Daily Arizona silver belt., 1908-05-03
TRAMPS IN
 ARID DESERT
WEARY wILLIEs OF THE MoHAvE
 ARE A VERY DISTINCT TYPE
Heat and Thirst slay Many. but Ceaselessly They Wander From Oasis to Oasis More Brutal Even Than Most of Their Glass.

Tramps are one of the many strange features of the Mohave Desert-that land of myths and mirages. part of which, Death Valley, is the hottest place on earth. Tramps are found in this valley even when the thermometer is l37.
 The renegade whites live with the Piute Indians, and are locally known as "Arabs.' Notwithstanding the burning wastes, scarcity of water, dis comforts and many dangers from ami n,als, they are found in all parts of the desert. Mining camps and ranches are far distant from each other, and the country produces little food, but these tourists find no difficulty in getting a living, either by begging or stealing. They will not work, yet manage to live like their brethren in civilization.
 They are of different species, more worthless, if possible, than the others of their tribe, and are an interesting study.
 The desert has evolved a curious type of humanity, seen nowhere else in the wodlr. His clothes are usually cast-of garments that he has found, begged, or perhaps stolen-faded. frayed and full of holes-and his broken shoes are us- ually wrapped in cloth so as to protect his feet from the burning sands. He carries a bundle, consisting of provis- ions and few empty beer bottles.
 On reaching & ranch he will make for the spring and after drinking hs fill le down on the shady sde of the house and sleep for hours, or until he smells the odor of meal. Then he patiently waits for n handout and is of for the next ranch.
 Thus he keeps up his rounds from one end of the desert to the other. with no object in view, no hope for the future only that he may live from day to day. At night he will sleep in an alfalfa field or in shallow brook, with his head resting upon a rock for q pillow.
 Arising from his cool bed, he fills his beer bottles with water, eats his breakfast and again begins his long tramp. which is never to end. He fol lows the trail, having no compass, and knowing little or nothing of the country beyond, except that it is thirty miles to the next ranch and twice that dis tance to the next ranch. He may reach his destination and he may not.
 Frequently he falls victim to heat or thirst, for men have died of thirst though having jars of water in their possession. The heat has burned out the spark of life or literally bursts the head open. Skeletons are found in the sands or among the rocks-some vie tims of thirst, others of tho thieving tramp in quest of provisions. The des- ert tramp is more viscious than is his brother of civilization. The fierce eli mate has brough out his brutal nature and his hand is against any one he meets in this desolate country, where everything in nature is at war, even tho clements.
 According to the experience of min ing prospectors who have traversed the worse parts of Death Valley, the des- ert has peculiar influence upon it's dwellers. It turns the brain of many, and those who have once journeyed across it become fascinated and return. It seems to exert an influence that never can be overcome.
 The prospector is another desert type half mining prospector and half tramp. He shuns civilization until hs "grub-stake is exhausted when he returns for another supply. These grub stake eaters are a curious study in hu- man nature; more so than the ordinary desert tramp, for they are shrewd, pos sess some business capacity, and talk intelligently or persuasively.
 The prospector expect to unearth a rich mine, and lives in expectancy and hope.
 Unless he finds mine, his only re- ward is bacon, flour, beans and coffee for his grub stake. His home is on the desert, where night overtakes him.