The Arizona sentinel., 1897-03-06
ARIZONA.
It's Attractions and Advantages as {
 Place of Residence in Winter.

Place of Residence in Winter.
 Whitelaw Reid. owner and editor of the New York Tribune, who has spent Che last two winters in Arizona for the benefit Of his health, writes entertainingly and in structively concerning that Tart of the country. Mir. Reid says:
 So many questions are asked'about Ari zona as place for winter residence, and there appears to be such de&rth of pre- else information among many who are vitally interested, that it seems almost Q public duty, to set down, iu the simplest form, few facts of personal observation
 WEATHER,
 During Q five months residence in Southern Arizona in winter there vas but one day when the redther made it actually unpleasant for me to take exercise in the open a;t at some time or other during the day. CS course there were a good many days " wLich weather observer wonld. de scriIe as ''cloudy," aud some that were ".L9wory; but during these fre months lfrcm November. 1895, to May, IS95.} there were only forr Gays rhen we did net have brilliant sunshine at ao,ao time dur ing the day. Even iacrc than Egypt, any where north of Luxor, Arizona is the .aud of sunshine. As ro details:
 TErpsnaTCEE.
 ! have seen the thecmoneter mark 92 degrees in the shade on ny north piazza in March. On tbe-other hand, we had irosts which killed young orange trees, aod there were several night, when thin ice formed The government reports show a mean temperature for fourteen years at the pres cnt territorial capital of 57I degrees in November, 5 degrees in December, 40 de grees in January. 5f degrees in February, e degrees in March and G6 degrees in April The same reports show the highest and lowest temperatures, averaged for eight years, at the same place, as follows: For November 7SH degrees and 42 degrees, December 731a degrees and 361a degrees, January G51a degrees and B degrees, Feb ruary 7l1a degrees and 35H degrees, March Sl 1a degrees and fl degrees and 1 April S61a degrees and 46 degrees. The nights throughout the winter are apt to be cool enough for open wood fires, and for blankets. Half the time an overcoat is not needed during the day, but it is never prudent for stranger to be without one at hand.
 AIR.
 The atmosphere is singuiarly clear, tonic | and dry. 1 have never seen it clearer anyw here in the world. It seems to have about the same bracing and exhilarating qualities as the air of the Great Sahara il Northern Africa, or of the deserts about Mount Sinai. in Arabia Petraea. It is much drier than Tn the parts of Morocco, AIgiers or Tunis usually visited, and drier than any part of the Valley of the Nile north of the First Cataract, It seems to me about the same in quality as the air on the Nile between Asaouan and Wady- Halfa, but somewhat cooler.
 ACTUAL HUMIDITY.
 This is extremely slight, everywh here in Arizona, as compared with any eastern climate in the United States. The air is driest on the high mesas, remote from snowclad mountains or forests, and in the desert valleys, where no considerable irri- gation has been begun. Wherever irrlga- tion is carried on on large scale, the percentage of humidity in the atmosphere must be somewhat increased, although tc an eastern visitor it is scarcely perceptible. 1 The same Government observations al ready cited show relative humidity, at | Phoenix or Tucson, averaged for weeks, from morning and evening readings, at less than half the usual humidity on dry days | in New York. General Greedy, ill pub Iication from the Weather Bureau, gave the normal weight of aqueous vapor in the Arizona air at from 1a to grains per cubic foot.
 RAIN.
 Showers, and indeed heavy rains are liable to occur in every month of the ear; but the actual number of rains seems to an easteru visitor strangely small. The average rainfall in soothorn Arizona, as sao-,r F. the Government observations, is ! hui 811 inches Fer y-ar.
 ATTITUDES.
 It1sa striking advantage offered by Arizona that, with the same general con- ditions as fo temperature and dryness of air. the physieian is able to select nearly any altitude he may desire. Thus, asth- matic sufferers can find almost the sea level at Yuma, or an altitude of only a thousand feet at Phoenix, or of only 2,400 at Tucson. Others, who find no objection to greater elevations, can choose between Prescott CT Fort Whipple, 5,400; Flag staff, G,800,; the Sulphur Spring Valley, or Fort Grant, I, 200; Fort Huachuca. 4,S00, or Oracle, about 4,000.
 IS sIrAP PLACE FIT TO LIVE IN?
 This depends on what one expects in @ hreq. parscly settled Territory of mount