Madera Union High School - Blue and White Yearbook (Madera, CA)

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HIGH SCHOOL ANNUAL. 13 SS ty both in quality of the stone and in the size of | the blocks which may be obtained. ‘These Mel granite quarries are reputed to be the best in Ito the world. sy White marble suitable for building purposes Ma is found on the Chowchilla river. As yet no quarries have been opened. A copper smelter is soon to be erected at Daulton, fifteen miles 1 hy, from Madera, and will leave a considerable erin, amount of money in the county per annum. Cotta. If the belt of copper mines lying in the ¥ Cauca. lower foothills and extending from Buchanan to Green Mountain were worked they would prove a great benefit to the county. fant organized in Madera. It is to be regretted inte that the business men of the town have not formed such an organization many years ago, as the town would then be in a imore progress- ive state than at present. IME, Wis IPs Se We IRs IME, IK. CO: aes ie a patil Formation of the Constitution of the 0 ap United States. ee On the deck of the Mayflower in 1620, the Puritans signed a paper, written by themselves, in which they stated that they would pass and obey such laws as would be good for the colony as a whole; also that they would fight together 4 one , fas bet mag esmeniot ry derehp pment in case of war. Of course this was not really a written constitution, but it was the first attempt at one since the days of the Romans. Nineteen vears later, the first real written pests ‘This ge the By ih constitution was formed. The Government ef) atte under this constitution is known in history as the Republic of Connecticut. Most of the colonies in America were granted charters from the King of England. Nearly every colony had a legislature which made its laws. Sometimes a law was passed and its validity disputed; in this case it had to be sent ng ea tthe qu ak to England if it was contrary to the charter are granted to the colony. So you see, the people of America were used to having some written charter above them. Now it is plainly seen A Chamber of Commerce has recently been why the United States have a written constitu- tion and other countries have not. From 1640 till the Revolutionary war, it was » the opinion of several prominent men that the thirteen States should be united. The inhabitants were all English-speaking people; there were many tribes. of Indians to contend against, and there were the French and Spanish colonies, attacks from which they ought to be able to sustain. The New England States formed a confederacy in 1643 which lasted forty-one years. At this time the government of Massa- chusetts was overthrown by the King. In 1688, the need of a confederacy in the New England States was seen by Penn, but the union was not accomplished until 1754, when the final struggle with France came on. In 1765, nine of the northern States sent delegates to Philadelphia to take some action on the infamous Stamp Act which had been passed by British Parliament. When the Townshend Act was passed in 1768, there was no congress, but Massachusetts sent out circulars asking the other States to take joint action on this. Soon afterwards a system was formed which provided for the selection of committees of correspondence be- tween several of the States. In the year 1774, when the government of Massachusetts was overthrown by England, an assembly met in Philadelphia. If the Brit- ish had complied with the wishes of this body probably all the Revolutionary war would have been avoided. ‘This assembly is known as the Continental Congress, and lasted until 1788. In 1775, a continental army was organized in the name of the United Colonies. Two years later the Articles of Confederation were written and sent to the several States to be ratified. ‘hey were not returned until 1781, having been ratified by the thirteen States. In 1787, the people, dissatisfied with the Articles of Confederation, framed the Federal Constitution—a model of all instruments of its kind—which was unanimously adopted by all

