t those peoplewhose houses are so well constructed that there are no spacesbeneath the corrugations of roofing iron through which the suncan paint glowing goldfish upon beams are missing a lot of fun.

Mescal roasting was hurried this year. W e really ought to havedone more of it, for the children love the brown, delicious,

natural sweet. But there have been so many other tasks, anddays have been so crowded, that we found it hard to use thenecessary time.

Those days that we did manage to spare were picnics indeed.For we drift now through that enchanted period of spring whenthe rock crest of Ghost Mountain is vibrant with the crystalnotes of orioles and canyon wrens, and all the white, gravellystretches are gay with a carpet of desert flowers. To set forth inthe early dawn, armed with shovels and digging bars, and bear-ing food for a day's outing, is sheer delight. There is a tang tothe air, and a wide sense of freedom that belongs n ot to this age,but to another, when man was not so enmeshed in miseries ofhis own devising. Bare feet fall softly upo n whispering gravel.From the jun ipers, as one brushes past their dark green branches,exhales an aromatic fragrance. In the stillness we imagine we

Old-time mescal roast. Ink drawing by M arshal South.

see, just ahead, the shadowy shapes of those simple heartedchildren of the desert whose dusky feet traced out these ancienttrails between mescal hearth and mescal hearth in the longvanished years.

Mescal roasting is a family affair. Tanya and I find and b ringin the sprouting plants that are ready for the baking. Rider helpsdig the pit and fetches stones to line it. Rudyard and V ictoriatrot hither and thither, lug ging in fuel. They cease their laborsoccasionally to hunt for snail shells or to admire the tiny thickets

of desert ferns that grow in cool sheltered niches at the base ofgiant boulders. . , '

It must have been like this in the old days, which only thesilent rocks and ancient junipers remember. Then , as now,the orioles flung their liquid notes along the slopes. The blos-soms of the desert pea bush crowded the space between theboulders with gay bouquets of dazzling yellow., The bodies ofthose who moved to and fro at their tasks were innocent ofclothes. The old days and the simple dwellers of the desert aregone. "They killed them all off," an old Mexican woman oncesaid to us sorrowfully. "They killed off all those poor people.But, gracias a Dios, maybe the padres at least saved their souls."

Mescal roasting is strenuous work. There is the pit to be dug.And afterwards it has to be roughly lined with stones. On these

old hearths, where the earth is permanently black from thescorch of unnumbered ancient fires, the digging usually is notso hard as it would be in fresh groun d. Also there are plenty offire blackened stones that have been used and re-used number-less times in the past. This lessens the labor sornewhat. Butstill the work requires considerable effort.

The dimensions of the pit can be governed by ambition—and the size of the proposed baking. About three feet across andfrom 18 inches to two feet deep in the center, when stone lined,is the average size of the pits we make. The stone lining is hastyand crude—just sizeable rocks laid together in a pavement overthe bottom and up the sloping sides to the rim.

Digging in these old hearths always gives us a vivid senseof their antiquity. The blackened earth extends downward togreat depths. Their age must be measured by many centuries.

About the hardest part of the proceedings is gathering themescal hearts. The sprouting plants first must be found—andsuitable ones always are widely scattered. You have to catchthem in just the right stage. If the flower shoot is not highenough you lose a great deal in con tent. If it is too high the suc-culent juice pulp has begun to transfer itself to the upbuildingof the stalk. The ideal stage is when the sprout is up about 15to 18 inches. At this period m aximum plumpness—as far asroasting purposes are concerned—has been attained by thehearts.

Your plant located, the next task is to remove the centralheart so that it can be roasted. This means taking practically thewhole plant, with the exception of the extreme woody root, anddivesting it of leaves. Th e old timers did this by means f

chisel-pointed hardwood digging sticks. With these they

J U N E , 1 9 4 4 25



wrenched out the swelled heart and its attached sprout and priedoff the surrounding dagger-pointed leaves. We still use thewooden sticks on occasion. But we have found that a light irondigging bar, althoug h it is heavier, is more effective. It is some-times quite a struggle to get off all of the stubborn leaves. W henthis is accomplished, you have a whitish-green club, somethinglike a grotesque animal foot. This is the heart, the forerunnerof your subsequent delicacy.

When a sufficient number of hearts have been collected, welop off the extreme, spine-armed tip of the sprout and arrangethem, thick end inwards, around the circumference of the roast-ing pit upon a low coping of good sized stones, built around

the rim for that purpose. Then you proceed to pile the fuel in agreat heap all around, covering coping stones and hearts alike.For this purpose any handy dry fuel w ill do. Usually we use theold dead butts and stalks of mescals themselves, intermixed withoccasional dead branches of juniper, if there are any around.Apparently, from the comparative rarity of charcoal in the oldfire hearths, this was the course followed by the ancients. Deadmescal butts provide intense heat, but leave almost no charcoalas compared with wood.

When the fire is lighted it must be kept well fed and blazinghotly for from a half to three quarters of an hour. Mescal heartsare stubborn things and can stand lots of heat. The blazeblackens them and makes hot the rim of rocks upon which theylie, heating also the lining of stones in the pit. Coals and blazingfragments fall into the pit and add to its temperature. It is a hotjob and long mescal poles come in handy for stirring and ar-ranging the blazing fuel.

At the end of half an hour or so the fire is allowed to diedown. W hen it has dwindled to a mass of glowing embers,through which scorched mescal hearts and blackened rim rockssmoke hotly, you go around the edge of the pit, with a pole ora long handled shovel, and tumble scorched hearts, hot stonesand embers all together into the pit. Then the rest of the hotashes are piled in a mound above them. And over all a thick,heaped covering of earth. The n you go on to the same round ofproceedings at the next roasting pit. Or you go home. The jobis done.

And you leave your mescals cooking in their primitive ovenfor two days. At the end of the second day you go back and open

up the pits. Th ings w ill have cooled down by then so they easilycan be handled. The hea rts that you take out won't look veryinviting. They will be charred and earth plastered, and theshoots will be limp, brown sticky things. But don't throw themaway. Carry them home tenderly and with reverence. For be-neath the scorched, charred envelope lies something more de-licious than many a famed delicacy of civilization.

Take a knife or a hatchet and carefully trim off the outercrusting, and the prize lies before you. Brown and golden andrich! Something like a roasted yam, yet holding also an inde-scribable tang of pineapple and of mango. Roast mescal! In allthe desert there is nothin g quite like it. And it must be tastedto be apprec iated. It will keep , too, if you slice it and dry it forfuture use. But we at Yaquitepec seldom get this far. Our en-

thusiastic youngsters believe in living in the present, and thegolden brow n stuff do esn't keep very well with us. It tastestoo good.

Our desert tortoises are awake again. All through the coldmonths they slumbered, hidden away in dark corners behindtrunks and boxes in the house. Well sheltered in their hide-outsthey were oblivious of the icy blasts that roared above GhostMoun tain. Tha t is, two of them passed the winter in this ortho-dox fashion. The third— Genera l Machado, our latest acquisi-tion and by far the biggest of the three—scorned the protectivefolds of the covering which we had laid over him. He vanishedat the beginning of winter, and we could not find him.

Then one day, Rider, poking about in the dark hinterland ofthe storeroom with a flashlight, came hurrying out with thesorrowful news that General Machado was dead. ' Frozen, poor

thing," Rider said dolefully, shivering at the icy wind howlinabout the house. "Com e, see for yourselves."

So we went and saw for ourselves. There, six inches from tfloor, in a dark corner, wedged between the wall and the leg an old cupboard, was Genera l Machado , stiff and stark. Coand rigid, his legs dangling out of his shell, and already moullooking, he hung there like a dead stiff coyote across the tof a barb wire fence.

We could not reach him without moving a quantity of pilboxes and stored stuff. His appearance, in the wan beam of tflashlight, told us that we couldn't do any good if we did reahim. It was too cold to undertake the job, anyway. And besid

we hadn 't much heart for it. Somehow the sight of our popet hanging there lifeless, as upon a gibbet, cast a gloom ovus. Several times during the winter when we really ought have moved stuff in that corner to get at things we wanted, invented excuses.

W ith the com ing of spring, the other two awoke. They cadown the aisle between the trunks and stores looking for gregrass. "We ought to get that other dead tortoise out of tcorner," Tanya said reluctantly. "The weather is warming. not healthy."

No one wanted the job. But it had to be done. So Ribrought the long iron fire rod with the hook at the end ofand Rudyard fetched the flashlight. "See if you can hook hout," I said glumly, trying to decide whether we would bury hor keep his shell as a memento. "Be careful thou gh. He's prably pretty smelly."

The youngsters grubbed in the corner, on hands and kneThere came a sudden exclamation. "He's not here!" Ridvoice was startled.

Flashlight in hand Rudyard backed out from under a tabHis eyes were wide. "Someone has spiwited him away!" he shoarsely.

"Oah a!" Victoria cried breathlessly. "I know! The angThey came and tooked him!" She bolted to Tanya to impthis amazing news.

But it wasn't the angels. For that afternoon, after we hhunted unsuccessfully for General Machado's body, we met hcoming down the aisle, calm and distinguished looking. He an air about him. An air of authority, such as any really wo

while general ought to have. "Out of my way," he seemedsay haughtily. "Ca n't you see I am in a hurry. I have to remy command."

So we restored him to his command. And they welcomed with sour looks. For they do not like General Machado. Ndo we, now. W ell, not much. For we feel, somehow, thathas been guilty of dying under false pretenses.

Quail calling from the ridges. "Chouk!" And ag"Chouk!" The bustling flutter of the purple finches who putting the finishing touches to their nest in the tiny house athe high pole at the center of the ramada. The sun has dipfar to the west now, and the shadow of the house roof reacout to the chunky little squaw-tea bush that stands in the ceof the white gravel court. Along the rocks of the terrace nod

blue-flecked chia sage blooms, and the desert four-o'clocks just opening their white flowers. On the slope, beyond little flat through which the foot trail winds, a clump of depaintbrush flames a splash of scarlet.

• • •

ATTRACTION

Then worship not the good men do,But do it, you, as well.All hearts who wisely live and true,To Light and Truth impel.Whate'er yo u are you but attractExactly as you earnAnd they who only good enact,To them will good return.

