The Arizona sentinel., 1897-07-24
picked from the open garden at Christmas
IS sIrA LAwLEss COUNTRY?

IsITA LAWLESS COUNTRY?
 The man who goes to any considerable ] Arizona town with the idea Of the South vest derived from novels, or from *Ihe Arizona Kicker" will be greatly mystified.
 He will tind as many churches as in towns "t corresponding size in Pennsy lvania or Ohio; and probably more schoolhouses. He will ind plenty Of liquor-snops. too. and gambling houses. and dancehouses, and yet he will see little disorder unless he hunts late at night for it, and he will be apt to t1nd-as at PhOeltix-a community of ten l thousand people requiring in the daytime only one policeman, and hardly requiring him. During my winter there l did not see single disturbance i'll the streets, or half dozen drunken men. all told. Min
 ing men and an occasional cowboy certainly had qnarrels, sometimes, in the disorderl, quarters at night; and there were stories of the use of the knife among Mexicans; but the visitor who went about his own business had as little trouble as on Board way or Chestnut street. The Pima and Maricopa Indians, who are encountered everyW here. have been friendly with the 'lites for generations, and there isn't an Apache within some hundreds of miles.
 WHICH TOWN IS THe BEST?
 Primarily that is question for the phy- sician, if there Is physician in the case If not, try them all. If a mountain region, considerable altitude anda 8 cnmpara lively a picturesque region, near great mining distr;cts, and has the social advastage of an arlny post, whipple Barracks. Flag staff Is still higher, k ih a region If dense pine forests, aud is within hard day s journey of one of the wonders of the world, the Colorado Canyon. Oracle Is pretty mountain nook, embowered in splendid i've oaks, like those et'Calfornia. and is also near an important mining district. 1T loM CT attitude and distinctly semI- tropical climate are desired, the three .saces nest likely to b: considered are Yuma. Tucson ard Phoenix The first is near the sea leve; is the Yarnest and probably the ,.riest oi the rhree, has the least population, ali the sruaGost provision foT visitors Tucson is the oldest t1wl in 5ho Territory. and. after Santa Fe, perhaps the oldest in the Southwest. Its adobe houses give it a Mexican look, and are thoroughly comfort able. Its newer houses are of handsome building stone, found in the vicinity. The Territorial! University is here, and it was formerly the capital. Its elevation being more than double that of Phoenix, it is .semeN hat cooler, and as there is next to no irrigation near it, the air is little dr;er. Phoenix is the centre of the greatest irriga- ! tion in the Territory The country for miles around smiles with green fields, cover ed with almost countless herds of cattle, and 1t is everywhere shut in by low mount aims. It IS the Territorial capital, has the Government Indian School. the Territorial ! Luaat:e Asylum, an1 other nst:tutions, aLd Is the general focus for the Territory. Like Tucson, it has its occa 4ioual wind and -and storIns-pertaps not quite % often. It either place visitors wh1 know how to adapt them ,elves to circumstances can be entirely comfortable, and in each they will ind au intelligena, orderly, enterprising and
 1,st hospitabIe community. They will find a country full of mines, full of rich agricultural lands, abounding in cattle and hor es, in vineyards and orchards and the beginnings of very successful orange groves "a country, ill fact, as full of promise for hardy and adventurous men now as Caiifor- n;a was in the .fifties. Above all, it has beer their lot to search .ter health in far countries, they will revel in the luxury of being in their own land, among their own countrymen, within easy reach of their friends by telegraph or rail, and in a climate as good of it. kind as any in the world.
 LANDS AN SOILS.
 TSe lands of Yuma County comprise the river 5ottOms and valleys and the uIlands or mesas The bottom ands gre moister and slightly mere fertile fl, indeed. it is possible to m ke comparisons V here all wonderfully productive and prolific The u,'lands or mesas are warmer and, perhaps, tightly for better u cultivation oi he citrus fruits 'nna conta1s riety of s..il The vaHe;- I4nd of tneI iiIa and colorado ivers have fol the most part deep seiimentary soil of brownish, gray sGnfy 10 m. resting, in most places, upon a gray :lay sulIsoil at de- tn of from zen to twenty feet below the surface. Tine Jay subsciI forms hard pan whih is iniNeryious to water. These soils have been slowly formed 5y decomposition of shales IanjStones, marls. lale.toEcs, ct .. mixed with Or glnic pnd vegetable natter, washed down by thC l|%bty r CTS aKd have been gradually deposited
 urnls -he coErse of centuries. The fertilizing brOwnish mud held in the wat 'Iof the Colorado and ,iila rivers resembles that from the Nilc and i's quantity varies fom H.l to O.5 ger cent, though the water ahen even considerably discolor- ed bF mud is good to drink. resembling in this
 Ject the MiSSIur; riyer water. | oh, micai analysis of the so limen5S of the Colorado and Of the Nile exhibits woTd deIful smil ,iity in the constituent parts of each. Tn t of the dorado exhibiting e rifle less potissa, most phosphoric acid and ear ponade of limestone beds through which the Colo rado pass In other respects thc sediment of the Co.orljo is almost identc.d with that of the Nile It will be ticed, therefore, that when this water Issi eT irrigation it is superior artesian waters s.nce it is constantly supplying the land with the riche3gier lli::ug elem The soil of the valleys ex ren.e!y rich il dedomposed vegetable matter nd nnco hined r0Or, real,!y anso hing the Gsrai gases. sIen especially, oxy gen, which en- tering tie sCii, ieconpOses the "rga. matters so that they can be taken up ant uoIziSh the plants which may he ;oIsilerel leading featur in It's fertility. It also readily takes up and retains ,rl,iIa Er,nrrc of