The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1903-12-18

Dec. IL, 1903.
DEAR FATHER:
Sitting out on the porch in my shirt
sleeves, shaded by green foliage, and
with roses and oleanders blooming in
the garden around, the use of cal
endar is almost necessary to con-
vince me that this is the middle of
December.
Things have been rather topsy-
turvy with me this year. Fourth of
July / saw three inches of snow on
the ground at Leadville, Colo, and
Christmas will probably find me seek
| ing the shade of a palm tree to keep
cool.
/ believe Phoenix has the finest
winter climate of any place in the
United States. 1t has all the ad-
vantages of California or Florida,
without the rain, Tor this is land
OF almost perpetual sunshine. Once
in long while there is a light show
er, but on the average any Phoeni-
clan will tell ou the sun shines eight
days in the week.
Southern Arizona can be said to
have two climates during the winter
months-a night climate and day
climate. During the day we have
practically summer weather, similar
to that of Northern Michigan or
Northern Wisconsin during July or
August.
However, owing to the extreme
clearness of the air and absence
of moisture, radiation is very rapid
and the air quickly cools as soon as
the sun has set, 80 that the nights
have a decidedly wintry aspect, al
though the thermometer seldom
reaches the breezy point-29 degrees
being the lowest recorded temper
ature for Phoenix. The thermometer
will usually drop to the neighoor-
hood of 40 degrees before morning.
During the hours Of sunshine 10 or
rs degrees will be recorded in the
shade and people appear on the
streets in summer clothes. Straw
hats, white lawn dresses and elbow
sleeves can been seen almost any day
during the Winter and the shady
side of the street is decidedly the
most comfortable.
AS the sun approaches the horizon
decided chlil is felt aud wraps
again become quite comfortable al
though not an ABSOLUTE necessity as
the cold is not felt as keenly on ac-
count of the dryness of the atrno-
sphere. / do not feel the chill as
much at temperature of 40 degrees
as | would in Chicago at a tempera-
ture of 90 degrees.
A slight fire is necessary in the
evening to take off the chiIl, but with
few sticks of wood in the stove it
is frequently very comfortable with
Windows thrown open.
The only fuel used in Phoenix is
mesquite wood, which the Indians
haul from the mountains, 10 or %
miles away. 1t sells for $500 a cord
and will burn about twice as quickly
AID gives about half as much heat
as the fire-wood used in the East, so
that fuel is not used much except for
cooking purposes, and the average
resident will shiver awhile before he
splits up his furniture to start fire.
Business is done with wide open
doors, and none OF the stores, public
halls or churches have any provision
for heating. Some of the larger
stores do not even have doors, the
entire front and sides being wide
open during business hours and closed
at night by a series of partitions,
which draw down from the ceiling.
Vegetation here is something like
the people-a mixture-natives of
widely different climes. In the shade
of an olive tree, northern poplar
will stretch out its bare branches in
striking contrast and on Washing
| ton avenue, 1.-THE main street, you
will run across a sedate old Mexican
clad in straw hat, pongee silk coat
and white duck trousers, while right
behind him may come a school girl in
lawn dress and elbow sleeves or a
| northern city lady ia furs and winter
cloak, although the afternoon sun is
very discouraging to anything in the
way of wraps.
Unlike the people, however, the
vegetation is mostly native to the
semi-tropics. Orange, olive and fig
trees are cultivated extensively, and
the shade and ornamental trees are
mostly palm, eucalyptus, pepper and
umbrella. The pepper tree is much
the prettiest / think, on account of
the luxuriant bright green foliage
which II maintains all winter. A
light frost will occur at a tempera.
ture of 40 degrees-owing to the
rapidity of radiation, the weather
man will tell you-and SOM of the
trees are without leaves for about
six weeks, but the eucalyptus, pep.
per, palm, olive and orange trees dc
not seem TO be affected by il. The
fig trees lose their leaves.
/ was very much surprised to find
how far away Phoenix was. l had
always associated it with Den
yer, Las Vegas, Albuquerque or other
Rocky Mountain towns, but the fact
is, Phoenix is as far from Denver a:
Denver is from Chicago, 600 miles
1t is three days trip from Kansas
lCity and when you get here you are
only about $50 miles from California
and not much farther than thai
from Old Mexico.
Commercially Phoenix Is in Cali
fornia territory. The merchants Dul
their goods from San Francisco ant
Los Angeles houses, and the bulk o.
the mail is from California points
The people all read Los Angelo
newspapers.
The city is in the center of tn,
broad, level Salt River valley, will
mountains in view on all sides. Tn,
nearest are the Camelback noun
tains about lrmiles away-althougl
they don't look over two miles ava,
and the farthest are the Super
stitious mountains, very plainly Wis
ible at a distance of 80 miles on &C
count of of the remarkable clearnes
of the air.
Salt River reminds me of couple
|. the boys used to sing:
Oh mother. may 90 out to swim
oh yes. you may my daughter.
, Hang your clothes on a hickory limb
, Aud don't go near the water,
. Well, you could go sw mining i
Salt River without getting near tn
water, for the simple reason tha
there isn't any water in it, just tn
J dry bed. Like other Arizona river
y Salt River flows mostly undergroun
and you will have to 20 down some