—TANYA SOUTH

26 T H E D E S E R T M A G A Z I N



. . .New Guinea Area

Yesterday I received the first copy of my

I have read

t a source of entertainment and informa-My rock collecting has been done

I am enclosing a description of the geo-

There are beautiful rock and shellOne section is famous for

. Many soldiers stationed

Agate, chalcedony, onyx, copper, jaspernd coral are found here. W e find cat eyes

I spend all my spare time looking forrocks and shells. Th e rock specimens allre found along the beaches and washes.

At home I was president of the Santato

ave a bigger and better club after the war.If any of your readers care to write me Imight possibly sometime be able to send

I might add that soldiers over here areot heartened by the constant bickering inand out of congress over labor, business,soldier vote, soldier bonus, win-the-peace,1944 presidential election, second frontand countless other petty aches. What wewant is peace and unity of purpose at homenow. W e want to feel that we have a solidunited home front, not a disintegratingone.

Thanks again for an interesting andcolorful magazine. Reading it has donemuch to keep my morale and that of myfriends high.

CPL. JOHN A. WELDON• • •

Escap e to the Desert . . .

Salt Lake City, UtahDear Sirs:

Thank you for publishing such a de-lightful magazine. Because we travel allof the time we are unable to subscribe, buthave to take a chance finding it whereverwe are. Once we were desert rats, but nowour travels take us to damp and rainy cli-mates most of the time. But once a monthwe are able to escape back to the desert inthe pages of your magazine.

MRS. J. C. ALEXANDER, JR.

Desert Goes to a Sailor . . .FPO San Francisco

Dear Miss Harris:Your excellent Desert magazine I de-

vour most eagerly as soon as it is receivedaboard. It transports me to our enchanteddesert—at the moment to Borrego whereonce again I'm tramping among the bad-lands.

Although I've sailed the sea for a longtime yet I love the desert. It is and alwayswill be my heart's wonderful happy home.This confession is made, I'm sure, tokindred spirits—those associated with DMcouldn 't be otherwise. So you see I onlywanted to warm my chilled inner self withthe smiling rays of desert sunshine whichyou all so abundantly enjoy and I soardently crave.

Now that I've opened the window andagain glimpsed my world of happiness, I

must close it quickly, for here too is needfor my thoughts and efforts—so that oneday familiar trails may again be trod with-out ever the need to look back with un-certainty.

PETER PAUL MARTINEK• • •

Birds and Spiders Improve DM . . .Boulder City, Nevada

Dear Sirs:I want to congratulate you on the last

few copies of Desert. The articles onflowers, spiders, birds, etc., were very in-teresting and a very great improvement

over last year's issues. It has helped m e tolearn more about life on the desert.MRS. VEVA BERRY

• • •Claim Black Widow a Fake . . .

Silver City, New MexicoDear Sirs:

Having read "Spider House" by MoraM. Brown in the April issue, I was con-siderably confused when I opened myApril copy of Natural History and read anarticle, "The Modern Nature-Faker" byWm. H. Carr, associate curator of Museumof Natural History.

The article is headed by the statement,

"Before some trust is lost in the printedword, it is time to point out that a greatmany tall tales and misleading statementsare being published as fact." Among thepopular fallacies current today seems to bethe one about the use of Black Widowspider silk in bomb sights and other mili-tary sighting instruments. It says that Dr.Willis J. Gertsch, associate curator of in-sects and spiders of American Museum ofNatural History, upon becoming suspi-cious of statements in the press, made in-quiries among optical manufacturers. He"was told that spider silk is too fragile for

these purposes and that the thread could

not be adapted to the varied and complexneeds of such instrumen ts." He learnedthat etched glass is used in optical firecontrol instruments, that platinum wire isconsidered superior to spider silk, and thatthe silk of other spiders is used more oftenthan Black Widow spider silk in othertypes of optical instruments.

I do not mean to say that your article isentirely incorrect. But it is definitely mis-leading; and of course the writer dwellsupon the sensational Black Widow to the

exclusion of the above facts.WINIFRED NOBLE

Dear WN: Having no desire to publishany material because o\ its sensationalvalue, Desert upon reading the NaturalHistory article you refer to, rechecked ivithMrs. Mora Brown, author o\ "SpiderHouse," w ith Mrs. Nan Songer, whofurnishes the web for precision instru-ments, and T. K. Lee, who developed theTackhole Dot and who uses much of theweb extracted by Mrs. Songer. Their state-ments follow.— LH .

Riverside, CaliforniaDear Miss Harris:

Despite the high authority quoted inMiss Noble's letter, I cannot see whereinmy article "Spider House" is either incor-rect or misleading.

In the fourth paragraph of this article Iquoted Mrs. Songer: " . . . for consistentlygood web I like best the Green Lynx andGolden Garden. In autumn, though, theseadults die, so for winter work I use adultBlack Widows and the young of the othertwo species."

I visited Mrs. Songer in early spring.

Consequently the only adult spider avail-able was the Black Widow; hence, neces-sarily a Black Widow was used for demon-stration.

Please understand I do not question thesincerity of Wm. H. Carr, Dr. Willis J.Gertsch or Miss Nob le. I am 100 per centagainst faked reporting, too, but I believeinvestigation will show that they did notlook deeply enough into the subject.

MORA M. BROWN

Yucaipa, CaliforniaDear Miss Harris:

I wish to state that Mrs. Brown's article"Spider House" which appeared in yourApril issue is perfectly true and accurate inevery de tail. Since I was the first person inthis country to use the Black Widow andgave the first article to Nation's Businessmagazine in 1941, and since a number ofleading magazines, such as Coronet, Na-ture and several others as well as Desert,recently have printed similar articles, allmentioning the use of the Black Widowsilk in wartime precision instruments, itmight seem that the article in Natural His-tory by Wm. H. Carr could be taken as a

challenge to these articles. Since each arti-

J U N E , 1 9 4 4 27



cle was sent to me and received my per-sonal O.K., I should like to answer the ac-cusations made by Mr. Carr.

I have been supplying silk for variousaeronautical military sighting devices aswell as telescopic gun-sights to contractorsfor U. S. bureau of aeronautics, supply di-visions of the war department, navy de-partment, as well as individual optical con-cerns for some time. And in the wintertime much of this silk IS that of the BlackW idow. According to information I have

there also are certain army laboratorieswhich supply their own silk for instru-ments which use only the Black Widow.

I see nothing sensational about using theBlack Widow spider. I simply startedusing them during the winter months asthe only large spider with a sufficientlystrong silk that was available here at thattime. They are very well-behaved duringextraction of web.

However, by next winter I do not expectto use them, as an explorer, Chas. A. King,made a trip into interior Mexico to bringout for me 150 large tropical spiders, and

the Mexican laboratory of the U. S. depart-ment of agriculture sent 100 more of thesame species. The silk from these spidershas been declared superior in several ways.

There does seem to be a general miscon-ception of this work, though I personallyhave seen no "tall tales" printed whichmight account for it. I have received letters

from hundreds of people from all parts ofthe country who wish to take up the work.The general impression seems to be thatextraction of spider silk is a large produc-tion industry. I would be glad to have thisimpression branded as a big mistake. AsMr. Carr points out, there are many othertypes of cross-hairs used where size willpermit. T he etched line is used on all sightsthat must withstand heavy concussion. Thesteel, or platinum wire is used in a largepercentage. If the inquiries had been more

careful, it would have been learned, how-ever, that the engraved line, even the finestline that can be etched with diamond, ismuch too heavy for certain telescopic reti-cules. Also that the steel or platinum wireis several times WEAKER in certain re-spects than the spider's silk with its higherdegree of elasticity, and will not with-stand the contraction of freezing tempera-tures of the stratosphere.

I have been called many things, from"Spider Woman" to "Black WidowLady"—and I haven't minded at all. ButI certainly would resent being classed as

a "Nature-Faker." NAN SONGER

Birmingham, AlabamaDear Editor:

It is true that to date manufacturers oftelescope sights use steel or tungsten wirein their instruments, being rather coarse

and not as well suited to really fine siging as when the spider silk with the Tahole Dot at center is used. Much reseahas been necessary to perfect the methof installation of spider silk in telescsights and the writer has spent half a ltime doing just that. It has been perfecand the methods of application, in sorespects at least, are secret and the mterials used in the application are of own formula.

Suffice it to say that in the last five ye

I have installed reticules of spider smostly of the Black Widow variety furnished by Mrs. Nan Songer) in mthousands of telescope sights, which now in use in large numbers in Alaska Canada (where temperature changes extreme) and all over the United Staand many of them have been taken into Pacific area by various members of armed forces. Major Rex Applegate, chof combat section, Camp Ritchie, Md., uscopes in instruction there for snipers.

Hunters by thousands use them on sbig rifles as 505 Gibbs, 375, 333, 3

H&H, etc., and it is rare indeed that ever hear of one breaking from the shof recoil. They stand the shock better tsteel wires. The reason manufacturersnot use it, so far, is because of the difficin applying it as a manufacturing propotion and lack of skilled technicians.

T. K. L

K e e p i n g E s s e n t i a l C r o p s G r o w i n g . . .IS THE PATRIOTIC MOTTO OF IMPERIAL IRRIGATION DISTRICT. WHICH IS THE SOLE AGENCY SUP-

PLYING WATER AND POWER TO FARMS AND CITIES OF FERTILE IMPERIAL VALLEY. CALIFORNIA.

On March 15, 1944, there were 4,536 of thesefarms, of which 2,388 or 52 per cent were owner-operated, and 2,148, or 48 per cent, were farmed bytenants. Average area of each farm was 100.4acres.

In 1943 agricultural products produced in Impe-rial Valley had a valuation total of $58,544,562.

This stupendous achievement represented Im-perial Valley's contribution to the Nation's "Foodfor Victory" campaign—that the United States andher Allies might also have superiority in food, aswell as in ammunition, guns, tanks, planes andother necessary military equipment.

Imperial Irrigation District is continuing its vital program of holding the line on the home front bymaintaining 3000 mile s of can als and drains—and 27,000 cana l structures—despite serious hand icaps inshortages of labor and essential materials , because it is vitally necessary to insure delivery of water toImperial V alle y's fertile acr es that ar e produ cing food for victory.

