Evening star., 1900-09-25
SUMMER DAYS MOLD YUMA.
They Are Like one, Long UnbrOken
Drcam-bf 'sheoI.

four or more monthstat.a stretch. Imagine
village OF several hundred adobe stone
and brick squat one-story- houses and store
buildings. all with csWmsys porches in front,
strewn along dreaafy,, rsd brown roasting
bank of a drowsy. muddy stream. where
rude thoroughfares stragsie up and down a
naked hill, shimmering under the fiercest,
emptiest sky you ever saw.
That is old Yuma, famods as the literally
hottest town in the tnion4 Then imagine
region. thousands of 5huafe miles in area, Of
yellow sand. quaintscacu, whitened boul-
ders, not one commanding mountain or
desert waste under a fiery sun-and you
have the setting of Yuma. Imagine your
self on some vantage spot and looking over
a frontier town paralyzed in Overwhelming
dians sprawl fast asleep on hot earth, In a
patch of shade, no white person in sight.
not a sign of activity anywhere, stores
shut. houses boited and blinded, not a sound
And that Is life in Yuma during mid
summer afternoon.
For fifty years Yuma on the Rio Colo
RADIO, in southwestern Arizona. has been the
banner hot town of the country. 1t has
no rivals. The old town and its fiery sum-
mers have been fruitful topics for newspa-
per humorists. Numberless jokes on the
Pacific coast concerning communities where
spirits that have found hades agreeably
cool. have been worn threadbare al Yuma 5
expense. The people in the eastern states
who complain of Soils darts these days
may find satisfaction in learning something
about this seasons temperature in Yuma.
The summer has been an everage one
From May IA to May 30 the temperature
every afternoon ranged from 93 to 101
Then there was a week of comparative
coolness: the mercury never rose above 90
From June to June . the mercury varied
from 105 to 113 degrees. Old Sol then set
tied down to business. The desert sand
dunes had become baked, and the foothills
were glowing. For six weeks the mercury
never was below 102, and from that Ii has
gone to 122 degrees twice. From July )
TO July 20 the average afternoon tempera-
ture here was 115 degrees. During nights
the mercury has sunk slowly to an aver
age of 1O5 at about am. With the rising
of each sun the mercury has climbed up
steadily until about o'clock.
And the warmest weeks of the year are
yet to make their records. Last summer
the hottest day in Yuma was August 28
when the mercury touched 127. In Sep
tember there were several days when the
temperature was at 121. and few nights
when the thermometer never registered
lower than 1OS degrees. In 1896 Yuma's
red-letter hot day occurred. 1t was August
is. when extra hot winds blew from off
the desert. Between dawn and noon the
mercury rose from 40 to 123 and by 4
clock 1t rose to 123 Several deaths
among children occurred during the heated
SPELL
geographically. Yuma is situated for the
making of high solstitial records AS far
as the eye can reach and miles and miles
farther in any direction there is nothing
but profound aridty. through which the
Colorado drowsiy meanders to the Gulf
of California. From some points nothing
Is In sight but vast crumpled sea of yell
low sand and the horizon. Yuma is the
heart of region of extinct volcanoes bar
rem hills and sterile canons; a region of
mlrages ella monsters and reptiles that
thrlVe amid burning alkali wastes and
deadly thirsts, where not a green thing
In nature may be seen as far as vision
sweeps, except few sparse cottonwood
trees at the railway stations: where
W1lher1ng white sunshine tblazes from out
a cloudless sky twelve hours a day months
at a time; where infiamed eyes and even
blindness from the intense sunshine are
common; where the earth is SO hot that
white people can scarcely walk upon 1t
with thin shoes, and where tough range
cattle sicken and die in a few weeks.
NO ore lives In Yuma for enjoyment
The trade and teaming from the mines
some uncommOaly rich in copper, silver
and lead. out in the mountains and foot
hills. keeps the old town prosperous There
are $500 people in the village. One-third
OF them are yMexicans; the rest are Ameri-
cans. Some have braNedithe climate. been
fnterprising and have accumulated snug
fortunes The town took its name from
the old fort here, and 1t in turn was named
from the Yuma tribe of aborlgines, who
fought several battles hereabouts. When
gold was discovered in California, in 1S4g
I una began to grow as. settlement of
white people. During the days of great
overland travel by mule and OK teams, in
1870, 1891 and 1852, thousands Of people
went across Texas and Arizona, crossed
the Rio Colorado at Yuma and went up
the golden state by way of Los Angeles
Yuma became little business point. In
isso the Southern Pacific railroad built
from Los Angeles through Yuma on the
way to Ell Paso and New Orleans, and
\ una as trading place quickly lost its
prestige. Since 1855 several of the best
gold mines In Arizona have been developed
In the region Of the old town. The work
ing of these mines and a score more min
ing properties gave old Yuma q new boom.
AT night the whole population sleeps out
OF ooors, ana many people slumber under
the open heavens ten months in the wear
In midsummer even the old-tmers cannot
endure the heat and closeness of an apart
ment at night. The scene that one looks
upon as ne gazes across Yuma at any dawn
IN midsummer Is unique. Everybody in
toWn-men. women and children-lies Sleep
ing out OF doors There are cots on the fiat
roofs. cots on the porches. cots in the back
ana 'front.' yards and cots out in the rude
streets. where the perspirng feverish peo-
pie have tried to find the least bit of stir
ring air. And every cot Is occupied by a
human being. Some men and women are
tictShSu Jul Will the llSnteSt sheets over
them: some are wearing their thin cotton
clothes, and children slumber with only the
sapphire sky over their innocence.
1t is hard for people who live in a region
OF green hills. fields Of waving grain,
brooks, gardens, forests and where rain
rails occasionally, to realize the barrenness
OF life In desert town like Yuma The
people here lead the plainest lives. No one
does a whit more work than is actually
necessary. Through the six warmest
months the people get up at early dawn
stores open. wagons Of merchandise for the
mines are loaded, housewives do their cook
ing and work for the day, and Mexicans go
from house to house delivering barrels Of
lukewarm water. At 6 o'clock the heft of
the days duties is done At 8 O'Clock all
work Is finished for a time. The sun is far
up and Is blazing hotter. Every one who
can De is under cover. The heavy board
window blinds are drawn to. the stores and
saloons are shut and all outdoors is aban-
doned to the friendly Indians.
AT d o'clock at night a general resurrec-
tion taxes place. Stores and houses are re-
opened The temperature may have cooled
to lO9 or 112 degrees. When the sun has
gone down the people go about the village
ana perform more household and business
duties Often the town is up practically all
night A few Of the merchandise stores do
their largest business between pm. and 3
am. Consider these things and pity poor.
The Arizona territorial penitentiary stands
WITHIN great stone wall on a scorched
nlllsiae In the northern part Of Yuma. Gov.