The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-07-18
HOT OVEN OF THE UNION.
GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS WHICH
GIVE YUMA, ARIZONA, THAT NAME.
whore the Tcupernture EnpEes from OF to
los Degrees rrom NorninE Until nIiduiEh,
Tor weeks ana wccEs-For Eight months
Men Wear No Coats. Vests, or suapcnders.

~ SthF No NVHtS. NoHps' VT SuApcHouNts
ZION the 81. Loui, Globe. Democrat.
YUMA, July 10.-Ever since old Fort Yuma
was established here. In 1850. the temperature
Of Yuma has been provcrbial. All the jokes
and funny stories about high records have been
credited to Yuma for over forty years. That
ancient, palsied, and weather beaten story
about tho soldier who lived and died in the gar.
rison at Yuma, and whose ghost camo back ono
night for his army blankets for uso down in
chilly, frosty hell has gono every where, and In
its travels throughout the world has given a
certain famo to the town. Two generations Of
American school children have been taught In
Biographies that Yuma, noted for its high
temperature, Is situated on the eastern bank of
the Colorado River and on the western edge OF
the Arizona desert" Newspaper photographers
and humorists have found the summer tempera-
ture records Of Yuma a perennial and fruitful
field for their talents.
In the 4os and GOA Yuma was famous among
Uncle Sans soldiers as the most dreaded post
on the frontier, and the letters and diaries Of
such military men as Gems. Albert Sidney John
rton, Edward 4. Bealc, and Kearnoy, who
served their military apprenticeships hero. are
full Of on the hot weather of Fort
Yuma In the summer months. John Phoenix"
Lieut.. Derby. the first of tho modern school of
American humorists, was ut Fort Yuma for
" N III hIo III WIS uCNtN pCu NUllc
writing of tho devices of the army boys to avoid
the heat Of July and August days in the adobe
buildings Of the garrison.
There Is abundant reason why Yuma is the
f Ss@nc The NOT Tsry tG nature OF Of tf tSiS% county, r., t 1t IL il hot Sn
. sort Of valley HS Where Old sn SCI has i ali tho iom ad " m
tage. 1t lies: on the east bank Of the Colorado
River. which meanders through de.crt sands
and adobe soil down to the Gulf of California.
south stretches tho Colorado desert, evcsal thou.
ghostly. and fierce a desert waste that few dart,
to cross 1t by wagon or on foot In the summer
months, and in winter or early spring travellers
or. two and supplied with an abundance Of
drinking water and food. Every summer ven.
cross the desert by bclng overtaken By. a sand.
storm OF weakened unto death by the dreadful
i lSai; q 70 tse nGrth sa ahe5s esS y asabPa plains .aII an SnS up,
peculiar formation OF lava and soft granite, the
remains Of numerous extinct volcanoes. This
IT BY night. 70 the east are millions Of acres that
are the next thing TO an absolute desert, whero
only g~cantily; where no one lives who can exist
elsewhere. For over 100 miles about Yuma not
s,t sss' ,S sssT tss naturally 1Sa r q, and Saw no eSs e tie e forest ,ss
Middle States know can DO grown even arti.
hcially; There 10 not a thing In nature any
to the ATMOSPHERE. Tiers II sSa arc u ny Ssl@ M eS SpeoSss
from anywhere. no sea or lake air to come once
In O while as o relief after hours of a steady
downpouring Of solar heat; not a mountain or
brook, a canon or dell. a grove or beach. through
ont a whole country. to which one may resort
Tor 80 much as O moment Of GOODNESS. One
may gaze In any direction from the highest
place in Yuma. and the only color in nature to
be seen is a dull, reddish-brown under a blazing
sky; Even tho sluggish river takes on the hue
OF the surrounding, terri liz
inches a year; 1t Is twice and thrice that in the
greater part Of the Eastern States. Rain falls
In Yuma and the region round about but four
winter months. There are, however, some
very heavy floods here in the months OF Febru.
River rises and overfiows the banks because OF
the melting SHOWS away up in the mountains
heavy rains in southern California. When tfc
water recedes, and leaves bare some thousands
Of acres Of rich bottom lands. the Indians plant
thelr mesquite beans and melon seeds for their
annual crop. Just as the Egyptians do their an
nual planting along the banks OF the Nile when
tom lands has attracted attention. and in re-
cent year enterprising Yankees have taken up
hundreds Of acres and are growing to u small
extent fruits and melons, which nre first in the
market even IA semi-tropic southern California
No one can tell adequately how the fierce mid
summer heat OF this part Of Arizona affects a
p perfoIIv recently som from rom the Eastern ststss,es-
a breath OF Dir stirring anywhere. and from
is g. or 9o.. At ! it has risen to o.. at 10 il Is
it may be at III; "a at e g p +. NJ! \. It f has at eon = Dc down M;
to 1O2o. and at midnight 1t has sunk 10 90.
W men a wind comes up from off the desert the
air Is almost shrivcUing, and even the natives
OF Yuma go into their adobe houses and shut
the doors TO avoid the air that comes like that
from the furnace room OF n foundry. The glare
Of tho sunshine has serious effect on the ewes.
Green gossles and smoked glasses are com.
many cases OF blindness among United States
soldiers who have been stationed at forts in this
region; Tho fierce sunshine causes inhamme-
ton or the eyes. Every one does rs much work
as possible in the evening or early morning be-
fore the sun has got In its best efforts. and there
town at midday. To show how hot the atmos.
phere here really is, it may be mentioned that
the writer has seen mining and civil engineers
carry bits Of carpet 10 lay under their feet while
at work 10 Keep the sun-baked adobe from bis
terins, their so!es. Children would not think
MONDAY. Railroad brakemen wear leather nit
tens so that they may handle coupling pins and
links. The china and glassware In The homes
in summer as il they had just come out OF very
warm water, and window panes are unbearably
house on a rot day 1t feels Ike the walls that
surround q baker oven; All horses and cows
when the mercury is ranging high. Vegetables.
such as potatoes, rot in Two days in such a high
temperature, and miik sourg in an hour.
All residents who arc able to do so leave
Yuma carly in june, and do not GENE back
this way they avoid the hottest weather, but
even then they, experience \ few days when
peraturc of over 100 In the shade. The rel
ugces from a summer in Yuma usually go to
the seaShore ana mountains i'll southern Cali
fornia, and they are mostly women and children.
But there are over 1000 men. women. and cf IL
dren who can never leave town for oven a
week In summer. Hundreds OF them have
stayed here each summer for years, and have
no more to say about a few days with the
temperature at 1903 or lolo in the shade
than he Eastern people when the mercury Of
their thermometer rises Up 10 so or SO,
No one thinks Of wearing, any hut Tie thin.
is scarcely a billed" shirt to be seen in ali
Yuma from May to September. and n starched
| collar would hn an nhaInIn.tinn IInl..l,
OF men never wear coat, vest, or suspcnders
for eight months in the year. Only the broad
est straw hats and cork helmets are worn.
Canvas shoes and tho ~th.nnost cotton socks
cover the feet, and a belt about tho waist Is tho
trousers supporter.
Tho miraGes seen in these desert regions arc
as WONDERFUL Ms appear anywhere in the world.
No one who has not seen them can know how
realistic they are. Scores of travellers across
the Colorado desert toward Yuma, both from
the East and the West, have been lured from
me ialni, shutting Trail across the burning vel.
low sands to pursue u lake OF clear water, or TO
turn aside to reach yondcr cascade Of flowing
water in the shade OF oaks and man2nniin
brush, and have. in consequence. wandered TO.