I m p e r i a l I r r i g a t i o n D i s t r i c t ,

Q b e Y o u r O w n P o w e r -M a k e i t P a y f o r t h f A H A m e r ic a n C a n a l




an theARIZONA

. . .PHOENIX—Senate foreign relations

opposition from Arizona. Colorado

for Indians • . .GANADO—Federal wardship for In-

and Ganado m ission. He scored the

erference" of the government with everydetail of Ind ian life, the 389 treaties still ineffect some of which are "absolutely ridic-ulous" which are basis for preservingwardship, implying incompetence. Hestated our dealings with the Indians "runthe whole gamut from pillage and destruc-ion to sentimental coddling—from starva-

tion to feeding on the fat of the land, fromthe best we have to offer in education to

insisting that he revive and preserve hisancient tribal beliefs." "Sentimentalistswant him kept in paint and feathers, medi-cal scientists want him to have moderncare, some of the long-haired writers andbureaucrats want him to have a smatteringof medical science and the medicine man'schant along with it. Some want him toraise all the sheep he can—others want tocut him to nothing and live on the govern-ment. I believe every Indian should begranted the franchise and released fromwardship unless he is proved incompetent,and certainly no Indian with less than halfblood should be considered an Indian."

Gold Hunters Lost Found . . .

PHOENIX—Anton E. Hohre, 59, andhis 72-year-old unidentified companion,who became lost in Four Peaks area, werefound several days later by deputy sheriffs,little worse for the experience. A planefrom Falcon Field located the men anddropped smoke bombs with which theaviators signaled their position to thesearch party. The couple were equippedwith a "gold finding m achine" with whichthey were attempting to locate variousminerals.

Paradise Ranch Land Sold . . .PHOENIX—M. B. Cheney, prominent

Cleveland manufacturer, has sold about1000 acres of his widely-known Tumbling77 ranch in Paradise valley. Mr. and Mrs.Fowler McCormick, Chicago, purchased

one tract of 450 acres which includes abeautiful modern residence, guest house,farm house, manager's residence andstables. Th e other parcel of 480 acres wassold to Daniel C. Gainey, Owatonna,Min n. Cheney still owns 1000 acres in thevalley, which he plans to develop.

• • •

John G. Verkamp, 67, widely known In-dian trader, lumberman and stockman,died April 4 at his Grand Canyon home.He had lived at Flagstaff and Grand Can-yon, where he established a curio store in

1906, for 50 years.• • •

Dr. Charles P. Austin, Morenci, waselected 1945 president Arizona medicalassociation April 20 at meeting in West-ward Ho ho tel, Phoenix.

CALIFORNIA

River Encroaches on Town . . .NEED LES — Slowly rising Colorado

river waters, fed by backwater fromParker dam, may force this town of 4000population to move to higher elevation.In April river was four feet higher thantown, which is partly protected by riverdikes. Flood experts estimate that entirearea will be flooded in another three orfour years.

No Coolers for Hot Workers? . . .HOLTVTLLE — Dwellers in Imperial

Valley are getting hot, and agriculturistsare getting even hotter as they face sum-mer with no assurance evaporative coolerswill be available. Local chamber of com-merce, appealing to Senator SheridanDowney, Governor Earl Warren andWPB, following army's withdrawal of itsapproval of cooler manufacture, stated,"Agricultural workers as well as other in-dividuals here, have no prospects of get-ting any type of coolers or fans for theirhomes with coming of summer heat. This

situation is vitally important to the war ef-fort as without cooling these individualswill move to cooler regions for the sum-mer months."

• • •Gordon Feekings has been elected Palm

Springs chamber of commerce president.

D o n ' t try the t r a i n d u r i n g '44

" U n l e s s the A x i s is no m o r e !Until the w ar ends our best advice to civilians is this:

Don' t think of making a train tr ip unless you abso-lutely must! We cannot carry all civilians who want to

travel because we're doing our war job. All Southern

Pacific train s a re filled to capacity, and m ost train s

are sold out a long time ahead. If you can't buy the

train ticket you want r ight now—why not put the train

fare into WAR BONDS?

S P The friendly Southern P acific

J U N E , 1 9 4 4 29



River Board Members Appointed . . .

COACHELLA — Six California mem-bers of Colorado river board were appoint-ed for indefinite terms by Governor EarlWarren April 26. Members are E. F.Scattergood, Los Angeles, general man-ager Los Angeles department water andpower; Dr. Harry W. Forbes, Coachella,member Coachella valley county water dis-trict board; Fred W. Simpson, SanDiego,president SanDiego highway developmentassociation; Evan T. Hewes, El Centro,

president Imperial irrigation district; W.P. Whitsett, LosAngeles, director Metro-politan water district of Southern Califor-nia, andFred J. Toole, Blythe, trustee PaloVerde irrigation district.

Want Mineral Rights Reserved . . .WESTMORLAND — Spruce -West-

morland farm center has requested di-rectors of Imperial Irrigation district to re-serve all mineral rights on land sold here-after or contracted for sale by the districtso that value resulting from discovery ofoil in Imperial Valley may be used to re-duce district's bonded debt.

Dry IcePlant Expanding . . .

N ILA N D — Increased navy demandsare responsible for expansion plans for Na-tional dry ice corporation, which is a 95per cent war-producer. Since January threenew carbon dioxide wells have been drill-ed, fourth is underway. Expansion willgive plant 40-ton daily capacity. L. B.Fade, superintendent, says all navy bomb-ers and ships are serviced by dry iceproducts.

Chandler Mexico Interests Sold . . .CALEXICO — Harry Chandler, Los

Angeles newspaper publisher, and his as-sociates reportedly have sold alltheir hold-ings inMexicali valley, south of here, someof which they have held since 1899. Mexi-can interests aresaid tohave purchased theproperty, which included banks in Mexi-cali, Tijuana and Ensenada, ColoradoRiver Land company holdings, and 500,-000 acres of land.

• • •Eugene E.Therieau, former city council-

man, was elected Palm Springs mayor

April 18.

The Desert Trading PostClassified advertising in this section costs five cents a word, $1.00 minimum per issue— •

Actually about 1 2 cents per thousand readers.

MISCELLANEOUS

T H E R O C K H O U N D C O L O N Y G R O W S —Eighteen to date . We' l l have a name by nextissue. So many have written they are comingin Apri l to buy that I expect we'll soon be soldout . If youbelong to the rockhound fraternityan d are looking for a fine location and a nice

place to live, write for particulars. We wantonly the best people and want you to be satis-fied or we don't want you. We want a colonythat will be T O P S in every way. Come andlook things over. The Colorado Gem Co..Bayfield, Colo.

MAN USCRIPTS M ARK ETE D: Books , s to r ie s ,plays, photoplays, articles. Circular D-64Free. OTIS ADELBERT KLINE, Li teraryAgent, Established 1923, 507 Fifth Avenue.New York 17, New York .

FOR SALE—Indian re l ics , 23 assortments fromwhich to choose, $1.00 per assortment or $20for all 23. Allperfect specimens. Choose fromthese: 10 beautiful prehistoric Indian arrow-heads; 10 tiny bird arrowheads; 10 arrow-heads from 10 different states; 2 stone toma-

h a w k s ; 4 spearheads; 5 stone net s inkers ; 10fish sealers; 2 hoes ; 4 agate bird arrows;5 flint drills; 7 flint awls; 10beautiful roundhead s tunning arrowheads; 4 fine sawedgeda r rowheads ; 4 fine flying bird arrowheads;4 fine drill pointed arrowheads; 4 fine queershaped arrowheads; 4 rare double notchedabove a barbed base arrowheads; 5 doublenotched above a stemmed base arrowheads;12 small knife blades of f l in t ; 1 rare shapedceremonial flint; 3 flint chisels; 7 crystalsfrom graves; 10 arrowheads of 10 differentmaterials including petrified wood. Locationsgiven. 100 arrowheads $3.00. 100 very finemixed arrowheads all perfect showy colors in-cluding many rare shapes such as drill point-ed, double notched, sawedged, queer shapes.

^ _ e t c , location and name given, $25.00. List

t ree . Lears, Glenwood. Ark.

MUSEU M SUPPLIES W AN TE D: Any th ingsuitable for museum s. Rocks, Minerals, Fos-sils, Guns, Horns, Beadwork, Meteors. Cata-logue 25c. Museum Supplies, 6601 OshkoshChicago 31, HI.

Wanted—Coleman No. 500 single burner campstove or will trade Turner two-burner pres-sure stove in good condition. Dan H. Dun-ham, 3014 So. 34th St., Omaha 5, Neb.

The BASIC FACTS of your unknown self. Doyou know their beneficial nature and whereto find them? Address: BASIC-RESEA RCHLABORATORIES SYSTEM, 785 LafayetteStreet, Denver 3, Colorado.

25 Genuine Indian arrowheads, $1.00; Toma-hawk head 50c. Cat. of Indian relics, crystalsan d ore specimens. Geo.Holder , GlenwoodArk.

LIVESTOCK

KARAKULS producers of Persian Lamb fut

are easy to raise and adapted to the desertwhich is their native home. For further in-formation write Addis Kelley, 4637 E. 52Place, Maywood, California.

"Karakul Fur Sheep — America's Great Live-s tock Opportuni ty—You can be a part of thisfascinating business and have your Karakulscared for by experienced rancher. Write fordetails, James Yoakam, National Distributor,1128 No.Hill Ave., Pasadena, California."

REAL ESTATE

For Imperial Valley Farms—

W . E."The

EL C E N T R O

HANFarm LandSince 1914

C O C KMan"

C A L I F O R N I A

NEVADA

Neva da Fishing Seasons . . .H A WTH O RN E— F i s h i n g sea

have been announced by the follocounties: Nye, May 1-SeptemberChurchill, May 1-October 1, no clseason oncatfish; Esmeralda, May3-Ober 1; Lyon, April 15-October 1. Fimen should consult county clerks or wens for specific regulations.

"Bing" Buys Nevada Ranch . . .

ELKO—Harry L. (Bing) Crosbypurchased a 10,000-acre stock ranch Tuscarora, 50miles north of here, andrun 2100 head of cattle. Announcemwas made in April by Crosby's Nemanager, Howard Eacret, whowill mage the ranch. Property involved anchange of the 3600-acre Jube Wranch along the Humboldt river wCrosby had operated several years.

Believe Sheep Poisoned . . .

