The Arizona sentinel., 1901-09-11
STILL GOING THE ROUNDS.

Readers of the Sentinel will
 doubtless remember a lurid arti-
 cle devoted to this Section-or,
 more properly speaking, nearly
 a column of outrageous misrep-
 resentations of Yuma, the eli
 mate, etc, which received some
 attention in these columns about
 a year ago. Some of the state
 ments were that Yuma is the
 hottest town in the United States,
 surrounded by nothing but burn
 ing sands, extinct volcanoes and
 cloudless skies; where the mer
 cury rises as high as 129 in the
 shade; a region of mirages, Gila
 monsters and reptiles that thrive
 amid burning alkali wastes and
 deadly thirsts; where not a green
 thing in nature may be seen as
 far as vision sweeps, except a
 few spare cottonwood trees;
 where the inhabitants rise at dawn, conclude their days labOrs by a. m., and retire to cover .until nightfall-sto all closed,
 "and all houses draw their heavy board window blinds: a few friendly Indians, perhaps, brave the blasting, Oven-ike heat of the streets; otherwise the. town might be a city of the dead. '" There is a whole lot more of the lurid stuff, but as we have print ed it in full once, will let the foregoing suffice. Like Banquo's ghost, that article apparently will not down. It is published with a few changes in a late issue of that well-known and highly-respected publication, the Youths Companion-though it is hardly possible with any in tention or thought of malice or injury. It's publication in that periodical can only be attribut- ed to ignorance-an ignorance, however, absolutely inexcusable. It seems hardly necessary to in form the Youths Companion that Yuma is situated in one of the most fertile valleys, not only in the United States, but in the world-which produces most of the fruits of the tropics, besides alfalfa, corn, wheat all of the cereals, in fact, and almost ev- cry known vegetable; that we have nearly 100 miles of irrigat- ing ditches, which ale supplied with water from an inexhaustible SOurce-the Colorado river-and other canals in course of con StructiOn-and that owing to the great fertility of the soil, the early ripening of fruits and other products, the number of crops that can be harvested in sea son, and the cheap transporta tion to the seaboard, by the riv- CT and gulf line of steamers, in addition to that furnished by rail, this is destined to become one of the wealthiest sections of the country.
 In the Colorado valley are 60,0O0 to 10000 rich acres and in the Gila valley nearly as many more-all tributary to Yuma and capable of supporting a very large population. What has heretofore been known as the Colorado desert has been prac- tically eliminated by the Imper- ial canal on the California side, of the Colorado river. so that Yuma'S claim to being in the heart of a rich agricultural and horticultural section is nothing more than the plain truth. Thousands of acres of this land are already under cultivation and are responding generously to the efforts of the farmer and fruit-raiser who have settled up on them. Farming in this sec tiOn is no longer an experiment; that stage has been passed long ago, and the possibilities of the soil, with aid of irrigation and an advantageous and unequaled climate are we'll known, except to few uniformed people like the author of the Youths COmpan- ion Yuma article.
 It is true that Yuma has hot SeaSOn. SD have New York and