Show BEAUTIFUL DIXIE german journalist touring world writes of dixie to deseret news and other papers to the editor tho writer adolph cider is one of the four journalists who arp making a tour of the world in the interest of scientific beardi re ardi investigating ti social commercial and industrial du condition habits and customs of the different peoples etc etc the other tareo members of the party are salvio ottonas Or tonas a native of france who 13 representing alio courier de prince of pans prof alfredo battele lh formerly of the university of rome doctor of philosophy and literature who is gathering data for that institution and also representing la of rome and albert the american of the party a harvard graduate representing the new york american nine different languages are spoken by the combined party the writer speaking several the party left new york oct 7 1909 and traveled together to pittsburg pa where we separated two members covering the southern part of the united states the kotlier two the writer and prof battele Batte lh covering the northern part separating at denver colo where the writer staged to investigate conditions in that state while his companion proceeded to alaska the entire party will reassemble at los angeles cal and proceed thence to honolulu the philippines japan corca china siam india thabet afghanistan turkestan Turk estan persia arabia asia minor turkey the balkan peninsula aultna italy franco many and great britain the entire gnp covering three continents will occupy five years besides writing magazine articles giving their observations to magazines and newspapers the results of their investigations will be published in book form in four different languages winch will be a store of valuable information concerning the actual conditions in these several countries as they are today while in utah where I 1 spent the months of november and december was induced by gov william spry to pay a visit to what is known as dixie the extreme southwest portion of the state tins part of utah lies much lower than the rest of the state the altitude of st george the county seat of washington county being 2800 feet or 1600 feet lower than the state capital leaving tho railroad at modena on the salt lake route the nearest railroad point to st george a stage line takes the traveler over a rough mountain road 65 miles to st george the journey down is through a desert country which at several places en route shows that subterranean forces have been at work in the past ages leaving as monuments of their destructive agency numerous extinct volcanoes and adges of lava which with the wonderful freaks of erosion produced by time on the red sandstone formation of the country forms interesting breaks in a journey that would otherwise bo monotonous arriving near st george a wonderful change is noticed in the climate the sun shines more brightly and with more power and glimpses of alio pretty little city are occasionally seen between breaks in the red sandstone and lava ridges that bound the valley at last wo reach at george a delightful little city of 1800 inhabitants which was first settled by a band of mormon pioneers bent there by alic great mormon leader president bangham young in although it ia the middle of december oleanders and other shrubs still hive their leaves on them and bouquets of chrysanthemums plucked out of doors adorn the tables of the hotels A feature that strikes the most in this beautiful little valley is the quiet happy and contented life led by the inhabitants inhabit ints no saloons are allowed to exist hero but instead is a splendid school system eliat tends to elevate the young minds and make of them a most desirable class of citizens the mormon system of co operation is here evident in a very marked degree and one can not but give credit to a sy stem that made gardens of alic desert made happy homes and built up cities and v where the stranger is made to feel at home and received in a broadminded broad minded manner that sets hig mind at rest after 15 months spent in traveling over nearly every state in the union I 1 waa exceedingly pleased the high standard of life that exists among the mormon people who are usually considered a peculiar people I 1 am not a mormon and had heard but little of them until my advent into utah since I 1 have visited amongst them and studied their modes of life and their high ideals I 1 am forced to alie conclusion that they are as well along the road to the universal brotherhood as any people I 1 have mot anywhere so much for the people now to return to st george and dixie while st george is the chief town in dixie et it was not the first settled the first settlers came to dixie in 1857 settling at various places higher up the river and at santa clara a town on the santa clara creek five miles west of bt george now inhabited by german people who are noted for thrift and energy the people of dixie claim over days of clear sunshine eun shine duang each year and I 1 can well believe their claim to be well founded for it was winter when I 1 was there a cloudless sky prevailed during that time and the sun shone with remarkable clearness it is owing to this great amount of sunshine and the short winters added to the dryness of the long summer that the fruit grown in dixie has been acknowledged by experts aa better alian that of other places being of a more delicious flav or four crops of figs arc grown each year peaches grapes almonds pomegranates english walnuts and other sub tropical and temperate zone fruita arc grown five crops of alfalfa lacorn lu corn arc grown each 3 ear and cotton was grown tor a number of 5 cars and worked into cotton jenals at a local mill fruit growing however lus not been engaged in to any gnat extent commercially owing to distance from markets and the difficulties of transportation this is now about to be changed for a railroad is projected through the county that will leave the salt lake route at lund and run southerly oscr the plateau to the grand canyon of the colorado river the grandest and bosc sublime scenery in the world so pronounced bv ma powell in his for the united states geological survey on the plateau is an im of timber mostly yellow me estimated by the government spert lumbermen it is on a nation L forest reserve to contain upwards f four billion feet of timber ready r the saw immediately available his timber is the objective point of ie railroad and the scenic portion f the grand canyon which 13 hero t its best will draw many ads of tourist annually one however does not leave to go as far as the grand cannon to see sublime for about 38 miles eabe of ak A k s f st george is the canyon of the virgin river of which maj powell of the united states geological survey says in its proportions it is about equal to yosemite but in the nobility and beauty of alie sculptures there is no comparison the amount of ground under cultivation ti in dixie is not great two reasons may bo gien for this nil fit because the early settlers only cultivated that ground that could be easily irrigated great expense being necessary to bring large areas under cultivation and secondly the lack of markets and difficulties of transportation por tation now however that a railroad 13 promised extensive irrigation schemes are projected one of acres and another of acres the w ater for these pro will bo taken from the virgin river and alie landi lie in the eastern and portions of the county mention was made in the fore part of this article of the rough mountain load which it was necessary to travel in order to dixie in lesi than three months about march 1 1910 a fine automobile road will bo in operation between st george and acoma on the salt lake route a distance of 66 miles which will enable travelers to cover the distance in about three or four hours while I 1 was in st george the amount of money necessary to make this road fit for automobile travel was subscribed kenneth 0 kerr the general passenger agent of the salt lake boute at salt lake city with whom I 1 became acquainted while there davs of tins acorda road that it ia the finest mountain road he has seen that only needed some work on the st george end to make it a perfect automobile ro id this road will be a scenic one and will be the means of bringing in a largo number of visitors to ut AB wonderful dixie the land of sunshine deseret new s |