GOLCONDA —-Loss of more 3400 sheep onrange invicinity of Getcmine near here was attributed topoiso

by E. A. Clawson, receiver for PaStates saving and loan company, owClawson said most of thesheep were fodead day after flock was moved toand that all burros used by herders died of poisoning. Majority of the shit was estimated, were worth $15 perhInvestigation wasstarted.

N ew N ava l AirProject . . .FALLON—Navy announced Apri

that a $1,627,800 project has been apped for naval auxiliary air station heroperate under cognizance of naval airtion at Alameda, California.

Aviators Take Census . . .WINNEMUCCA — Aerial surve

Humboldt andPershing counties for alope and deer census revealed that "howere very prominent on therange." Cshowed 1384horses, 215 deer, 675alope, 660bucks, 89Canadian honkerscoyotes, three burros, one mule.

• • •A. J. Shaver of Winnemucca wa

pointed engineer of Colorado river cmission with headquarters inLas VegaGov. E. P. Carville in April.

• • •Appropriation of $450,000 for ational construction at Battle Mountainport was made in April, according to ator P. A. McCarran.

• • •

NEW MEXICO

Pueblo Agent Resigns . . .ALBUQUERQUE — Dr. Sophie

Aberle, superintendent United Puagency of New Mexico since 1935, hsigned theposition tocontinue medicasearch on malaria in Washington, DDr. Virgil K. Whittier is acting supe

tendent.

30 T HE D E S E R T M A G A Z I N



. . .GALL UP — Plans for explorers' camp

re at Mesa Verde. Camp will operateom June 19 to September 9 with two six-

eet the boys here and escort them

Hubbell Son Killed . . .GALLUP—Capt. Roman Hubbell, Jr.,

30, eldest son of Roman Hubbell, was kill-ed in action in capture of Manos island ofhe Admiralty group in South Pacific

March 24. Although his parents live atinslow, Arizona, where his father is an

Indian trader and Indian tour operator,apt. Hubbell was reared in Gallup and

1933.

Mexico Trade High . . .SANT A FE—New Mexico led far west-

rn states in trade with a 15 per cent gainin February over same period in 1942.State was second to Florida, which had 25per cent gain. Arizona ranked 21st, Ne-vada 25th, Utah 32nd. Survey was basedon reports from nearly 19,000 stores.

UTAH

Days of '47 Scheduled . . .SALT LAKE CITY — Expansion of

Days of '47, Inc., to include groups whichformerly sponsored Pioneer Days celebra-tion has been announced by Thomas B.Child, president Days of '47. Invitationsto participate with Sons and Daughters ofUtah Pioneers July 18-24 have been ex-tended to chamber of commerce, juniorchamber of commerce and other groups.Committee members have been appointed

to prepare for the July event.

Coyote Evades Bloodhounds . . .OGDEN—It took weeks of effort, 20

hunters and a pack of bloodhounds to de-stroy one coyote, accused of sheep killing,which mysteriously had made his way toFremont island in Great Salt lake. Finallya hunter's bullet drove the coyote into thesalty lake, a motorboat crew overtook him,dragged him aboard and killed him.

Utah's First Plastic Firm . . .SALT LAKE CITY— Utah Plastic com-

pany was undergoing final test beforelaunching into production on its first warorder in April. Threaded electric fixturetaps are the first articles to be producedand are believed to be first plastic productmade in Utah.

Utah state fair will be held September3-9, at Salt Lake City fairgrounds, SheldonR. Brewster, secretary-manager.

• • •

Utah American Legion convention willbe held in Richfield, August 18-19.

• • •

Robber's Roost Roundup is scheduledfor July 28-30 at Price.

A WESTERN THRILL

"Courage," a remarkable oil painting20x60 feet, the Covered Wagon Train cross-ing the desert in ' 68. Over a year in painting.On display (free ) at Knott's Berry Placewhere the Boysenberry was introduced tothe world and famous for fried chicken din-ners with luscious Boysenberry pie.

You'll want (1) A 4-color picture of thishuge painting suitable for framing. (2 ) A36-page handsomely illustrated souvenir,pictures and original drawings, of GhostTown Village and story of this roadsidestand which grew to a $600,000 annual busi-ness. (3) One years' subscription (6 num-bers) to our illustrated bi-monthly magazine

of the West. True tales of the days of gold,achievements of westerners today and cour-ageous thoughts for days to come. Mentionthis paper and enclose one dollar for all threeand get authentic western facts. Postpaid.

G H O S T T O W N N E W S ,BUENA PARK, CALIF.

No Desert Library is complete without this magnificent set of books-the most authoritative work on desert birds

T H E B I R D S O F C A L I F O R N I ABy W. LEON DAWSON

A com plete scientific and po pula r accou nt of the 580 different spec ies of birds found in the State of California. 2121 pag es .Over 1400 illustratio ns includ ing 110 full-page color pla tes of magnific ent qua lity, b y Major Allan Brooks. Printed on finecoated paper, each volume, size 123/4xl01/2x21/), j s bound in two shades of top-grade library buckram, stamped in genuine gold.Completely indexed. Individually cased.

Color plates include such desert birds as: Scott's, Hooded and Bullock's orioles. Cooper's and Western Tanagers, Green-tailedand Desert Tow hees, Cactus and Gila wo odpec kers. Va lley and Desert quail, Roadrunner, White-tailed kite. Band-tailedpige on, V erdin, Phainope pla, Lazuli Bunting, Arizona gro sbeak, and 92 others.

Originally priced at $200 a set, a fewremaining sets of the de-luxe edition,already a collector's item, are offeredat $60.00 postpaid to any part of theU.S.A. Satisfaction guaranteed. Toorder, fill in coupon below.

THE DEVIN-ADAIR CO., Dept. D.23 East 26th St., New York 10, N. Y.

Please send me sets of Daw son'sThe Birds of California. Check enclosed.

NAME

STREET

CITY . S TA TE

J U N E , 1 9 4 4 31



Washington, D. C. . . .

Immediate diversion of helium to pri-vate and commercial users, according toU. S. bureau of mines, hasbeen made pos-sible by bureau's spectacular wartime ex-pansion ahead of schedule, which has leftlarge reserves for government use, and by

present extraction of helium which other-wise would bewasted from natural gas andsubsequent piping to wartime industrialplants. Due to new developments heliumwill play important peacetime role in treat-ment of asthma, tuberculosis and otherrespiratory diseases, in eliminating or re-ducing caisson diseases, in operating roomas part of noninflammable anaesthetics,and in welding magnesium metal. Othernew uses include cooling of electric motors,in explosion-proof motors, low tempera-ture heat treatment, preservation of foods,as tracing gas to determine underground

migrations of hydrocarbon gases. Produc-tion costs are now about one cent per cubicfoot. Production figures are secret but bu-reau says present o utput is 25 times prewartotal, due greatly to helium coming fromnew Navajo plant in NewMexico.

GENUINE STEERMIDE

STILL AVAILABLETHE SAME COOL COMFORT,

THE SAME RUGGED WEAR

Your STEERHIDE Huaraches will bewell worth the ration stamp you mustnow send us, because they are carefullyhandcrafted of real sole leather and havethe stamina of a shoe. Work, walk andplay in them, they can take it, and everypair you buy saves American shoeleather needed elsewhere. Send yourfoot outline and shoe size. We guaranteea fit. Please send ration stamp.

\ ^ Sizes for everyone— men, \

pJ women, children. Children's $2.25

Please send pairs HuarachesFoot outlines enclosed, sizes

N a m eAddress

SANTA FE-NEW MEXICO

Las Vegas, Nevada . . .

Hitherto censored statistics on 1942 pro-duction of magnesium metal, just releasedby U. S. bureau of mines, reveal 20Q percent greater production than in 1941. Oftotal 1942 production of 97,925,684pounds, actual primary and secondary con-

sumption t h a t year was 84,525,700pounds. Principal producers, location andsource are: Dow chemical company, Mid-land, Mich., brine; Dow chemical, Free-port, Texas, sea water; Dow chemical, Va-lasco, Texas, sea water; Permanente mag-nesium corporation, Permanente, Calif.,magnesite; Permanente, Manteca, Calif.,magnesite; Diamond magnesium com-pany, Painesville, Ohio, magnesite; Inter-national mineral and chemical company,Austin, Texas, chloride; Mathieson chem-ical company, Lake Charles, La., chloride;Basic magnesium, Las Vegas, Nev., mag-

nesite; Ford motor company, Dearborn,Mich., dolomite; Magnesium reductioncompany, Luckey, Ohio, dolomite; NewEngland lime, Canaan, Conn., dolomite.

• • •

San Francisco, California . . .

State division of mines press bulletinjust released gives 1943production figuresfor carbon dioxide, iron and quicksilver.Two wells, one near Niland, Imperialcounty, and one near Hopland, Mendo-cino county, produced 227,424 m. cu. ft.carbon dioxide gas which was compressedto make 14,037 net tons dry ice valued at

$248,126, a gain over 1942 of 2116 tons.Iron ore shipments totaled 907,458 tonsvalued at $2,341,827 f.o.b. mine, whichcame from four properties in San Bernar-dino county and one each in Santa Cruzand Shasta counties. This total ismore thanall iron ore mined in state since 1881 todate. Ore mined was hematite from SanBernardino county which went to newsteelmill at Fontana, magnetite from Shastaand m agnetite sands from Santa C ruz coun-ty. State quicksilver total was 33,948flasks valued at $6,177,159 f.o.b. mine,coming from 86 mines in 17 counties.1942 production was 30,087 flasks.

• • •

Santa Fe, New Mexico . . .

John M. Kelly, director state bureau ofmines, and Charles Johnson of Silver City,U.S. bureau of mines, announce they willask government for $100,000 for 1945program to investigate iron ore depositsnear Silver City and in southern New Mex-ico; four fluorspar deposits, one nearGrants, twonear Deming and one near Sil-ver City, and one coking coal deposit nearCarthage. Current year's allocation of$30,000 is being used to study deposits of

fluorspar, used as a flux.

Milford, Utah . . .

Completion in April of Tintic Standminin g company's fluorspar mill at Comine 65 miles southwest of here mfirst step inestablishing U tah asmajorducer of metallurgical and chemgrades of fluorite. W hen exploration gassurance of at least 80,000 tons ofaveraging 40 per cent calcium fluocompany exercised its option and conted with Metals reserve company to deconcentrate over period of January 1, 19

to March 31, 1946. Concentrate wiltrucked to Lund for shipment. Later ation of equipment to produce the higrade chemical fluorite is planned.

