Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1912-08-22

tinction of possessing the hCt'
test place under the stars and stripes.
When the rest Of the republic has been
grtpped by winter, thermometers IN
Yuma register 100 degrees. Just how
high they go In the summer no man
has as yet vouchsafed
That Yuma is inhabited by human
salamanders goes without saying.
Only people who like such heat would
come there from choice, and would
try to get away after they do get
there.
There are several things at Yuma
that excite the attention OF the stran-
ger. 1t seems just the sort OF place
you pictured 1t before you came. Most
interesting are the Indians. Here.
alone, of all places under the flag.
Uncle Sam allows polygamy, and the
Yuma buck Is permitted to maintain
as many wives as he can induce to live
with him In the wigwam. The pris-
on at Yuma Is different from any pris-
on west of Gibraltar. and the only
counterpart Of the village Jail. which
10 a sort Of stepping stone to the pris-
on, Ia In the heart OF Turkey The
people OF Yuma are otherwise so typi-
cally Mexican that one wonders almost
II ones under the rule OF the stars and
stripes.
How to Get to Yuma.
To get to Yuma you leave Tucson.
Ariz., at 8: 40 at night. At 8:15 In the
morning you're at Yuma On the map
the journey seems nothing. but in the
west distances are startling In their
magnitude.
, The hotel Ia what Dickens might
have described as depot restaurant,
built over the station itself, and with
its porches looking down into the tur-
gid Colorado river There Ia bridge.
with the Indian women trundling past
constantly. A boat landing is near by,
while ON the opposite bank Is the gov!
eminent Indian school, Everywhere
there are the Yuma Indians The gay
garments and blankets they wear are
genuine, and not put OH simply to at.
tract the tourist. As matter Of fact,
they sell trinkets to them at the station
too few sightseers visit the town to
win themselves to affability. The
bucks, who squat along the changing
river banks In their straw hats and
Scans. idle the year round. are, in fact,
positively discourteous to the stranger
After one has left ones belongings
ut the hotel and started to explore,
Yuma is found to be interesting for
what 1t lacks in modernity. There is
practically but one long street. This
"a lined with low one and two story
oottag 8. built of frame. and housing,
almost without exception, saloons and
shops. in addition to the homes OF the
householders.
There is a fair public school build.
ing and a Catholic church. The latter
II interesting for Its Indian communi-
cants, who come there as did the red
men to the missions in the Pre-Mexl-
can days In California.
At the time Of day that you are out
Yuma 10 still half in It's slumbers
Aside from flight OF crows on the
main highway, the quiet Of dawn reisns
supreme. You can walk over the en-.
tire place in an hour. and you do so
while you may. unobserved. There
are lemons, growing in one garden. tho
nrst you encounter. Today 1t Ia cold
until the sun has risen, but then, and
In summer. Yuma Is. next 10 Death
valley. the hottest place in the world,
70 that you may look for tropical foil.
Age.
You wonder at the foolish custom Of
the milkmen Of Yuma, who knock at
each door until told by the tenants
70 leave the milk outside, a custom
whose origin lies shrouded In mys-
terry. Two women. seemingly intoxi-
Gated. attract your attention. They
are following a man. expostulating as
only Mexicans can.
1t 10 to the Jail that the women are