The  streams  "stay  put"  within  their  legitimate  borders,
and  are  apparently  as  firm  in  "  standing  pat "  as  is  the
Republican  party  over  a  (new)  tariff  revision.  Maricopa
County  pursues  a  way  of  peaceful  prosperity,  with  no  lapse
into  the  vaudeville  of  petrified  forests  and  buried  stars.
Her  stars  make  their  appointed  rounds  in  the  skies,  and
shine  nightly  upon  the  just  and  the  unjust.  In  the
northern  part  of  Maricopa  there  are  mineral  districts
of  rich  ores,  gold  and  copper  as  well  as  silver,  lead,
and  others,  but  chiefly  the  county  holds  her  way  as  an
agricultural  region,  indulging  in  no  freaks.  Canals  radi-
ate in  every  direction  from  the  Salt  and  the  Verde  rivers.
The  Salt  River  Valley  is  so  level  that  a  theory  prevails
that  in  some  prehistoric  ages  it  was  smoothed  by  the
Toltec  civilization,  which  even  preceded  that  of  the  Aztec.
Fields  of  alfalfa,  miles  in  extent,  smile  in  the  sunshine,
while  cattle  graze  knee-deep  in  luxurious  clover.  Orange
groves  alternate  with  the  apple  and  apricot  orchards.
The  date-palm,  the  fig,  and  the  olive  trees  abound.  Beau-
tiful homes  stand  in  spacious  grounds  shaded  by  the  dark
foliage  of  the  umbrella  tree,  through  which  gleams  the


MAGIC,   ETC.,   OF  ARIZONA      245

scarlet  of  the  oleander  and  the  brilliant  gold  of  the
pomegranate.