• • •

Banning, California . . .Frank Backman, former Banning

dent and engineer on Colorado river aduct, has been appointed managerHenry Kaiser steel mill at Fontana,cording to Banning Record.

• • •

El Centre California . . .Belief that oil may underly rich f

land in central and southern Impcounty isheld by oil companies which leased more than 8000 acres preparatortest drilling. Amerada oil company, leases in Heber district, is reported tospent about $200,000 on preliminaryveys. Texas company also is interesteoil possibilities. Neither company is boby leases to spend more than a year's reif tests prove unsuccessful. IndepenExploration company, of Houston, Teis another oil company interested incounty. They have established officeBrawley.

• • •Trona, California . . .Boric acid produced here is used inb

silicate or fiber glass, for importanttime roles. Tensile strength excee250,000 pounds per square inch mglass fibers ideal as reinforcementplastics. They will melt but will not bThey will not stretch, swell or shrinkunaffected by most chemicals. In vaforms, they areused toweave fabrics wwithstand heat, damp and decay; to mblankets and boards for heat and sounsulation, retainer mats which increaseof storage batteries.

• • •Twentynine Palm s, California . .

To meet increased war demands DChemical company, at east end of Dalelake about 20 miles east of here, is ining complete new spraying system forcake production, and newsalt vats tobtotal area covered by vats to 200 acreunder construction. Although tonnagsalt and salt cake cannot be revealedstated production in past three yearsincreased 1500 per cent. The salt is imand by magnesium and synthetic ruindustries. Salt cake is used primari

pulp paper and glass industries.

32 T HE D E S E R T M A G A Z I



G E M S A N D M I N E R A L SARTHUR L. EATON, Editor

f Qemand Mineral c>/iOfi . . .On Highway 91. 11 Mi. East of Barstow

One Mile West of Yermo, Calif.E.W. SHAW, P. O. Box 363,Yermo, Calif.

OVER ONETHOUSAND ATTENDSOUTHWEST MINERAL EXHIBIT

Over 1000 persons attended the seventh an-nual gem andmineral exhibit of Southwest Min-eralogists at Harvard playground Apri l 1 and 2.Copper minerals were featured. Aw ards weremade as fol lows:

Minerals, judged by variety, quality andrar i ty—Harold Eales , 1st; Florence Hake, 2nd;Ethel Prosser, 3rd.

Crystals, judged by variety, quality andrar i ty—Ruth and Franck Stillwell, 1st; Haro ldEales, 2nd; Ellsworth Beach, 3rd.

Polished Flats andNodules , judged byqualityof workmanship, variety of specimens, and out-s tanding mater ia l—Harold Lippi t t , 1st; AlbertHake , 2nd; Ethel Prosser, 3rd.

Cabochons, judged by quality of workman-ship, variety of specimens and outs tanding ma-t e r i a l—Dr . H. E. McKibben, 1st; Bud Prosser,2nd; Alber t Hake, 3rd.

Artcraft (including polished material for per-sonal adornment, articles of utility and purea r t ) , judged by quality of workmanship, effortand or iginal i ty—A. C. Barnes, 1st; Jeane andHarold Lippi t t , 2nd; Bud Prosser, 3rd.

Judges were Thomas Daniel , Gordon Funk,Glenn Harmas and Richard R. F. Lehman.

• • •

STAR QUARTZ FOUND INCALIFORNIA LOCALITIES

Asteriated or Star quartz, of several distinct

types, has been reported recently from many lo-cations in the Southwest. As the star is dis-tinctly connected with crystal structure, it al-ways shows the six points of the hexagonal sys-tem. Carson City, Nevada, provides bright pinkrose quartz with fine stars. Some of this typehas altered in color from rose to lavender.

Jacumba, California, has produced a whit ishto blue grey vein quartz, seldom larger than twoinches, with a distinct star only when properlycu t in cabochon. Star rose quartz has also beenfound in Black canyon, near Mesa Grande, Cali-fornia, and near Campo. Quartz from both ofthese latter locations has a tendency to fade com-pletely when exposed to the direct sunlight.

• • •

MEXICO'S NEW VOLCANO

SIMILAR TOVESUVIUSApri l erupt ion of Mt. Vesuvius in Italy servesto call attention to the similarities between itan d El Paricutin in Mexico. Both are small vol-canoes, as Vesuvius is only 4267 feet above sea-level, and neither approaches the giant bulk of14,000-foot Mauna Loa nor 10,000-foot Mt.Etna. But there their mediocrity ends. Manyof the larger volcanoes are the "quiet" type.Records show that many of these erupt withoutear thquake or explosion. Butboth Vesuvius andEl Paricutin are of the "explosive" type. ElParicut in was born one year ago with an earth-quake and explosion and has been in violentaction ever since. Vesuvius becomes so violentat times that it has been used as a classic exam-p le of explosive volcanoes. Its present eruption,although violent, is not a big one from the

geological point of view.

OLD BALDY ISNAME OFNEW LAPIDARY SOCIETY

John J. Brice, Pomona, California, reportsorganization in 1943 of Old Baldy lapidary so-ciety, inc. Purpose of the society is promotionof good fellowship among amateur gem cuttersof the locality; improvement of members in artof cutting and polishing various rocks and gemmaterials; cooperation in solving members'problems of cutting andpolishing; collection ofmaterials for cutting and polishing; and provid-ing opportunity for purchase, exchange and ex-hibition of specimens and materials.

Officers are Wm.Dyer, 220 E. Alosta, Glen-dora, president, and Elmer Teague, San Dimas ,secretary-treasurer. Meetings are third Mondaysat members' homes. Membership is limited andonly those who cut and polish mayjoin. Mem-bers live in Glendora, Covina, SanDimas, Clare-mont, Pomona and Ontar io .

Jerry Laudermilk spoke on flints of Brandon,England, at March meeting held at home of Mr.an d Mrs. Ellis Johnson, 3425 Padua Av., Clare-mont. Lauderm ilk displayed ancient tools usedin the flint mines of Brandon andalso some flintarrowheads of his own making.

• • •

INYO COUNTY PRODUCESBULK OF STEATITE TALC

Otis Booth of Sierra talc company states that95 per cent of high quality steatite talc used inall types of American war production comesfrom Inyo county. Some comes from Montana.

Talc is used in making paint for ships as itgives paint a low reflective quality—especiallyvaluable in camouflage.

Booth says that versatility of talc's uses is be-coming greater with war experimentation. Firedtalc has been found to have a harder durabilitystate than steel allows. Nozzles of sand blastersand other equipment now are being made offired talc.

TURQUOISE . . .Nugget—Flat—Bead—Slab—Cabochon

THE MATTHEWS SALES CO.

Pacific Electric Bldg.610 So. Main St. LosAngeles 14,Calif.

Established 1915

COLLECTORS' ITEMSIn my excavations in prehistoric

mounds, at Wickliffe, Kentucky, andother DIGS, I have accumulated thous-ands of duplicates which I have decidedto dispose of to other collectors at veryreasonable prices. Since this is not abusiness with me, I cannot bother withanything less than a $5.00 order. Remitwith order, and if goods are not satis-factory, money will be refunded.

The following are a few of my collect-ors' items. Some are definitely uniqueand all are guaranteed genuine:

Beautiful Kentucky Crinoid Buds—

15c to 25c

Kentucky Crinoid Joints and Stems—15c to 25c

Large Buds 50c to $1.00 each

Quality and Size Determine Price

Prehistoric Flint Arrowheads....10c to 25c

Prehistoric Spear Points 75c to $2.00

Prehistoric Stone or Flint Celts—

$1.00 to $2.00

Prehistoric Mound Beads,

2-ft. String. $2.50

Prehistoric Mound Pottery $4.00 to $10

Address:

COLONEL FAIN WHITE KINGProprietor, Wicklif fe Mounds

WICKLIFFE. KENTUCKY

H E R E A R E T H E G IF T S

Y O U ' V E B E E N L O O K IN G F O R !

Rings, $4.00 and Up Neck laces, $5.00 and UpBrooches, $5.00 and UpBracelet and Ring Sets, $15 and Up

Plus 20% Excise Tax and 2'/2% Sales Tax

Petrified Picture Wood and Moss Agate — JewelryHand Made in Sterling Silver Mountings

RINGS — BRACELETS — NECKLACESBROOCHES — TIE SLIDES,ETC.

Mail Orders Filled Anywhere in U. S. A.

ELLIOTT'S GEMSHOP26 Jergins Arcade Village Long Beach 2, Calif.

Entrance Subway at Ocean and PineOpen 10 A.M. to 10 P.M. Daily

J U N E , 1 9 4 4 33



Kenneth C. Peer, chief chemist, andDonaldof theRagooland-

ofSan Francisco, state that theandreliable means of identifying

is through application of quantita-are about

so far listed,a few of these are of proven commer-

• • •

Scott Norviel continued his lectures on de-

of Mineralogical Society of

May 8 meeting was in charge of the

uniors.• • •

"Three swaps," says Dick Lehman, "are as

as a field trip."• • •

Mineral of themonth forLos Angeles min-was copper. Motion pictures

(courtesy U.S. bureau of mines) of mining andmelting of copper were shown at April dinner

meeting. Members displayed beautiful andrarecopper specimens, and traded extra material.Chuck Jordan hadBisbee copper specimens for

sale.• • •

San Diego mineralogical society held a gem

exhibit April 16 at YMCA. Emphas i s was

placed onstones from San Diego county, but 47

states were represented. C. A. Scott, member,

demonstrated cutting and polishing technique.San Diego county isespecially rich insuch gemsas tourmaline, kunzite, beryl, topaz, garnet and

smoky quar tz. Some strategic mine rals alsoare

found in thecounty—among them quartz,Ice-

land spar andmica. A fluorescent display wasan interesting feature of theexhibit; also adis-play of wartime strategic minerals.

• • •

Earl B.Noble spoke on "A geologist looksfor

oil" atApril dinner meeting of Pacific mineralsociety. Noble is chief geologist forUnion oil

company of California and familiar with all

phases of oil exploration. Histalk wasillus-trated bylantern slides.

• • •

Mrs. Ralph Houck waslucky winner of the

cartload of specimens prepared byLong Beachmineralogical society. Milo Potter constructedthe cart and members donated specimens to

fill it.• « o

Attendance ha.s been increasing in the Dinubalapidary class which meets Tuesdays 7:30-9:30at thehigh school. Dr.Weddle of Miramontewa s a February visitor.

