The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1900-08-30

SLEEPING IN THE STREETS.
thOruughfares struggle up and down
naked hill shimmering under the
fiercest sky human eye ever saw
That is Yuma.
Imagine a region, thousands of
square miles tn area, Of yellow, glisten-
ing sand, quaint cacti, whitened bowl
ders-not one commanding view Of
mountain or other slightly prominence
"a desolate, CHASTITY desert waste
under a fiery sun. That is the setting
of Yuma.
Imagine yourself on some vantage
spot and looking over an Isolated town,
paralyzed in overwhelming sunlight,
scantily clad, sWarthy Indians sprawl
ing before you fast asleep on baked
earth in a shifting patch Of shade, no
white person visible, no signs Of activ~
l. ty, stores shut, houses bolted, not a.
sound heard save rustling from some
dried sagebrush. There you have life
| in Yuma ON q midsummer AFTERNOON.
| Yuma is the heart Of land OF eX-
| tinct volcanoes barren hills and sterile
canyons; a region of mirages, CHA
monsters and reptiles that thrive amld
alkali wastes and deadly thirsts. Inc
only green things to be seen are rev
sparse cottonwood trees at the rail-
way stations, where whitening white
sunshine blazes from out cloudless
sky II hours a day. Int1amed eyes ana
even blindness from the intense light
are common. The earth is so hot that
people with thin shoes can with diff"
Guilty tread upon it, and tough range
cattle sicken and die after but brief
exposure.
For so years Yuma, in the Rio Colo
RADIO. in southwestern Arizona, has
been the banner hot town Of the
country. 1t has no rivals. The old
town and it's fiery summers have been
fruitful topics for newspaper humOr~
lists. NumberleSs jokes on the PACING
coast concerning communities where
the mercury climbs high and regard
ing spirits that have found hadeS
agreeably cool in comparison, have
been worn threadbare at Yuma's eX~
pense.
Grounds for comment on the teLll-
perature of the territorial settlement
have never been lacking. Between
July / and %, 1893, the thermometer
averaged 115 degrees in the afternoon.
The following year as high as 127 de-
greeS was touched, and in September
of 1899 the temperature did not go be-
low 1913 Several markings Of 121 were
recorded Yuma's red letter hot day
occurred in 1896. 1t was Aug. 26,
when terrifcally hot winds blew from
the desert At noon the fluid rose to
1913 degrees and by o'clock had reach
ed 129. Several deaths were reported
during the period. -"N-~~4-'r7'"'~""--'s~>~ "'
No one lives in Yuma for enjoyment.
The trade and teaming from the mines
some of which are uncommonly
rich in copper, silver and lead-keeps
the oh town prosperous. There are
1900 people in Yuma. ODe-third OF
them are Meyicans, the rest are Ameri-
cans. Some have braved the climate
been enterprfsing and have accu1nu-
lated snug fortunes.
At night the whole population sleeps
out of doors. Many people slumber
under the open heavens ten months in
the year. II. midsummer even the old
timers canr OF stand the heat and close
ness of ali apartment at night. The
scene that one looks on as he gazeS
across Yuma at dawn is unique.
Everybody lies sleeping out of doors
There are cots on the fiat roofs, cots
on the porches, cots III the back and
| front yards and cots out in the rude
streets. Every cot is occupied by q
human being.
| The lawbreakers now undergoing
penal servitude in Yuma receive added
punishment from the climate The
territorial penitentiary stands within
a great stone wall on scorched hill
side IN the northern part of the city.
Governor Murphy and the legislature
have taken measures toward the re-
moval of the crude old structure to
cooler part Of the territory.
''There are very few prisoners who
live in confinement under this sky y
more than eight years, and some do
not survive five years." said a prison
warden recently.
FREDERICK r. TooMBs.