Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1900-09-01


thoroughfares struggle up and down a
naked hill shimmerlng under the
| fiercest sky human eye ever saw.
| That is Yuma.
Imagine ii region thousands of
! square miles in area, of yellow, glsten-
| 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-
ity, stores shut, houses bolted, not a
sound heard save rustling from some
dried sagebrush. There you have life
in Yuma ON midsummer afternoon.
Yuma is the heart of a land of ex-
tinet volcanoes, barren hills and sterile
canyons; a region of mirages, ella
monsters and reptiles that thrive amid
alkali wastes and deadly thirsts. The
only green things TO be seen are few
sparse cottonwood trees at the rail-
way stations, where whitening white
sunshine blazes from out a cloudless
sky ~ hours Il day. lnfamed eyes and
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 90 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 its fiery summers have been
fruitful topics for newspaper humor-
lists. Numberless jokes on the Pacific
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 tenn
perature of the territorial settlement
have never been lacking. Between
July l and %, 1898, the thermometer
averaged 115 degrees in the afternoon
The following year as high as 1877 de- |
grees was touched, and in September |
of 1899 the temperature did not go be- !
low los. Several markings of 121 were
recorded. Yuma's red letter hot day
occurred in 1876. 1t was Aug &c. !
when terrifically hot winds blew from
the desert. At noon the fluid rose to
1913 degrees and by o'clock had reach
ed 100. Several deaths were reported
during the period.
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 old town prosperous. There are
5000 people in Yuma. One-third of
them are Mexicans, the rest are Ameri-
cans. Some have braved the climate.
been enterprising and have accumu-
lated snug fortunes.
At night the whole population sleeps
out of doors. Many people slumber
under the open heavens ten months in
the year In midsummer even the old
timers cannot stand the heat and close
ness of an 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 in the back and (
front yards and cots out in the rude
streets. Every cot is occupied by a
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 a scorched hill |
side in the northern part of the city. |
Governor Murphy and the legislature |
have taken measures toward the re-
moyal Of the crude old structure to a |
cooler part Of the territory.
"Thern are very few prisoners who |
I've IN confinement under this sky |
moro than eight years. and some do |
not survive ave years" said a prison |
warden recently.
FrEpEEICB r. TooaRs.