• • •

Mineralogical society of Utah staged a '49erparty March 25. Besides theusual frontier en-

tertainments, an exhibit andsale of specimenswas held for rockhounds.

• • •

March bulletin of Sequoia mineral societylists 90paid memberships.

• • •

Arizona Rockhound record states that so faras isknown, only one Arizona mineral, lepidolite, contains rubidium . R ubidium is a soft, sil-very white, wax-like metal which melts at 38V 2

degrees. It rapidly oxidizes in air andwill de-

compose water with ignition andliberation of

hydrogen. Inradio it isused inthe manufactureof vacuum tubes. Apellet of rubidium ignitedin a tube produces analmost perfect vacuum. Alarge part of therubidium of commerce comesfrom the carnallite deposits of Solikamsk in the

Soviet Union . Nam e rubidium comes from colorof spectrum-red.

• • •

John G. Talbott, assistant superintendentGeneral Fiber Products company, Los Angeles,is incharge of theplant at Kingman,' Arizona.H e is interested incutting agates and petrifiedwoods.

Oi a Rockhound

By LOUISE E A T O N

W h e n yu sees a rockhoun's adsum-where yu don't expect, it's kinda like beinin a strange place 'n meetin' sumwunfrom your own home town. Yufeels as

if you'd met your clostest friend, eventh o yudidn't know each other mutch uv

eny when you both was at home. That ' s

just the heart warmin' feelin' yu getswhen yumeets a rockhoun advertisementin a unrockhoun magazine.

W h o t is wunman's meat, says sum-

wun, is a 'nother man's poizun. That sortuv applies torockhouns 'nwhat they col-lects, too. Wun fella can seeonly sage-nite 'n th next wants just opals 'nsum-win elst has a yen f'r palm. This makestradin a bit disatisfactory, becuz folks is

slightly disappointed if they don't re-

ceive their ownspecial brand uv speci-ments . However , rox sent in trade is

most generally better lookin inside thanthey appears on the surface atfirst glance.Furthermore, rockhuns is good sports 'n

never crabbs mutch.

HUGE SALT DEPOSIT LIES

DEEP INWEST VIRGINIA

It hasbeen reported from thestate of WestVirginia that one of the largest beds of puresalt anywhere in theworld has been discoveredin the corthern part of that state. It is estimatedto be about 98 per cent pure salt and to lie

nearly one and one-half miles below the groundsurface. The bed is thought to contain fromseven to ten trillion cubic.feet of salt. The

method ofmining will have to besimilar tothatused to recover sulphur in eastern Texas and

Louisiana. Hotsteam is pumped down to the

salt deposit, and the hotsaturated salt solution

shortly afterwards is pumped back to the sur-face, where it is evaporated to recover thesaltcrystals.

Peter W.Burk, secretary protern of OrangeBelt mineralogical society, reports that the groupstudied strategic minerals at April meeting heldin San Bernardino junior college. Mrs. HowardFletcher spoke on tinand itsoccurrences; RossNussman onlead and zinc; R. H.Eells on nonmetallic mica. Kenneth Garner told of the im-

portance of these minerals inwar production.

A strange sand concretion found recently nearCoyote Wells, Imperial county, California, is

shaped like a covered dish, flattened onthe bot-

tom, andabout 8 inches through in anydirec-tion, deeply corrugated on thetop. W h e n the

to p or lidwas first removed, it was found thatthe large smooth pebble around which the con-cretion had formed had completely disappeared,leaving a large cavity. Inthis cavity were 15 or

20 small iceland spar crystals of varying sizes,most of them quite transparent or translucent.

Among recent finds of Indian relics inImpe-rial county, California, are: One eight-inch cere-monial spear head, perfect, near Palo Verde;seven large arrow points, oneespecially fine,near Sidewinder; one arrowhead, crude; one

piece of pottery very small butperfect; one oakcooking paddle; onecommon opal ornament;one jasper ornament, all northwest of CoyoteWel l s .

N e v e r B e f o r e A d v e r t i s e dBRAND NEWIMPORTATION!

Triboluminescent, fluorescent, andphos-phorescent, this SPHALERITE is themostsensational material to come to the at-

tention of the mineral collecting frater-nity for a long time. This newsphaleritefluoresces and phosphoresces a bril-liant golden color, while thecalcite withwhich it is associated in most casesphosphoresces blue. This materialshows just as much fluorescence underthe inexpensive black bulb as it does

under the cold quartz lamp. But this Ifluorescence is only part of its unique i

qualities. When it is scratched with a

knife blade or a nail, in fact anythinghard, it gives off a brilliant array o'

"cold" sparks in thedark. There is onlya limited quantity of this material avail-able, so hurry your order to be sure o'

getting a specimen. 1x2—50c, 2x2—$1.00,2x2i/2—$2.50, 2x3—$4.00. Larger sizes-prices on request.

T h e W e s t C o a s t m i n e r a l Co.Bo x 331 LaHabra. Calif.

Please addpostage to all orders.

We buymineral collections and

minerals of all kinds

RX —th e completelapidary shop in

one small machine

No more sales

during duration

V A 1-tlKER 3521EmfMldSt . .Tc

UNUSUAL AND

RARE CUT G E M S -in Precious Topaz, Golden-Beryl,Rhodolite andHessonite Garnets.Also rare green.

ALL KINDS OF AGATES

$1 to$10 D o z e n

Spinels of all kinds. Cabochons in Tur-

quoise, Emeralds, Azur-Malachite, Gol-

den-Starolites, Swiss-Lapis, etc.

All kinds of Scarabs.

CEYLON ZIRCONS—50c percarat.

STAR SAPPHIRES—$1 percarat .

COLOMBIA EMERALDS—$10 upe a c h .

Synthetic Stones. Rare Cameos, Neck-laces, Stickpins, etc. Rough Gems for

Cutting in Garnets, Tourmalines,Quartz-Topaz, Nephrite, etc.

A sk For My Approval Sel ect ion

ERNEST MEIERChurch-Street Annex P. O.Box 302

NEW YORK 8. N. Y.

fU NE , 19 4 4 35



V R E C O D I R M O N D s o w s A M A T E U R G E M C U T T E RT h i s p a g e o f D e s e r t M a g a zi s fo r t hose who have , o r aspto have , t he i r own gem cu t t

a n d p o l i s h i n g e q u i p m e n t . L e l a n d e Q u i c k , w h o c o n d u c t s t h is - d e p a r t m e n t , i s f o rm e r p r ed e n t o f L o s A n g e l e s L a p i d a r y s o c i e t y . H e w i ll b e g l a d t o a n s w e r q u e s t i o n s i n c o n n e c tw i t h y o u r l a p i d a r y w o r k . Q u e r i e s s h o u l d b e a d d r e s s e d t o D e s e r t M a g a z i n e , E l C e n t r o , Ca

W e are now perm i t t ed t o se l l a l im i t edn u m b e r o f t h e s e Improved Vreco Dia-

m o n d S a w s t o c iv i l i an use rs .O w i n g to p r o d u c t i o n e c o n o m i e s Vrecooffers t hese fas t e r cu t t i ng , l onger l i fe

D i a m o n d S a w s a t l o w e s t p r i c e s ,pos (pa id .

6-inch $4.50 10-inch $6.808-inch 5.50 12-inch 8.75

14-inch $11.00

Be sur e t o spec i fy a rbo r ho l e s i zew h e n o r d e r i n g .

V r e e la n d L a p i d a r y M f g . Co.2020 S. W . Jefferson St. Portla nd. Ore.

L A P ID A R Y E Q U I P M E N T

G R I T B U V W I T H O U T P R I O R I T YWe made a lucky buy of a ton of gr i twithout priority and are passing ourgoo d luck on to yo u in this . . .

S P E C I A L

10-lb. package 300 (FF) grit foruse wi th Old Miser only andone jar Old Miser LappingCompo und, a ll for . . .

$3.50 F.O.B. Redlands

COVINGTON LAPIDARY ENG. CO.Redlands , Cal i fornia

MINERALIGHTInstantly Identifies

Fluorescent Ores

Analyze al l prospects wi ththis magic lamp. Fortuneshave been found in o ld min-ing dumps. Use it in miningoperations for faster—bettersorting and grading.

Satisfaction guaranteed or Write Dept.money refunded. Complete T todaylist of fluore sce nt ores and '20 representative samplesfree with each lamp.

Cata log

ULTRA-VIOLET PRODUCTS, INC.

By LELANDE QUICK

When I ment ioned the danger of gem cut terscontracting silicosis in April Desert Magazine,and requested information regarding methods ofprevention, I had in mind that there probablywas some simple arrangement avai lable some-where that could be stocked by gem dealers.

Many helpful letters have come to me suggest-ing all manner of respirators, from those usedin mines and quarries to those used by spraypainters. These are available at mining supplyor-paint stores and the names of a few of themare: Dupor ' s No. 24 ($2 .75) , Wi l l son , Pu lmo-san, and McDonald 's "Dust foe" respi rators.There are many others but if you rush out to buyone don't buy just a respirator. Some are ap-proved by the National Safety council and theU. S. bureau of mines for Type A dust, gas,fumes, smoke, sprays, etc. In purchasing a res-pirator you should be sure that i t is approved byauthorities for silica dust to avoid wasting yourmoney and misplacing your confidence.

All respirators make you look like a manfrom Mars and I have no doubt they are all

bothersom e and uncom fortable. To adjust oneeach time you go to the Sanders means anotheroperation and it seems to me, as I have said be-fore, that a hospital mask or just a handkerchiefwould be adequate protection for a man whouses a sander an hour or so during a week. Atleast the convenience of the mask will encourageone to wear it which is certainly more protectionthan an involved respirator that would hang ona peg most of the time. Enterprising dealersshould investigate the situation, stock a goodrespirator or mask and then let the gem cuttingfraternity know about it. Captain John J. Spen-cer of Seattle says the mask is effective and com-fortable.

Dr. Nakadate of Poston, Arizona, sends megenerous information on the "stone cutter's dis-ease" or silicosis. He also suggests the wet

gauze mask (soaked in cold cream) as the sim-plest, and possibly the most effective, prophy-laxis and he also reminds me of the real possi-bility of inhaling metallic substances whichcould give systemic poisoning. For instance onecould encounter trouble after a few hours ofgrinding malachite and inhaling the copper.

