The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-07-09
MADNESS OF THE DESERT.
hNSINITY THAT COMES OF FREIGHT
TEAMING IN ARIZONA.

d.rful Skill of tho T,amster.-Tb,
,.-,r.,,r,. cr,, ,s ,r.,
"H ''' anu "'e'
PHENrx. Ariz, July 3,-The fact that i've
young teamstsrs OF the great desert region OF
Arizona we're recently com mittcd to the Terri.
torial Insane Asylum in one week has again
spened people's eyes to the grim hardships
OF their calling. StatistIcs show that In pro-
portion to=thsir populations Arizona, Utah
and New Mexico rank first In tho United
States in the mum DER Of insane patIents in the
nsyIums. Statistics also show that the greater
part OF these arc peopls whose minds have
been wrecked by solitary lives amid pr!ya-
lions. The male ratiepts ia these asylums are
many OF them tsamsters from the desert
At this season: Their. can scarcely DO an
outdoor employ ment more hideously monoto-
nous than freight tsaminR across sea OF des-
ert sand under blazing sky For whole days
there 10 nothing in nature. In the azure sky. In
che tons OF thousands OF acres OF burning yell
low sand in the sun baked hills the bald. bis.
tered n, ountains and the parched sage cbapar-
raj that can rouse ono from the peculiar. pul-
len melancholy which possesses people who
travel long across desert region. With
shafts OF sunshine at about 1862 Fahrenheit
beating on ones back and head all day long
for a straight week. with absolutely nothing
to occupy ones mind. with q FIVE or six ton load
on enormous wagon. icreakinR so slowly
through tho burn Ing sands that the wheels lust
turn. with no living thing to be seen or heard
for .a.day or two at q time save the teams OF
mules ahead, and with all color in nature as
far as the eve can reach over tho shi a n ering
waste OF sand and dried cage brush, a dull
,llfeless=brovn. any one will In time fall into
\ state OF melancholy. Every desert locality
IN the Southwest has some frightiul story OF
atrocities com mitted BY desert teamstsrs who
became suddenly crazy because OF the lonel-
ness OF their occupation and the continue
round OF: hardships, with. no recreations or
change Of employment. Transfers insanity
81 commonly spoken OF as q separate and dis
ainct mental disorder in the arid regions OF the
Southwest
.Th. n.,,n.bo,x nrodro.d bxno,th. =,
,..,rhe tan't ..n W n.on.s Vi
treight leaning aoross .the desert and up
through the blsterinR mountaips Is india
Sorih.hI,n soid Iohn + ,Iodaaon -.
Happy Jack" in Col. Roosevelt's Rough
Riders. Il have lived alone for three and
.oui nlonehS az 'ine al mining eap'n
AWAY over In the verde Mountains. and
] have been where mover saw a human being
for two and tbrsa.vs.k. Mt a sstr.tcb hnt IN.
~ .. 80 ', -, ou' VIC
Prescott and back during the summer Of 1924
yvere enouyb for ma II vor1d toL. NJ l.a.t n
thousand dollars trip to get me to contract
to do more freight hauling like tha! What is
It that makes freirhtInc .so'hard on the Js,.
erts? Why. the solitude. the hot sun. the
nridity that make one almost a mummy before
n. knovs II ,h. s,or, s,o,jy h,,,nar,,,
no SHOWS II, 'no SLOW, steady humuFum
creaktng OF the freight wagons as they lust
move through the sea nj sand tho whitening
hat that romss ca,s.r..sly ~. I,r - go
. e,.' .in, v.l'e'e'''S Nv "a, 90 ono
face while he is out on trin and the derress-
ing scenery all about These all turn ones dis
nosition unsid. down rha righii, nnn,ns on
'o'i,'D" u',,"e "INn ne n'H",'S '"'np s On
the hot sand aud tho swallowing OF cheap. half
cooked food are in themselves enough to up
cot n c,,r,,o, ,,,,,. s,o,,a,,b md ,i,I
DC. common i,.". S.on'"'n on" nl''a'
cannot adequately tell OF tic awful monotOny
OF a seven days trip across the Glla Desert
,hrnryh ths fnrn,n..Ii,,n n,Tnrs my.r ,ha
,,i,to sc,,,.h Lii r',,.hims '., NO., "" r
through tn. Ge,oIat. forEi,!iinr and III f.less
mountainI to the Rio Ha,nyampa The NOE
Intelligent the ,sanst"r 5" much the more
Mating conditions of tho ,:ip.'
Tie steam horse ON the steel rails is fast de-
ln. III another ten wears it is .unliKriy that
wagon and team freighttng will be c0nd uctcd
anywhere in the Southwest. Ten years agD
HERE were more than LOO tcamsters and
thousands of horses and mules employed in
the mining camus and ore from thvm to tho
trunk lines OF the transrontinental railroad
fosrh the "'G ewe pu anim "n1
then employed in ircighrlng in the Terri orY
The Atkinson. rorekn aui santa lr Rairoai
Companyhns built branch lines to mining CAMPS
IN Artzonin. notably from Ash Fork through
Prescott down IN Tint h1S done
away, with some OF the most pictures us
freightinE scsues on the desert nm / among the
mountains In thut region, mo irnnch rail
roads to the great minlrgrnmr of Giabc from
Bowie. TO elaborate from kinEmau ana 20 BIS
bee from Benson have closed tie occu; alton
OF hundreds ot freight tcamsters IN Arr, Jnn
The several branches OF the Atch.ou. To-
pska AMI Santa Fc system Ia Southern Cali.
fornin. have brought many of I he largest desert
mining and h0raH rami,e into close 'communi-
cation with the outside worst and nj tbs same
time have diminished desert freight teaminc
over 10 per cent
The most important systems of freight
teamIng on the deserts in California nova
days are from MOIuNe railroad station 10 the
gold mining town ~ Rauushurg in EN-
county. cat. from DnEgctt and RarstOw across
the MOlave Desert to the bOraX fields on tho
edge OF Death valley: from Iuna across nc
Colorado desert to tho famous gold mine the
Golden Cross. In Arizona ,hc most impnI-
tunt freight teaming conducted regularly
nowadays'iS from Yuma 10 Ihrcnbcr:, from
Blaisdell To the ;ich mining camp Of Fortune
from sentinel 70 The AJAX cOuper n"l,Is aui
from Florence 10 eight gold silver md cnrr.r