Aladdin's wand that unlocks all its treasures is the irrigating
ditch; its "open sesame" is water; and the divinity who, at the call
of man, bestows the priceless gift, is the Madre of the Sierras. A
Roman conqueror once said that he had but to stamp upon the earth and
legions would spring up to do his bidding. So Capital has stamped
upon this sandy wilderness, and in a single generation a civilized
community has leaped into astonished life. Yet do we realize the
immense amount of labor necessitated by such irrigation? This
mountain, for example, is covered with water pipes, as electric wires
are carried through our houses. Every few rods a pipe with a faucet
rises from the ground; and as there are miles of roads and hundreds
of cultivated acres, it can with difficulty be imagined how many of
these pipes have been laid, and how innumerable are the little
ditches, through which the water is made to flow. Should man relax
his diligence for a single year, the region would relapse into
sterility; but, on the other hand, what a land is this for those who
have the skill and industry to call forth all its capabilities! What
powers of productiveness may still be sleeping underneath its soil,
awaiting but the kiss of water and the touch of man to waken them to
life! Beside its hidden rivers what future cities may spring forth
to joyous being; and what new, undiscovered chemistry may not this
mingling of mountain, sun, and ocean yet evolve to prove a permanent
blessing to mankind!

[Illustration: GROUNDS OF THE SMILEY BROTHERS ON THE "CONVERTED
MOUNTAIN."]

[Illustration: IRRIGATING DITCHES.]

One hundred and twenty-six miles southwest of Los Angeles, one could