Once the disease is contracted there is nocure, although the doctor advises some successhas been achieved in treatment by insufflationof aluminum powder. David Allard of RedondoBeach, California, quotes from a Collier's maga-zine article advising that a small amount ofaluminum powder blown into the ai r and breath-ed by the gem cutter will combine with thesilica to form a harmless substance, but I be-lieve this idea is impractical except in industrywher e it is supervised by safety enginee rs. W e

thank our readers for their many helpful sug-gestions and interest and "a word to the wise issufficient."

Elphage J. Mailloux finally has accumulateda sizable list of available lapidary items for sale(See January and February, 1944, Desert Maga-zin e). If you will drop him a postal he will tellyou where you can purchase a complete outfitwith five motors, other outfits, saws, grindingheads, grits, new and used saw blades, pans,alcohol lamps and many other items. Theseitems are for sale by people abandoning thehobby or unselfishly selling surplus materialsand equipment. Most of the correspondence re-ceived was from people who wanted to buyrather than sell . Most of the would-be purchasers

wanted complete outfits indicating they nothing at all and were just beginners.

There is evidence on every hand that grnumbers of people are becoming interestedgem grinding and people are learning that tdo not have to have a profound knowledgemineralogy and geology to make a succesattempt at gem cutting.

In recent months I have been enjoying experience of lecturing and exhibiting my gbefore many organizations, such as KiwaLions, Rotary and other clubs. The genuineterest in gem cutting has amazed and gratifme. So much enthusiasm has been generatedsome quarters that a group in Glendale and other in Westwood, California, have petitiomy aid in organizing lapidary societies in thcommunities and I am inclined to do so. Thare all folks who do not know jade from sostone and who never saw a diamond saw in tlives. I believe that by fall the equipme nt sition will be eased to such an extent that evthing will be available except motors.

In the meantime I wish that everyone in Burbank-Glendale area and in the WestwoBeverly Hills area who is interested in takup gem cutting would send me a postal in of Desert Magazine and I will notify each when organization meetings will be heldAugust. Obviously I need some experienlapidaries too but please understand that venture is not intended to draw members fexisting established societies and it is notattempt to organize new mineralogical clubwhich there are ample. If some experienfolks are willing to help the neophytes I hthey will do so but retain their membershisocieties to which they belong at present. Arule the man who belongs to several socieis a good member of none and almost nevean active member in all .

The Los Angeles Lapidary society long reached a closed membership of experienamateurs. There is nowhere for the novicego to learn, and the only answer is new sociepreferably community affairs, that are organby and taught by the old timers who learneall the hard way. I have no wish to be personactive in any new org anization s; my life isfull as it is. But I am anxious to help groups start off in the right direction and Iticipate many postals and offers of help fthe experienced.

• • •

LAPIDARY HELPS AN D HINTS . Contributed by Harold Odle, owner of

Flathead Museum, Rol l ins, Montana.• • •

For the man with no tin oxide, rouge wilanything up to and including the garnet.

• • •

Trip olite is not tripoli at all . It is diatowith lit t le polishing value.

• • •

Real German tripoli is part moissanitmineral silicon carbide, and it will polish thing but a diamond.

• • •

Any common red clay carries enough aluto polish slowly.

• • •

Nearly all communities have road cuts wthe sub-soil is exposed and rotten stone casecured between the hardpan and the top It is an excellent polishing agent.

36 T HE D E S E R T M A G A Z IN



. rru V -; A : , T ^ . : ; ; v ; r T - r ^

By RANDALL HENDERSON

/ 7 V l T H THE ALLIED FORCES IN AFRICA—In theYY peaceful atmosphere of this little Sahara oasis where I

have been stationed the past six weeks, it is hard torealize that in other parts of the world men are fighting a grimwar for survival.

Planes stop here every day. Men in uniform climb out ofthem and stand by while the mechanics refill the fuel tanks andcheck various gadgets and controls—and then motors roar andthe huge craft glide off the runway and disappear in the haze ofthe distant horizon. They belong to a world that seems as re-mote as the planet Mars.

In this primitive community it does not appear difficult formen to dwell together in peace. French, Senegalese, Arabs andAmericans—we all are neighbors. We greet each other with a

friendly salute—sometimes a French salute and sometimesAmerican, but it makes no difference. W e draw our water fromthe same wells. We have no common language except that uni-versal symbol of goodwill— a sm ile. It is good to live amongpeople who can laugh— and do. I do not mean the artificiallaughter of a drinking party or the polite grimace of courtesy.I mean the smile that springs spontaneously from humans withgoodwill in their hearts.

For more than a year I have been living close to the primitivetribesmen of Africa—dark-skinned, unschooled, uncivilized ac-cording to our standards. Both in the jungle and on the desertI have found them responsive to friendliness. And I have askedmyself these questions: W hy have we allowed the grim busi-ness of getting ahead in the world to crowd out so much of thewarmth in our natures? Wh y does wealth and power make menhaughty and cynical? Are we not paying too high a price forthe gadgets and comforts of our civilization when these thingsare acquired at the expense of good wholesome neighborliness?

I do not know the answers, but I suspect that if we couldtrace the causes of this world-wide war down to bedrock funda-mentals, we would find that it is because we have drifted toofar away from the virtues which come from close associationwith the good earth. One of those virtues is the honest smilethat comes from a man with neither greed for personal powernor the vanity that so often comes with the possession of ex-cessive wealth.

Anyway, do not look down on these African savages becausetheir skins are black and they can neither read nor write. I havefound them good neighbors.

* •» *

Twice a week the transport planes bring us fresh meat froma major base several hundred miles away. One evening whenour meat ration was steaks we went out among the sand dunesand broiled them over an open fire. It is an old desert customwhere I live at home. Since most of the men in the outfit comefrom homes east of the Mississippi, this was their first taste ofdesert barbecued steaks. The verdict was "good chop." By thetime we got around to "thirds" the fresh meat was exhaustedand we were finishing with canned vienna sausages. There werestill a few of these left on our improvised grill when the dinnerwas over and we invited the Arab mess boys to help themselves.They would have none of them. The prophet Mohammed put ataboo on pig meat.

* * *

One afternoon this week I had to go out and shoo some camelsoff the runway. One of them was very persistent, and threetimes during the afternoon I had to go out in my jeep and throwrocks at him.

Caravans come in every day, unload their packs, and thenhead off again toward the horizon. They spend as little time aspossible in the oasis for their food is the grass and shrubs thatgrow out on the desert and they get nothing to eat while theyare in the village. However, there are always a few of them inthe oasis overnight, and near sunrise they awaken the com-munity w ith their no ise. My vocabulary doesn't seem to have aword that describes the vocal notes of a camel—but it is some-where between the bawl of a cow and the roar of a lion. Oneovernight visitor recently asked me if the noise that awakenedhim was made by lions. I assured him it was camels. He agreedwith me that only a very tired old lion would roar in such dis-mal tones.

* * *Last month I took issue with the historian who attributed the

failure of the American experiment in camel transportation inthe days before the civil war, to the fact that the camel's feetwould not stand the rocky trails on the desert of the Southwest.I stated that the camels here travel over the rocks without injuryto their feet. And tha t is true. But an officer in the FrenchCamel corps told me there is another breed of camels in thedesert region to the east of here, which can be used only onsandy trails. Its feet are too tender for the rocks. My apologiesto the historian, whoever he w as.

* * *

Recently some members of the Camel corps spent a day here

J U N E , 1 9 4 4 37



on maneuvers. W ithout doubt they are the most colorful sol-diers in the world. Some of the platoons wore flowing garmentsof red and white and others wore white and blue. Hollywoodnever has turned out a prettier job of costuming than was doneby the Frenchman who designed these uniforms.

The camels with their dark-skinned riders and French of-ficers came in silently one morning—and then disappeared asmysteriously as they had come. A French officer pointed out onebeast that had not taken a drink since November—and this wasin March. They do not like cold water, and drink little duringthe winter. A drink a week serves them in summ er.

* # *

The cinema is our evening diversion at this isolated oasis onthe Sahara. Ou r theater consists of a small screen nailed on theside of the adobe mess hall, and a portable projector. Th e menbring their blankets and pillows and spread out on the sand towatch the pictures. The mess hall yard is surrounded by a lowmud wall, and back of this wall the Bedouins and Senegalesefrom the oasis gather to watch the movies. Our turbaned guestscannot understand the words that come from the speaker-^butthey follow th e story amazingly well. W e know from their re-actions as the plot unfolds. Pictures of grain fields and forestsand running water stir them more than machinery and sophisti-cated settings.

The opportunity we have given these people to see our pic-ture programs has created goodwill in an unexpected direction.

Most primitive people are reluctant to be photographed bywhite visitors. In this settlement the natives are eager to havetheir pictures taken. "Cinem a" is a password that opens thedoor to the camera hound.

In this community where four languages are spoken, there area few English words that have universal exchange value."Finish" or "finee" covers a wide range of meaning—it is allgone, it is broken, I have none, it is time to quit work, I am outof money, and a flock of other negatives. "Very good" and "nogood" are understood by everyone. And of course all the young-sters can say chewing gum. They are inveterate beggars.

# * #

After all, the most interesting phase of any land is the peoplewho dwell there. My acquaintance with the native populationof this oasis began with the houseboys on duty in the barracks—and Jello. In the bachelor officers' quarters we have Ahmed andTaleb—two bright youngsters who make the beds, shine shoes,do the laundry and run errand s. They have reduced the effortsof housekeeping to its lowest minimu m. Some men are morecritical than others about such things as well swept floors andproperly made beds, and these likeable scoundrels know the min-imum demands of each of their masters, and they do just that andno more. Taleb has acquired the art of making up a cot that willpass a perfect army inspection on the surface—with the be ddingbeneath in complete confusion.

Th e most faithful servant we have is Jello, the burly blacksoldier assigned by the local French commandante to guard ourbarracks. He is on duty 24 hours a day with instructions to keepall other natives outside the adobe wall which surrounds our

mud house. He is quite meek and obliging toward us. But letan Arab peddler set foot inside the gate, and he bristles into adomineering policeman who will tolerate no back talk. I don'tknow where he got his name, for he understands not a word ofEnglish, but I suspect it was given to him by the American sol-dier who first saw him wearing the red fez that is part of hisuniform. He keeps it on day and night. Also, he is quite proudof his name, and all my efforts to find out what he was calledbefore he became Jello have failed. He loves to have his picturetaken, and when I start out with my camera he tags along—andgrins with pleasure when I invite him to pose in the photograph.