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12 HIGH SCHOOL ANNUAL. which will give employment to our men, women and children during the picking cur- ing, packing and harvesting seasons. Good wine grape vineyards are paying bet- ter now than raisin or table grape, and better than almost any kind of orchard. ‘The grapes of the San Joaquin Valley make better sweet wine, taking a natural port and sherry flavor, than those grown in any other section of America. At present there is a large winery, estab- lished by the Swiss-Italian Colony, which em- ploys a large number of men, and does a thriving business. Olive orchards are also a paying industry, and, although they require from six to seven years’ growth before bearing, the fruit brings a good price when ready for market. The industry of beet raising and sugar manufacturing will be introduced into the county as soon as a necessary amount of water is procured. This will undoubtedly prove a paying industry as California is the most favorable section in the world for the raising of sugar beets, and this section of the State offers superior inducements for the loca- tion of a beet sugar factory, owing to the abundance of cheap power and the competing railroad facilities for transportation. Madera enjoys the advantage ot competition between rival lines of railroad, the Southern Pacific and the San Joaquin Valley. The rates of shipment will be lowered more if the proposed Monterey Railroad is ever built, which is doubted by some,who think it is a money making scheme of capitalists. It will probably pass through Madera because the in- ducements here are superior to those offered by any other town in the surrounding country. The competition of the rival railroads will be a great advantage to the farmers, stock- raisers and wool growers as they can save many hundreds of dollars yearly on their ship- ments. In Madera is located a large, new brick planing mill, also a sash and door and box factory. Lumberis shipped from the mount- ains in a flume sixty miles in length. In 1874, when the flume was built, it tapped one of the finest pineries in the world, but over twenty years of continuous cutting has left it in such shape that it will be nearly a quarter of a century before the-trees will be large enough to be cut again. ; The Michigan Lumber Company has lum- ber interests near those of the Madera Com- pany, and as these are for sale at a compara- tively low price, the Madera Company can con- tinue working if they desire to do so. In the early days of the ’60’s or ’70’s large amounts of gold bullion were shipped from mines of the county. ‘The most famous of these early mines were the Fresno Enterprise, near Potter Ridge, the Josephine and the Gam- betta, at Grub Gulch, the Abbey, near Hildreth, and the Lily, near O’Neals. In looking over the county quite a number of promising pros- pects are found, which apparently require a reasonable amount of money and a practical knowledge of mining to place them on a pay- ing basis. This county, although possessing a number of gold mines of undoubted value, has been retar ded in the development of its mining in- terests by reason of ill-advised investments or insufficient capital to make necessary develop- ment, or to furnish the proper equipment of machinery. The greatest mining industry at present is granite quarrying at Raymond. ‘This great quarry, The Raymond, owned by the Ray- mond Granite Company, has been actively worked for a number of years, giving employ- ment toa large number of men at the quar- ries, and at the company’s yard in San Fran- cisco, where most of the finer stone dressing is done. A portion of the new jail now being erected is made of granite taken from this quarry. After an interval of four years no considerable impression seems to have been made on this immense dome-shaped granite hill. Any noticeable change has been for the better, as the quarry improves as it is opened,

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14 HIGH SCHOOL ANNUAL. the States in 1789, provided a few amendments should be added. So we see that the growth of government in the United States was not sudden but gradual, » every time changing for the better. Coe Wi 98: ee Irrigation. ae The success of agriculture in an arid or a sub-arid region depends largely upon irriga- tion. culture in Madera County has in the past de- pended upon the water which could be ob- tained from the Fresno river, about thirteen or fourteen miles east of town. From this point the canal company has a ditch con- structed. About a mile from town it divides, part carrying water to land south of town, while the other branch conveys water to the west. During the summer and fall of 1897, the canal company increased the size of their ditch and started another to tap several mountain streams. For some reason they failed to secure the mountain water, and Madera people have still to depend upon valley water. The scarcity of rain this year led to an almost total failure of the grain crop, and gave very little Had the company secured a sufficient supply, a great many would have irrigated their grain. People with alfalfa got only a small portion of The success of alfalfa raising and fruit large water to be distributed for irrigation. the water they wished, while some got none at all. If the canal company had sufficient storage capacity at the dam so as to hold the water till needed, usually there would be sufficient for all. As it is, when people do not need the water the ditches are full, and when they need it most, the ditches are nearly empty. ‘These failures to supply water have led to the at- tempt to pump from an underground source. This plan has been tried in ‘Tulare County and found successful. It ought to work just as successfully in Madera County. It is being tried on A. L,. Sayre’s ranch, about three miles south of Madera. ‘The plan is to dig a large hole in the ground with scrapers till surface water is reached. Then a well two and one-half feet in diameter will be sunk until the next strata of water is struck. Inside of this well there will be seven-inch wells, making each one tap a dif- Then by putting on a bored three ferent layer of water. large centrifugal pump it is expected to get all the water necessary to irrigate. Mr. Sayre expects to irrigate all his ranch from this well. If this plan is successful, as everybody hopes it will be, there will be a large number of wells put in on the ranches around town and, in all probability, electricity will be brought from Fresno to furnish power for the pump- ing. These pumping plants are rather expensive, and consequently many cannot afford them. Butin every neighborhood ofsmall ranches there is always somebody who can afford to put in a plant. Let him put in the plant and then sell the water to his neighbors. It would be better still if all these people would combine and put in the works and bear the expenses in propor- tion to the amount of water they consume. Even if they are unable to put in these large affairs, each farmer could have a windmill and pond on his own place and thereby be inde- pendent of any canal company, and still have a large head of water to use even if he has only a small source. If these effect, another dry year comes, the people will not be caught With a water at their disposal no county in the State has a brighter outlook than Madera. We IR HES IK ye). plans are put into when large supply of napping. g Points in International Law. Re It is an impropriety to speak of the rules of international conduct as ‘‘laws.’’ ‘They are merely moral principles recognized by all