Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1912-08-08

between the new state of Ari-
IONA. and the older one of Cali
fornia, they revel in the dis
tinction of possessing the hct-
test place under the stars and stripes.
When the rest of the republic has been
gripped by winter, thermometers in
Yuma register 100 degrees. Just how
high they go in the summer no man
has as yet v~ouchsafed.
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 it 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 n pris-
on west of Gibraltar, and the only
counterpart of the village Jail. which
is a sort of stepping stone to he. pris-
on, is in the heart of Turkey. The
people of Yuma are otherwise so typi-
cally Mexican that n wonders almost
If ones under the rule of the stars and
stripes.
How to Get to Yuma.
To get to Yuma you leave Tucson,
Ariz., at $40 at night. AT 6:15 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 is what Dickens might
have described as a depot restaurant,
built over the station itself, and with
its porches looking down into the tur-
gid Colorado river. There is a 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 on simply to at
tract the tourist. AS a matter Of fact,
the Yumas hate the whites, and while
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
jeans, idle the year round, are, in fact,
positively discourteous to the stranger
After one has left ones belongings
at the hotel and started to explore
Yuma is found to be interesting fol
what it lacks in modernity. There is
practically but M long street. This
is lined with low one and two story
cottages, 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
is interesting for it's Indian communi
cants. who ome there as did the rec
men to the missions in the Pre-Mexi
al days in California.
At the time of day that you are out
Yuma is still half In its slumbers
Aside from a flight Of crows on the
main highway, the quiet of dawn reigns
supreme. You al walk W the en-
tire place in an hour, and you do 81
while you may, unobserved. Their.
are lemons growing in n garden, tn,
first you encounter. Today it is cole
until the sun has risen, but then, ant
in summer, Yuma is, next to Dealt
valley, the hottest place in the world
80 that you may look for tropical foil
age
You wonder at the foolish custom o
the milkmen Of Yuma, who knock a
each door until told by the tenant
to leave the milk outside, a custom
whose origin lies shrouded in mys
terry. Two women, seemingly intox'
Gated, attract your attention. The,
are following a man. expostulating a
only Mexicans can.
l II fo IN tho Toll fhof thu woman ~