Ahmed, Taleb and Jello! You will hear more about thesedark-skinned members of our military family here. They play

^lively part in the daily drama of life in this Sahara oasis.

* * #

Most of the plants which grow on this desert are completestrangers. But I have met a few old friends—and enemies. Thefirst shrub I recognized when I jeeped across the desert the dayI arrived here quite obviously was a first cousin to the milk-weed. As a youngster I spent too many days hoeing these peskyweeds out of the cornfield ever to have a kindly feeling towardthem. But away off in this remote corner of the world it givesone a sort of warm feeling to m eet even an old enemy. The Sa-hara species is a big hardy shrub that appears in the most un-expected places.

I miss the greasewood and burroweed here. There is nothingthat takes their place. Much of this area is as barren as the floor

of Death Valley. So far, I have found but four plan ts in blos-som. One resembles locoweed, but has a yellow flower. An-other is a species of Palo Verde. I believe I have seen the sametree in the patio of the Harlow Jones home at TwentyninePalms. The third is a thorny perennial with a dainty little balof yellow fluff grow ing beside each thorn. Out am ong thedunes grows a bushy little plant with leaves like the sweet-po-tato and a blossom like morning-glory. Then there is a desergourd much like those I have seen along the Colorado river—the wild gourd that the coyotes like so well. And a grass tharesembles galleta. Th e camels feed on this grass.

Most im portant of all of course is the native date palm. The rare many hundreds of them growing along a wide sandy wadi athis oasis. An A rab counts his wealth in camels, goats and palm

trees. Most of the trees, I am told, are owned by families. Buconcentration of wealth is a problem here the same as in USAA few rich Arabs—the "sixty families" of the Sahara—have acquired large numbers of the trees which are "sold" to the pooreArabs during the harvest season. Along in June when the fruibegins to set, the nomad tribesmen flock in here from all cornersof the compass and "bu y" as many trees as they can afford—afrom 200 to 300 francs a tree. That is $4.00 to $6.00. Thecamp under the tree until the fruit is harvested, and then thepalm reverts back to its original owner.

The palms here are not as graceful as those in the Coachellvalley in California. These have short stubby fronds whichgrow in a top-knot at the end of a long scraggly trunk. But thehave furnished an abundance of sweet nourishing food for thesdesert tribesmen for countless generations.

A palm must have its roots in moist sand. Beneath this oasis a great underground reservoir that extends for miles along thwadi. There are hundreds of wells, with water at a depth ofrom 12 to 20 feet. The water is hard. It takes lots of soap fothe laundry and toilet. But it is sweet—and despite the stronflavor of the chlorine with which all our drinking water itreated, it serves very well. There is enough not only for thdomestic needs of the oasis, but there are scores of tiny gardensall irrigated with water drawn by hand with goatskin buckets

If my tour of duty here continues through the harvest, I amgoin g to buy a palm tree. Taleb has promised to pick the frufor me.

* * *Out on the ramp in front of my office a motley crew of Arab

and Senegalese is digging rocks and filling the holes. W hen glanced through the door this morning, one of them appeareto be loafing on the job. He was squatting on the ground, apafrom the others. I watched him a few moments. He wasnloafing. He was saying his prayers to Allah. W hen he habowed his forehead to the earth the proper number of times hgathered his pick and resumed his work. Allah surely has nshowered these people with many material blessings. But thehave faith nevertheless. And tha t is something— a very important something.

* * *Midday temperatures reached 98 degrees today. But that

not uncomfortable in this dry atmosphere with a breeze blowinWarmer days are ahead—but the Arabs and I will not min

We are conditioned to high temperatures.

38 T HE D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E



Hetween Uc

By RAND HENDERSON

has come to Camp Tarawa! The officesand headquarters buildings have been wired for sometime, but last week light was brought to the tents which

serve as living quarters for the men. It was quite an occasion,and has brought marked changes in our living habits.

Candles have been scarce, and the kerosene lamps whichsome of us found in a nearby town were inefficient. As a result,light has been community prop erty. Several of us from different

tents would pool our candles and lamps in one tent, and thatwould serve as the recreation hall for the night. It was alwayscongenial and lively, but for those who wanted to read or writeconcentration became a supreme achievement.

Now every tent has its light, and those who enjoy privacyoccasionally can find it.

* * *

It has been an interesting experience watching this campgrow. W hen we arrived here from the Gilberts, after manyweeks aboard ship, only a few tents dotted the site. First eventof significance was the piping in of water. The days were pastwhen we had to wash clothes'by tying them to a line and heavingthem overthe stern of the ship to drag for a couple of hours.

Then the post exchange was built. I felt like a small boy in

his first toy shop when I w alked into the P X , picked some Amer-ican change out of an assortment of Jap yen notes and shillingsand pence from my pockets, and proceeded to stock up on soap,tooth paste, candy, writing paper and other items which hadrun short.

Biggest event of all was the day mail call resounded throughcamp. Bags of letters, packages and papers poured in on trucksfor several days. Letters ranged from three months to just afew days old, but we arrange d each bunch in chronological orderand read and enjoyed each as if it just had been written. Somewere newest photographs of wives, sweethearts and children, tobe passed around and admired by our buddies.

For all, there was inspiration in that mail, bringing with ita reassurance that the campaign past had been worth while.

Life now is enjoyable, even relatively luxurious. We are ap-preciating the comforts around us even more than we did whenwe were temporarily separated from them by the campaignW e re learning to enjoy what we have. It's a valuable lesson,a bit of wisdom that will give us happiness when we return toour various civilian pursuits. We are building many such atti-tudes in our overseas adventure. W e are learning to feel therespect and longing for the United States which peoples ofother countries share. W e are obtaining a clear perspective ofthe strengths and weaknesses of our homeland.

The m ajority of us are just beginn ing to fit these fragments ofknowledge and understanding into a philosophy which willcarry us through life. I have an idea that it will be a good phil-osophy, and strong.

* * *

J U N E , 1 9 4 4

During the past several weeks I have been interspersing myregular duties with instruction in radio classes. It is surprisingand gratifying to see how quickly men learn out here. Manyeducators are amazed by the speed with which service schools inthe States turn out trained men, but here we have cut in half thetime required by those schools in the States.

The reason for this stepped-up learning ability of men over-seas I do not know. Perhaps it's because in combat they've seen

the great necessity for know ing a job well and for doing it well.W hatever the reasons, the conclusion is the same. The time ex-pended in formal education, particularly in the higher branchesof learning, can be reduced 50 to 75 per cent by employing thetechniques of service teaching, and by simulating in so far as itis possible the conditions of service schooling. Men w ho haveknown the speed and efficiency of these schools will not pas-sively pursue the leisurely course of present day education whenthey return to schools and colleges!

* * *

The most over rated angle of this war, from the standpointof the men who are fighting it, is the Pin-Up picture. I refer tothose glamour shots of actresses, models, etc., which by virtueof being printed as near to life size as the particular publicationwill allow, have been dubbed "pin-up pictures." Presumablymen in uniform throughout the world are to tear them out andpin them over their bunks as soon as they arrive, there to re-main the center of attraction until the "powers-that-be" decideanother young lady is due to provide inspiration for the wareffort.

Now, I have no personal bones to pick with the publicityagents and others who instigate the Pin-U ps. If they feel thatthey are maintaining international morale, more power to themBut I'd hate to think that the ones I love and respect have theidea that Pin-Ups are the motivation behind my fighting

Truth is that in 15 tents I just walked into, I counted 38 pic-tures—three were Pin-Ups, the rest were photographs of wivessweethearts, parents , children . Those figures speak for them-selves.

* * *So far I haven't seen anything printed about one very domestic

function of that Yankee institution, the jeep. When we areliving on rations, and a jeep is handy, we cache some cans of the

C unit around the engine, put a canteen cup of water on theengine block, and within 30 minutes we have a hot meal ofstew or hash and coffee.

Whenever I go out in one of these jeeps equipped with radiotransmitter and receiver, I wonder about the possibilities ofradio travelogs from the desert. A word pictu re of the scenerywhile jolting up a remote palm canyon, a conversation with thegrizzled old prospector panning for gold beside a stream anactual record of a typical evening around an ironwood camp-fire—w ell, who knows? It's an exciting, strange new worldbefore us. An ything is conceivable!

39



rnoenix,

V A L E R I E J E A N ' S D E S E R T C A N W . . .Here is the candy that grows on date palm trees in theCo ach ella Valley of California. M any varieties of thedelicious confection are arranged in special packs foryour choice. It will be a treat to you r friends a nd your

men in service to receive an attractive box of sweetenergy-rich fruit of the palm tree direct from a desertdat e gard en. Gift cards will be enclosed w hen re-ques ted. Plea se write plainly . Prices prep aid in USA.

y e a r - R o u n d G i f tOne pound pack of—

Assorted DatesDate CandyDate Roll, andDate Cake

DELIVERED

$ 1 . 2 5also the

S A M E A S S O R T M E N T

3-POUN D SIZE $3.00

5-POUN D SIZE $4.25

A S P E C I A L ...Sugar rationing limits the amount of ourfamous Valerie Jean Date Cake bakedand so we can supply a l imited amountof the choice, firm and chewie DegletNoors — the only kind we u se in bak ing.Not recommended for those who wantsoft dates.

FIRM CHEWIE DEGLETN O O R D A T E S

The Kind That Sh ould Be In Every Pantry

Delicious, chewie, ideal for all pur-poses, especially "tasty" salads.A 5-pound box attractively pack-aged and shipped prepaid in theU.S.A. for just

O t h e r D a t e T r e a t sN o . Al

3-lbs. Stuffed Dates — (finestdates a n d fresh walnutsused ) _.. _ $3.75

N o . A23-lbs. Date Cake—(dates, wal-

nuts, eggs, flour, sugar andpure vanilla—a Gourmet's

delight) $3.75N o . A3

3-lbs. Wa r Ca ndy ._...$2.75

N o . A43-lbs. Date Roll $2.75

Order by Number

194406 desert magazine 1944 june

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