New-York tribune., 1895-02-10
SUPTEYORS ~ THE ARIZONI DESERT
FREQUENT DEATHS FROM THIRST -Sl'FFERINos
OF THOSE WHO 90 LONGER THAN
FEW HOURS WITHOUT WATER.
NJ. Y. Beach in The Los Angeles Times.

FEW HOURS WITHOUT WATER.
NJ V Beach in The Los Angeles Times
San Diego. Nov Especial Correspondence - The
Interna ional Boundary Commission consisting Of
United States Coast and Geodeic Survey. and
Lieutenant ID. ID. Gailard, L. s. ~. commissioners
soner for Mexico. are about leaving this city for
their permanent stations. having almost completed
line between The two countries from I'll Taso. Tex
to the Pacific Ocean. distance OF about 700 miles.
For two years and a half the commissioners and
working their way westward from FL Paso. placing
maas apn OF Ss
ary monuments, established by the hrst survey
so that now the line Is marked by series Of monu-
SO rear m together tha Iom pns s"yer
ments. AS far possible these monuments have
tories sS o'd So thoroughly and caTsfuy have %on
ments been made and placed that they ought to
iron shafts bolted to rock or cement foundations
and weigh about eight hundred pounds each
desert ihe surveyors counted $50 graves along the
trail Of the victims OF thirst, AT ,asb one point nt,a
s Soiiss "s Srossn @ss s"FR precious
lay down beneath a mesquite bush and died the
most horrible Of deaths The bodies broken water.
fell 1t Is the custom the desert to bury all
bodies and mark the graves with crosses OF stone
animals Of the desert appear to exist without any
regular water supply. coyotes, antelope ana
gophers have been seen eating the fruit ana leaves
OF the prickly cactus. which are tull OF minute
spines. These little thorns are painful IL ~ won
derful therefore. how these animals with delicate
tongues eat the fruit. From II much moisture
IL obtained There much speculation by Dr.
Edgar \. Mearns, L. s. A.. naturalist OF the eh.
petition as how the giant cactus. plant
eighteen TO twenty-four inches In diameter ana
forty to nifty feet high. obtained the moisture IN
iis large trunk. Fully 80 per cent. OF these pahts
Is water. Their roots but three feet long
branching lateralIy from the base OF ihe uunk
instead OF shooting straight down. wei near one
OF the cactus driven l40 feet before wafer was
struck. The sun temperature was Ho degrees
to le0 degrees daily No dew fell at night All
and soil almost absolutely dry.
The intense dryness Of desert air causes Tapii
evaporation from the body. Observation proved
thai nine quarts OF water daily was needed per man
10 prevent the blood from thckening ana becoming
feversh Each mule required twenty gallons hany
one surveyor was without water for feVefai houis
He became feversh and light-headed Lack OF
water for few hours longer would have killcd MN
This was In shade temperature OF l2O Degree
where the air was absolutely dry so dry tha Iresn
meat. Instead OF putrefylng simply drjes up Al
one place the surveyors found the bodies OF 'hfee
prospectors within 100 feet OF natural water tank
formed In tho rocks TO get to this water the poor
fellows had TO climb upward twenty fset or 80 so
Their strength was exhausted. They had neen 700
long without water And here. with the lfe-glving
fluid just few feet beyond them. they died Thirst
the desert Is horrible. The victim feels pain oe
tween the shoulders The tongue thickens ana iceis
filled with needle points The syes become PAIN