SENOR RODERIQUEZ AT ONE OF HIS MINES.

way. But the point I wish to make is, that the profusion of these imperfect stones gives a basis for the dreams of future wealth. These surface stones, crushed and broken and chipped away from the formations with which they naturally belong, the result of some great natural upheaval, are in the nature of guide-posts. Somewhere near, it is reasoned, there must be the conditions that give the perfect stones; but that "somewhere near" is an elusive place, and it may be a very costly one to reach. It may be straight down, or it may be in almost any direction except up. But the

search is a fascinating game, giving visions of fabulous wealth, and, meanwhile, there is enough to give encouragement.

After I had found one stone that had a real market value, I wanted to keep right on hunting. To add to the allurement of surface indications, there is the knowledge that many varieties of gems are found and that the volcanic nature of the country will explain the presence of almost anything in this line. What you find near the surface is what has been forced up with the rocks; deep down there surely must be far finer specimens. There is also the record of success in other localities to urge one on. zircon, jargoon, beryl, many varieties of the garnet group, turquoise, jasper, epidote, rose quartz, etc., are found, andwhisper it a blue clay, said to be identical with the blue clay of the South African diamond fields.

The

"We'll find diamonds here yet," a prospector tells you confidentially; and one is inclined to think that the forces that have thrown up these mountains, tossing and grinding huge rocks, may have turned out almost anything in the process.

Is there not enough in all this to feed the dreams of the average man? Many have "gone broke" in the search for wealth, but many others have prospered. Transportation is so difficult, except along the coast, that much is added to the expense of any operations; but, in the more accessible localities, wealth is com

ing out of many of the mines, and, near the coast, irrigation has been tried and has proved the promise of the soil. Practically, however, the surface of the country has been only scratched here and there.

But, aside from the mineral and agricultural wealth, there are other opportunities for dreams. The true Lower Californian boasts of the climate as well as of the more tangible resources of the country. It may surprise those who have always associated it with torridity, but Ensenada feels sure of a future as a health and pleasure resort, and there are similar hopes and expectations all along the west coast from La Paz to Cape San Lucas. Ensenada already has a hotel overlooking the ocean, and boasts of tennis courts and golf links. The southern district, of which such great hopes. are entertained, has nothing in the way of a pleasure resort hotel as yet; but you are assured that there will be one before long, and, meanwhile, "the Mexicans are a most hospitable people." Possibly, however, your idea of a pleasurable outing does not involve boarding with a Mexican family. In that case you would better wait a little while before seeking resort pleasures south of Ensenada. Possibly, too, you have reasons for wishing to keep in touch with the rest of the world. In that case, even Ensenada might not prove satisfactory. It is the most easily and comfortably reached by steamer from San Diego, although the

trip may be made by stage. Before it eclipses Coronado Beach (which is one of its dreams), there will have to be decidedly improved transportation facilities. This is conceded, and you are regretfully informed that they would have those facilities now if Uncle Sam had not overlooked the country. Later they will come, you are assured, and Ensenada will be a fan ous winter resort, from which all sorts of interesting excursions may be made. Lower California boasts of mud volcanoes; and there are medicinal springs and sulphur baths and pretty nearly everything in the natural freak

Development has been fairly rapid of recent years, largely owing to the efforts of the Lower California Development Company; but this company's sphere of influence does not extend from the coast, and its boats make regular trips only about half way down the peninsula. Six trips a month are made to Ensenada, and two to St. Quentin, the onyx quarries, and Cedros Islands. This is all that the traffic now warrants; but, of course, the water transportation facilities will be increased as rapidly as there is need of it.

Back from the coast, there are only the stage lines, and even these reach comparatively few localities. There are mines of one sort or another everywhere; but only where exceptional success or the investment of money to do work on a

large scale have brought together many people, do the stages come. The roads are difficult, and frequently great expense is involved in getting supplies and machinery necessary to do the work in any but the most primitive way. This unquestionably explains many of the failures. However, development is now progressing along sane, sober lines, in spite of the dreams, and the real wealth of the country will be uncovered gradually but surely. The opportunities are there; and, while Uncle Sam's oversight has unquestionably retarded progress, his people are now doing the best they can under existing circumstances. They supply the energy that the native Mexican usually lacks, but the Mexican himself is likewise doing much for the country.

L

AST year the fire losses in the United States were $175,000,000. And there was no one great loss, like that in the $77,000,000 fire in Baltimore, the year before. Small wonder, then, that the insurance companies, on whom falls the chief burden of this loss, have at last seen the wisdom of establishing a laboratory in which fire as a destructive agent, and new methods of preventing its ravages, may be studied. from a scientific standpoint.

In an indestructible building from the point of view of the fire hazard, with the furnishings and fittings of sheet steel, so that not enough wood might be gath

How not to have these tremendous financial and sociological losses is easy in that one moment when all architects and all builders of whatever degree decide to use no inflammable material in construction. When every building in Chicago is of the material of the Ohio street laboratory, the fire department can be dismissed. But this philosophy is too well worn-when every person in the same great city has come up to the moral standard of the best man in it, the police department also may be dispensed with! So it is that the new Underwriters' Laboratory to-day is more necessary than ever such an institution has been before.

Few of the great revolutionary inventions of men have failed to carry in their wake of good a train of ills as a part of the law of compensation. This has been more true of electricity, perhaps, than in the harnessing of any other of the forces of nature. To-day, in the minds of the laymen, electricity as heat is one of the least considered of the phenomena of

that indispensable force. The average person, turning the electric current into an incandescent bulb, says to himself, "Ah, what an excellent light!" As a matter of fact, however, he has 90 per cent more heat than he has light, while with the calmest assurance in the world he may put this nineteen times as much heat as light into the inflammable draperies of a Christmas tree and be horror-stricken when the tree bursts into flame!

In a hundred ways the electric current, as it is directed into and through almost every building where man sets foot, has become the incubating source of destructive fires. Working with material fire, man sees to it that inflammable substances are kept clear of it. Working the light and power of electricity, he frequently brings the electric torch into the powder mill of his tinder. construction with far more simplicity of misunderstanding than little Hoti showed when he burned his ancestral Chinese home in