Weekly Arizona journal-miner., 1904-09-07
STARVATION OF
 PIMA INDIANS Such RumOrS Are Ab- sOlutely GrOundlesS. Indians Are Supplied With Abun- dance to Eat and Are Happy
 and COntented.

Geo. E. Brown, who is connected with the Pima Indian agency, and who was in Prescott on Monday, in speaking of the reported suffering and starving condition of the Indians on the above reservation, stated that there was no truth whatever in the reports, although being repeated with great persistency in the east He says it is true that the Indians are very poor on account of the continued drought but that for several months the government has been providing them with rations and as a conse- quence none of them has suffered from hunger. He says that J. B. Alex ander, superintendent of the agency accompanied by MT. Brown, made thorough canvass of the Indians to discover whether there was any foundation for these rumors and found them to be absolutely groundless.
 Mir. Brown says that tbe Indians are very industrious and over 100 of them are employed on the government work in connection with the Tonto Basin reservoir. They are very frugal too he says and they have no bad habits, neither drinking or gambling, but save their money and spend it only for the necessities of life. He says that the greatest extravaganza indulg- ed in by them is the occasional pur- chase of candy, oranges or other del icacies of a similar nature. One of their peculiarities he remarked is in the manner of their trading. He says that if an Indian goes to a store to purchase a half dozen articles he will only purchase one at at time and will pay for it and secure his change if there is any coming, before making his next purchase. In this way be says an Indian will go into a store with, say ten dollars, and will make a purchase for fifteen cents. He pre- sents the ten dollar bill or gold piece as the case may be and will receive nine silver dollars and the balance in samIIer change. When he makes the next purchase he will give out one of the dollars instead of giving the smaller change and by the time he has made four or five or more purchases in this way he will have handful of small change. During the transac- tion the dollars will be placed in one pocket and the smaller change in a separate pocket.
 Mir. Alexander the agent at the Sac ton agency is a very conscientious man and guards his wards with jeal- ous care and Mir. Brown says that there need be no fear of the Indians suffering while he is in charge. He has been connected with the Indian service for several years and hence is thoroughly familiar with it in every respect.
 There is some sort of associationln the east whose special object is to look after the comfort of Indians and the reports of the starving Pimas has been repeated to them so much that in spite of the assurances they have received from President Roosevelt, Governor Brodie and Indian Agent Alexander that there is nothing in the report they have appointed com mittee to come out and investigate. They will be accompanied by Indian Commissioner Jones and are expected in the territory in a few days. MT. Jones has already paid visit to the agency and made a thorough and ex- haustive investigation spending sev- real days in visiting the different Indian settlements and thoroughly satisfied himself on the subject.